Sun.’s Devo - Seek the Kingdom First

Read: Joshua 5:1-7:15; Luke 15:1-32; Psalm 81:1-16; Proverbs 13:1 All the tribes were brought before the Lord and Achan from the tribe of Judah was singled out as the one who disobeyed the Lord. He confessed to taking a robe, 200 silver coins and a bar of gold. He had hidden them in the ground under his tent. *** Achan and what he had stolen, his family and all he owned was taken to the valley of Achor. Achan means “troubler” and Achor means “to trouble”. Joshua said “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.”All of Israel stoned them and burned their bodies. They piled a heap of stones on top of their ashes and God’s anger was appeased. *** Now, God sent them back to Ai and they destroyed them and were told they could keep the plunder. If only Achan had given to the Lord first, then he would have been able to receive his portion. *** If we learn how to have a spirit of generosity first, we can break out of a poverty spirit and enjoy God’s blessings. *** The strategy for taking this town was totally different than the plan for taking Jericho. They were to ambush this city, take the spoil and burn it to the ground. Then, they attacked the people they had drawn out of the town. They attacked from both sides and destroyed 12,000 in one day. The king was impaled on a pole and then buried in front of the town gate. *** Joshua built an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal where they had read aloud the curses of not following the Lord. On the stones of the altar, Joshua wrote the instructions of the Lord. *** Half of the people stood on Mt. Ebal and half on Mt. Gerizim like the day when Moses had read to them the blessings and the curses. The Ark and the priests stood in the valley between them. Joshua read to them again the blessings of following the Lord and the curses of disobeying the Lord. *** When kings of the land they heard of how they took Jericho and Ai, they now joined together as one to fight Joshua. *** In, Luke, Jesus tells the story of a wealth manager who was wasting his master’s money. His employer found out and called him in to get his affairs in order because he was fired. The manager quickly went out and changed the amount of the receipts of what people owed his boss so that when he was fired he would have their favor. *** The rich man had to admire him for being so shrewd. He was only concerned about his life on earth. Where this man acquired friends shrewdly, we are to acquire friends the right way - by being generous with God’s money. Then, when we die, we will be welcomed into God’s house. We live our lives for eternity. *** If we learn how to give when we have a little, we will give when we have a lot. Jesus spoke this to the Pharisees and they scoffed at his teaching because they loved money. He told them they were hypocrites who loved to look righteous but had deceitful hearts. God sees this and it is detestable to him. *** Jesus explained that even though he had brought in a new kingdom, the law was still in effect. He gave the example of how they put their wives away without going through the requirements in the law. Because they were not giving their wife a writ of divorcement, they were causing her and them to commit adultery if either remarried. Every dot and tittle of the law must be fulfilled. *** The Psalm for today is a word to the fallen angels. Pretty interesting since we just read about a town called AI. *** Lord, may our hearts be upright in all we do and think. May we be generous and give all we have for your Kingdom. Thank you that when we seek you first and your Kingdom, all these things will be added.