The Resolved to Read Podcast

In today's reading from Esther 1:1–4:17, God's name never appears — yet His hand is unmistakable throughout. Jewish tradition holds that Mordecai refused to bow to Haman because the idols Haman wore would have made it idolatry, and Esther's call to fast is a clear expression of their faith. Apart from God, we see how quickly humans grasp for power and then rage when it is threatened — Xerxes when Vashti defies him, Haman when Mordecai will not bend. The king's decree that wives must respect their husbands would have struck Jewish readers as a hollow half-picture of marriage, for Jewish sages of that time taught, "He who loves his wife as himself, and honors her more than himself... about him Scripture says, 'And you shall know that your tent is in peace.'" In an empire that valued women so little, God was already positioning one to save her people — "for such a time as this."

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Zechariah 9:1–14:21, the prophet speaks of a future so distant it must have bewildered his hearers. A humble king comes "righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey." A shepherd is valued at thirty pieces of silver. The people look on "the one they have pierced" and mourn as for an only son. A day is coming when Jerusalem will again be struck and its people scattered. And yet the vision does not end in sorrow: "living water will flow out from Jerusalem," and "the LORD will be king over the whole earth," with the nations streaming in to worship Him. These chapters remind us that God's plan was written long before it unfolded, that our rejection could not undo His mercy, and that history is moving toward the day when He reigns over

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Psalms 126, 128, 129, 132, 147, and 149, Israel has watched a miracle unfold before their eyes — the LORD has brought them home. "We were like those who dreamed... The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." They can see clearly now that God loves them and delights in those who humbly call on His name and walk in His ways. Having tasted firsthand the trustworthiness of His promises, they remember the Davidic Covenant and the everlasting throne pledged to David. But as the centuries creep toward the coming of Jesus, their longing for that King will slowly drift from the holiness God demands — forgetting that "his pleasure is not in the strength of the horse... the LORD delights in those who fear him." By the time Jesus arrives, many will be watching for a warrior to crush their enemies rather than a righteous King to show them the Way.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Psalms 126, 128, 129, 132, 147, and 149, Israel has watched a miracle unfold before their eyes — the LORD has brought them home. "We were like those who dreamed... The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." They can see clearly now that God loves them and delights in those who humbly call on His name and walk in His ways. Having tasted firsthand the trustworthiness of His promises, they remember the Davidic Covenant and the everlasting throne pledged to David. But as the centuries creep toward the coming of Jesus, their longing for that King will slowly drift from the holiness God demands — forgetting that "his pleasure is not in the strength of the horse... the LORD delights in those who fear him." By the time Jesus arrives, many will be watching for a warrior to crush their enemies rather than a righteous King to show them the Way.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Psalms 116, 118, and 125, we hear the sound of a revived people — an awakening after everything they had endured. By allowing them to suffer at the hands of their enemies, God showed them again His power and might in rescuing them, so they could see clearly that salvation comes from Him alone: "I love the LORD, for he heard my voice... Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free." Yet Psalm 118 tells another story still unfolding. "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" — a foreshadowing that the Messiah would be rejected by His own and would suffer at the hands of His enemies for our salvation. These psalms call us to trust the God who rescues, and to receive the Cornerstone rather than reject Him.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Psalm 78, the psalmist urges us to tell the next generation "the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done" — because a people who forget what God has done soon forget how completely they depend on Him. The psalm retells Israel's story: water from the rock, bread from heaven, and hearts that still wandered. Those provisions point us to Jesus, who declares that He is the bread of life — not bread for the stomach, but the nourishment our souls were made for. It is the same lesson Moses taught in the desert: "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." These verses call us to remember, to hunger for God's Word, and to make sure our children know the story too.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Zechariah 7:1–14; 8:1–23 and Ezra 6:14–22, God reminds His people why they were scattered in the first place: they refused His way — to "administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless" — and made their hearts as hard as flint. Yet the exile was brief, and now He promises to return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. The temple is finished, precisely 70 since the first deportation, as the prophets predicted, and the returned exiles celebrate the Passover once again. What a miracle, considering all the nation had endured! And what a providence, considering that centuries later Jesus would die at the very hour the Passover lambs were slain. Tragically, many will reject their Messiah — the Way, the Truth, and the Life — and will suffer an exile like they’ve never experienced before. These chapters call us to receive the mercy God offers while His hand is still extended.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Zechariah 1:7–6:15, God gives a series of night visions full of horses, measuring lines, a lampstand, a flying scroll, and chariots — each one assuring a discouraged people that the Lord is jealous for Jerusalem and will dwell among them again. At the center stands the high priest Joshua, stripped of filthy garments and clothed in clean ones, whom God calls a symbol of "my servant, the Branch." We first meet that righteous Branch from David's line in Jeremiah 23:5–6 and 33:14–16. Joshua himself was not from David's line, but he stood as a living picture of the One who would be — Jesus, whose Hebrew name is, remarkably, also Joshua. These chapters remind us that God removes our guilt Himself, joins priesthood and kingship in one Person, and builds His house not by human might but by His Spirit.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

In today's reading from Haggai 1:1–15; 2:1–23 and Zechariah 1:1–6, God confronts a people busy building their own houses while His house lies in ruins, and He stirs their hearts to take up the work again. To the discouraged He promises that the glory of this later house will surpass the former, and He singles out Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest — two figures who together foreshadow the coming Priest-King, Jesus, in whom kingship and priesthood are finally joined. Zechariah adds the urgent call: "Return to me, and I will return to you." The house we must not neglect today is the gathering of God's people, the church. These chapters remind us that misplaced priorities leave us empty, that God's presence is the true glory of any building, and that He is faithful to strengthen those who obey.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional

Reading | Ezra 4–5 | Resolved to Read

In today's reading from Ezra 4:6–24 and 5:1–13, opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem moves from harassment to official appeal. Letters are sent to the Persian throne, accusations are filed, and the work on the house of God comes to a halt. It's worth noting that the Artaxerxes named here is not to be confused with the Artaxerxes who appears some sixty years later; the timeline fits the brief and turbulent reign of Pseudo-Smerdis/Bardiya, with the name possibly functioning as a throne-title during that unsettled succession. Yet when Haggai and Zechariah begin to prophesy, the work resumes. These chapters remind us that God's purposes can be delayed by human resistance but never defeated, and that His Word through the prophets is often what stirs His people to pick up what discouragement made them set down.

Resolved to Read is a daily chronological Bible podcast guiding you through Scripture in one year—with short readings, quiet moments of reflection, and warm conversations that bring faith to life.

Join the journey, stay consistent in God’s Word, and grow spiritually one day at a time.

📖 Subscribe on your favorite podcast app or watch on YouTube. 🎧 Listen daily + find the full reading plan by following along in the Daily Bible in Chronological Order edited by F. Lagard Smith.

Music: "Ears to Hear" by Kent Simmons

#BibleInAYear #Psalms #ResolvedToRead #DailyBibleReading #ChristianPodcast #Faith #Devotional