Daily Bible Devotionals

“‘But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.” Joshua 22:5-6 (NKJV)

There is a myriad of churches trying to connect with an unreached generation. I believe that most pastors have nothing but good motives and hearts to reach the lost and dying. But their methods of outreach vary to the extent that they are (at times) opposed to one another. So, what approach to ministry does God endorse? The simplest yet most difficult way: Read the Bible and do what it says.

You may laugh at that notion. You are not alone. Over the years, I have overheard people saying, “Surely, ministry is not that easy!” “Surely, we should be more sensitive towards people’s feelings than to preach the Word as written!” “Surely, you cannot tell people there is a Hell and a coming judgment for socially-acceptable sin!” “Surely, we should give more to the poor and preach and pray less!”

The God of all creation, the One not bound by cultural eras, has laid out a plan that is effective throughout the generations and extends for all eternity. Today’s passage of Scripture points out 5 things about God and our relationship with Him.

1) LOVE the Lord your God

2) WALK in His ways

3) KEEP His commandments

4) HOLD FAST to Him

5) SERVE Him with all your heart and soul

Consider these familiar verses in light of today’s passage:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me (Wisdom) your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself (your own benefit); and if you scoff (mock), you (along) will bear the consequences.” Proverbs 9:10-12 (NKJV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. Don’t consider yourself to be wise; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:5-7 (HCSB)

“Jesus answered, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” John 14:23 (HCSB)

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.” James 1:22 (NASB)

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all He has sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.” Joshua 21:43-45 (NKJV)

How did Israel possess the land? The Bible says the Lord gave Canaan to Israel on the condition that Israel was willing to fight for it faithfully. Yes, Israel fought for the land, but their success was not proportional to their efforts. God went before them. Put bluntly, without God, Israel would have been completely wiped out the day they left Egypt, pre-Red Sea.

Joshua wanted to make the point of “God’s victory” abundantly clear. The inheritance of Canaan originated from and was fully established by: God. Israel’s “Shabbat” (rest) from their enemies was the result of God’s grace, not Israel’s righteousness or Joshua’s leadership.

This is a point Israel seemed to have forgotten in later years because the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews noted:

“For if Joshua had given them rest, then He (Messiah) would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:8-11 (NKJV)

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

Why was Israel allowed to inherit the land? It was because God is faithful to fulfill His promise.

“For every one of God’s promises is 'Yes' in Him (Messiah Jesus). Therefore, the 'Amen!' is also spoken through Him by God’s glory.” 2 Corinthians 1:20 (HCSB)

“Amen” means the affirmation of truth.

Do you want to be saved from the consequences of your sin? Salvation is affirmed in Messiah. Are you looking for rest from “the enemy”? Rest is found in Him. Do you desire the hope of God’s promise to never leave or forsake His children? Fulfillment is found in Jesus.

True “Shabbat Shalom,” the peace of God’s rest, is offered to all who would faithfully seize it! (Luke 16:16) Now, that is something worth saying “AMEN!” about!

“These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.” Joshua 20:9 (HCSB)

It is good to know that Satan is not our judge. He could never be fit to judge us because his only motive is to pervert justice. Yet, the Devil would love for us to believe that our cases have already been decided and we are simply awaiting God’s eternal punishment.

Good news: Our trial is not over. In fact, it hasn’t even begun.

“And just as it is appointed for people to die once – and after this, judgment.” Hebrews 9:27 (HCSB)

Good news: We have an advocate (defense attorney) in Jesus.

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV)

Not only is Jesus our advocate, but His salvation is our refuge. Let’s look at the names of these cities of refuge listed in Joshua 20. Through these cities’ names, the Lord is painting a picture of Messiah.

Kadesh signifies “Holy,” and our refuge is Jesus’ holiness. Shechem means “A shoulder;” the government is upon His shoulder. Hebron is “Fellowship,” and believers are called into the fellowship of Messiah, our Lord. Bezer means “Fortification,” and Jesus is a stronghold to all who trust Him. Golan is “Joy and exultation,” for in Him, all believers are justified and will worship Him with great joy!

Many of us know the verse John 3:16. But do we know the verse that follows it?

“For God did not send His Son into the World that He might condemn the World; but that the World through Him might be saved.” John 3:17 (NKJV)

Have you received the refuge that Jesus freely offers? There will be a day of judgment, and a righteous Judge (the Lord God) will preside. Knowing this day is coming, how could we reject our only source of salvation? (Hebrews 2:3)

“These were the portions that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families distributed to the Israelite tribes by lot at Shiloh in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing up the land.” Joshua 19:51 (HCSB)

Under Joshua’s leadership, every Israelite was a co-inheritor of God’s promise concerning the land of Canaan. This meant that every tribe and every family was given a portion. Not every tribe and family were of equal proportion, but each received the inheritance God determined. Most importantly, each received an inheritance explicitly chosen for them by God, Himself.

In a similar way, the Bible tells us that followers of Jesus are “co-inheritors with Messiah.” And who is allowed to follow Jesus? John 3:16 states, “…that WHOSOEVER believes will not perish, but have eternal life.” In short, anyone.

To ensure a peaceful life in their inheritance, there were three requirements of the Israelite: 1) They had to receive it. 2) They had to drive out its former inhabitants, believing God’s promise of victory. 3) They had to continue to honor the Lord.

I want to make it clear that salvation is by God’s grace, through faith. Salvation is not the end result of an accumulation of “good works” we may accomplish. Ephesians 2:8-9

That said, faith without works is dead. There is a difference between “works” that lead to salvation and “works” that are the result of salvation. If you want to have peace as a believer - not necessarily the absence of conflict, but rather the presence of peace in the midst of conflict - you have to believe the Lord’s promise and fight to drive out those “former inhabitants.” If you trust Him, He will go before you and accomplish all you could not achieve without Him.

To maintain the peace and joy of our salvation, it is not enough to simply “receive” our inheritance through Messiah and then live as if nothing ever happened. Salvation is not about a single moment; it is a moment that results in movement. We must become disciples: followers who discipline themselves to continually seek the Lord’s direction and faithfully follow it.

“The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh where it set up the tent of meeting there; the land had been subdued by them.  Seven tribes among the Israelites were left who had not divided up their inheritance.  So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you delay going to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers gave you?’”  Joshua 18:1-3 (HCSB)

Let’s pause for a moment and consider all that has happened to Israel in such a short amount of time.  Under Moses’ leadership, they defeated major kingdoms east of the Jordan.  Moses passed away, and Joshua led Israel across the Jordan, where they defeated all the major kingdoms inside Canaan.  Then, Israel began to spread out across the land as individual tribes.

After all the Lord had done in their midst, seven tribes had still not taken possession of their allotted land.  Joshua decided to call a meeting of all Israel at Shiloh, a land where the enemy had been completely driven out.  The Tent of Meeting was set up there.  It was the perfect setting in which to encourage the remaining seven tribes.  It communicated: 1) God destroyed the inhabitants of this land when we took courage and fought so that He will do the same for you.  2) The direction you receive today is from God, Himself, straight from His tent of meeting.

Joshua’s message was, in effect, “God has led you this far; why would He not enable you to finish well?”

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

It is almost the same scenario we find in the New Testament book of The Revelation, chapters 2-3.  There are seven churches, all of which started well, yet everyone lacks something that keeps them from receiving the fullness of their blessing.  Seven tribes and seven churches, each having experienced the Lord’s deliverance, struggled with the urge to “settle” for less.

This is a message we can all identify with.  Today, let’s remember all that the Lord has done for us.  Now, in contrast, consider where you’ve “settled” for less than God desires for you.  Your “enemies” seek to deceive you by leading you to believe they are too strong to overcome or so weak that they are hardly worth your time and effort to drive out.  Nevertheless, the Lord has commanded us to completely destroy them!

In the words of Joshua, “How long will you delay in going out to take possession of all the Lord has promised?

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Joshua 17. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans, together with the cities set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh – all these cities with their villages. But, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites live in Ephraim to this day, but they are forced laborers.” Joshua 16:10 (HCSB)

Today’s passage continues the notion that Israel’s deliverance into Canaan is also a metaphor for our deliverance through Jesus. Once the major enemies had been destroyed, the individual Israelite tribes were tasked with driving out the rest of the land’s inhabitants.

This is a metaphor for us because, while Jesus has conquered sin and death, we are charged with the task of subduing our fleshly desires, our “former masters,” so to speak.

The apostle Paul said, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.” Philippians 2:12b-13 (HCSB)

Paul wasn’t telling the Philippians to work in order to earn their salvation. We are saved by ‘grace through faith,’ not of good works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) What Paul was saying is that Christians must work hard to drive out the “old self” in order to enjoy the fullness of our salvation, which was given to us from God by His grace. If we will fight, God will go before us, even giving us the will to fight if we choose to follow His leading.

In the same way, Israel was delivered into Canaan by God’s grace. But they would never enjoy the land until they removed the remaining insurgents. Think of the recent Middle East warring. The U.S.-led Coalition forces eliminated Iraq and Afghanistan’s ability to wage full-scale war years ago. Still, there will never be peace until all the terrorist insurgents are completely removed, either through death or complete surrender.

The tribe of Ephraim puts a new twist on “failure to dispossess.” Consider how some of the Judean family tribes (who believed they could not drive out the Jebusites) allowed some of the Jebusites to remain neighbors. Ephraim chose to make the remnant of Gezer their slaves.

Please, don’t rest until you have driven out ALL the “former inhabitants” of your land. You cannot be “neighbors” with your old sin nature, nor can you make it your “slave.” It will not be mastered because its nature is to master YOU! So, determine to kill the old self and deny its advances whenever it surfaces with a plan to negotiate you away from God’s great design for your life.

“Now to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he (Joshua) gave a share among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, namely, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak) Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak from there: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. Then he went up from there to the inhabitants of Debir (formerly the name of Debir was Kirjath Sepher). And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.” Joshua 15:13-16 (NKJV)

Modern-day Hebron is a very troublesome place to live. Just watch the nightly news, and it is sure to come up. Hebron is the second largest (second only to Gaza) city in the so-called “Palestinian” territories. It is the fourth most holy site for Islam. It is also the second most holy city for Jews (second to Jerusalem) because it hosts the tomb of the patriarchs and matriarchs.

Historically, David reigned as king in Hebron for seven years, and Hebron was where Absalom declared his kingship. Samson took the gates of Gaza and carried them to Hebron. Throughout history, Hebron has been a difficult place. Of course, God would choose Caleb to take possession of it!

Caleb actually had a history with Hebron about 40 years earlier. When the 12 spies were sent out by Moses to survey the Promised land, 10 of the spies gave a negative report about Hebron, where the Anakim (sons of Anak) resided.

“Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 13:28-30 (NKJV)

Forty years have gone by, and almost nothing has changed with respect to the harshness of the land (hill country) or its people (Anakim – GIANTS). But more importantly, nothing had changed in Caleb’s faithfulness. Friends, we must fight to fully lay hold of what we have been endowed by grace. Yes, Jesus had paid the fullness of the penalty for our sin. Yes, we are saved by grace and not by works. But once we have received His atonement, we are given the charge to drive out those “former inhabitants,” old sin patterns. It is God’s command that we fight those former inhabitants, and by employing His Spirit, our victory is guaranteed.

The foe is no smaller (or greater) in our generation than it was in Caleb’s. Faithfulness among God’s people in our day is as rare as it was in Joshua and Caleb’s. Let’s be a generation that asks for the high and rocky land, one that does not fear in the presence of giants who are dwarfed by our mighty God!

“As you see, the Lord has kept me (Caleb) alive these 45 years as He promised, since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, 85 years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for going out and coming in is now as it was then.” Joshua 14:10-11 (HCSB)

How long would you wait on the Lord? Five years? Five months? Five minutes? I believe we wait on God in direct proportion to our understanding of His promise.

Caleb and Joshua believed God’s promise. So when they returned from scouting the land, what they observed in Canaan was arbitrary to the fact that God promised they would take the land. The bad news for their generation was that almost everyone believed the faithless reports - everyone except Joshua and Caleb. This should be a lesson to us all: Live faithlessly, and reap the fruits of faithlessness. Live faithfully and experience unseen things miraculously realized.

Caleb was 40 years old when he and Joshua scouted the Promised Land. At the age of 85, he was given the opportunity to take the land again. He could have complained or blamed his fear on his old age, but Caleb was energized by the opportunity. How so?

Caleb understood faith. Faith says, “I can’t, but God can.” As a young man, he didn’t trust his youthful strength. And when he was an old man, he wasn’t deterred by his physical limitations. Was Caleb endowed with supernatural strength? I don’t believe so. Caleb had faith.

If God promises victory, it really has nothing to do with your strength. God is your strength. You simply have to believe and work as hard as you can. He will supply what we lack. I say, “simply believe,” but the resolve to fight is more than intellectual assent. It is faith-in-action. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, the Bible.

Putting God’s Word into action is your decision. God has already decided to give you victory if you faithfully follow Him.

Whether you’re 18 or 80, have faith and courage. God will be your strength!