Thurs.’s Devo - The Hope of the World

Read: Judges 11;1-12:15; John 1:1-28; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 14:13-14
Jephthah is the story with many twists. He was the rejected son of Gilead who was born of a prostitute. His father’s sons, born of his wife chased Jephthah off and told him he would get none of his father’s inheritance. He went to live in the land of Tob until the Ammonites waged war against Israel and attacked Gilead. Now, the brothers wanted their fearless step-brother back. They went to get him bribing him with leadership - talk about a restored inheritance!
He agreed and came back to lead them in battle. Jephthah met with the king of Ammon. The king of Ammon told him that the land they lived on had been stolen from them 300 years ago and they wanted it back. Jephthah told him exactly what had really happened back then and ended with “you keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us.” Good answer.
As wise as that was, the next thing Jepthah did was so unwise. He vowed that if God would give him victory he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his door when he got home…thinking it would be an animal. God gave him the victory and his one and only daughter came out of the door with a tambourine dancing for joy over their victory. She, as a type of Jesus, laid down her life for her father. Jephthah was distraught, but she encouraged him. All she wanted was two months to mourn the fact that she would never be married or have children. Then she came back and gave herself to the sacrifice. What a picture of Jesus!
Once they won, Ephraim got mad that Jephthah didn’t invite them to the battle. They wanted to share in the victory and the plunder. He reminded them that he did invite them and they refused to come. This started a civil war and Jephthah won capturing the land where Ephraim used to cross the Jordan River. He killed every Ephraimite that tried to cross deceitfully.
After Jephthah died, Ibzan from Bethlehem judge Israel. In an effort to promote unity within the tribes, he had his 30 daughters marry men outside his clan and he brought 30 young women from outside his clan to marry is sons.
Elon was the eleventh judge of Israel and Abdon the twelfth.
We start John today and I love to read this out loud. It reads like music. John introduces Jesus and explains who Jesus will be - the Word of God in the flesh. Then he explains who he, John, is not. He is not the Messiah, Elijah or The Prophet; he is merely a voice announcing his coming. That is what we are - we are a voice proclaiming the coming of the Lord.
Lord, may proclaim your coming. May we lay down our lives for you so that others know that you are the hope of mankind.

Wed.’s Devo - The Great Ending

Read: Judges 9:22-10:18; Luke 24:13-53; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 14:11-12
Abimelech ruled only three years when God came to avenge the blood of the sons of Gideon that Abimelech had shed. God raised up Gaal who moved to Shechem and tried to win over the hearts of the people, turning them against Abimelech. It ended in a huge battle with Gaal and the people of Shechem fighting Abimelech and his army. Abimelech killed his own people. The leading people of Shechem ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith. Abimelech torched it burning 1,000 people, alive.
Abimelech then went to Thebez where the people ran and hid in a tower there. He was going to set it on fire also, but a woman dropped a milestone from the tower which landed on his head and killed him thus fulfilling the curse that Jotham had put on them. He had said in Judges 9:20, if you (Abimelech) have acted in good faith (by killing all of Gideon’s son but Jotham), then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech. It happened just as he had said.
When Abimelech’s men saw that he had died, they all dispersed and went home.
Tola was the fifth judge of Israel who ruled for 23 years and then died. He must have been a good judge because Israel didn’t fall into idolatry or the hands of the enemy during his reign.
Jair became the sixth judge. He had 30 sons and donkeys but when he died, Israel went back to idolatry. God turned Israel over to the Philistines and the Ammonites who oppressed the for 18 years. When they cried out to the Lord, he reminded them of the seven nations he had delivered them from and told them that since they hadn’t learned their lesson after seven times, He was not going to rescue them again. God told them to go and ask the gods they had left Him for.
They got rid of their false gods and cleaned up their act. The armies of Ammon had camped against them in Mizpah and the leaders announced that whoever would lead their attack would become the leader of Gilead. To be continued…
In Luke, Jesus 40 days of revealing himself to his disciples are rolled into one chapter. He appeared to the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus and explained from the law and the prophets all about his first coming and how they were fulfilled through Jesus. (I’m checking out that video when I get to heaven.) Then he appeared to his disciples and opened their minds to understand all he had told them. He gave them the promise of the Holy Spirit and blessed them as he was taken up to heaven. The disciples went to Jerusalem to praise and wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, what a great ending to a horrible beginning. You are always the wonderful surprise at the end. Help us to wait for the end, praising your for what you have done and are going to do.

Tues.’s Devo - God Works Everything for Our Good

Read: Judges 8:18-9:21; Luke 23:44-24:12; Psalm 99:1-9; Proverbs 14:9-10
Gideon asked the two Midianite kings to describe the men they had killed in Tabor. They described them as the look of king’s sons which told Gideon that they were his own brothers that they had killed, so he killed them.
The people wanted to make Gideon their king but Gideon refused and replied that God would rule over them. That was a great answer but then he asked for earrings from every man’s plunder. They gladly gave it to him and he made a sacred ephod which became a snare to his family and all of Israel.
There was peace in Israel for another 40 years.
Gideon had 70 sons from his many wives in Ophrah and one son from a concubine in Shechem whose name was Abimelech. As soon as Gideon died, Israel abandoned God and worshipped images of Baal. Abimelech went to his father’s brothers in Shechem and asked them if they would want to be ruled by all 70 of Gideon’s sons or by just one of them. He reminded them that he was their flesh and blood and from their same city. They sided with him and gave him 70 silver coins from the temple of Baal to fund his campaign. He hired some reckless troublemakers to follow him and went to his father’s house in Ophrah. On one stone, he killed all of his half-brothers except the youngest, Jotham who escaped. Abimelech was made king.
Jotham heard about it and came back and gave the people a speech about different fruit trees that refused to become their king. But the one who agreed to be their king was the thornbush who consumed the other trees. He ended his speech with a curse. It was in essence: if they received Abimelech as their king, he would consume them and they would consume him. It was a double-edged sword.
In Luke, the sky went dark for three hours. If you want to know what happened in that three hours read Psalm 22. God came down and ministered to Jesus. God tore the curtain in the Temple that kept anyone from going into the Holy of Holies where the presence of the Lord was. He invited all to come in. Jesus gave up his spirit and the Roman officer who was on duty was converted.
Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus body from the cross, wrapped it in linen cloths and laid it in his own tomb. The next day was the Sabbath and all stayed in their homes celebrating in sorrow. But, the next day, the women went to the tomb with their spices. When they saw the stone rolled away and the body gone they were perplexed. Two angels appeared and told them he was risen just like he had told them would happen. The women ran to tell the disciples.
God always shows up at our darkest hour, because he had a plan the whole time.
Lord, thank you that you are dependable and always kind

Mon.’s Devo - From Fear to Victory

Read: Judges 7:1-8:17; Luke 23:13-43; Psalms 97:1-98:9; Proverb 14:7-8
Today we see Gideon transform from the frightened little farmer to the great and mighty warrior of the Lord.
Gideon had gathered an army of 22,000 men to fight the Midianites but God told him that he had too many. If He gave them the victory, they would boast that they had done it, so God had Gideon whittle his army down to 300.
If Gideon was afraid with 22,000 men, you can imagine how he felt with 300. God is so good to encourage us when he is asking us to do something impossible. He told Gideon that if he was still afraid he could sneak down to the Midianite camp and get some encouragement. How is that for advice? Gideon took his friend and they did just that. When they listened as one of the warriors was telling his friend about his dream. It was about a loaf of barley bread that tumbled down into the Midianite camp, hit one tent, and it fell flat. His friend interpreted it that it could only mean one thing - God had given Gideon the victory over Midian and all its allies. That was all the confirmation Gideon needed. He went back to his men and told them to get up because it was time to go and get their victory. With these 300 men, they killed 120,000.
They surrounded the camp, blew their ram’s horns and broke their jars to let their light shine. They woke the Midianites up in a panic. They ran around killing each other and scattered everywhere. Gideon called in other tribes to help him with the ones who escaped. He ran after the kings and chased them down. He came back to the towns who wouldn’t feed his warriors and beat them then killed them. Gideon took two of the Midianite kings along with many soldiers as prisoners.
In Luke, the lamb has been examined and was found spotless. Pilate announced he was innocent and was going to release him but the crowd yelled for Jesus to die and Barabbas to be released in his stead. Pilate fell to the pressure and released Barabbas to quiet the mob and ordered that Jesus be crucified.
Two others were to be crucified that day also. One of them mocked Jesus along with the crowd while the other knew who Jesus was and rebuked him for speaking against the innocent Messiah. He asked to be remembered when Jesus came into his kingdom but Jesus told him he would not just be remembered but he would join him in Paradise. In the Greek, “paradise” means “a park, an Eden, a place of future happiness”. Jesus was winning souls in the middle of his worse suffering.
Lord, thank you for all the suffering you bore just so that we could be saved. Jesus, you forgave all your murderers so help us to forgive everyone who rightfully or wrongly accuses us. May we win the fight against sin as a mighty warrior full of your Spirit.

Sun.’s Devo - Israel’s Fourth Judge

Read: Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:54-23:12; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 14:5-6
Israel sinned so they fell into the hands of the Midianites for 7 years. Israel were farmers so every time they worked their fields and were ready to harvest their crops, the Midianites would come down and destroy their harvest driving the nation to starvation.
The people cried out to the Lord and God called Gideon to be their defender. Gideon was the least likely to be a mighty warrior. He thought God had surely made a mistake when he chose him because his family was the least in their tribe and his father was the Baal priest.
The angel of the Lord convinced Gideon of who he was then told him to destroy his family altars and make them into an altar to the Lord and sacrifice a bull on it. Gideon did it at night for fear of his own family. In the morning, the family rose up to find their altar burnt and the remains of a bull (which would have been a great sacrifice during a famine) on the altar.
They wanted to kill Gideon but his father stepped up to his defense and told the people to let Baal defend his own altar.
Nothing happened to Gideon so God defended him.
When the armies of Midian gathered against them, Gideon called the men of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali to him with a ram’s horn. They all came and Gideon needed some confirmation from God. He asked God for two signs and God gave him both of them.
Asking for a confirmation doesn’t make God mad. God was asking Gideon to do something he had never done before. God didn’t mind him asking for assurance. That is what prayer is all about.
In Luke, Peter denied Jesus three times just like Jesus said he would. Peter couldn’t stand because he didn’t have the power of the Holy Spirit. Once he received the Holy Spirit he would be able to stand in front of a huge crowd at Pentecost and preach 3,000 to salvation.
Jesus was questioned by Sanhedrin. They questioned him about whether he claimed to be the Messiah. Jesus told him that he would be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and they went into a frenzy. They took him to Pilate with their weak accusations. Pilate couldn’t find fault in him. But, when he saw how upset the crowd was, and they said he was a Galilean, Pilate decided to turn him over to Herod Antipas since Galilee was his jurisdiction. Herod just happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.
Herod had heard about Jesus and was happy to be able to meet him for himself. He put on his judicial robe and went to sit in the seat of judgment.
Lord, I thank you that you don’t send us to do things we can do; you send us to do things that you can do. We avail ourselves to whatever you want to do through us.

Sat.’s Devo - Women of Faith

Read: Judges 4:1-5:31; Luke 22:35-53; Psalm 94:1-23; Proverbs 14:3-4
Once Ehud died, Israel went back into sin. God turned them over to King Jabin, a Canaanite king, who oppressed Israel for 20 years. Finally, the people cried out to the Lord for help. God sent the third judge - Deborah who judged Israel from the hills of Ephraim. She sent for Barak who lived in Naphtali and told him to round up 10,000 warriors from Naphtali and Zebulun to come and fight Sisera and his 900 iron chariots. Barak told Deborah that the only way he would do it was if she came with him.
Deborah agreed but said that since he was afraid to go in faith, the honor of the victory would go to a woman and ironically it wasn’t her.
God gave Barak great victory in war but Sisera, their commander fled on foot. He came to the tent of Jael.
She was the wife of a Kenite whose husband was a friend of King Jabin’s, so Sisera thought he had found a safe refuge. Jael’s husband had abandoned her so she got to take out her animosity against her husband on Sisera. She lulled him to sleep with milk then drove a tent peg through his temple.
In Deborah and Barak’s song you find more details. They sang of the mother of Sisera and her anticipation as she waits for her son to come home and bring her some of the spoil.
This is an interesting read. So many women are talked about in today’s reading. It is good to remember that women often stand for the Bride and today she is empowered to prophecy, conquer and sing about victory over her enemies.
They had peace for 40 years.
In Luke, Jesus reminded them of how, as long as He was with them they never had to worry about money, clothes or the future. But now, they needed to prepare for the future because He was about to face his darkest hour and leave them. Then they would have to learn for themselves how to grow in faith. They had been riding on Jesus’ faith and it would take time to develop their own. Also, they were entering a time when the power of darkness would reign.
Jesus was arrested at night and never saw the light of day till he was nailed to the cross.
Lord, help us to go fearlessly against our enemy and defeat him with faith. It is You who bring the victory.

Fri.’s Devo - Victory

Read: Judges 2:10-3:31; Luke22:14-34; Psalms 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 14:1-2
Once the eye-witnesses of God’s power died, a new generation grew up who had no personal experience with God. They did evil, fell into idolatry and abandoned the Lord, so God got angry with them. The nation went through cycles of rebellion, oppression, repentance, then deliverance. This cycle was repeated over and over.
God explained why he didn’t allow Joshua to conquer all of the enemies in the land. They were left there to test the people’s hearts. They were also there to teach the people how to fight. That is why we have trials. It is not for our destruction - it is to make us strong.
Whenever the people turned to idolatry, God turned them over to an adversary to punish them. Then they would turn to the Lord for help against their adversary and God would give them a judge to rescue them. The first judge He gave them was Othniel, the same man who fought for Caleb’s daughter. His name means “the force of God”. They had been under the wicked rule of Cushan-rishathaim for 8 years. His name means “their darkness was double wickedness”.
God gave Othniel victory and they were free for 40 years. They sinned again and were given over to Eglon of Moab for 18 years. Israel repented and God gave the Ehud who fought with his left-hand and used a double-edged sword to do it. That means that he knew how to fight spiritually.
He went in and took out the “principality” with the Word of God then rallied his army and took the city. He ruled for 80 years.
Notice how the years of oppression get longer but the years of freedom did also.
In Luke, Jesus was having the Passover meal with his disciples. There were four cups in the Seder. The cup he drank first was the cup of affliction. The cup they drank after the meal was the cup of redemption. This was the new covenant promise. Up until then they had always drank this cup in anticipation of their redemption but now Jesus told them they would drink it in remembrance because this year their redemption had come.
He spoke of the greatest that should take the lowest rank. He was speaking of the way he was the greatest yet he came to serve but also, ironically, Judas Iscarot was the oldest and John was the youngest. This statement became true about them. Judas became the least and John the greatest. Jesus also knew the plan Satan had for Peter and the plan God had for Peter so he interceded for him. The prayers of Jesus won over the plan of Satan’s and it always will.
Lord, may we be warriors in your war against Satan and your promise of victory.

Thurs.’s Devo - Enter His Courts With Praise -

Read: Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalms 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25
Judah was to go first to attack the Canaanites because “praise” is what has to go first in battling the enemy. We enter God’s courts with praise and God’s courts is where we contend at the courtroom of God with the accusations of Satan. We enter before the courtroom knowing we have the victory before God has even heard our case. We are contending with a defeated adversary. That is good to remember.
When they sent Judah first, justice was served. The king that had cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings and made them eat the crumbs under his table, would now have that same punishment done against him.
It is sad to read of all the people that they failed to kill and drive out of their land. They lived among them and became thorns in their side and carried their future generations further and further from the true God. Some of the names of the cities they failed to cast out were names that meant: “she will afflict you,” “he will swallow the people,” “I shall make a lie,” “broad place,” “house of affliction,” etc.
After they had settled in their lands, the angel of the Lord came and told the Israelites that they were not suppose to make any covenants its the people but were suppose to destroy their altars. But they did all of these things. Because they disobeyed, God would no longer drive their enemies out of for them but they would remain to be thorns in their sides and their gods would be a constant temptation to them.
When he had finished speaking, the people repented and served the Lord throughout the lifespan of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him. Joshua was buried in his own land.
In Luke, Jesus was nearing the end of his time on earth. He spoke of the time in the very end of time. Jesus knew that they would face the destruction of the temple and the destruction of Jerusalem would compare to the destruction that would come in the end.
For now, they would prepare for the Passover meal which God had prepared for them.
Jesus made good use of last few more hours with them. He went every morning to the temple to teach the people.
Lord, help us to live our lives like this is the last day we will have on the earth.

Wed.’s Devo - The Blessing

Read: Joshua 24:1-33; Luke 21:1-28; Psalm 89:38-52; Proverbs 13:20-23
God reminded the people through Joshua of all the times He had delivered them from their enemies. The one I like the best is when he talked about Balaam who was hired by Balak to curse Israel. God said, “…but I would not listen to him. Instead, I made Balaam bless you, and so I rescued you from Balak.” God can even make the demon’s bless us when they want to curse us!
God reminded them of how much he loved them and how good he wanted to be to them in the future, but it was their choice. They could choose to worship the gods of the other side, or they could choose to worship him. They chose to never abandon the Lord but as soon as the last elder had died, that is exactly what they did.
Joshua set up a stone and repeated the covenant they were making with God so the stone could hear it and be a witness against them if they disobeyed. Joseph’s bones were buried there by that stone.
Joshua died and was buried in the land he had chosen to live.
In Luke, everything that Jesus told them happened in their day except Jesus coming back. It was just a precursor of what will happen in the Great Tribulation. Then Jesus will come back through the clouds and everyone will see him.
Lord, thank you for your deliverance. We praise you for your mighty power to save.

Tues.’s Devo - Our Witness

Read: Joshua 22:21-23;16; Luke 20:27-47; Psalm 89:14-37; Proverbs 13:17-19
Yesterday, we were waiting for the response of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh as to why they built the altar by the Jordan, and today we get that response. They built it so that the other tribes would have it to remind them that the people of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had an inheritance in the Lord also, even though they were on the other side of the Jordan. They never wanted to be cut off from worshipping the Lord because of the boundary of the Jordan. When the other tribes and the high priest heard their response they were satisfied and there was peace. The altar was named “Witness” to remind them all that God was their God too.
Years later, Joshua knew it was nearing time for him to die so he called all the elders to him. He warned them to follow the law that God had given them and to not associate with the people still living in the land. He told them to not even mention the name of their gods, much less worship them. He reminded them of how God helped them conquer their enemies and what would happen to them if they turned away from God. If they broke the covenant that they had made with the Lord, he would quickly vanish them from the good land he had given them.
In Luke, Jesus continued to be questioned and examined to find any blemish in him. Today, they posed the question about the wife who kept having to marry the brother of his deceased brother. They wanted to know who’s she would be in the resurrection. The question had nothing to do with the woman, but what He believed about the resurrection. The Sadducees were asking the question because they had a standing quarrel about resurrection with the Pharisees. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection and the Pharisees did.
Jesus set them straight. There was a resurrection and they were going to be judged on that day for the way they cheated the widows out of their inheritance. Jesus reminded them of what David said. David had called the Messiah, “Lord” because the Messiah wasn’t his son, he was his Lord. The Messiah would be the son of God.
Jesus gave them a lot to think about.
Lord, may we remember all you have done for us and not stray from the pure Word of God - it is our Witness.

Mon.’s Devo - Atonement

Read: Josua 22:21-23:16; Luke 20:27-47; Psalm 89:14-37; Proverbs 13:17-19
The tribes of Levi were dispersed throughout the tribes as cities of refuge where people could go for atonement. The cities had to be well marked with signs, making it easy for a person to find. The road to the city had to be 32 els wide. An “el” was the length of a man’s fingertips to his elbow which would be more than a foot. So the road was twice as wide as the standard road and free of stumbling stones.
Joshua called the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh which were the tribes who had land on the eastern side of the Jordan. He commended them for doing everything he had required of them. Since they had helped the other tribes gain their inheritance and now they were released to go home to their families. When they came to the Jordan, they built an altar to commemorate all that God had done for them. The other tribes misread their motives and thought they had set up a pagan altar. They came out to fight them but sent their delegates to talk to them first. This was the right way to settle an argument. The tribes who built the altar would be able to defend themselves before blood was unnecessarily spilt.
What a great example of how to settle matters. I have found that most of the things I get easily offended about, are just misunderstandings on my part and if I would just let the other party explain, it could wipe the suspicion away.
The devil is the accuser of the brethren and he loves to put his accusations in our heads and make us believe a lie. Let’s not let him win.
In Luke, Jesus was in his last few days. He had entered Jerusalem where the “lamb” would be examined to find if it was spotless. While the priests were examining the Pascal lamb to see if it was spotless, the Pharisees were looking for a “spot” on Jesus. He was being examined up and down, as they tried to find something to accuse him of - some sin. Instead, Jesus turned the mirror on them and exposed their sin.
They questioned Jesus’ authority, his political views and his views on taxes but were blown away by his answers. He was not giving them any reason for fault.
Lord, help us to overlook offenses and examine our own hearts. You are the only spotless lamb that was slain to take our sin to the cross so that we might live in your righteousness. Thank you for your precious blood!

Sun.’s Devo -Jesus Enters Jerusalem

Read: Joshua 19:1-20:9; Luke 19:28-48; Psalm 88:1-18; Proverbs 13:12-14
Once the tribes came back from scouting out their land, they gave Joshua their maps. Yesterday, we read Benjamin’s allotment. Today we read of Simeon’s, Zebulun’s, Issachar’s, Asher’s, Naphtali’s and Dan’s. So seven tribes got their allotments and were sent to conquer their land.
Joshua was to have the town of his choice and he chose Timnath-serah which means “abundant portion”.
Seven cities of refuge were set up for the person who accidentally killed someone so they could have refuge until their trial. If they were ruled innocent, they were to live in the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest, then they could leave. If they were not ruled innocent they had to live on the run because the avenger of blood, which was the dead’s closest kin would come after him to kill him. God is the avenger of blood (Isaiah 1:24). Jesus is the High Priest and the murderer is us. Jesus died setting us free from our sin so that God doesn’t have to judge us.
In Luke, Jesus sent his disciples ahead to find a room for them to have the Passover seder in. He told them to get the donkey that they saw as soon as they came into Jerusalem. He gave them explicit instructions of what to do and what to say and it happened just as he said.
Jesus rode that donkey and ascended into Jerusalem from the southeast. The Passover temple lamb was making his descent from the northwest. As the Temple lamb came into Jerusalem, the people would lay palm branches for the lamb to walk on and sing the Hallel (Psalms 113-118). Psalm 118:26 says, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.
There were about 2.5 million people ascending on Jerusalem at the time of Christ, so people were everywhere. The people who walked the path of Jesus couldn’t help but do the same thing for him that they did for the pascal lamb. When the Pharisees saw this happening, they rebuked Jesus for letting them praise him, but Jesus told them that if they didn’t praise him then the rocks would cry out.
Jesus threw out the money changers again. He did that on his first Passover in John 2 telling them not to make his Father’s house a house of merchandise and this time he tells them what to make it: a house of prayer.
Jesus taught the people while the Pharisees plotted his death.
Lord, help us not to allow our bodies to become temples of merchandise, but temples of prayer.

Sat.’s Devo - A Transference of Wealth

Read: Joshua 16:1-18:28; Luke 19:1-27; Psalm 87:1-7; Proverbs 13:11
The names of the towns they inherited described the blessing on each tribe. Joseph means “let him add”. He had two sons - Ephraim which means “double fruit” and Manasseh means “causing to forget”.
Ephraim’s inheritance was all about crowns and opportunity to prosper. They even had a people that were called “let him escape” and the next one was “the consumer’s house”. This sounds like a transference of wealth from the consumer’s house to the godly.
Manasseh’s inheritance was quite different. He had a group of men listed that had to do with the proclamation of a new man: “I shall be the prince of God” to a group of women who have no covering that seem to point to what God was “causing them to forget”. Their names were: “shadow of fear,” “sickness,” “the feast has languished.”
Sadly, both tribes were not able to drive out all of their enemies. It was the Canaanites that they both had a problem getting rid of. The Canaanites mean “traffickers”. They were the salesmen that traded with them. They weren’t going to leave a place they could make money at.
There were some tribes who hadn’t gotten their territory so Joshua asked them what they were waiting for. He told them to send out spies and have them map out what they saw and what area they wanted. They were to bring the report to him and he would take it to the Lord to get the final okay.
This reminds me of our prayers. We complain and daydream of a better life but have we put the pencil to the pad and drawn out our desires? If we would do more than just talk about it or complain about our situation, maybe we would see the answers. God is not Santa Clause. He wants us to put our skin in the game also. He wants to partner with us. (I am preaching to me!)
In Luke, Jesus told Zacchaeus that he must eat with him. Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector which means that he had no friends except the lowly. God wanted to invest into the poor of the city and he knew just how to do it and who he would do it through. Zacchaeus gave away half of his riches and paid back those he had cheated 4 times. I would say that was a great day for the whole town.
Then Jesus told the story of how he invests his money in the ones he knows will use it the best. Zacchaeus was one of these people. Once he heard the good news he was a changed man and helped more people than the righteous teachers of the law were doing. We have a president who is a great example of this.
Lord, help us to understand that nothing in this life is worth holding on to. You are the only thing that is eternal.

Fri.’s Devo - Sacrifice

Read: Joshua 15:1-63; Luke 18:18-43; Psalm 86:1-17; Proverbs 13:9-10
Judah was to receive the largest land because they had the most people. Jerusalem was included in Judah’s inheritance. They could not drive out the Jebusites which continued to dwell with them.
This is still happening today. Jerusalem is divided among four groups of people: the Armenians, the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians. Sadly the Muslims own the greater portion, the Christians the next largest then the Armenians and the Jewish own about the same amount.
Caleb was the leader of the tribe of Judah at the time. Amazing how what they did then affects what is happening now. If we would realize the significance of the way we live our lives now and how it will affect our posterity for generations, we might change some things we do. We don’t do natural sacrifices now but we do do spiritual sacrifices. Every decision is like a sacrifice in the Old Testament and the amount of times we choose God’s way over our own selfish desires is like offering a sacrifice on the altar which atones for much. We are still taking territory, that territory just doesn’t look like physical land. It looks like peace, joy, confidence in God, favor, righteousness, etc. What a great gift to pass down to your grand kids.
In Luke, Jesus was asked, what should a person do to inherit eternal life. Since this person was a teacher of the law, Jesus told him to obey the 10 Commandments. He told Jesus he had obeyed them since he was a child. So Jesus told him that he had one final thing he must do: sell everything and come and follow him. The man left, sad because he was very rich and had much to lose.
Jesus explained that it was very hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God which seemed impossible for the disciples to hear. They asked him, then who can be saved? Jesus answered that what was impossible with people was possible with God.
Jesus demonstrated it with the blind man. When the blind man was told that Jesus was passing by, he yelled out for mercy. He was told to be quiet, but he yelled louder, to get Jesus’ attention. He was in an impossible situation, but desperate. Jesus stopped and healed him and now he could see.
It was not the rich that can’t come into the kingdom as much as it is the people who are “filled” and have no need. You can be rich and understand that you still have a need.
The rich man in the story had no need. The blind man had a great need. The rich man left without salvation and the blind man was left being able to see.
The disciples were rich in that they had Jesus with them but when he told them what was about to happen, they couldn’t see. They were full and couldn’t receive any more. They would have to lose it all to find salvation. The good news is that eleven of them did.
Lord, help us to lay down all of our life for you. May the sacrifices we make now atone for much for our future generations.

Thurs.’s Devo - Possessing Our Land

Read: Joshua 13:1-14:15; Luke 18:1-17; Psalm 85:1-13; Proverbs 13:7-8
Joshua was growing old and had conquered much of the land but still had land yet to be taken. God named the people yet to be taken out and said that He would drive them out ahead of them. All they had to do was to include this land when he divided the land among the tribes.
Reuben and Gad and half of Manasseh received their land outside the land of Canaan and the other nine and half tribes received their land inside the promised land. Caleb asked for the land of Kadesh-barnea where Abraham and most of the patriarchs were buried because Moses had promised that land to him. Sadly, the land of Kadesh-barnea which became Hebron is now occupied by a mosque and no one that is not Muslim can enter it.
What we don’t occupy and continue to occupy will be taken by the enemy. One of those areas we have lost is the Sabbath. We need to take that back so we can experience rest.
In Luke, Jesus gave them a parable to teach them how to pray when they were dealing with an adversary. He taught them to go to the Father as the Just Judge and present their case. They should keep presenting it till they got the justice they were seeking.
Then he gave them a parable of who is accepted when they come before him. The sinner was accepted because he came humbly. The self-righteous was rejected because he came arrogantly.
Then he showed us how to come into the Kingdom of God where everything is ours. We come in like a child: boldly, humbly, faithfully, expectantly and joyfully. When we come in that way, God delights in blessing and touching us.
Lord, may we learn how to live in the Kingdom and be touched by you. May we possess our land and every promise you have given us.

Wed.’s Devo - The Real Kingdom

Read: Joshua 11;1-12:24- Luke 17:11-37; Psalm 84:1-12; Proverbs 13:5-6
King Jabin “the intelligent” of Hazor, capital of the northern kingdoms took the lead. He lived in the hill country meaning that he was the elite. The other areas were the kings of the valleys, foothills, plains and mountain slopes.
God gave them victory because Joshua did exactly what God told him to do. He even killed their horses which consisted of cutting the sinews and arteries of their back legs so that they would be lame and bleed to death. This seems so inhumane but those horses carried the spirit of their rider. This was a spiritual battle as well as a natural one.
God hardened the hearts of these nations so that not one of them asked to make peace because God wanted them to be completely destroyed.
In Luke, Jesus met 10 lepers on his way to Jerusalem. They cried out for mercy so Jesus sent them to the priest to show themselves, and as they were going, they noticed they were healed. It doesn’t tell us if they continued to the priest or not, but the Samaritan wouldn’t be allowed into the Temple because he was not a Jew. He came back to Jesus - the real priest and showed his appreciation. Jesus commended the man and then told him to rise because his faith had made him whole. Now, he was not just physically healed, but spiritually healed.
The Pharisees asked Jesus when would the Kingdom of God come. Jesus explained that it was a spiritual kingdom that was already among them - speaking of him and the ability to be saved. He even told them that the Messiah would have to suffer first and be rejected by their generation.
When the Son of Man returned it would be in a day much like the days of Noah when men were very wicked and going about their lives oblivious to what was coming. Just like Noah and Lot, the few righteous would be taken out first, then the end would come.
Lord, help us to be diligent about building your Kingdom on this earth and inviting people to enter it.
I want to give a word of encouragement about what we are going through right now. The devil wants nothing more than to take our nation and make us a slave to him. We have got to pray for discernment for our President. He is listening to the wrong advisers who want to ruin us and rule over us. When our President tells us it is time to go back to work, all hell will break out and we as the Church have got to boldly come out of our isolation and go back to work. If we are covered with the blood we will not be touched by virus nor will we carry it. We have got to be God's hands to rebuild the House of the Lord which for us is America. Blessings on all who are called by His name. We don't walk by sight but by faith!!!

Tues.’s Devo - Just Believe

Read: Joshua 9:3-10:43; Luke 16:19-17:10; Psalm 83:1-18; Proverbs 13:4
Reading the stories of the battles in the promised land we can learn about spiritual warfare and how the devil works. The people of Gibeon knew they were doomed so they used deceit. Satan is the author of deceit. They tricked the Israelites into making a treaty with them. The most important line in today’s reading is, “but they did not consult the Lord.” Israel didn’t ask God before they made the treaty. They just used their own carnal reasoning. It made sense to them but if they had just asked God, who knows everything, He would have let them in on the truth. How often could we spare ourselves from bad decisions if we would just ask God first.
When they found out the truth, the only thing they could do was to make them their slaves. So the Gibeonites carried their water and cut their wood. Then when the Gibeonites were attacked by the Amorites, Israel had to come and help them since they had made a covenant with them. This actually worked to their advantage and God gave them a huge victory. God’s army fought from heaven. He threw down hail stones and killed more than the Israelites did. I would have loved to have seen that!
When the sun was setting, they were still fighting so Joshua asked for God to let the sun stop setting until they could finish, and it did.
Five of their enemies kings had hidden in a cave so Joshua commanded that they place a stone over the opening until he could come and kill them. In the meantime, they took all of their cities leaving no survivors just like God had instructed them to do.
In Luke, Jesus had just finished telling the parables about the rich manager and told one last one: A certain rich man enjoyed all his money and had no compassion on the poor. When he died he saw the error of his ways and asked if his brothers could be warned. Jesus explained that the law and the prophets have always been available and if someone died and rose from the grave and went to them, they still wouldn’t believe. He was pointing out the fact that their hearts were beyond believing. They had rejected the prophets in the past and now the Messiah was standing before them and they couldn’t believe him now nor when he would rise from the dead, so their was nothing more that could be done for them.
Lord, we repent of unbelief. We know that you have an answer and are the answer to everything on the earth and in heaven. We trust in you to come to our defense and save us.

Mon.’s Devo - Wait on the Lord

Read: Joshua 7:16-9:2; Luke 16:1-18; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 13:2-3
You can feel the intensity growing as God narrows down the clan, to the family, to the members, to Achan. He was smart to confess, even if it did cost him his life. He died for 200 silver coins, a bar of gold and a robe. If he had just waited, he would have gotten to keep all the plunder he wanted from the next towns. Jericho was the tithe - the first fruit that was to be given to the Lord. The rest of the towns and plunder was all theirs.
The temptation to get what we want before God’s timing has been man’s greatest temptation. All the temptations of Jesus were things that he would eventually get…just not yet. He had to go to the cross first. I wonder if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden wasn’t there for them to eat at a later time, when they would be able to handle it. I don’t think that the tree was evil, they were just not mature enough to handle it yet. God’s timing is always best.
God gave them great strategy in taking Ai. All Joshua had to do was to hold out his spear. Moses held out a staff as his authority because he led them like a shepherd. Joshua held out a spear because it was now time to fight. Crossing the Jordan gives you authority and power to engage in spiritual warfare. Crossing the Jordan is a picture of being baptized into God’s Spirit. It is Jesus’ baptism. The Red Sea was John’s baptism.
In Luke, Jesus gave a parable about an unwise manager who wasted his master’s money. Jesus was using this parable to point to the Pharisees and religious leaders. They had been given the office of teaching the people about God and his laws but they had been foolish with God’s word and changed and added to it. There lives were a mockery of righteousness.
Instead, they should use their position to bless others and give, not extort and enslave. Our natural lives mirrors our spiritual. If we are generous with our natural possessions, time and energy, then we will be generous with our spiritual possessions, time and energy.
Jesus ended with the example of “putting away” a wife and taking another. They were “putting away” their first wife without the legal writ of divorcement and marrying a new wife thus causing anyone who married her to be committing adultery. This was pointing to what they were doing with the law. They had put away Moses’ law - their first wife, though they still claimed to be following it, and had written their own laws - their new wife - causing them to be committing spiritual adultery in their hearts.
Lord, help us to walk with you, our first love. Help us to wait on your timing for our blessings and promises to come true.

Sun.’s Devo - Jericho

Read: Joshua 5:1-7:15; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 13:1
The people of Canaan were paralyzed in fear of the Israelites but they were not ready to fight until they have made a blood sacrifice that costs them something. So Joshua had them circumcised in case any of them died in battle. He wanted them atoned for, to save their soul in the resurrection. On the third day after their circumcision, God said that today, he had rolled away the shame of their slavery in Egypt. On the third day the angels rolled away the stone and Jesus rose from the dead triumphantly rolling away our shame of sin forever.
They celebrated Passover to remember their great deliverance from Egypt and in preparation of their great success in Canaan.
The first town they were to take was Jericho. Joshua met the commander of the Lord’s army and he told them the strategy of taking the city. As they walked around the city seven times quietly, the army of God was doing something in another realm. I would have loved to see what they were doing but we only know that on the seventh day, when the priests blew the trumpets and the people shouted as loud as they could, the walls of Jericho collapsed.
They were to destroy everything except Rahab and her family and the things that weren’t silver, gold, bronze, or iron because they were sacred to God and were to be brought for the treasury.
Joshua cursed anyone who would try to rebuild the city. It would cost them the life of their firstborn when they laid the foundation and their youngest son when they set the gates. Many have tried to rebuild Jericho over the years and have seen that this curse is still alive.
Achan violated the instruction of God and brought an idol he has seen into his house and hid it. It was brought to light when they were defeated in the next town of Ai. When Joshua went to the Lord to ask why they were so badly defeated over such a little town. God told him it was because someone had sinned at Jericho. Joshua was to bring out a representative of each tribe and in the morning, He would show him who was guilt. God would punish that person and his whole family with fire. I bet Achan didn’t have a very sound sleep that night.
In Luke, the religious teachers and lawyers complained that Jesus ate and associated with sinners…instead of them. Jesus gave them three parables. The first was about one lost sheep out of a hundred. The next was about a woman who had ten coins and lost one. The other was about a man who had two sons and lost one. It didn’t matter the percentage, all were equally as important to the one who lost them. God had lost his people and Jesus was helping them to return to Him.
The Pharisees were just as lost, only they weren’t looking for a way back. They had no idea they were lost.
Lord, bring our nation back to you. Bring the world back to you. Help us to see the spiritual condition we are in and repent.

Sat.’s Devo - Prepare to Cross Over

Read: Joshua 3:1-4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28
Joshua prepared the people for a miracle on the third day. He told them to get ready because God was going to do great wonders. This wonder was to be a reminder to them of how he was going to drive out the “ites” before them, The ark and the priest went first and as soon as the feet of the priest touched the water, the water flow was cut off upstream and the river stood up like a wall The ground was immediately dry and they walked across this. Of course, God did this when the river was teeming with water and overflowing its banks because that is always when God works - when it looks the most impossible.
The priests with the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everyone had passed them, then they walked to the other side. Then Joshua told the leaders of each tribe to go back to the middle where the ark was and pick up a stone from the middle and carry it and place it as a memorial to God forever of the day the Lord’s covenant crossed over to their new home. Joshua set up another 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan.
It says that the people hurried across making me think that they were a little afraid. But God had Joshua do all those things with the stones to show them that there was nothing to be afraid of. God would keep them safe until every jot and tittle of what he had commanded them to do had been done. We can be sure that everything God has appointed for us to do will be done and we will not die or be taken out until that day, if obeying God is our goal.
The priests could not move until Joshua gave the command and the moment the priests feet landed on the other side, the waters came crashing down to fill the Jordan.
They walked across this river on the 10th day of the 1st month making it the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was when the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies and take the incense from the altar of incense and put it on the ark making atonement for the whole nation.
God was making atonement for his nation bringing them through a baptism of his power. The crossing of the Red Sea was after Passover and on the day of Unleavened Bread as a shadow of the burial of Jesus. It was their baptism washing them of their sins. The crossing of the Jordan was also an atonement of their sins to prepare them for living in the promised land. This is a picture of the last Day of Atonement that will be a time when you must repent before Jesus comes back for the remnant that repented during the days of tribulation.
In Luke, Jesus told two parables about the wedding feast. The first one was to those who were honored to be invited but wanted to be honored also. They were advised to be humble and let God exalt them. This would be a parable for Christians who want to be respected for their good works instead of letting God determine if their good works were worthy of being praised. This one deals with pride.
The next parable deals with apathy. Many were invited, but they were so earthly bound they didn’t have time in their busy schedules to interest themselves in the things of God. So, since they couldn’t put God into their schedule, God sent his angels out to save the poor, unlikely, tattooed, crusty people who will drop everything to come in. We are seeing this very thing happen right now.
Lord, when we count the cost of what it means to follow you, we find that you are worth anything we could lose on this earth. Help us to be more heavenly minded than earthly. We are prepared for a miracle today!

Fri.’s Devo - Be Courageous!

Read: Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24; Luke 13:22-14:6; Psalm 79:1-13; Proverbs 12:26
Moses went up on Mt. Nebo to view the whole land that God had given them. Mt. Nebo means “his prophecy”. God said that there has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. His prophecy has lived on for ever.
God buried him in a valley near Beth-peor which means “house of opening”. God was the only one at Moses funeral and he opened the earth to bury his body. I would have loved to see how God performed a funeral. I bet it was joyous!
Moses had laid hands on Joshua before he died and imparted the wisdom God had given him to Joshua. God promised Joshua that no one would be able to stand against him as long as he lived, because God was with him and would not fail him. He gave him two orders: don’t be afraid and don’t disobey the commandments, or do be courageous and do obey the commandments. God’s commands can be negative to us or positive.
Joshua responded with a hearty “amen” to both. I’m thinking that since only two of the 12 spies sent out last time came back with a good report, he only sent two to spy the land. He also sent them out secretly just in case he didn’t like their report. He probably didn’t want them to be able to put fear in the people’s heart because he knew what he was going to do no matter what.
The two spies stayed at Rahab’s house who hid them and gave them safety. Her kindness bought her salvation for herself and her whole household. She would end up marrying Salmon and having a son named Boaz who would marry Ruth and be in the lineage of Jesus.
The two spies came back with great news that everyone was terrified of them and they would be easy to take. They said, “The Lord has given us the whole land.” Joshua had sent the right two!
In Luke, Jesus refused to be afraid of what Herod might do to him. He knew his timeline and there was nothing that “fox” could do to out-smart God. Jesus would continue to heal and cast out demons until the day God appointed for him to die. He knew that he would die in Jerusalem because that was where all the prophets died that were killed by man.
Jesus was eating at the home of one of the leading Pharisees and there was a man there who had dropsy. Jesus looked at the lawyers and Pharisees and asked them if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath day. They refused to answer. He healed the man and told them that if one of their ox fell into a pit on the sabbath that they would pull him out, so this was not any different. But, they were too busy straining at the gnat and swallowing the camel to try to understand it.
Lord, help us not to be blinded to what you are doing. Don’t let our pride blind us to the fact that we need to repent and stay repentant. We pray that you would heal our nation and reset us to walk in all of your ways. Help us to be courageous.

Thurs.’s Devo -The Blessings

Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13;1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25
After all of Moses reproofs and warnings, he finally gets to bless the tribes with God’s blessing. I would think that this was a joy for Moses to do.
He blessed Reuben with growth in their numbers and Judah with strength to defeat their enemies. Levi was blessed with faithfulness and obedience. Benjamin was blessed with God’s presence. Joseph was blessed with abundance and fruitfulness. Zebulun would prosper abroad and Issachar would prosper at home. Gad was blessed with leadership and Naphtali with favor. Asher was blessed with security and respect.
All of Israel was blessed with God’s protective shield and victory over their enemies.
In Luke, the people were trying to get Jesus to put a measure on sin, but Jesus refused. The worse sinner and the least sinner were all sinners that needed to repent. Jesus gave them the parable about the fig tree to show his patience to allow people to repent.
Jesus healed the woman who was bent over under a demonic spell. It just happened to be the Sabbath. I love what the Pharisees said. They told Jesus that there were six days that he could heal but just not on the Sabbath. That is pretty funny! Jesus healed on the Sabbath because on the 7th day, everyone will be healed. What was crooked will be made straight.
Then Jesus explained that the kingdom of God starts very small and grows. We can plant a little seed of hope or love in someone and it will grow. We can water a seed already planted and it will grow. The kingdom of God is advancing.
Lord, thank you that you choose the weak and make them strong. You choose the poor and make them rich in spirit. May your kingdom come. May we plant seeds of life and hope and not fear and destruction.

Wed.’s Devo - Life and Truth

Read: Deuteronomy 32:28-52; Luke 12:35-59; Psalm 78:56-64; Proverbs 12:24
We could put “America” in where it says “Israel”. I love the statement “the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock, as even they recognize.” God promises to pay back our enemy, Satan, and all his people he has deceived. Their day of disaster will come. When they look for their gods to help them which are: the government, their money, their position, their name, their drugs, etc. they will not be able to help them. God is the only god. God is our avenger of blood. He will fight for us and win.
When Moses finished his song, he told them that these were not just empty words but life and truth. That is what the Bible is! It is just as powerful and up to date today as it was when he gave it.
Aaron died on Mt. Hor. God told Moses to go up on Mt. Nebo to die. From that mountain he would be able to see the promised land, the land he had spent his life getting the people to. His failure to demonstrate God’s holiness was what kept him from entering in.
Mountains represent strong holds which can be evil or good. There are seven mountains that surround Jerusalem. There are seven mountains that we must take as God’s people: government, education, sports, entertainment, religion, health and the economy. We have got to take these mountains for the glory of God so that his kingdom can be established on earth as it is in heaven.
In Luke, Jesus was addressing those who did not go in the rapture. He said in verse 35: “be dressed…as though you were waiting for your master to return FROM the wedding feast.” So, the wedding feast has happened and the bride has been married to her husband. That happens at Feast of Trumpets - Tishri one. Jesus will come back as we read today on the Feast of Trumpets which is 15 days later. He will not come to us as the thief. We WILL know when he is coming for his bride. Those left will not know when he is coming for them. No one knows that day, even the son. God alone knows that day. That is his day - the Day of the Lord. The rapture is the Day of Christ.
Those that have come to faith during the tribulation will be God’s servants who are responsible for helping others. They will be judged or rewarded for how they do that. The Proverbs of today fits well with this.
Lord, may we be diligent to spread the light you have given us in our day.

Tues.’s Devo -Seek the Kingdom

Read: Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27; Luke 12:8-34; Psalm 78:32-55; Proverbs 12:21-23
Moses was 120 years old and it was time for him to die. God promised Moses that he would take the people into the land that he had promised. They were to read all of the law every 7 years at the Year of Release during the feast of tabernacles. God gave Moses a song to teach the children of Israel so it would be a testimony against them when they sinned.
When Moses died, Joshua would lead them across the Jordan into their land. They would find it flowing with milk and honey just like he said. There, they would prosper, have all the food they wanted and become fat. They would begin to worship other gods, hate God and break his covenant. Great disasters would come down on them because of their choices. The song must have had a catchy tune so it would stay with them. I can imagine their children singing the words of this song, convicting them of their deeds.
In Luke, Jesus taught about the importance of honoring the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that he would forgive those who spoke against him but not those who spoke evil against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the one who would give them words to say against their accusers.
A man asked Jesus to tell his brother to divide their inheritance equally between them. Jesus discerned the man’s heart and spoke to him about covetousness. I would think that this man was already rich by the story Jesus told. Jesus went on to say that our spiritual life is more important than food and clothes. God will take care of our natural needs if we take care of our spiritual needs. If we seek the kingdom of God first, all our natural needs will be met.
Lord, help us to seek your kingdom first. May we be generous and keep our hands open to help all who have needs.

Mon.’s Devo - Our Choice

Read: Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20; Luke 11:37-12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 12:19-20
Never has this covenant that God called Moses to make made more sense to me than today in the light of what is going on in our nation. God had Moses remind the people of all the wonderful things he had done to deliver them from a land of slavery and idolatry. They traveled through lands where they witnessed the idolatry and detestable worship of the inhabitants. He warned them that just because he had done all this for them, they should not think they are okay if they are still following the desires of their evil heart. God would not continue to bless them, but the curses that fell on their enemies would fall on them. They must not abandon the covenant that God has made with them.
We are accountable for the things that God reveals to us, not the things that are hidden. If we obey, we are blessed. If we rebel, we are cursed. The choice is ours. Repentance is always available to us, so we can change our curse and turn it to a blessing. Rebellion is always our choice also which will change our blessing to a curse.
The command God gave them and gives us is not too difficult or beyond our reach. We can hear it and obey it. The choice of life and death is ours. We can choose to love and obey the Lord and live long in the land the Lord gave to us and our ancestors which is what we choose.
In Luke, Jesus went off on the Pharisees when they criticized him for not following their man-made washing ritual. Jesus gave them a list of their Pharisaical practices that were doing to make themselves look righteous when their hearts were full of death and self. Their forefathers had killed the prophets that God sent, while they raised monuments to honor them. In the same breath, they were rejecting The Prophet that God sent that all the other prophets had spoken about. They would be held responsible for what their fathers did from Abel to Zechariah. (From A - Z).
In our Psalm it says that “his anger rose against Israel, for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them.” We do not want that to be our epitaph in this season. We want it to be that we trusted in the Lord and he delivered us from all our fears.
Lord, we trust you in these times of uncertainty because they are not uncertain to you. We stand on the Rock of all Ages and declare your sovereignty over the earth and our deliverer! Help us to use what the devil meant for harm to bring many souls into your kingdom.

Sun.’s Devo - The Kingdom of God on Earth

Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; Proverbs 12:18
The blessings are so amazingly good and the curses are equally bad. The truth is that you can individually live in the blessings while your nation is living under the curses. Our job is to have our blessing spread out to our nation and turn their curse into a blessing. We do that by sharing our prosperity, loving and helping the poor, and working toward changing the laws. We are living in a great day where this is literally happening. But, we have to remember that the devil is our adversary in everything we are doing to see this happen. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world! We are living in the time when Jesus prayer is manifesting, “may your kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Jesus gave us the perfect picture. He cast out the demon from the man who was dumb - unable to speak. This was the last of the tests the Pharisees had proclaimed that only the Messiah could do. They had to make a statement and instead of saying that Jesus was the Messiah, they proclaimed that he got his power from Satan. They chose the curse to be upon them.
Jesus told the religious leaders that the only sign they would get would be the sign of Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days but rose from the dead to preach to the town of Nineveh and they repented. Jesus would descend to the belly of the earth and rise from the dead on the third day. Their unbelief would cause them to be eternally condemned. The way they saw was making them blind.
Lord, give us strategy into bringing your blessings upon our land. May we not give up in fighting for righteousness and seeing your kingdom manifest on earth.

Sat.’s Devo - Choose the Best

Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26; Luke 10:38-11:13; Psalm 76:1-12; Proverbs 12:15-17
When they got to their land in Canaan, they were to bring to the Lord the first fruits of all their harvests. They were to bring it in a basket to the priest who would set it before the Lord and bless it. In the time of Christ, a young boy brought his lunch in a basket and gave it to the disciples. Jesus blessed it and gave it to all the people. It was the time of first fruits when he did this.
Every third year they were to bring a special offering just for the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows.
When they crossed the Jordan, each tribe was to set up a stone and they would coat them with plaster. They were to set them up on Mt. Ebal and write the commandments on them. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin were to stand on Mt. Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people for all who obeyed God’s law. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali must stand on Mt. Ebal to proclaim a curse to those who disobeyed God’s law. The Levites stood and shouted to all of Israel the curses.
In Luke, we read the story about Mary and Martha. Martha is the detail worker and Mary is the lover of presence. Martha stands for the law which has to do with works. There will always be works to be done. Mary is the picture of grace. She hungers for the truth in rest. She just enjoys God’s presence. Jesus said that she had chosen the best.
It is true that we have “work” to do, but we do everything with the presence of God with us. We seek him first, then he lets us see what work is profitable and what is not. Everything we do should be done out of presence first.
Jesus gave us a parable about prayer. The essence of the parable is that when we have a daily need, we go to Jesus as our friend. We keep praying till we see the manifestation of our prayer. We don’t give up because our faithful provider will meet our need.
Lord, help us to chose the better and spend time in your presence, knowing that you will meet all our needs according to your riches in glory.

Fri.’s Devo - Mercy

Read: Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19; Luke 10:13-37; Psalm 75:1-10; Proverbs 12:12-14
God gave instruction of the people who may not be admitted into the assembly of the Lord. This included admission to public honors and offices in the religious and political arena. It also included any foreigners who wanted to become a part of their nation by marriage.
These people were the ones who had been mutilated by their parents for idol worship, the Ammonites and Moabites who didn’t welcome them with food and water when they came out of Egypt and the Edomites who hired Balaam to curse them when they were approaching the promised land. These people could not enter the sanctuary for 10 generations. The number ten means “a measure”. So, their 10 generations would be a time of testing to see if they changed their ways.
The laws were to teach the people mercy, fairness, compassion for the poor and to not be greedy.
In Chapter 24 we have the laws of divorce. Divorce was allowed if the husband was dissatisfied with his wife as long as the husband offered the wife a writ or document of divorce. This writ gave her rights to provision. Then she is free to marry again. In the New Testament, they were not giving the woman this document so they were not legally divorced causing them to commit adultery if they wanted to remarry. God hated “the putting away” which was not legal but God allowed divorce which was legal. Adultery cancels the marriage contract automatically unless forgiveness is given.
They were not to forget to destroy the Amalekites because they were unmerciful to them and had no fear of God. Amalekites means “perversion” which is the wrong version of truth. We have to put that to death.
In Luke, the disciples came back to Jesus telling them what they saw in the natural and Jesus told them what he saw in the spiritual. As they cast demons out of people, Jesus saw Satan lose his power in the heavenlies. Jesus rejoiced that God was showing them the spiritual realm.
An expert in the law asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to love God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. Then he told him a parable to explain it. Three men passed the dying Jew but only the third man stopped to help. The first man was a priest, the next was a Temple assistant. They both passed because they didn’t want to get “unclean”.
The third man was a despised Samaritan. He felt compassion, nursed him, took him to the inn and paid for his stay. The lesson was all about humility and mercy. Jesus told him to go and do the same.
Lord, may we be like the Good Samaritan who is not afraid to get messy and pay the price for another person to come to life.

Thur.’s Devo - Take Responsibility

Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11
There is so much in this reading that I’m just going to touch on a few of the laws.
If someone has been murdered in a field and the murderer is unknown, then the elders were to measure the distance from the crime scene to the nearest town. Once the town is determined, the elders of the town were to take an innocent, untrained heifer and lead it to a valley that had not been plowed that had a stream flowing through it. They were to break the heifer’s neck and wash their hands over the heifer and proclaim that they did not shed this person’s blood nor see it happen. Then they would pray for the people a prayer of mercy and ask God to cleanse the guilt of murder from the community.
This is all a picture of atonement. One day, an innocent man would be taken through a valley to Golgotha and his blood would atone for all the murder and sin of the world. Pilate washed his hands and proclaimed Jesus innocent (Matthew 27:24). The people said that his blood would be on their hands and on their children. Barabbas was released and Jesus died.
A rebellious son is to be taken to the elders and they are to stone him to death to purge the evil from among you. That means that when we have a rebellious son, we bring him to the foot of the cross and get the intercessors to speak prayers of faith that will kill his flesh and raise the son to walk in righteousness.
Verse 22 talks about a person who has been hung on a tree. He is to be buried that same day to prevent the spread of sin. That is a person who has come to Christ (he died with Christ on the cross) and needs to be buried right away. Buried is to be baptized and have his sins buried with Christ. Baptism is very important to be able to live a sin free life. It washes the past sins away so we can start new.
Chapter 22 is all about taking responsibility for the unsaved. Donkeys that are lost are stubborn people who are unsaved. We are to help them even if they don’t belong in our family or in our church. We need to pray for them and help them find their way to Jesus.
Marriage is all about covenant. We are not to break covenants we have made with God. I think verse 22 is interesting because if a man and woman are caught in the act of adultery, both of them are to be stoned. In the case of Jesus’ time only the woman was brought out to be stoned. That was the injustice that Jesus addressed and set her free.
In Luke, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified or as Luke put it “to ascend to heaven.” That was much more positive! Some of the towns welcomed him and some didn’t. Lines were being drawn. The hearts of men were being exposed. Some said they wanted to follow but when it came down to actually following through, they came up with excuses. This was their day of accountability and many were choosing not to follow Christ. This is a picture of how people will be when he comes again. They will have great intentions but no follow through. To follow Jesus will cost us everything.
Lord, may we take responsibility for our own souls and the souls of those around us. May our prayers be as incense to you and may you pour out abundant mercy and grace on our nation.

Wed.’s Devo - The Victory is the Lord’s

Read: Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20; Luke 9:28-50; Psalm 73:1-28; Proverbs 12:10
The Levites were to live off the sacrifices given of the people to the Lord. It was like the Levites represented God on earth. Wherever the Levites were called to go, God would provide for them. We, as overcoming Christians are the Levites of the Old Testament.
Moses prophesied about Jesus when he told them that God would raise up a prophet from among them who would tell the people everything God commanded him to say. In John 1:19-21, the people asked John the Baptist if he was “that prophet”. He told them he was the prophet that Isaiah talked about, not the one Moses predicted. In John 6:14, when Jesus fed the 5,000, the men recognized Jesus as “that prophet”.
Moses explained the cities of refuge for anyone accused of a murder that was not intentional, or if he was falsely accused. As they spread out in the land, they were to add these cities.
If the accuser was found to have brought false charges, then what he had intended for the innocent will be imposed on him. Our accuser is Satan and we need to turn back on him what he has intended toward us.
Moses gave them strategy for war. When they faced an enemy greater than themselves, they were not to panic or be afraid, because God will go with you and fight them and give you the victory. What a promise!!! God will always give us problems that are bigger than us, but the promise still stands. He will get the victory!
The people who were exempt from fighting for the time were people who had just built a house but hadn’t dedicated it yet, those who had just planted a vineyard and not eaten its first fruits and those who had just betrothed themselves to a wife but hadn’t married her yet. These are all pictures of the same thing. It means a person who is not yet born again. People who are not saved will not defeat the devil in warfare. They will be defeated and someone else would have to live out their destiny.
After they had eliminated the unsaved, the officer would ask if any remaining were afraid. The fearful Christian will frighten everyone else, so they don’t need to be a warrior, yet. Those who know their God will do exploits.
How they fought was determined by where they were. If they were in the land God had appointed for them, then they were to destroy everything and take no prisoners. This is a place God has given you to take - your family, your town, etc.
When they met towns outside the promised land, they were to offer peace first. If they chose it, their people would be their slaves, if not, then they would take the town but only kill the men. They could take the plunder, the women and the children and livestock. I’ll leave the interpretation to you.
If the war continues, they were not to cut down fruitful trees. There are fruitful people on the wrong side. They are to be left alone because we need what they produce. The others are to be used as weapons against themselves. Selah!
Jesus took Peter, John and James up on a mountain to pray. Moses and Elijah came and talked with Jesus about his resurrection. Moses stands for the law and Elijah stands for the prophet. They were Jesus’ two witnesses of who he was. Then God spoke and told the disciples that Jesus was his son - the Chosen One and to listen to him. Jesus was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
He proved his authority when he cast the demon out of the son and healed him. As the people marveled at God’s power, Jesus tried to tell his disciples what was coming, but all they could think about was who would be the greatest in his kingdom.
It is funny, how we can be just like the disciples and miss the point. In this upheaval the world is going through we have to remember that God is in control and he has power over what Satan is doing. We need to stay focused on the victory.
Lord, help us to walk fearlessly into battle agains a defeated enemy. We will take the ground you have given us to take on the earth. We will see your kingdom come to earth.