Daily Devotional
By Pastor Jerry Teboe
A Closer Walk with Christ in 2026
Ezra 3:2-3
Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. Ezr 3:3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
The people had returned to the land. About 50,000 left their homes and lands in Babylon to return to Israel. When they arrived there, they realized that the surrounding nations were still their enemies, and they feared for their safety. So, they sought the Lord as their protection by rebuilding the altar.
The altar was the center of the Jewish worship, for without their sacrifices, they could not approach God or expect His blessing. The exiles feared their powerful neighbors, but they knew God would protect them …if they obeyed Him.
There had been several altars which had to be replaced because of neglect or sin. Abraham built an altar when he arrived in the land where God had sent him. After that, he went down into Egypt where he called his wife his sister, and she was taken by Pharaoh to be his wife. God protected her and returned her to Abraham. Then when Abraham returned to Israel, he rebuilt his altar there to reestablish his relationship with God (Genesis 13:4). Later, Jacob also rebuilt altars after he had missed God’s best in his life (Genesis 33:20). You will recall that Elijah had to set up the altar again at the contest with the priests of Baal (1Ki_18:30).
There are times in our lives when we also may have strayed from the path that God has set for us. At that point, we need to return to the place where we made our mistake. In one sense, we must rebuild the altar of devotion to the Lord. These altars are important in our relationship with God. No, we do not use the same type of altar in order to do sacrifice as in the Old Testament. Our altars today are places of devotion and restoration. Are there things in our lives that have caused us to stray from fellowship with the Lord? If there are, we need to return to the Lord and rebuild our altar of renewed fellowship with God.
The way to rebuild our altar of worship is to renew a right walk with the Lord. Better yet, let’s stay close to the Lord and allow our altar of worship keep us near our Savior to avoid going astray!
Bible Reading for the Year
July 22nd, Psalms 41-43; Acts 24
Prayer Needs
Please pray for Linda Franks who will have thoracic surgery on Thursday, July 23rd.
Continue to pray for Jennifer Teboe Buchamer. Please keep praying for complete healing. She had a biopsy on Tuesday and will soon begin a new treatment plan.
Please continue to pray for Dr. Joe Jordan. He is doing physical therapy but still has a long way to go. Pray for him to get stronger! He had an appointment with his hematologist on the 14th, and he began with of the first of 5 shots to improve his red blood cell count on Tuesday the 21st.
Please pray for Lance and Erin Pippin. They left last Saturday morning for a mission’s trip to Mexico with YUGO ministries and arrived safely. They will be giving away clothes, food, and helping build houses. They return this coming Saturday. Pray for their safety and God’s blessing on their ministry.
Please continue to pray for Shirley Deans. Friday the 17th, she saw her cancer doctor for the results of her bone marrow biopsy. Praise the Lord!! No bone cancer! She continues her chemo treatments this week.
Please continue to pray for Kenny Deans. He had an appointment on Tuesday, July 14th, with his kidney doctor. He had a scan of his kidneys; the doctor doesn’t have the scan results yet.
Please continue to pray for Peggy Warren. She is facing some difficult challenges.
Please continue to pray for Robbie Harvey who has MAC lung disease. He seems some better, and the pain has decreased some.
Please pray for Carolyn Tyson’s sister, Shirley Deal. She now has an infection and is under hospital care.
Please continue to pray for Marvin Silverthorne for his eyesight to improve.
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Pray for our Missionaries!
Sue Singleton and the mission in Cambodia
Dr. Joe Jordan and the CBM (Cross and Bible Ministries)
Travis and Caroline Fennessy – IBM missionaries to Southeast Asia