Wed.’s Devo - God’s Word is True

Read: 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 14:30-31 Eli was very aware that his sons were doing wicked things. They were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Eli confronted his sons but didn’t take them from their duty or discipline them, so God planned to put them to death. *** God sent Eli a prophet who told him the time would come when his family would no longer be priests. All the members of his family would die premature deaths. The few that would remain priests would end up blind, with heart conditions or die a violent death. To prove that his words were true, Hophni and Phinehas would both die on the same day. *** God would raise up a faithful priest to serve and do his will. Meanwhile, Samuel grew to have the favor of God and the people. *** One night Samuel was awakened in the middle of the night hearing his name called. He ran to Eli to see what he wanted. Eli was almost blind by now and they slept in the Tabernacle. Samuel slept near the Ark of the Lord. Eli told him he hadn’t called him. When it happened again, Eli perceived that it was the Lord speaking to Samuel. He told Samuel the next time he heard his name called to ask him to speak. *** Samuel did and God told him that he was about to do something shocking in Israel. All the warnings of judgment were about to come true. Since Eli hasn’t disciplined his sons, God had ordered their judgement. They would never be forgiven. *** The next morning, Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what God had said, but Eli urged him. When he did, there was nothing Eli had no defense. *** At that time, there was war between Israel and the Philistines. Four thousand Israelites were killed in the first attack. The captains of Israel’s army wondered why God was not helping them so they decided to go get the Ark and bring it with them into battle. When the Ark arrived the whole came yelled so loudly that the earth shook and the Philistines could hear it from where they were. They were so afraid of Israel’s God, they told their men to fight extra hard because they were going up against Israel’s strong God who had defeated Egypt. They didn’t know that God was no longer with Israel. *** Hophni and Phinehas went with the Ark into war the next day. The Philistines defeated Israel again and killed 30,000 of them. The Ark was captured and Hophni and Phinehas were both killed. *** When the bad news was told to Eli, he fell backward from his seat and broke his neck and died. He had judged Israel for 40 years. *** Phinehas’ wife was pregnant and went into labor when she heard the news. She began dying in childbirth but named her child Ichabod before she died. Ichabod means “Woe, where has the glory gone.” *** In John, Jesus said that those who believe in him will never be condemned for their sins but have already passed from death into life. One day, the dead will hear his voice and those who listen will live. They will rise out of their graves and those who have done good will experience eternal life and those who did evil will rise to be judged for their sins. Jesus will judge them as God instructs him at that time. *** John was the one who testified about Jesus, and his teachings and miracles also testify as to who he is. God testified about him through the Scriptures. Man’s approval means nothing if it doesn’t agree with God’s Scriptures. *** Most of the religious leaders of Jesus day couldn’t believe Jesus because they honored one another more than God. Moses, himself would stand in judgment against them because Moses testified of Jesus. They proved that they didn’t believe Moses because Moses told about Jesus and they didn’t believe him. *** Lord, we believe your testimony. Help us be an example of you to the world and our families.

Tues.’s Devo - Hannah’s Story

Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29 Elkanah was a man who lived in Ramah. He had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Penninah had children but Hannah was barren. *** Elkanah would travel to Shiloh annually to sacrifice at the Tabernacle there. The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas presided there as priest. Elkanah would give meat for his wives to give as a sacrifice. He gave Peninnah a larger piece because she had to feed all her children from it. She would make fun of Hannah’s small piece of meat. Her harassment caused Hannah to cry. *** This year, Elkanah saw her crying and asked her why she was crying, was he not better than many children? He didn’t understand. *** Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli saw her crying bitterly before the Lord and thought she was drunk. He rebuked her, but she told him she was not drunk but fervently praying. He blessed her with peace and the answer to her prayer. *** Hannah was then filled with hope and began to eat again. She got the answer to her prayer and became pregnant. She had a son and named him Samuel. When he was weaned she took him to Eli and left him to be trained to be a priest. She gave her first fruit to the Lord. *** Then Hannah prayed the most powerful prayer for herself and for Israel. It was about reversals for those who hope in the Lord. *** Eli’s sons disrespected God and their duties as priests. They disrespected everyone’s gifts to the Lord and took them for themselves, treating the Lord’s offerings with contempt. *** Meanwhile, Samuel grew to serve the Lord. He dressed like a little priest as a child because Hannah brought him a coat every year. Eli blessed Hannah to have more children and she had three sons and two daughters. Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. *** In John, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the feast and went near the Sheep Gate by the pool of Bethesda. Many very sick people lay on the porches waiting for the stirring of the water to be healed. One man had been there for 38 years. He was paralyzed. *** Jesus saw him and told him to stand up, pick up his mat and walk. The man instantly did. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath so, of course the the Jewish leaders objected when they saw him carrying his mat. Jesus had disappeared into the crowd, but found the man later and told him to stop sinning or something worse would happen to him. *** When the religious leaders criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus told them that his Father always was working. All the religious leaders were working on was a way to kill Jesus. *** Jesus really ticked them off when he called God his Father and told him he was doing what God was doing. He claimed that God would show him how to do even greater things than healing this man. God would give him power to raise the dead. He was also given the power to judge anyone who was not honoring the Father who sent him. *** All glory and honor to Jesus Christ! Thank you, Jesus that you choose to give us this same authority. Show us how to use this authority to proclaim your glory on the earth.

Mon.’s Devo. - Our Kinsman Redeemer

Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 114:26-27 Boaz was a wealthy man who had been a relative of Ruth’s deceased husband, Elimelech. It was the wheat harvest and Ruth wanted to work in the fields. It was a law that the poor could walk behind the reapers and pick up whatever they missed. Naomi agreed to let Ruth go glean. *** Ruth just happened to end up in Boaz’s field. He knew who she was and had heard her story of losing her husband, then following Ruth back to live among Israelites. When he saw her gleaning in his field he introduced himself to her and told her to stay in his fields and he would make sure she was safe. *** Boaz then went to his workers and told them to drop extra sheaves for her to pick up and not to harass her in any way. Boaz also invited her to eat the food he had prepared for his workers. She stayed there all day and went home with enough sheaves to make a whole bowl of grain. *** Ruth was amazed at the amount of grain Ruth had gathered and asked her whose field she had gathered in. When she learned it was Boaz’s, she told Ruth that he was a kinsman redeemer for their family. ***At the end of the barley harvest, Boaz would be staying at the threshing floor over night. Naomi told Ruth to get cleaned up and put on her prettiest dress. She was stay in the background until Boaz had eaten and was full of wine. Once he had laid down, she was to uncover his feet and lay there. Boaz would instruct her from there. *** Boaz had already searched to find there was a relative who was ahead of him in redeeming her. He told Ruth to go home and he would talk to the other relative and see if he would redeem her. If he did, there was nothing Boaz could do, but if he didn’t, Boaz would marry Ruth. *** When Boaz went to the gates of the city, he met the relative. He didn’t want to redeem Ruth, so Boaz became her redeemer. Witnesses of the transaction blessed Boaz and he took Ruth as his wife. She became pregnant and the child became Naomi’s birthright. They named the son Obed which means “serving”. *** In the genealogy in Matthew we learn that Boaz’s mother was Rahab, who was a Canaanite woman who chose, like Ruth, to become an Israelite. That was why Boaz had so much compassion on Ruth, a foreigner like his mother. *** In John, Jesus went back to Judea where he had been kicked out before. This time so many of them had been touched by the miracles he had done at Passover, they welcomed him. He came to the city of Cana where he had turned the water to wine and met a government official whose son was about to die. He begged Jesus to heal his son. *** Jesus told the man to go back home, his son would live. The man believed him and went home. On his way, some of his servants met him with the good news that his son was well. It had happened the very moment Jesus spoke his healing. He and his entire household became believers in Christ. *** Lord, thank you for being our Kinsman Redeemer. Thank you for saving the whole world that we might become children of God. May we be the light of the world for you.

Sun.’s Devo - Finding a Bride

Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25 The Israelites had vowed not to give their daughters in marriage to any man of the tribe of Benjamin so the tribe was going to die out. The leaders of the tribes got together and found it devastating to lose a tribe, but they had made a vow. Now they had to find a way around it. *** They still had the 600-plus men that had hidden in Rimmon. They needed to find wives for them to preserve the tribe of Benjamin. They inquired around to find that no one from the town of Jabesh-gilead had showed up to fight so they hadn’t made the vow. They went to the town and killed everyone in the town except the virgins. They found wives for 400 of them. They still needed about 200 women. *** Every year they had a festival at Shiloh where the virgins would do a dance. They told the men who needed wives to watch from vineyards and pick out a wife then rush out and grab her. Since their parents didn’t legally give their daughters to them, they would not be breaking their vow. They did this and the rest of the men in Benjamin had wives. *** In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. *** Ruth. Israel experienced a great famine. There was a man and his wife: Elimelech and Naomi, who had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion. they were from the tribe of Ephraim who lived in Bethlehem. The famine became so severe, they moved to the land of Moab. Mahlon and Kilion married wives there: Ruth and Orpah. Elimelech and his two sons died leaving no children. *** Naomi heard there was bread in Judah and decided to return home. She tried to convince her two daughter-in-laws to stay and remarry their people, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi. *** They traveled to Bethlehem and got there just at the time of Pentecost when the farmers were harvesting the barley. The whole town was happy to have Naomi back. *** In John, Jesus traveled through Samaria and came to the village of Sychar. This was near the land Jacob had given to Joseph. Jacob’s well was there and Jesus sat beside the well while his disciples went to find food. One of the women from Samaria came to draw water around noon and Jesus asked her to draw him some water. *** The woman was surprised he had talked to her since she was a much-hated Samaritan. She asked him about that and Jesus began to tell her about the living water he could offer her. The water he was offering her was water that would forever quench her thirst. It was fresh and bubbling and would give them eternal life. Then she wanted his water. He told her to go get her husband. *** She replied that she didn’t have a husband. He already knew that. He told her that she had had seven and the one she was with now wouldn’t marry her. *** She was amazed that he knew her and all she had been through. She perceived him to be a prophet and begin asking him religious questions about where it was the right place to worship God. *** Jesus told her of a time that was coming where it didn’t matter where you worshipped the Lord but how you worshipped him. God was Spirit so he must be worshipped by someone’s spirit who truly loved him. *** Then the women mentioned the Messiah that was coming who is called Christ and when he came he would explain all this to them. *** Jesus told her he was the Messiah. At this time, the disciples returned and she ran to the village to tell everyone about the man who knew everything about her. Could this man be the Messiah? *** The disciples urged Jesus to eat but he couldn’t. He told them that his nourishment came from doing the will of God. He had planted in his vineyard and now he was experiencing the harvest and it was nourishing him. Many of the people from her Samaritan town came to hear and believe in Jesus. They begged him to stay longer and he did for two days. *** Just like the men of Benjamin, Jesus was looking for a bride. His is still looking for those who will be his bride. *** Lord, we say “Yes!” We want to be your bride. May we be nourished by working in your vineyard and seeing the harvest come in.

Sat.’s Devo -The Sad State of Israel

Read: Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psalm 104:24-35; Proverbs 14:22-24 This is the story I hate to read every year. It is the epitome of man doing what he thinks is right in the sight of the Lord. *** A man takes a concubine and she is so angry with him that she flees back to her father’s house. When her owner comes for her, her father doesn’t protect her. Instead he entertains his “son-in-law” and lets him take his daughter back with him. *** They stay in the city of Gibeah on the way back to his house, thinking it is safe since it is in Israel. It is full of wicked men who come to the house that they are staying and want the man to come out so they can have sex with him. To protect himself, he throws his concubine out the door so she can be raped all night. She survives until morning and makes it back to the door of the house they are staying. When the man opens the door and tells her to get up, she’s dead. *** He takes her body, cuts it into 12 pieces and sends a piece to every tribe in Israel to get the people rallied up to fight against the town of Gibson. He leaves out the part where he gave his concubine to them to rape. *** All the tribes send their armies to fight at Mizpah. The Israelites send 400,000 warriors. The man who gathered them gave his speech to them about what happened, once again leaving out his part. They go to war against Benjamin’s 26,000 warriors. *** The first two days of fighting were really bad for Israel. She lost 40,000 men. But after crying out the the Lord and offering sacrifices of peace to the Lord, they set up an ambush and drew the Benjamites out of the city. They killed 48,100 Benjamites, burned down the town and killed the people, livestock, and everything they found. Six hundred men escaped to the rock of Rimmon where they lived for four months. *** Jesus and his disciples were baptizing people the same place John was. John’s disciples asked John if he was worried that everyone was leaving his ministry and going over to hear what Jesus was saying and he told them that this was the plan. He was not the Messiah but was only sent to prepare the way for him. He must decrease and Jesus must increase. *** John was earthly so he could only speak of earthly things. Jesus had come from heaven, so he could speak of heavenly things. Jesus spoke for God and could tell them of thing he experienced in heaven with his Father. Those who believe his testimony will receive eternal life. *** Jesus knew the Pharisees were watching him so he left Judea and went to Galilee. *** Jesus, thank you for the revealing the Father to us. Lord, God, thank you for sending your son to die that we might have eternal life. Holy Spirit, thank you for revealing God’s plan to us and equipping us to walk in the steps of Jesus.

Fri.’s Devo - The Beginnings of the Tribe of Dan

Read: Judges 17:1-18:31; John 3:1-21; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 14:20-21 Micah lived in the hills of Ephraim. He had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from his own mother. When he heard that she had placed a curse on the person who stole it, he confessed and gave back the silver. She was elated and took 200 pieces of the silver and had a image made and worshipped it. *** The theme of the Judges is “Israel had no king in those days and the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” They didn’t follow the law of Moses but human reasoning which led them to idolatry and error. *** One day a Levite passed through town and happened to stop at Micah’s house. Micah offered him ten pieces of silver a year, room and food if he would stay and be his personal priest. Micah thought he would be blessed by god and his curse would be lifted but he was so wrong. *** The tribe of Dan had yet to secure their land given to them by Joshua. They sent out warriors to spy out the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. When they came to Micah’s house they spent the night. The recognized the Levite’s accent and asked him what brought him to this house. When the Levite explained his set-up there they asked him to ask God if they would prosper in their journey. They were testing his ability to predict the future. *** The Levite told them they would prosper. The spies from Dan came to the town of Laish and noticed the people were living peacefully and secure and the people were prosperous because their land was fertile. They returned home and told their tribe. *** Six hundred warriors of Dan came to attack Laish. They stopped at Micah’s to camp. They were told of the shrine and the priest that Micah had there. *** At night, they began to rob the shrine of Micah. When the priest asked them what they were doing, they offered him a job as the priest of Dan. He was happy to leave Micah’s house and move on to something bigger. *** Micah and his friends came after them to get back the things they had stolen from Micah, but were threatened with their lives. When they realized they were greatly out-numbered they had no recourse but to turn around and go back home. *** The men of Dan came to Laish and attacked it and took the city and named it Dan. They set up their idols and appointed Jonathan as their priest just as they had promised. Johathan was the son of Gershom who was the son of Moses. Gershom means “expulsion”. *** In John, one of the Jewish leaders named Nicodemus came to see Jesus after dark. He told Jesus he knew he was sent by God because of all the signs he had seen Jesus do. Jesus told him he could not see the kingdom of God unless he was born again. When Nicodemus questioned how he could be born again, Jesus told him that unless he was born of the Spirit he could’t have eternal life. *** Nicodemus still didn’t understand. So, Jesus told him that he had come down from heaven and as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. He was speaking of the cross. *** He went on to tell Nicodemus that he came to give his life to save the world, not judge it. Those who believed in him would not be judged but saved. But, they had to come to the light to find him. *** Lord, may we come to your light and learn of your saving merciful grace.

Thurs.’s Devo - Bringing Down the Strong Man -

Read: Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19 It was the time of the wheat harvest which was around the time of Pentecost. Pentecost is associated with the fire of the Holy Spirit and the spreading of the gospel. *** Samson had left his wedding, mad, so his wife had been given to his best man. When he found this out, he took 300 foxes and tied their tails together in pairs. He lit their tails with fire and set them free in the fields of the Philistines destroying their grain, which spread to their vineyards and their olive trees. He spread his gospel of revenge. *** The Philistines came to attack Israel so the Israelites told them they would hand Samson to them to keep them from war. The Philistines agreed that Samson was who they wanted. *** Samson gave himself up to the Israelites so they could hand him over to the Philistines. They tied up his hands and gave him to the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he snapped the ropes off his arms. He found the jawbone of a donkey and killed 1,000 Philistines with it. *** Samson was so thirsty after his battle, he cried out to the Lord for water. God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground and Samson was revived. *** One night, Samson went to spend the night in Gaza with a prostitute and the Philistines of the town locked the gates planning to take him in the morning. Samson left at midnight and when he came to the gate, he picked it up and carried it on his shoulders and set it on the top of the hill across from Hebron. (Samson was a bit of a prankster.) *** Samson fell in love with Delilah, a Philistine from Sorek. The Philistines came to her and told her to entice Samson to tell her the source of his strength. They offered to each give her 1,100 pieces of silver. Delilah’s name means “bringing low.” The bribe brought her so low, she agreed to double cross her lover. *** She tried many things Samson told her was the source of his strength, but none ended up being true. Samson hadn’t learned from his wedding party not to trust Philistine women and Delilah finally got the truth out of him. She lulled him to sleep in her lap and had a man come in and shave his locks. His strength was gone. *** She called in the Philistines and they captured him and gouged out his eyes. They put I’m in Gaza where he was bound with chains and forced him to grind grain in the prison. They didn’t know not to let his hair grow back. *** The Philistines held a great festival to their god, Dagon, and brought Samson out to laugh at him. As he was standing between the pillars which supported the roof, he asked if the guard could put his hands on the pillars that held up the Temple so he could rest. All the Philistine rulers and leaders where there with about 3,000 people. They were all on the roof looking down into the arena where Samson stood. He prayed tot he Lord to remember him and strengthened him one more time to pay the Philistines back for the loss of his eyes. He was willing to die with them. The temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. He killed more people with his death than he had during his entire lifetime. *** The opposite could be said of Jesus. Jesus saved more in his death than in his entire lifetime. *** Samson was taken back to his home town and buried. He had ruled Israel for 20 years. *** The story of Samson is a living parable teaching us how to bring down a strong man, or a principality. It works on both sides of good and evil. A strong man is brought down by knowing the source of its strength. If we can find out how a principality has a right to be in a person or area then we can bring it down. *** Satan can use this against us as well. He can find out the source of our strength and take it from us, but if the trinity is our source of strength, he cannot touch them. They is our secret power! *** In John, Jesus, his mother and his disciples had gone to a wedding in Cana. The wine supply ran out so Jesus’ mother came to Jesus and told him. *** Jesus was not ready to do his miracles openly, but Jesus mother was relentless. She told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. There were six stone water jars that could hold twenty to thirty gallons of water each. Jesus told them to fill them with water, then dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies. When he tasted it he declared that most people served the best wine first and then brought out the cheap stuff when the people were drunk, but this host had saved the best till last. *** It was close to the time of the Passover and Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem. He saw the merchants selling cattle, sheep and doves for sacrifices and how the dealers were cheating the people out of their money. *** Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased the animals and the money changers out of the Temple. He upended their tables scattering their coins. He told the people who sold doves to get out and stop turning his Father’s house into a market place. *** His disciples remembered the prophecy that said, “Passion for God’s house will consume me.” *** The Jewish leaders wanted to know who gave him the authority to do this. They wanted him to show them a miraculous sign to prove who he was. *** Jesus told them to destroy this temple and in three days, he would raise it up. They were astonished. They reminded him that it took 46 years to build the Temple and he was claiming to raise it up in three days??? Jesus meant his body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit. *** Jesus did many miraculous signs at the Passover celebration which caused many to believe in him, but he didn’t trust them because he knew their hearts. *** Lord, the only hope we have in being saved is a new heart. Let your heart be in our heart that we might not sin against you. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, may we constantly be driving out the evil and filling it with your Spirit.


Wed.’s Devo - Our Deliverer

Read: Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29—51; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16 The people of Israel went into idolatry again so God gave them over to the Philistines who oppressed them for 40 years. *** God raised up a deliverer from the tribe of Dan. An angel appeared to the wife of Manoah, who was barren. He told her that she would have a son who would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. She was not to drink any alcoholic drink or wine or eat any unclean food. Her son’s hair was never to be cut and he was to be a Nazarite from birth. When she received this information, she ran and told her husband, Manoah. Manoah means “rest”. *** Manoah prayed to the Lord and asked him to send the angel back to them so they could ask him some questions. God did send the angel and Manoah asked him what kind of rules he should go by to raise him and what the boy was to do as an occupation. *** The angel told them to follow the instructions he had given her already - no wine or alcohol and no unclean food. *** Manoah prepared a burnt offering for him to eat. He asked the angel his name but he told him his name was too wonderful for him to understand. Then he ascended in the fire of the offering. Manoah and his wife bowed to the ground in worship. *** When their son was born, she named him Samson which means “little sun”. *** As he grew older, he was in the city of Timnah and saw a Philistine woman who he wanted as his wife. He told his mother and father but they were upset he wanted to marry a Philistine instead of an Israelite. They didn’t realize God was creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines. *** As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah to meet this woman, a young lion attacked Samson near they vineyards of Timnah. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he easily ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He didn’t tell his parents what had happened. They met the young woman and then went home. *** Later, Samson returned to Timnah for the wedding. He found the carcass of the lion he had killed and bees had made honey in the carcass. He scooped some of it up and gave some to his parents but still didn’t tell them where he had found it. *** Samson threw a party at Timnah and the bride’s parents selected 30 young men from their town to be his companions or bride’s men. Samson proposed a riddle saying that if they were able to solve it by the end of his bride week, he would give them each a fine linen robe and a festive outfit. If they didn’t solve it, they would each give him a robe and an outfit. *** Samson gave them his riddle: “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet.” They tried all week to figure out the answer but couldn’t. They finally threatened his fiancé by telling her that if she didn’t tell them they would burn down her father’s house with her in it. *** She nagged Samson all week until on the last day, he told her the answer. She told her men and they gave Samson the answer: “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” *** Samson he knew how they had gotten their answer. He went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 men and took their clothing and gave it to the men who had solved his riddle. He was so angry, he went home and his wife was given to his best man at the wedding. *** In the New Testament, John was baptizing men when Jesus came toward him. He told those around him that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was the one he had been preaching about that would come after him and be so much greater than him. When John baptized Jesus he saw the Spirit of the Lord come upon Jesus like a dove. He proclaimed that Jesus would baptize people with the Holy Spirit. *** Jesus walked past John the next day and John told his two disciples that he was the Lamb of God. The two disciples began to follow Jesus. When Jesus saw them following him, he turned and asked them what they wanted. They called him Rabbi and asked him where he was staying. Jesus told them and they remained with him. One of these men was Andrew. He ran and found his brother, Simon and brought him to meet Jesus. When Jesus met Simon he told him he would be called Cephas which means Peter. *** The next day, Jesus added Philip to his group. Philip went and got Nathanael and told him that he had found the person Moses and the prophets had written about. When Nathanael heard he was from Nazareth he wondered how anything good could come from Nazareth. Philip told him to come and see for himself. *** Nathanael came and met Jesus. Jesus said that he was a genuine son of Israel who had complete integrity. Nathanael asked him how he knew him. Jesus told him that he had seen him under the fig tree before Philip had found him. *** By this word of knowledge, Nathanael became a true believer. Jesus told him he was about to see so much more than that. He would see the heavens open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, because the Son of Man is the stairway between heaven and earth. *** Lord, may we use our gifts to bring you glory and trample down your enemies. May we not be afraid but bold as lions.

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.