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.