Tues.’s Devo - The Light of the World

Read: Judges 11:1-12:15; John 1:1-28; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 14:13-14 The armies of Ammon had gathered in Gilead to attack Israel who were camped at Mizpah. The leaders of Gilead had announced that whoever lead the attack for them would become their leader. *** Gilead had a great warrior by the name of Jephthah but he had been driven off by his half brothers. Jephthah was the son of a prostitute while his brothers were sons of the wife of Gilead. They had told Jephthah that he would not get any of their inheritance, but now they needed his fighting skills. They sent for Jephthah who had fled to Tob. They told him that if he would come and lead the army to fight the Ammonites, they would make him their king. It took some convincing but Jephthah returned to help them. *** He sent messengers to the king of Ammon asking him why he was coming to fight them. The king of Ammon replied that the Israelites had stolen his land from him when they came out of Egypt and he wanted it back peacefully. **** Jephthah told him that was not exactly what happened. The children of Israel came to the land of Edom and had asked if they could peacefully pass through their land on the way to their promised land. They would pay them back anything they used from him but the king wouldn’t let them pass through. They ended up going the long way around through the wilderness. The same thing happened when they asked the Amorites win they could pass through their land. *** The Ammonites not only wouldn’t let them pass through their land but they mobilized their army to come out and fight the Israelites. God have them victory over the Ammonites and they took their land. So it wasn’t them who had taken their land, it was the Lord who gave them their land. *** Jephthah added, they could keep what their god, Chemosh gave them and they would keep the land their God gave them. (Great answer!) He wanted them to let the Lord, who is the judge, decide which one of them was right. *** The king of Ammon ignored Jephthah’s message. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and he led his army against the Ammonites. He made a vow to the Lord that whatever came out of his door to meet him when he returned in triumph that he would sacrifice to the Lord. *** God did give Jephthah the victory and he totally defeated the Ammonites. When Jephthat returned home, instead of a cow or a goat coming out of his door, it was his only offspring - his daughter. He was devastated and told her the vow he had made to the Lord. She told him he had to keep his vow but just let her go to the mountain with her friends and mourn for two months. Then he could fulfill his vow. *** Jephthah agreed and she mourned the fact that she was a virgin and would never have children. It became a custom in Israel for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament her fate. *** The people of Ephraim mobilized an army and came over the Jordan to Zaphon to pick a fight with Jephthah for not inviting them to the battle against the Ammonites. Jephthah reminded them that he had invited them at the first. They refused to come, so they had fought without them. They refused to be consoled so Jephthah attacked them and defeated them. *** In the battle with the Ephraimites, they captured one of the crossings of the Jordan. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to return home, he stationed men that would ask them if they were from Ephraim. If they told him they weren’t, he would have them say the word, “Shibboleth”. If they said it with a lisp they would be killed. They ended up killing 42,000 of them. *** Jephthah judged Israel for 6 years then died in one of the towns of Gilead. Ibzan from Bethlehem then judged Israel. He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He sent his daughters out to marry men outside his clan and brought in thirty young women from outside his clan to marry his sons. He was infiltrating the tribes with his ideology. He judged Israel for 7 years. *** When Ibzan died, Elon from Zebulun judged Israel for 10 years. Then Abdon from Pirathon in Ephraim judged Israel for 8 years. He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, who rode on 70 donkeys. He died and was buried in the hills of the Amalekites. *** Today we begin to read the book of John. John was written to the church and begins like Genesis One. “In the beginning…” Jesus was with God in Genesis creating the world. He was God’s Word spoken from his mouth. Jesus’ words brought forth light to everyone just like the light in Genesis brought light to the whole earth. Light is more powerful than darkness. *** John was to be a witness to this light that was coming in the body of Jesus Christ. The world didn’t recognized him and his own people rejected him, but to the ones who did believe in him, he gave the right to become children of God. *** The Word became a human being and lived among us bringing love and faithfulness. John testified that Jesus was coming to show us the Father. *** When people asked John who he was, he answered that he was a voice crying in the wilderness to make a way in your hearts for God to come in. He was only baptizing them with water, but the Christ would follow his ministry and he was not worthy to even be his slave or untie his sandal. *** Lord, may we be your lights in the world to bring others to the true light of Christ.

Mon.’s Devo - Go is Faithful to his Promises

Read: Judges 9:22-10:18; Luke 24:13-53; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 14:11-12 After Abimelech had reigned over Israel for only three years, God sent a spirit of division between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. They revolted against him for killing the 70 sons of Gideon. They set an ambush to catch Abimelech but he was warned and escaped their plan. *** Gaal of Bed moved to Shechem with his family and gained the confidence of the people of Shechem. At an annual harvest party, the people began cursing Abimelech and Gaal offered them a solution to challenge Abimelech to a fight. *** Abimelech’s leader of the city, Zebul heard what Gaal was saying and sent word to Abimelech to come quickly and attack the city in the morning. He came with his army at night and surrounded the city. *** In the morning as Gaal stood at the gates of the city with Zeba he looked out and saw the army. Zeba told him it was just the shadows of the hilltops. When Jaal refused to believe him he confessed that it was Abimelech with his army and now what was he going to do? *** Jail called the citizens of Shechem out to fight. They were driven out of the city to chase Abimelech and were ambushed by Abimelech’s men. They fought the whole next day and the city was leveled to the ground and scattered with salt. *** Some of the leaders of Shechem that lived in the tower of Shechem ran to hide in the Temple of Baal-berith. Abimelech and his men set fire to the Temple and killed about 1000 men. *** Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebes and captured it. Many of the men and women fled to the tower. and climbed to the roof. Abemelech prepared to burn it also but, a woman dropped a millstone from the top and it fell on Abimelech’s head and caused his skull. *** When Abimelech’s men saw he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes. This is the way God got revenge on Abimelech. *** Tola was next to rise up and lead Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir. He judged Israel for 23 years. Then Jair from Gilead judged Israel for 22 years. When he died, Israel went back to doing veil again committing idolatry by worshipping Baal and Ashtoreth. God was angry with them and turned them over to the Philistines and theAmorites who oppressed them for 18 years. *** When the Israelites cried out to the Lord and repented, God was tired of their hard hearts and told them to cry out to the gods they had trusted all these years. The Israelites, put away their false gods and pled with the Lord to help them. *** The Ammonites camped against Israel at Mizpah and the leaders of Gilead said that whoever attacked the Ammonites first would become the ruler over all the people of Gilead. *** In Luke, the people were leaving Jerusalem because the Passover was over. Everyone was talking about what happened to Jesus. Among them were two men on their way home to Emmaeus. Jesus began walking with them and asked them what they were discussing. They told him about Jesus who was a great teacher and a prophet who did many miracles. They had hoped he was the Messiah but he was crucified. *** Jesus then explained what the scriptures of Moses and the prophets had said about the suffering of the Messiah. When they neared Emmaeus, they begged Jesus to stay the night at their house. As they sat down to eat and Jesus blessed the bread and broke it, they recognized him. He disappeared. They were so amazed they left for Jerusalem in the hour. *** They returned and went to where the disciples were meeting and told them what had happened. Then Jesus appeared to all of them and told them what the next step was. They would receive the Holy spirit and it would fill them with power from heaven. *** Jesus led them to Bethany and blessed them and then was taken up to heaven. They returned to Jerusalem and were filled with great joy. They spent their time praising God in the Temple. *** Thank you Lord for your encounters that change our lives and fill us with the joy we need to continue serving you. May we live a life of praise to you.

Sun.’s Devo -God is King

Read: Judges 8:18-9:21; Luke 23:44-24:12; Psalm 99:1-9; Proverbs 14:9-10 When Gideon captured Zebah and Zalmumma he asked them what the men looked like that they killed in Tabor. he described his own mother and brothers. They had to die, so Gideon told his oldest son, Jether to kill them but he was so young he couldn’t do it. The kings told Gideon to be a man and do it himself, so he did. *** The people wanted to make Gideon their king but he refused saying that God was there king. He did ask for a golden earring from their spoils of the war. He was given 43 pounds of gold. He made an altar which became a trap for Gideon and his family. They began to worship it instead of God. *** Gideon had 70 sons from his many wives and one son named Abimelech from a concubine who lived in Shechem. Gideon died an old man and was buried in Oprah. As soon as he died, the people worshipped Baal and forgot about the God who had rescued them from the Midianites. *** Abimelech went to Shechem and visited all his uncles and convinced them to make him their king. They gave him money from the Baal Temple to hire men to support him. He took this army to Oprah where they killed all of Gideon’s son except Jotham, who escaped. Jotham was the youngest of Gideon’s sons. The leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting. When Jotham heard about the meeting, he climbed to the top of Mt. Gerizim and yelled to them. He told them a parable of trees that decided to choose a king. They went to the olive tree, the fig tree, and the grapevine. None of them wanted to leave their jobs to be the king. As a last resort, they turned to the thornbush and asked it to be their king. It would only become king if it could burn up all the cedars of Lebanon. 
 *** Jotham was referring to their decision to make Abimelech their king as the thornbush. He had devoured all of Gideon’s sons to become the king. He continued to say that if they had acted honorably then may they live to enjoy their decision; but if they hadn’t acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo. And, may fire come out from these citizens to devour Abimelech. In other words, he was saying, if what they did was wrong, may they destroy one another. ***In Luke, There was a solar eclipse over the land for three hours. The veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom and Jesus gave up his spirit to into his Father’s hands and died. *** The Roman officer who oversaw the execution said that surely this man was innocent and the people went home in deep sorrow. The women who followed Jesus stood at a distance watching. *** Joseph who was member of the Jewish high council had been waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. He went to Pilate to ask for Jesus body. He took him down and wrapped him in a linen cloth and laid his body in his new tomb that had been hewn out of a rock. He did this right before the Sabbath would begin. *** The ladies saw where he had put Jesus’ body and went home to prepare spices for his body. *** Very early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath, they came and found the stone had been rolled away. The body of Jesus was gone. As they stood there, an angel appeared to them in glory. The women were terrified and bowed down. The angels asked them why they were looking for the living among the dead because he was risen. *** The women ran to tell the disciples what they had seen but they didn’t believe what they were saying. Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb and saw the empty tomb and the linen cloth and went home pondering what he had seen. *** Lord, may we believe without having to see with our natural eyes. May we be slow to follow a man but quick to follow your spirit. May we have great discernment in these days we are living in and may we recognize that you are our King!

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Choice

Read: Judges 7:1-8:17; Luke 23:13-43; Psalm 97:1-98:9; Provers 14:7-8 Gideon took his army to the valley near the hill of Moreh and told him that he had too many warriors. If they won they would think it was their own strength that did it. God wanted the glory. God told him to send all who were afraid home. So 22,000 volunteered to go home leaving 10,000 left to fight. *** God told Gideon it was still too many men, so he told Gideon to take his army to a stream and to separate those who lay on their bellies and lapped like a dog with those who kneeled and brought the water to their mouth. Those that lay on their bellies, God had chosen to fight. There were 300 of them. Gideon collected ram’s horns of the men he didn’t choose and sent them home. ***The night before they were going to attack, got told Gideon if he was still afraid he could go down and listed to what the Midianites were talking about. Then he would be encouraged. *** Gideon took Purdah and they snuck down to the Midianite camp. They heard a man talking about the dream he had had. In the dream he saw a loaf of barley bread tumbling down into their camp. It hit a tent, turned it over and knocked it flat. His companion told him that it could only mean that God had given the victory over the Midianites to Gideon. *** When Gideon heard this he bowed and worshiped the Lord. Then he was empowered to attack. He returned back to his camp and told everyone to get up because God had given them victory over the Midianite hordes. He divided his men into three equal groups. He gave each a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it. *** Gideon told them to watch him and do just as he did. He would blow his horn and then would then blow theirs. Then they were all to shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon!” *** It was almost midnight when the Midianites were changing guards. Gideon’s army surrounded the camp. They blew their horns, broke their jars and their torches were burning. This threw the camp of the Midianites into such a confusion, they began fighting one another. The ones who fled were chased by Gideon’s armies. Gideon called upon the warriors of Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh who had gone home to come out and fight. The men of Ephraim came out and they cutting the Midianites off at the Jordan capturing Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders. They were really upset with Gideon that they hadn’t been invited to join his army. Gideon told them that what they did was better than fighting. When they heard this they were calmed down. *** Gideon continued chasing the Midianites till they came to Succoth tired and hungry. They asked the officials of the town for food for his army but they told him that they wouldn’t feed them till they had captured the two Midianite kings, Zalmunna and Zebah. Gideon told them they would kill the two kings then come back and whip them with thorns and briers. *** Gideon took his army to the next town of Peniel in search of food. They told him the same thing. Gideon told them when they came back they would tear down their tower. *** Gideon did take capture the two Midianite kings. On his way home, he met a man from Succoth and made him write down all the names of the 77 officials of Succoth that had decided not to feed his army. He returned to Succoth and punished them with the thorns and briers from the wilderness and tore down the tower at Peniel. and killed all the men there. *** In Luke, Pilate called all the religious leaders and the people and declared that he found Jesus innocent and not worthy of death. He told them he would flog Jesus then release him. But the crowd went wild yelling for him to crucify Jesus. *** Pilate tried to offer to release him instead of Barrabas but that didn’t work either. So finally, Pilate ordered that Jesus die as they had requested and released Barabbas. He gave Jesus to them to do as they wanted. *** As they were going to the place where they were going to crucify Jesus, the soldiers grabbed Simon to carry Jesus’ cross. A crowd of people followed and many grieving women. Jesus turned to the women and told them not to weep for him but for their children. He warned them of the persecution that was coming. *** Two other criminals were to be crucified that day. Jesus was put between them. Jesus prayed that God would forgive those who were crucifying him. The soldiers gambled for his clothes. The leaders mocked him telling him to save himself. They offered Jesus sour wine to take the pain away, but he refused it. *** One of the men crucified with him told him to prove he was the Messiah and save them and himself. The other one rebuked him saying that they were dying for their crime but Jesus had done no crime. He asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his Kingdom. Jesus told him he would be with him in paradise. *** That man on the cross understood the resurrection and the fact that Jesus was the son of God and would go to a kingdom in heaven. That was more than so many of the people understood. It is a mystery who God reveals himself to and who he chooses. *** Lord, may you see our hearts and choose us for service. May we do the service you have put before us in wisdom and power.

Fri.’s Devo - Gideon’s Call to Action

Read: Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:54-23:12; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 14:5-6 The Israelites went back to worshipping other gods, so God turned them over to the Midianites for 7 years. The Midianites were so cruel, the Israelites had to hide in the caves. As soon as their harvest came in, the Midianites and Amalekites would come and devour their produce leaving them starving. They finally called out to the Lord for help. *** God raised up a prophet to come and rebuke them. Then he sent his angel to Gideon who was the son of Joash. Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel called Gideon a “mighty man of valor.” Gideon asked him where were all the miracles that God had done for his people in Egypt. The angel told Gideon, God was sending him to rescue Israel from the Midianites. Gideon tried to get out of it but the angel said God would be with him and he would destroy the Midianites as if they were only one man. *** Gideon asked the angel to wait till he could bring him an offering. He went and cooked a young goat and some unleavened bread and brought them back. The angel told him to place the meat and bread on a rock and pour the broth over it. When he obeyed, the angel touched the offering with the tip of his staff and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed it. Then the angel disappeared. *** Gideon realized that it was God’s angel who had been there and thought he would die; but the Lord spoke and told him he would not die. Gideon built an altar to the Lord and called it Yahweh-Shalom meaning, “the Lord is peace.” *** God told Gideon to take the seven year old bull from his father’s flock and tear down the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord and sacrifice the bull on it using the wood from the Asherah pole as fuel. *** Gideon did this at night so the next morning the whole town was in an uproar and wanted to know who tore down their altar to Baal. They found out it was Gideon and had his father bring him out so they could kill him. *** Joash defended his son and told them people that Baal could defend himself. From then on they called Gideon, Jerub-baal, which means “Let Baal defend himself.” God defended Gideon. *** The next time the armies of Midian and Amalek crossed the Jordan to fight Israel, the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power and he sent messengers to the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali to come fight with him. *** Gideon asked God to prove his promise with a sign. He put a piece of wool on the floor and told the Lord that if it was wet and the ground around it was dry in the morning, he would know the Lord was going to rescue them from their enemies. The next morning it was so wet he could wring it out and the ground around it was dry. *** Gideon asked God again to do the opposite just so he was sure God was speaking. The next day the wool was dry and the ground was covered with dew. *** There is nothing wrong with asking God for confirmation. He will confirm his word. *** In Luke, Jesus was taken to the home of the high Priest. Peter followed and when he was asked if he was a follower of Jesus, three times he denied it. When the rooster crowed, Jesus looked at Peter. Peter was so ashamed he left. *** Jesus was then beaten and interrogated by the religious Jewish leaders. They had no law to kill him, so they took him to Pilate. The Jewish leaders accused Jesus of causing riots and leading the people not to pay their taxes. *** Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews. Jesus replied, “You have said it.” Pilot could find nothing wrong with him. *** When Pilate found out Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Jesus to Herod Antipas. Herod had heard of Jesus and was glad to finally get to meet him. He asked him question after question but Jesus wouldn’t answer him. He and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing him. They put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. Pilate and Herod had been enemies up till then, but on that day they became accomplices in the biggest crime of the ages. *** Lord, thank you that you confirm your word in so many different ways. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that leads us in the way that we should go. Thank you, Jesus for all you went through for us to take our sin from us. Clothe us with your power today.

Thurs.’s Devo- The Women Warriors Rise Up

Read: Judges 4:1-5:31; Luke 22:35-53; Psalm 94:1-23; Proverbs 14:3-4 Ehud died and the people went right back to their evil idolatry. God sold them to Jabin the Canaanite king of Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera who had 900 chariots of iron and oppressed Israel for 20 years. *** When Israel cried out to the Lord, he raised up Deborah who was a prophetess and judge. She sat under a tree between Ramah and Bethel to render judgment over cases of the people. *** She called Barak from Naphtali to take 10,000 of their troops and Zebulun and take Sisera. Deborah told him that he would take Sisera, but Barak told Deborah he wouldn’t go unless she went with him. She told him that she would, but the victory would go to a woman. Deborah went with him to Kedesh. The two armies met and Deborah declared that today God had delivered the army of Hazor into their hand. Barak attacked and routed Sisera because the Lord helped him. But Sisera fled and ended up at the tent of Jael, the wife of a descendant of Moses’ wife. She tricked him into believing he was safe with her but when he went to sleep, she drove a tent peg through his temple. *** Once they had won, Deborah sang a song of victory. She praised the Lord for the victory and she honored Jael for killing Sisera. Israel had peace for 40 years after. *** In Luke, Jesus knew his time was almost over. He had sent his disciples out before with nothing but now he was leaving. They would need money and provisions and even a sword. They would be entering into a new season. They had two swords with them and Jesus told them that would be enough. *** Jesus took his disciples to the Mt. of Olives where he told them to pray that they wouldn’t enter into temptation. Then he went apart to pray. He prayed for God to take this cup from him but nevertheless he wanted God’s will to be done. Jesus sweat drops of blood, he was in such earnest. When Jesus returned to his disciples, he found them asleep. *** Judas brought a multitude to arrest Jesus. When Judah leaned to give Jesus a kiss, Jesus confronted him. “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Mans with a kiss?” *** The disciples understood what was happening and Peter took his sword. He cut the ear off of the high priest’s servant. Jesus told Peter that they must permit this to happen. He touched the man’s ear and healed him. *** Jesus asked them why they had to do this at night when he was in the temple daily and they could have done this in broad daylight. Jesus told them that this was their hour and the power of darkness. They were acting as children of the night and they did their evil at that hour. *** Thank you Jesus, that because of you, we are children of the day and the light of the world. May our light shine and bring many to know your power.

Wed.’s Devo - The Last Supper

Read: Judges 2:10-3:31; Luke 22:14-34; Psalm 92:1-93:5; Provers 14:1-2 Once the generation of Joshua died, the next generation did not follow the Lord. They did not remember the things God had done for them. They began to worship Baal and the Ashtereth’s. So God turned them over to their enemies who plundered them and distressed them. The Lord himself fought against them. *** When they cried out for God’s help, he would send them a judge to deliver them but they quickly turned away from the Lord once those judges were gone. *** God’s anger burned against them. He brought the Philistines, Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites to test them and teach them warfare. The Israelites lived among the other nations and intermarried with them. God turned them over to Chushan-rishathaim which means “double wickedness” for eight years. *** The people cried out to the Lord and He sent Othniel to rescue them and judge them. He defeated Cushan-rishathaim and there was peace for 40 years. *** When Othniel died, they Israelites did evil again. God sent King Elon of Moab to take Jericho and he ruled over them for 18 years. The people cried out to the Lord and he sent Ehud to deliver them from the great tribute they were paying Elon. Ehud went right into his bedroom with a secret message for him. When Elon cleared the room of all his men, Ehud took his sword and drove it through all his thick stomach till he lost his sword in his layers of fat. He escaped down the latrine. *** When Ehud made it back to Ephraim, he sounded a call to arms and took an army of Israelites to fight the Moabites. They killed about 10,000 of their strongest warriors and no one escaped. They had peace for 80 years. *** After he died, Shamgar rescued Israel from the Philistines using an ox goad. *** In Luke, Jesus sat down to have his last meal with his disciples. When he took the cup he explained that he would not drink wine again until the kingdom of God comes. He gave them the bread and told them this represented his body which would be given for them. The wine was his blood he would shed for them. They were to always remember what he told them. *** Jesus said the one who would betray him was at the table and it would not go well with him. *** The disciples wondered who might be the betrayer and who might be the greatest in his kingdom. Jesus explained that in the heathen world the greater was the benefactor, but in the kingdom of God, the greater was the one who served. *** Then Jesus gave Simon a word that would sustain him later. Satan had desired to take him out, but Jesus had prayed for Peter’s faith not to fail. When he returned to the Lord, he would be able to be a source of strength for his brothers. *** Peter defended his faith but Jesus told him he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed. *** Jesus knew how weak Peter was even though Peter thought he was strong. Jesus wanted to encourage him that when he fell, he could get back up. *** Jesus knows how weak we are and intercedes for us to be strong.

Tues.’s Devo- Rise Up

Read: Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25 When Joshua died there was still territory left to conquer. The people asked the Lord who should be first to go up against the Canaanites and the answer they got was Judah. So Judah convinced Simeon to come with them since they would be fighting for their land also. God delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand and they killed 10,000 of them at Bezek. Bezek means “lightning” and their king was Adonibezek which means “lord of lightning”. They defeated the people but instead of killing Adonibezek, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. This kept him from standing or using a weapon but he was still breathing. He had done the same thing to others he had captured. *** When they brought him to Jerusalem, he died there. *** Next Judah took Jerusalem and set the city on fire. They took Kirjath Arba, “city of four” where they killed three kings. Othniel took Kirjath Sepher, “city of the book” and won the daughter of Caleb as his wife. She asked her father for land and land with water and was given them both. *** Judah and Simeonattacked the Canaanites in Zephath, “watchful” and changed the name to Hormah “destruction”. They also took Gaza and Ekron. *** Then we have a list of all the tribes that failed to drive out the enemies from their land: Benjamin, Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. Instead, they had made covenants with them to make them slaves and let them live. *** The Angel of the Lord confronted them for breaking their covenant with God to make covenants with the inhabitants of the land. He told them since they didn’t drive out the people he had told them to, their enemies would remain to be thorns in their sides and their gods would be snares to them. The people wept when they heard this. They called the name of that place, Bochum which means “weeping.” *** Joshua died at the age of 110 and was buried in the hills of Ephraim. *** In Luke, Jesus told his disciples to look at the fig tree and all the trees. (The fig tree represents Israel and all the other trees represent the Gentiles.) When they are all budding it will be a sign that summer was near and that the kingdom of God was near. That generation would not pass until he saw all of that happen. Seventy years later, Jerusalem fell. Jesus told them to pray that they would be awake to God and doing his will when it happened. It would be a judgement like the one in the end. *** During the day, Jesus was with the people teaching and doing miracles among them but at night he would go up on the mountain to pray. *** It was the time of Passover and the chief priests and scribes were planning how they could kill the lamb of God. Judas went to them and offered to betray Jesus for money and they agreed. *** On the day before the Passover meal, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the meal for them. Jesus told them to go to the city and follow the man carrying a pitcher of water. (Usually, men didn’t carry the water, the women did. That would be their clue.) This man would take them to the upper room where they would have their passover meal. *** Lord, you have prepared a table before us to feast with you. Nothing surprises you or can upset your plans. May we walk in assurance of your leading.

Mon.’s Devo - Choose God

Read: Joshua 24:1-33; Luke 21:1-28; Psalm 89:52; Proverbs 13:20-23 Joshua summoned all the tribes: their leaders, elders, judges and officers to come and hear his last speech. He laid out their history from Abraham’s family up till then. *** God had taken Abraham from a family that worshipped other gods and led him to Canaan. He gave him many descendants through his son Isaac. Isaac had two sons: Jacob and Esau. He gave the mountains of Seir to Esau but sent Jacob’s family to Egypt. *** God sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt with terrible plagues on Egypt. When they cried out to the Lord, God put darkness between the Israelites and the Egyptians and brought the waves of the Red Sea down on the Egyptians. Israel lived in the wilderness for years. *** Finally, God brought them to the land he had promised and gave them victory from Barak, the Canaanites, Jebusites, Hittites, Girgashites, and the Hivites. It was not their sword that brought them victory, but the Lord. He gave them towns they did not build and vineyards and olive groves they did not plant. *** God would not tolerate their rebellion so they needed to chose who they were going to serve, the gods of their enemies or their own God who delivered them from their enemies. *** The leaders chose to sere the Lord and get rid of any foreign gods they had. They did serve the Lord till Joshua and all the elders who had personally experienced God’s power. *** They buried Joseph’s bones at Shechem in the land given to Joseph. When Eleazar died, he was buried in the land of Ephraim in the town of Gibeah. *** In Luke, Jesus noted the gifts people were putting in the treasury box at the Temple. The rich showed great pomp giving their gifts but a widow gave two mites and Jesus said that she had put in more than all of the others. She had given out of her poverty but they had given out of their abundance. *** When the disciples commented on the greatness of the stones of the temple, Jesus said that the day would come when not one stone would be left upon another. They would all be torn down. The disciples asked when this would happen and what sign would indicate it was about to happen. Jesus said that many would say they were the Messiah, there would be rumors and wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences and fearful signs from heaven. Before all these things, they would deliver them up to the synagogues to be questioned. This will be their time to give testimony of God. All their family would turn on them and some of them would die. They would be hated for his name’s sake. When they see the temple surrounded by armies they would know that its desolation was near. *** When they see the signs in the sun, moon and stars they will know that the Son of Man was coming in the cloud with great power and glory. Then they were to look up and know that their redemption draws near. *** This all happened in 70 A.D. when the Temple was totally destroyed but it is also talking about the second coming of Christ. *** Lord, may we be patient in waiting for you to bring redemption and salvation. May we endure with faith. We choose to follow you.

Sun.’s Devo - Our Witness

Read: Joshua 22:21-23:16: Luke 20:27-47; Psalm 89:14-37; Proverbs 13:17-19 The warriors from the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh had helped all the tribes get their land and had been released to go home. When they got to the Jordan they had built an altar that greatly offended the rest of Israel. They sent their delegates to investigate this altar and find out their motives for building it. *** The men from Reuben, Gad and Manasseh told them that it was not an altar to burn sacrifices because that would be profane but it was built as a memorial to God that they are his people so they wouldn’t forget. Once the men heard this, they were satisfied and went back home. It would be their “witness” to the world that they followed God. *** Joshua was able to live a long time in peace. When he was about to die, he called for the elders, judges, officers and heads of families. He reminded them of all God had done for them and exhorted them to keep being courageous and obeying God’s laws. They were not to mention the name of the foreign gods or swear by them or bow down them. With God, one of them would chase a thousand. But if they intermarried with the foreigners and go their way, God would no longer fight for them and they would be snares and traps for them. They would eventually lose the land God had given them. God would bring on them all the harmful things until he had destroyed them. *** In Luke, the Sadducees came to pick a fight with Jesus. They were staunch believers that man doesn’t resurrect when he dies. The Pharisees argued they do. So when the Sadducees came to trap Jesus the real question was the resurrection. Jesus knew this and told them that there was a resurrection and that people don’t marry in that age. God proved that he was the God of the living and not the dead. The Pharisees approved of his answer. *** Then Jesus asked them a question. He asked them why they say that Christ is the Son of David when David calls the Christ his Lord. They wouldn’t call their son their lord. They didn’t answer so he went on to tell his disciples in the ears of all the scribes: beware of the scribes who honor themselves and pretend to be holy; behind the curtain, they devour widow’s houses. They will be condemned in the end. *** Jesus told it like it is and wasn’t afraid of a person’s position or status. He feared only God. *** Lord, may we be like Jesus and fear only God. You are the only one who can give us eternal life or take our lives. You are the one who loves us with pure love and protects us from our enemies. You are the one we have chosen to give our lives to and live our lives for. We will never be ashamed or disappointed in you. May we be a witness to the world of your power and magesty.

Sat.’s Devo - God is the Authority

Read: Joshua 21:1-22:20; Luke 20:1-26; Psalm 89:1-13; Proverbs 13:15-16 The leaders of the tribe of Levi came before Eleazar the priest and Joshua their leader and the leaders of the other tribes and reminded them that Moses had promised them towns to live in out of all of their grants of land. They had already been given 13 towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. So the families of the Kohathites where given 10 towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh. *** The clan of Gershon was allotted 13 towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And the clan of Merari was given 12 towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. Many of these towns were designated as cities of refuge. *** Each of the towns were mentioned by name. Now that the land had been distributed and all the Levites were dispersed throughout the land, all that God promised them had come to pass. Joshua then released the warriors from the tribes that settled east of the Jordan to go home. So the men from Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back to live in their own land. When they got to the Jordan River they stopped at Geliloth and built a large altar. When the rest of Israel heard what they had done they were so upset they sent a delegation of ten leaders of Israel from the ten tribes on the west of the Jordan to talk to them. They were afraid they had already defiled the Lord by setting up an idol. In Luke, the teachers of the law challenged Jesus’ authority. So Jesus asked them by whose authority did John baptize people. They couldn’t give him an answer that wouldn’t incriminate them in front of the people, so he told them he wouldn’t give them an answer either. *** Then he gave them a story to illustrate his answer. The owner of the vineyard was God who owns all the land of the earth. He gave it to us to steward and especially the religious leaders. They were suppose to teach the people God’s laws but instead, they had replaced God’s laws with their own. They had killed all the prophets that came in God’s authority. Then they killed John who came in God’s authority. They would soon kill God’s son who came in God’s authority. Then God would come and kill them and give his authority to others that will obey and honor him. *** When the leaders heard the story and knew he was talking about them, they wanted to arrest him immediately. They had to find a way to get him to offend the Romans so they would arrest him and put him to death. So they asked him if it was legal to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus asked them for a coin and asked whose inscription was on it. They said it was Caesar’s. So Jesus told them to give to Caesar what was his and to God what was his. *** His answer certainly didn’t incriminate him: instead it amazed those who heard it and silenced his accusers. Who can go against God and win? *** Lord, when you are on our side, who can be against us. Thank you that you are our shield and our refuge. We stand on your authority and none is higher.

Fri.’s Devo - Cities of Refuge

Read: Joshua 19:1-20:9; Luke 19:28-48; Psalm 88:1-18; Proverbs 13:12-14 Simeon’s territory was designated right in the midst of Judah’s land since Judah had too much land. *** Zebulun’s land included Bethlehem. *** Issachar’s land included 16 towns with their surrounding villages. Beth-shemesh was one of the towns. *** Asher’s land was in the north and included Tyre and Raman where Samuel was born. *** Naphtali’s land bordered Zebulun and Asher west of the Jordan River. *** Dan had trouble taking their possession so the attacked the town of Laish and captured it, renaming it Dan. *** When all the land was divided among the tribes, they gave to Joshua whatever piece of land he wanted. He chose Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and lived there. *** God told Joshua to designate cities of refuge for the person who accidentally killed someone. They could run and find refuge from the avenger of blood in that city. They would be safe as long as they stayed there. The priests would try their case and if they found the person to be innocent, he was to stay there protected until the death of the high priest, then he could go free. *** This is a picture of the plan of salvation. Before Jesus came to die for us, people were saved because of their faith in God. God counted their faith as righteousness. When they died, they lived in a city of refuge beneath the earth until Jesus, the High Priest died. Then he came and preached to those in the captivity of death and raised them up with him to be free indeed. *** Jesus had just told the story of the stewards that were given mina’s to invest. He told this along the way to Jerusalem. Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead to Bethany to find a young donkey that no one had ridden before. He was to bring it to Jesus. If anyone asked why they were taking it, they were to tell them that the Lord needed it. They did what Jesus said and brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their garments over it for him to ride on. To ride a donkey that had never been ridden before was a miracle in itself, but all nature bows to God. As Jesus rode this donkey down the Mount of Olives, all his followers began to shout and sing the hallel in Psalms. They were at the part that says “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 118:26) *** The Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke them for singing this to him and Jesus told them that if he didn’t let them sing, the rocks would cry out praises. *** Jesus wept as they got closer to Jerusalem. He could see its future demise. *** When Jesus entered the Temple he began to drive out the people who were selling animals for sacrifices. He told them that his Temple was to be a house of prayer but they had turned it into a den of thieves. *** Jesus taught daily in the Temple. While the leaders plotted how to kill him, the people held on to his every word. Lord, may we be like those who held on to your every word. Thank you that you have saved us from the avenger of blood.

Thurs.’s Devo - Invest in God’s Kingdom

Read: Joshua 16:1-18:28; Luke 19:1-27; Psalm 87:1-7; Proverbs 13:11 The tribes of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh were given their land. They did not drive out all the Canaanites out of Gezer so they became their slaves. *** Half of Manasseh had land east of the Jordan and half of them had land on the west of the Jordan. One of Manasseh’s descendants had no sons, so the daughters went to Joshua to petition for land for themselves. Moses had promised them that they would have an inheritance along with the men. Joshua honored that promise and granted them land. *** The descendants of Manasseh were also unable to drive out all the Canaanites in their region so they forced them to work as slaves. (Interesting that they could force them to become slaves but they could’t force them to leave.) *** The descendants of Joseph complained that they only got one portion in the land when they had so strong and had so many people. Joshua told them that if their land was not big enough they could clear out land in the forest. Then they complained that the Canaanites that lived in the forests had iron chariots and were too strong for them. *** Joshua told them that since they claimed to be so strong and had so many people they could surely use that strength to drive out the Canaanites. *** Now that all the land was under their control the entire community of Israel gathered at Shiloh to set up the Tabernacle. Seven tribes had not yet received their land because they had not gone and surveyed their allotted territory and taken it. He told them to go and explore the land and write a description of it. They were to bring the description to Joshua and he would cast lots to see which tribe it should go to. *** The first allotment went to Benjamin which lay between the land of Judah and Joseph. It had 14 towns in it. Jerusalem was one of the towns. *** In Luke, Jesus was coming to the town of Jericho. The chief tax-collector of the town was Zacchaeus. He heard that Jesus was coming to his town and wanted to get a look at him. Because he was short, he couldn’t see above the heads of the people so he climbed up in a tree to see better. When Jesus walked by he looked up and called him by name. He told them he was coming to his house to eat. Zacchaeus was elated, but the people of the town were appalled that a Jesus would choose to eat with a notorious sinner. Jesus didn’t see him as a sinner but called him by his name which means “my pure one.” *** When Zacchaeus stood before the Lord he vowed to give half of his wealth to the poor and return to those he stole from four times the amount. That is true repentance. *** Jesus told the story to show that the kingdom of God was not going to appear immediately. The story was of a nobleman who went to a far country to receive a kingdom, then he would return. Before he went he called in ten of his servants and gave them one mina or 50 shekels each which was about three months wages. He told them to invest it well. *** Some of the people of the town hated him and and didn’t want him to reign over them. When he returned after receiving his kingdom, he commanded his servants to make an account of how they had invested his money. *** The first had taken their one mina and turned it into ten. The owner commended him and put him in charge of ten cities. The second had turned his one mina into five, so he was put in charge of five cities. But the third had put his mina in a handkerchief because he didn’t want to make a prophet to have to give it back. He was rebuked for being so selfish. He could have at least put it in the bank and made a profit doing nothing. The owner took his mina and gave it to the one who had ten. When the people complained about this he told them that whoever has will be given more, but to him who doesn’t have it will be taken from him. Then he put to death his enemies who didn’t want him to rule over them. Lord, may we use the gifts and talents you have given us to further your kingdom so you can give us more. All that we have is yours.

Wed.’s Devo - As and You Shall Receive

Read: Joshua 15:1-63; Luke 18:18-43; Psalm 86:1-17; Proverbs 1:9-10 Judah’s land was given out with all its boundaries. It lay in the southern most area if the land. Caleb, who was from the tribe of Judah gave some of his land to Joshua in the land where he drove out the giants of Anak. Caleb had give a challenge to his men that whoever led the attack of Kirjath Sepher and took it would get his daughter, Achsah as their wife. Othniel, his brother took the challenge and won the wife. When they married, Achsah persuaded Othniel to ask Caleb for a field as a gift. She also asked for land with water. So Caleb gave her the land in the south that had upper and lower springs. *** Achsah asked for the best from her father and he gladly gave it. God is our father and he wants to give us his very best. All we have to do is ask. *** In Luke, Jesus tells of two men who asked something of him. The first man did not receive what he asked but the second one did. ***A ruler came to Jesus and asked him what he needed to “do” to be rewarded eternal life as if eternal life was given because we can earn it. He called Jesus “Good Teacher” as if he could teach others to be good enough to inherit eternal life too. *** Jesus reminded him of the commandments and he said he did all of them. So, Jesus gave him something he knew he could not do. He told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor, then he would have treasures in heaven. Then he could follow him. *** The man went away very sorrowful because he wasn’t willing to lose everything to get what he wanted. He wanted to add to what he was already doing. Jesus said it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom but, nothing was impossible with him. *** When Peter reminded Jesus of all they had given up to follow him, and Jesus said that all who give up in this life would be given many times more in the life to come. *** Jesus took his 12 aside and told them what he was going to have to give up soon. They were headed to Jerusalem to fulfill all the prophets words about the Son of Man. He would be delivered to the Gentiles and mocked and spit on. They would beat and scourge him but on the third day, he would rise. *** On the way, he healed a blind man who wanted both mercy and to receive his sight. Jesus told him to receive his sight and that his faith would make him well. He did receive his sight and followed Jesus to Jerusalem. *** Lord, may we understand how important our words are and the things we put our trust in. May we put our trust solely in you. May we ask the right things of you so that your kingdom can be advanced.

Tues.’s Devo - God is Faithful to His Promises

Read: Joshua 13:1-14:15; Luke 18:1-17; Psalm 85:21-13; Proverbs 13:7-8 Joshua was old and there was still much land to be conquered south in Judah’s land toward Egypt. It was Philistine territory at the time. God said that he would drive these people out himself and include all this territory as Israel’s possession. *** Moses had driven out the land east of the Jordan that was now the inheritance of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh. The Levites’ inheritance was the sacrifices of the Lord so they got no designated land. They did get designated cities within all the tribes. *** Moses assigned the boundaries of the tribe of Reuben adding that they killed Balaam son of Bear, who used magic to tell the future. He was the one Balak had hired to curse Israel but God would only let him bless them instead. *** Moses also assigned the boundaries of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The rest of the tribes received their allotments by Eleazar the priest, Joshua and the tribal leaders. They were chosen by sacred lots commanded by the Lord. *** Caleb came and reminded Joshua of how they were the only spies who brought back the good report about the land. All the other people of their generation had died in the wilderness but Caleb was 85 and still as strong as he was when he was a warrior at 40. Caleb had been promised the land he had spied out by Moses, so Joshua honored that promise and gave him the land of Hebron which had been called Kiriath-arba then. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah. *** The land had rest from war. Their fighting days were over and they could now enjoy the land God had given them. *** In Luke, Jesus gave them a parable to encourage them not to give up praying because God will answer their prayer in time. The parable was about a judge who didn’t fear God. A woman came to him day after day about an injustice done to her. She wore the judge down until he finally gave her the justice she sought. *** We have a loving God who loves justice so how much more will he avenge us against our enemies if we persevere and keep praying. *** Then Jesus gave a parable to those who trusted in themselves and their own righteousness yet they despised others. The first character was a Pharisee who thanked God he was not like the lowly sinner. He boasted of all he did to prove his righteousness. The other character in the story was a tax-collector who knew he was a sinner but cried out to God for mercy. Jesus said that the tax-collector would be justified above the Pharisee because whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. *** The people brought their infants to him so he might bless them. The disciples rebuked the parents, but Jesus rebuked them and said to let the children come to them because the kingdom of God is made up of those like them. We must receive the kingdom of God like a little child to be able to enter it. *** Lord, may we be like little children, full of faith and wide-eyed wonder. May our hearts be innocent and pure and may we humble ourselves before you.

Mon.’s Devo - Deliverance and Victory

Read: Joshua 11:1-12:24; Luke 17:11-37; Pslam 84:1-12; Proverbs 13:5-6 When King Jabin heard what had happened to the five kings that fought Israel, he sent messages to King Jobab of Mason, the king of Simeon and the king of Acshaph. He also sent messages to all the kings in the norther hill country, the kings in the Jordan Valley, the kings in the Galilean foothills, the kings of Naphoth-dor on the west; the kings of Canaan both east and west; the kings of the Amorite, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Hivites. All of these kings came out to fight with their armies and met at Merom to fight Israel. *** God told Joshua not to be afraid because by that time tomorrow He would hand them all over to Israel as dead men. Joshua was to cripple their horses and burn their chariots. So Joshua headed to Merom and attacked the armies of his enemies and God gave them victory. Joshua destroyed every warrior, crippled the horses and burned all the chariots. He then killed the king of Hazor who had once ruled all the kingdoms of the land. Joshua did all the Lord told him to do. *** Joshua killed all the giants, the descendants of Anak in Hebron, Debir, and Anab. Some of them remained in the Philistine land. *** All the 31 kings that the Lord helped Joshua defeat were listed. *** In Luke, Jesus came to a town and was met by ten lepers. They cried out for mercy. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests and as they went, they were healed. *** One of them came back to thank Jesus. He was a Samaritan. He couldn’t have shown himself to the priest because he was not a Jew, but he went to the one who would be our High Priest and showed him. Jesus asked why he was the only one who returned to give glory to God. He told the man to stand and go because his faith had made him whole. *** One of the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus told him it wouldn’t come with a visible sign because the Kingdom of God was spirit and it was already among them… in him. *** Jesus told the man that the Son of Man would return when the day was bright, but first he must suffer and be rejected by his generation. *** When Jesus comes back again, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. People will be partying and oblivious to the fact that they are about to be judged. It was like that in Sodom, right before it was judged with fire and brimstone. None survived but Lot and his two daughters. *** If we hold on to our lives like Lot’s wife, we will not survive. We have to lose our life to Jesus and then we will be saved. Jesus described how two people would be sleeping and one would be taken and the other would survive. When we see death happening all around us we will know these are signs it is the end. Lord, help us to be aware of the day we are living in and respond. Now is the day of repentance and humbling ourselves. It is also the day of hope and great expectation for God’s people as we are about to be delivered from our enemies.

Sun.’s Devo - Taking the Land

Read: Joshua 9:3-10:43; Luke 16:19-17:10; Psalm 83:1-18; Proverbs 13:4 The people of Gibeon lived three days journey from the path the Israelites were taking. They knew they were next on to be conquered so they resorted to deception to save their lives. They sent ambassadors with moldy bread and worn out clothes and wine in patched wineskins. They told the leaders of Israel that they had traveled a long distance and had heard all their God had done for them in Egypt, Bashan, Heshbon, Jericho and Ai. They wanted them to believe that they didn’t live in the boundaries of the promised land so they would make a covenant of peace with them. *** It worked. Joshua didn’t consult the Lord; he believed them and made a covenant with them. Three days later they came upon their city and the deception was revealed. Joshua cursed them and told them that they would always be their servants who would cut their wood and carry their water for the house of God when they built it. They agreed to do that. *** Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem heard all that had gone on with Israel and sent for Hoham, king of Hebron; Piram, king of Jarmuth; Japhia, king of Lachish and Debir, king of Eglon. They combined their armies to attack Gideon. *** Gideon called on Israel to help them. The Lord told Joshua he would give them victory so Joshua took his entire army and surprised the Amorite armies. The Amorites panicked and Israel slaughtered them. They chased them to Azekah and Makkedah. The Lord threw down huge hail stones from heaven at them and killed more of them than the Israelites did. *** Joshua commanded the sun to stand still over Gibeon and the moon to stand still over the valley of Aijalon. So the sky stayed light until Israel had defeated its enemies. *** The kings of the five nations had hidden in a cave so Joshua had his men put stones over the entrance and stationed guards to guard it. When they finished crushing their enemies, they returned and removed the rocks. They brought out the five kings and had their commanders put their feet on the kings’ necks. Joshua told his commanders that they need never be afraid, then he killed the five kings impaling them on five sharpened poles until evening. At evening, Joshua took their bodies down and threw them back into the cave and had the rocks put back over the opening. *** Joshua then took the town of Makkedah and Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron and Debir killing their kings and leaving no survivors. They went on to take the people of the hills, the foothills, and the mountain slopes from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza. Then they returned to Gilgal. *** Jesus told a story about two men. One was rich but Lazareth was a beggar at the gate of the rich man. They both died and Lazareth was carried by angels to where Abraham was, but the rich man was buried and taken to hell. The rich man cried out for mercy to Abraham. But Abraham reminded him of his lifestyle of comfort and opulence. Lazareth lived in anguish but he was comforted now. The rich man would not be able to cross the chasm between them. *** The rich man then asked Abraham to send Lazareth to his five brothers and warn them so they wouldn’t end up where he was. Abraham told him that if they wouldn’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they wouldn’t be persuaded even if someone rose from the dead. *** Jesus was referring to the fact that he was about to rise from the dead and it wound’t be enough to persuade those whose hearts were hard. *** Jesus told his disciples that they would always be tempted but warned them never be the one who tempts another to sin. It will not go well for that person. *** If a believer repents of a sin against another, that person must forgive him even if the sinner asks seven time a day. Wow! The disciples asked Jesus how to increase their faith and Jesus told them to speak to whatever they wanted removed and it would go. So to increase our faith we need to take authority and speak to our problems. *** Lord, may we increase our faith by using our authority you died to give us. May we humbly and fearfully walk not only doing what is expected of us but daily offering a sacrifice of praise to you and pleasing you with our hearts.

Sat.’s Devo - Be Sure Your Sins Will Find You Out

Read: Joshua 7:16-9:2; Luke 16:1-18; Psalm 82:1-8; Proverbs 13:2-3 Be sure your sins will find you out. Achan was one man out of thousands and yet God knew who he was and what he had done. His sin had affected the whole Israelite nation. If he wasn’t dealt with all of what Moses did and all of God’s plans would be void. But, Joshua wasn’t going to let that happen. Once he found out the culprit, he took Achan, all his possessions and all he had stolen and his family down to the Valley of Achor (which means “trouble”). Joshua asked him why he had brought trouble on the whole nation of Israel. Then all Israel stoned him and burned all he had along with his family. *** Once sin was atoned for, God told Joshua to go take Ai because he would go with them and they would succeed. God gave him strategy of how to take the city which was totally different than the strategy he had given them for Jericho. This would be an ambush. *** Joshua led half of his army to do a frontal attack, then pretended they were being defeated and retreated. Once the warriors of Ai had chased them out of the city, his other half entered from behind and burned the city. When the men of Ai turned and saw their city burning they were sandwiched between Joshua’s men and had no where to go. *** This time, God told them they could have all the booty of the city. If only Achan had waited. Jericho was the tithe to the Lord and now the booty of the rest of the towns would be theirs. They hung the king of Ai on a tree and when he was dead, they put his body at the gate of the city and heaped stones on it. *** Joshua built an altar to the Lord in Mt. Ebal and burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings on it. He wrote a copy of the law of Moses on the stones of the altar. All of Israel stood some facing Mt. Gerizim where the blessings were spoken and half facing Mt. Ebal where the curses were spoken. Joshua read them both before the people to remind them the consequences of breaking God’s laws and the blessings of following it. *** When all the kings of the “ites” heard about what Israel had done to Jericho and Ai, they met together to join and fight against Israel. *** Jesus told his disciples the parable about a rich man who had a steward who was wasting his goods. He called him in to fire him but first the steward needed to make some friends so when he lost his job, he would have someone to rely on. He went to all the people who owed his boss and had then cut their amount to less to win their favor. Then he brought what he had collected to his boss. The boss commended him for being shrewd. *** Jesus told them that if you make friends by using unrighteous mammon, you will end up spending eternity with them. But if you are faithful in the little given to you, God will bless you with rewards in God’s kingdom. If you are not faithful with other’s wealth, you will not be trusted to have your own. *** The Pharisees who were lovers of money didn’t like what Jesus said and derided him. Jesus told the that they justified themselves but God knows their hearts and what they think makes a man great is an abomination to God. *** Jesus said that the law and the prophets were until John but now it was the time of the kingdom of God to be entered into. Every law given would be fulfilled. Then he says that “whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery: and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.” This sounds out of context but Jesus had been talking about the heart of man. He could have meant: Whoever divorces God’s law and is joined to another doctrine commits a total offense toward God and whoever is joined to this new doctrine is also committing adultery with God. To worship anything but God is spiritual adultery. *** Lord, may we choose daily to follow your Word and love you with all our hearts. May we not get turned by the things of this world but stay in the path of righteousness.

Fri.’s Devo - Taking Jericho

Read: Joshua 5:1-7:15; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 13:1 All the Amorite kings heard about how God dried up the Jordan so the Israelites could pass over and they were terrified. *** God told Joshua to circumcise the next generation of men who were fighting age. All the previous generation had died in the wilderness. So Joshua lined all the men up and circumcised them. They waited to heal for a few days at Gibeath-haaraloth which means “hill of foreskins”, but God changed the name to Gilgal which means “a wheel”. God said that he had rolled away the shame of their slavery in Egypt. *** They celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth and the next day when they began to eat the unleavened bread with grain from the promised land, no manna appeared for the first time in 40 years. They would now be fed from God’s land. *** Joshua was met with an angel and he fell on his face to the ground. The angel told him to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. *** God told Joshua that he was giving him Jericho and just how to do it. Jericho had shut its gates and all the people were locked down because of the Israelites. God told Joshua to have the priests take the Ark and have seven priests walk in front of it carrying a ram’s horn. They were to lead the people to march around the town blowing trumpets as they marched with the armed men in the front of the Ark. *** Joshua told the people not to say a word the whole time they marched. They did this for six days. On the seventh day, they marched around seven times. The priests blew a long blast on their horns and Joshua commanded the people to shout for the Lord had given them the town. God had told them that everything must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab could be saved and those in her house. *** If they took anything from Jericho and brought it back into the camp it would bring trouble to them. All the precious metals were to be brought to the Lord’s treasury. *** When the people were given the signal to shout, they did and the walls of Jericho collapsed and they attacked. They saved Rahab and her family and burned down the town. They brought the precious metals into the sanctuary of the Lord. *** Joshua put a curse on Jericho. Anyone who tried to rebuild the town of Jericho would lose their firstborn son when they laid its foundation and their youngest son when they set up the gates. *** A man named Achan secretly stole some of the things that were suppose to go to the Lord and hid them. *** Joshua sent men to spy out the town of Achan. The spies reported that the town was so small it would only take a small army to take them. Joshua sent 3,000 men but they were soundly defeated. Now the Israelites were paralyzed with fear and lost their courage. Joshua humbled him self before the Lord and cried out for help. God explained that the reason he didn’t go with the men was that Israel had sinned against him. They would be destroyed if they didn’t do something about their sin and remove the thing that caused it. *** They were to purify themselves and in the morning present each tribe before the Lord and God would point out the guilty clan. That person would be responsible for his sin. *** In Luke, Jesus ate with notorious sinners which upset the Pharisees and the religious leaders. Jesus told them three parables about people who lost something that was dear to them only to find it again. The first one was a sheep, the next was a coin and the third was a son. Surely they could relate to one of them. The notorious sinner stood for the thing that was the thing that was lost in the stories and there was great joy when it was found. But, the last parable was the son. It went on to show the attitude of the son who had been faithful which represented the religious men. He was told that all the father had had always been theirs but they should celebrate that their lost brother had returned. *** Lord, may we remember this story when we are tempted to criticize the lost or a new Christian. May we humbly remember our own weaknesses and show grace and mercy. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

Thurs.’s Devo - Count the Cost

Read: Joshua 3:1-4:24; Luke 14:7-35; Psalm 80:1-19; Proverbs 12:27-28 The children of Israel came to the Jordan River. God told Joshua to have the priests carrying the Ark go first and after they had gone a mile, the rest of the people could go. That way they could all keep their eyes on the ark. The people of the land could see that their God was revered above all. *** The priests were to step into the water and stand still. As soon as they did this the water would be cut off from upstream and stop flowing. Instead of flowing, the water stood up like a wall from the city Adam and the people there were cut off from crossing the river. But the children of Israel could walk over on dry land. *** A man was to be chosen from each tribe and when the people had passed over the Jordan, these chosen men were to take a stone found at the feet of the priests and carry them over to the place they were staying that night. They would be heaped up as a memorial of what God did for them. They were also to place 12 stones in the midst of the Jordan to be a witness when the Jordan was not overflowing its banks. *** The last to pass over were the warriors from Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. There were about 40,000 men prepared for war that passed over. *** On that day, Joshua was magnified in the eyes of the people and they revered him like they feared Moses. *** When the priests came out of the water, the water flowed again. Joshua told the people that the heap of stones they brought out of the Jordan were to be a reminder of what God did for them on that day. *** Jesus taught them that if they were invited to a banquet, they should sit in the lowest seat and let the master of the party ask them to sit closer to him. If they sat in the most important place first, then they might be asked to sit in a lower place if someone more honored came. *** The moral of this parable is to humble yourself and let God exalt you in his timing. *** Jesus also told them to not just entertain their friends who will invite them back, but to feed those who have no way of paying them back. Then the host would be blessed by God in heaven. *** One of the men listening said, “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” *** Jesus then gave a parable about a man who had a great banquet and invited many to his party. But, the ones he invited started making excuses why they couldn’t come. This made the master so angry he told his servants to go to the highways and the byways and compel anyone to come to his banquet until it was full of people. *** Jesus told them that if they didn’t love him more than their families and even themselves, they could not be his disciple. They had to be willing to carry their own cross and follow him. These are the costs that they must consider before becoming his disciple. Even kings consider if it is prosperous to go out to war. *** We are to be the salt of the earth but if we lose that saltiness, then we are not good for God’s kingdom or anything else. *** Lord, may we stay salty, may we choose you above all else. May our lives be an example of sold out hearts.

Wed.’s Devo - Be Strong and Courageous

Read: Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24; Luke 13:22-14:6; Psalm 79:1-13; Proverbs 12:26 Moses went to the top of Mount Nebo where he could see all the land of Israel that the Lord was giving to them on both sides of the Jordan. Moses died on that mountain in the land of Moab and God buried him in the valley near Beth-peor. No man knows where his burial place is. He was 120 when he died. He died healthy and strong. All Israel wept for him and mourned for 30 days. There had never been a prophet like Moses that God knew face to face and that did such wonders as Moses did in Egypt. *** Before Moses died, he had laid his hands and transferred the Spirit of wisdom upon Joshua. After they had mourned Moses’ death, Joshua told the people it was time to cross over the Jordan and take their land. God had told them that no man would be able to stand before them and as God was with Moses, he would be with Joshua. *** God commanded Joshua to be very strong and courageous, because God was with him to bring him success. Joshua told the people to prepare their food now because in three days they would cross over. Warriors from Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh would go with them to fight for the land, then they would be released to go home and enjoy their inheritance. *** Joshua first sent out two spies to Jericho. They came to Rahab’s house, who was a harlot. When the king of Jericho heard they were staying with her, they came to her house to get them. She told them that the men had just left and were probably still close. If they hurried, they might be able to catch them. She had really hid them under the thatch on her roof and when the soldiers left her house she let the spies out of her window with a scarlet rope. She made them promise to save her when they came back and took the city. They promised they would if she put the scarlet rope out of her window to identify which house was hers. *** Rahab told the spies how everyone had heard about them and were afraid of them. They had heard about Egypt, Sihon and Og and knew that the Lord was with them. The two spies went back to Joshua and reported this. *** In Luke, as Jesus was teaching, a man asked him if only a few would be saved. Jesus answered that they must strive to enter into the narrow gate. Once God stands up and shuts the door, no one will be able to enter in. Even those who ate and drank in Jesus’ presence and heard him teach in the streets will not be able to enter in because they never allowed their hearts to change and influence their lives. They would see the patriarchs of old from a distance but not be able to enter in. *** That same day, some of the Pharisees came to Jesus telling him to get out and leave because Herod would kill him. Jesus had just told about how God would cast them out of his kingdom and now the Pharisees are wanting to cast Jesus out of theirs. He told them to go tell Herod that he would stay and heal and cast out devils and then off the third day, he would be perfected. He was talking in code to say that he would work until it was time for him to die and then he would rise on the third day. *** Jesus also said that he must die in Jerusalem along with all the other prophets. He would not come again to see Jerusalem until it was ready to say, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” *** As Jesus was going into the house of one of the Pharisees to eat on the sabbath, he saw a man who had the dropsy. The Pharisee was watching to see what Jesus would do. Jesus asked him if it was lawful to heal on the sabbath day. They remained silent. Then he asked them if one of their ox fell into a pit on the Sabbath would they not immediately pull him out. They refused to answer that one either. *** Lord, may we not be hypocritical like the Pharisees who couldn’t see because of the jealousy in their hearts. May we have clean hearts and a pure heart to embrace what you are doing today and participate. May we be strong and courageous!

Tues.’s Devo - The Blessings of Moses

Read: Deuteronomy 33:1-29; Luke 13:1-21; Psalm 78:65-72; Proverbs 12:25 Moses proclaimed a blessing on the people of Israel before he died. He told them how much God loved them - that the ones who were holy were in his hands because they followed him and accepted his teaching. When the leaders assembles and gathered as one, the Lord became their king. *** Then Moses went through all the tribes and blessed them individually. We, as God’s children can take all of these blessing for ourselves because we are the people of God. *** To Reuben he said may they live and not die out. *** Even though Simeon is not mentioned by name, scholars believe that the next part of verse 6 is to them: “though they be few in number.” Reuben was not few in number and Simeon was and he would be next in order. *** To Judah, he pronounced unity and strength to defend their cause, and help against their enemies. *** To Levi, the Lord gave the authority to give the decision of the Lord to the people. They had proven to the Lord that they would defend his decision even if it meant going against their own family members. They taught the people God’s laws and presented the offering to the Lord. Moses blessed their ministry and prayed that God would accept their offerings and that God would defeat their enemies that they never rise up again. *** To Benjamin, Moses prayed that he would live in safety, free from harm. *** To Ephraim and Manasseh, God prayed that they would be blessed with the richness of the earth with rich harvests. They would be victorious over the enemy. *** Zebulun and Issachar would prosper everywhere they went. They would be given hidden treasures of the deep things God has hidden. *** Gad would prosper against their enemy and was given the best land because they carried out the Lord’s justice. *** Dan was described as a young lion who leaped out from Bashan. Dan was small and needed more land so they did take land to the north which might have been what is described as the “leap”. *** Naphtali was blessed with favor with his brothers, favor in his businesses and favor with God. God was his refuge and drove the enemy out before him. *** Moses ended by blessing all Israel with safety, grain and new wine and abundance. They would be a people like no other that the Lord saved, and protected with his shield and his triumphant sword. His last statement was: “Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will stomp on their backs!” All of Israel’s blessings are our blessings. *** In Luke, Jesus gave them two examples of judgment that fell on people but he told them that they were no less sinners than anyone who did not repent. Then he gave an example of the vineyard that showed the Lord’s great mercy. He is slow in bringing judgment and gives many chances for a person to repent before he brings judgment. *** Jesus saw a woman who was bent over with her infirmity. He loosed her and she stood up straight and glorified God. Jesus was rebuked by the ruler of the synagogue for healing her on the Sabbath. Jesus rebuked him calling him a hypocrite for not rejoicing that the woman was healed. He shamed the leaders of the synagogue exposing their hard hearts, but the people rejoiced with the woman. *** Then Jesus explained what the kingdom of God was like. It was like something that started really small and grew and no one could stop it. *** Lord, may we have soft hearts that want to see your kingdom come and want to see people set free and healed. May we walk in your authority and power. May the blessings of Israel be on us.

Mon.’s Devo - God is Our Avenger

Read: Deuteronomy 32:28-52; Luke 12:35-59; Psalm 78:56-64; Proverbs 12:24 Moses’ song told the story of Israel’s future rebellion against God. They turned from God and he became their enemy and sold them out. God owns vengeance and recompense. Israel would come to calamity and judgement and their power would be gone. They would wonder why their gods haven’t done anything to help them. God says that no one or god can deliver anything out of his hand. He will render vengeance to his enemies and reward those who that him. God will have mercy on these that are still his people and to their land. *** God told Moses that he would see the land from afar, but not go into it because he struck the rock at Meribah-Kadesh and didn’t speak to it like God told him to. *** In Luke, Jesus tells us to be alert and walking in the Spirit while we wait for Jesus’ return. He gave them a parable telling them to be like servants waiting for their master’s return. He would come back and serve them meat. Peter asked him to explain the parable. Jesus answered the question Peter had in his heart which was: who was the faithful and wise servant that the master fed? Jesus answered that it was the one who when he returned, he found doing what his master had told him to do. He is the one who the master will make ruler over all his has. But the one who knew his will and wasn’t doing it will be beat with many stripes. The one who didn’t know his will and wasn’t doing it will be beat with few stripes. Those who he required much of will be responsible for the most. This will cause division in the household of those who want to do God’s will and those who don’t. *** Jesus warned them if they brought their adversary to court, they should try to settle their matters before they got to court least they be the one who ends up in jail. They won’t be set free till you have paid every cent. *** Lord, may we guide our affairs with the fear of the Lord and will wisdom. Our desire is to do your will and to live a life worth of your rewards.

Sun.’s Devo - Moses’ Song

Read: Deuteronomy 31:1-322:27; Luke 12:8-34; Psalm 78:32-55; Proverbs 12:21-23 Moses was now 120 years old and God had told him that he was not to go over the Jordan. Moses stood for the law and the Jordan stands for the Spirit. They had to cross over the Jordan to go into the land of God’s promise. To enter into the Spirit, we have to put to death the penalty of the law. Moses had to die and Joshua, whose name means “salvation” had to take them into the land and teach them how to war and take their possession. *** God told them that they were to be strong and courageous and not afraid of the giants in the land because he was going to destroy them and personally go ahead of them. He would give them success. *** Moses called for Joshua and told him that he would be the one to fearlessly lead the people. He would divide the land among the tribes. *** Moses gave the priest and the elders the entire book of laws. He told them that at the end of every 7 years at the Feast of Tabernacles they must read this entire book to all the people of Israel when they gathered to celebrate. *** God told Moses that he was about to die and join his ancestors in Sheol. When he was gone, the people would abandon God and go after the gods of the land. God would abandon them and disasters would come down on them. So he was to write the words of the song God gave him and teach it to the people. It would stand as evidence against them. *** Moses gave a copy of the law to the priests to put in the Tabernacle for safe keeping. *** In the song God proclaimed he was faithful, just and upright but the people are deceitful and twisted. They repaid God’s goodness and deliverance with rebellion and sin. *** God created the world and divided the people and gave them boundaries. He chose the people of Israel to belong to him as his special possession. He gave them the land they now live in and carried them safely there. He warned them not to follow foreign gods and fed them from the bounty of the earth. He blessed their animals and their crops but they became fat and unruly and abandoned the Lord. They worshipped foreign gods and did detestable deeds. They offered sacrifices to demons. When God saw this he drew back and abandoned them to their own devises. He would use the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy. *** God would weaken his people with famine, disease, wild beasts and poisonous snakes The sword would bring them death and terror. He would annihilate them but for the taunt of their enemies. To be continued… *** In Luke, Jesus told them that whoever acknowledges him publicly here on earth, he will acknowledge in the presence of Heaven. You can be forgiven for speaking against Christ but not for blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He is the one who will give you what to speak if you are brought before the judge. *** Jesus taught against greed and the worries of this world. He told them not to be concerned with the cares of the world. It gives God great pleasure to give us everything we need if we seek his kingdom first. What we do for God is how we store up treasure. *** Lord, may we have your perspective about our daily living. May we store up kingdom treasures and not be burdened with the cares of this world. May we hide your Word in our hearts that we don’t sin against you.

Sat.’s Devo - The New Covenant

Read: Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20; Luke 11:37:12:7; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 12:19-20 Moses came to his final words before they committed to the terms of the new covenant with the Lord. He reminded them of their wilderness journey and how they didn’t have a mind to understand, eyes to see or ears to hear the Lord. God had provided for them all through the dessert and even their clothes and shoes were blessed and didn’t wear out. God had helped them conquer the lands of King Simon and Og and their lands became the inheritance of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. They had made slaves of the ones they let live and they chopped their wood and carried their water. *** God was making this new covenant with the children of the people he brought out of Egypt, since all of their parents had died in the wilderness because of their rebellion. They had been children when they left Egypt but they had the memory of Egypt’s evil idol worship. God was making his covenant with them so that none of them would turn away from the Lord and worship the gods of other nations and so that there would be no bitter roots among them. *** All who still live by the desires of their own stubborn heart would end in ruin. If they were to turn away to other gods, then the land would be cursed and devastated by sulfur and salt just like Sodom and Gomorrah. All the other nations would look on it and ask why the Lord was so angry with them. The answer would be because they turned away from him. *** In the future, if they did find themselves experiencing the curses of the Lord, and repented, the Lord would restore their fortunes and have mercy on them and gather them back from all the nations where he scattered them. Then the Lord would make the even more prosperous than their ancestors. *** God would change their hearts so that they would love him with all their heart and soul. The curses would be turned to their enemies. They would themselves be blessed with children, success, abundant harvests and God would delight in being good to them. *** The law he was giving them was not too difficult that they couldn’t follow it. He had put it in their heart and on their lips so they could obey it. *** God was giving them a choice between life and death, prosperity and disaster. All they had to do was to keep his commands, and they would live in God’s blessings. *** In Luke, the Pharisees and teacher of the law were always offended that Jesus didn’t follow their man-made laws and customs like ceremonially washing his hands like they had said must be done. Jesus had been invited to one of the Pharisee’s house for a meal. When he didn’t go through the hand-washing ritual the Pharisees had required everyone to do his host was offended. When they marveled that he didn’t go through the ritual he let loose on them. He rebuked them for being all clean and pious looking on the outside when their hearts were full of extortion and wickedness. They gave herbs, but judged unfairly. They were in the highest positions of importance but are really like graves that people walked on. *** The lawyers asked if he was going to rebuke them also. (They should have kept their mouths shut) Jesus rebuked them for doling out extremely harsh sentences that no-one was able to bear. They gave their money to build sepulchers for the priests that their fathers killed. God would in the future send them prophets and apostles and they would slay them and persecute them. (We see that came true in the book of Acts.) Then the blood of all the prophets would be on their heads from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias. He finished with, the lawyers had taken away the key of knowledge and didn’t even use it themselves to enter in to God’s kingdom. *** Needless to say, this didn’t go over well with the scribes and Pharisees. They began to provoke Jesus to get him to say something they could catch him with that they could accuse him. *** Lord, may we keep the words of your covenant and love you with our whole heart and soul.

Fri.’s Devo -The Blessings and the Curses

Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; Proverbs 12:18 Today we read the blessings of obeying the Lord and the curses of not. *** To receive the blessings they had to fully obey the Lord and carefully keep all his commands. Then, wherever they went and whatever they did would be blessed. All of their enemies would be afraid of them and they would prosper in every way. God would send them rain when they needed it and bless all their work so they would never need to borrow from other nations. They would lend to them instead. They would always remain on top and never on the bottom. *** But if they refused to listen to the Lord and did not obey his commands and decrees, then the curses would fall on them and overwhelm them. They would be cursed with disease, confusion, frustration, bad harvests, hard work, defeat from their enemies, the diseases of Egypt, loss, betrayal, and they would end up exiled into a land where they would worship gods of wood and stone. *** Just as the Lord delighted in blessing them , he will delight in cursing them. *** In Luke, when Jesus cast out the demon from a man who was mute, he talked. Some of the people said he could do that because he was possessed himself. Others wanted him to send them a sign from heaven. But Jesus knew what they were thinking so he told them that every kingdom divided against itself will be destroyed and a house divided against itself will fall. In other words, if he was from Satan’s kingdom, he wouldn’t be casting out one of his own. But, if he cast out devils with the finger of God, the kingdom of God was surely come. *** He explained that the stronger man wins and God is stronger than the devil. When that spirit leaves a man it seeks another person to enter. If it can’t find one, it will go back to that same person and try to enter back in. If he has not filled himself with God’s presence, then that evil spirit will bring seven more more wicked than him. *** To those who were seeking a sign, the only sign they would be given was the sign of Jonah the prophet. There was a solar eclipse during their day just like we are about to have and maybe that was the sign he would give them. Jonah’s sign and his preaching to repent caused them to repent. We pray that God’s sign on April 8th will cause many to repent. *** No one covers their lights but puts them where everyone can benefit from it. The same is true about the eye. Our eyes are our lights for our body. When we are single-minded and full of God’s light then our body will be whole. But, if we are bent to evil, then we will have no light. *** Lord, may your light shine through us. May we have eyes full of light and feed on your Word and not the world. May we walk in your blessings of obedience.

Thurs.’s Devo - How to Pray

Read: Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26; Luke 10:38-11:13; Psalm 76:1-12; Proverbs 12:15-17 When the Israelites came to the land God had promised them they were to put a basket and set it before the altar of the Lord. They were to proclaim that they had been foreigners living in Egypt. They started as a few but God had increased their numbers until they were a great number. The Egyptians oppressed them and made them slaves but God saw their hardship and brought them out with his strong hand to this land flowing with milk and honey. They were then to present the first fruits of the good things the Lord had given them. *** Every third year they were to offer a special tithe of their crops to the Levites, foreigners, orphans and widows. Then they could ask God for his blessing. *** From that day on, God would require them to obey all the decrees and regulations wholeheartedly. If they did, God would set them above all the other nations of the world. They would receive praise, honor and renown and be a nation that was holy to the Lord. *** When they crossed over Jordan they were to take some large stones and cast them with plaster and write the words of God instructed them. They were to set these stones at Mt. Ebal. These were the curses they were to write: verses 15-26. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali were to stand on the mountain and respond to the Levites who would read the curses to all the people. *** In Luke, Martha is complaining to Jesus that Mary is not helping her since Mary was sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to what he taught. Jesus told Martha that while she was upset over the details, there was really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary had discovered it and He wasn’t going to take it away from her. What a great reminder to us when we are bogged down with details - God’s presence is where we find rest. *** Jesus’ disciples saw how Jesus would go away and pray and asked him to teach them to pray. Jesus told them how they should pray and gave them what we call “the Lord’s Prayer”. He praised his father first and proclaimed his kingdom on the earth. Then he prayed for daily needs, for forgiveness and help in forgiving others. Lastly he told them to pray that they not yield to temptation. *** Jesus gave them a parable about how to pray for needs. The meaning of the parable was that they should keep praying until they received what they needed. God is the giver of good gifts and most of all wants to give us his Holy Spirit. *** Lord, we pray for more of your Holy Spirit. Thank you that we have access to You and your throne of grace. May we find rest at your throne.

Wed.’s Devo - Mercy

Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11 Eunuchs, bastards, Ammonites, Moabites or any of their descendant for ten generations were not allowed in the assembly of the Lord. But, they were not to hate the Edomites or the Egyptians because the Edomites were their relatives and they lived among the Egyptians. The tired generation of Edomites and Egyptians were allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord. *** If a slave escaped and came to you for refuge, you were not to hand him over to his master. They were to let them live among them and not oppress them. *** Interest was not to be imposed on fellow Israelites. If a vow was made, they were to be quick to fulfill it. You must not steal from your neighbor. *** If a man wanted to divorce his wife, he must write her a writ of divorcement and make it legal. She is then free to remarry. (Jesus rebuked them for not legally divorcing their wives thus making her commit adultery if she remarried.) *** I was illegal to make a person give their means of work as security for a loan. *** All kidnappers must die. *** People were to be treated with dignity, especially the poor. They were to be paid daily for their work because they might need it that day. *** Parents were not responsible for the sins of their children nor the children responsible for their parents. Foreigners and children were to receive true justice. They were to show mercy to the widow and the poor, even when harvesting their crops. *** If a person is sentenced to flogging, it must not exceed 40 lashes. If two brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without a son, the other brother is obligated to marry his widow. Her first son would be considered her first husband’s to carry out his name. *** If the living brother refuses to marry her, she must go to the town gate and tell the elders. They will bring the man in for questioning and if he still refused to marry her, the widow must pull off his sandal and spit in his face and declare that this is what happens to the man who refuses to provide his brother with children. His family will bear that stigma their whole life. *** They must be honest in their business and never forget what the Amalekites did to them when they came out of Egypt. They refused to give them food and struck down their weak. They had no fear of God. They must be destroyed. *** In Luke, Jesus cursed Koran and Bethsaida for rejecting the rejecting the power of God and Jesus’ message of salvation. Jesus explains that anyone who rejected them was also rejecting him and God. *** Jesus met with his 72 he had sent out and gave them authority over all the power of the enemy. He told them they could walk on snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing would injure them. He has given us that same authority. *** Jesus thanked God for choosing people who were humble to use. He told his disciples that the prophets longed to see what they saw. They were truly blessed. *** A religious teacher came to Jesus to test him and asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what Moses law had said and he quoted to love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. *** Then the man wanting to justify his actions asked Jesus who his neighbor was. Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus asked him who was this man’s neighbor and he said the one who showed him mercy. Jesus told him to go and do the same. *** This was not what he was expecting to hear, but God loves mercy more than acts of piety and gifts. *** Lord, may we give mercy out of our hearts to those who need mercy. May we forgive and walk in love.

Tues.’s Devo - Laws to Protect the Innocent

Read: Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11 If a murder was committed and there is no evidence of who committed it, then the elders and judges were to measure the distance of the crime scene to the nearest town. That town was to be responsible for atoning for the murder. To do this, they were to take an unyoked heifer to a valley that had not be plowed but had a stream. There they were to break the heifer’s neck and bless the Lord. *** The elders would then wash their hands over the heifer and confess their innocence in the crime. This way they would be remitted of the guilt of the man’s murder. *** If while in war, a soldier saw a virgin and wanted her for his wife, he was to bring her home with him. She must shave her head, cut her nails and change her clothes. She would stay in his house a full month before he married her. If when married, she didn’t please him, he had to set her free; she could not be sold. *** If a man had two wives and loved one and not the other and the one he loved least had his first-born son, he must honor him as the first-born. He was to receive a double portion as the first-born. *** If a son was rebellious and a drunkard, the father was to bring him before the elders of the town and they were to judge his case. If the son was proven guilty, the men in the town were to stone him. *** If a person was sentenced with hanging, he must not remain hanging from the tree overnight but must be buried that day. A person who is sentenced to hanging is cursed in the Lord’s sight. *** If your neighbor needs help, you must help them. *** Women must not disguise themselves as men and vice versa. *** If a bird’s nest is found, they were not to take the mother with its young. The mother must be allowed to live to have other young. *** You must build railing around your flat roof to prevent anyone from falling off. *** You were not to mix things like crops, animals, or threads. God’s creations were to be pure and undefiled. *** If a man accused his wife of not being a virgin when he married her, her father should bring the tokens of her virginity and prove her innocence in court. If the man was found to be lying then he must stay married to her all his life. He must also pay her father 100 pieces of silver for tarnishing their name. *** If she is proven guilty of not being a virgin, then she should be stoned at the door of her father’s house. *** If a man is proven an adulterer, he and the woman must die. If a man has sex with a woman who is engaged and she doesn’t cry out, they were both to die. If she was raped, then only he was to die. *** If a man was to have sex with a virgin and is found out, he must pay her father 50 pieces of silver and he must marry her and never divorce her. A man was not to marry his father’s former wife. *** God’s laws were to protect the innocent but punish the guilty and to remove sin from the land. *** In Luke, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He came to a village that did not welcome him so he passed it and went to the next. Three men came up to him with excuses to why they could’t follow him now. By Jesus’ answers he was saying that there were more important things than the things they were concerned about. Preaching the Kingdom of God was at the top. *** Jesus chose 72 men and sent them ahead of him to preach the kingdom of God and tell them it was near. If they didn’t receive them and their message, they were to wipe the dust of that town off their feet and continue to the next. *** Lord, help us to wipe disappointment and rejection off our feet. May our mission be to share the good news of God’s kingdom.