Posts with the tag “joshua”

Daily Devotional from Joshua 24--Verses 14a & 15a,c (CSB)“Therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth...But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship... As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”Have you ever heard the song “Gotta Serve Somebody” by Bob Dylan? Throughout the song he mentions people from all walks ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 23— Verse 14And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.As I was reading this passage, it brought to mind the last conversation I had with my grandpa befor...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 22--Verse 19But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.The emphasis on community here is important. As we follow th...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 21--Verse 45Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.God kept all of His good promises to the Israelites!He has made good promises to us also - promises He has guaranteed to keep.Wouldn’t you like to know what they are? The Scriptures are full of them!Here is one example:“And I am sure of this, tha...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 20–Verse 9These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and the immigrants residing among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.I am so glad that we serve a God who looks at the heart. Sometimes accidents happen, and we have to deal with the cons...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 19—Verses 10-11…and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.Such a simple sentence. Do you ever wonder what pleases the Lord? Exposing the things hidden in darkness is pleasing to the Lord. It’s not so much just telling people what’s wrong. Much of the time this won’t always be done with wor...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 18–Verse 3How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?They say, “Half the job is just starting.” Yet beginning a big task can tend to psych a person out.When I was in seminary, I had to write a 200-page dissertation. I looked forward to it, but I felt a little intimidated too. Had I read enou...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 17—Verses 17-18Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 16–Verses 4-5a, 10aThe people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans…However, they did not drive out the Canaanites…The specificity of the boundaries God described shows his wisdom to avert future disputes. I once heard of a study that was done with school children. On the playgrounds without f...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 15–Verses 16And Caleb said, "Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife."Here we see Othniel, the nephew of Caleb going after a prize....a wife. All he had to do to win the prize was to show himself a capable military leader and capture a city. God had allotted the land to the tribe of Judah, but they had to conquer it...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 14--Verse 14Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh. It makes sense that Hebron would go to Caleb. Hebron was a significant place. Some 500 years prior to this, Abraham purchased it to bury his wife, Sarah. And eventually all the patriarchs were buried there. Therefore, when the spies (of which Caleb was one) came into the promised land they immedia...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 13–Verse 7I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.Joshua was old and advanced in years, meaning he was really old! Yet much of the land that God had promised to Israel had y...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 12–Verse 24…the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.Wow, what a list of success! There are more defeated kings listed here than Doritos in a chip bag! Besides all the kings that Moses and Joshua defeated, the thing that stands out to me is the title that Moses gets in this chapter. “Moses, the servant of the Lord.” What a beautiful, humbling title to hold.It’...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 11--Verse 15Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.Joshua was faithful to the original command God gave Him to be strong, courageous, and careful to follow all the directions given through Moses. Throughout our reading today, we see how Joshua faced ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 10--Verse 13“Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.What a miraculous God we serve, who listens to us and moves on our behalf. The sun was stopped in the sky for a whole day. What does this show us about our God? Well, I think it’s clear here that w...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 9–Verse 14So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD.Joshua didn’t seek the Lord and was deceived by the Gibeonites.Even though a decision may seem clear or simple, it’s important that we rely on the Lord for wisdom and discernment. What seems right in our own eyes may take us in the wrong direction. The Word says that all who ask f...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 8– Verse 34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.A battle was just won and Israel celebrated by sacrificing to God and hearing His Word. In life we have many victories and I hope in those moments we choose to honor the Lord. This battle was intense; Israel’s strategy was geniu...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 7–Verse 13bYou will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart.Hidden sin affects everyone, not just the one hiding it—especially when it comes to light. Achan’s sin affected all of Israel and his whole family paid the consequence. Sin must be dealt with. When sin is brought to light, it holds no more power and the enemy of our soul ca...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 6–Verse 16And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.”I love the story of Jericho! Maybe because we watched the Veggie Tales episode about it a LOT, and it’s engraved in my memory! Seriously though, sometimes God asks us to do things that just don’t seem to make sense.Stay in ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 5--Verses 13-14a (CSB)When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.”This was a practical question. The Israelites were about to attack Jericho when an unknown s...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 4–Verse 7These stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.If we’re not careful, we can tend to forget the miracles God works in our lives. Therefore, we need to devise methods for remembering. And, not only that, but passing on the stories to our children, and our children’s children to the third and fourth generation. But this will require some ingenui...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 3–Verse 5Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’We want to see the Lord do mighty acts and wonders among us. We want Him to make obvious to us the way to go and to overcome seemingly impossible barriers and foes on our behalf. The pattern is there:Listen to the Lord through His Word and His appointed min...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 2--Verse 1And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.Do you think that because of your sin, God would never use you to advance His kingdom? That might seem reasonable to our thinking - He is holy and He...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 24--Verses 14a & 15a,c (CSB)“Therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth...But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship... As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”Have you ever heard the song “Gotta Serve Somebody” by Bob Dylan? Throughout the song he mentions people from all walks ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 21--Verse 45Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.God kept all of His good promises to the Israelites!He has made good promises to us also - promises He has guaranteed to keep.Wouldn’t you like to know what they are? The Scriptures are full of them!Here is one example:“And I am sure of this, tha...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 17—Verses 17-18Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, a...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 14--Verse 14Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh. It makes sense that Hebron would go to Caleb. Hebron was a significant place. Some 500 years prior to this, Abraham purchased it to bury his wife, Sarah. And eventually all the patriarchs were buried there. Therefore, when the spies (of which Caleb was one) came into the promised land they immedia...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 11--Verse 15Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.Joshua was faithful to the original command God gave Him to be strong, courageous, and careful to follow all the directions given through Moses. Throughout our reading today, we see how Joshua faced ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 10--Verses 12-14At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 5--Verses 13-14a (CSB)When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”“Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.”This was a practical question. The Israelites were about to attack Jericho and battle was imm...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 2--Verse 1And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.Do you think that because of your sin, God would never use you to advance His kingdom? That might seem reasonable to our thinking - He  is holy and H...  Read More