Joshua, Day 24 Final words from a leader. Read Joshua chapter 24. As we read through this final chapter of Joshua, what we see is a leader who’s giving his last words of advice and encouragement to the people. Joshua has been a man who has led the people through so many obstacles and difficulties. However, Joshua knows that the most difficult challenges are yet to come. The people will continue to have temptations and they will continue to be swayed to leave God. So the important words that he leaves them are a reminder to get rid of everything that might get in the way between them and God.…

Joshua, Day 23 Farewell address. Read Joshua chapter 23. The time of Joshua is drawing to a close. He has led the people and allowed them to begin the process of fulfilling all that God has promised them. Now he’s addressing them for the final time. What would you say? How would you sum up the lifetime of work that Joshua has led the people through? He chooses to remind them of the simple things that God has shared with them. Serve God. Love God. Follow God. If you do these things, God will bless you. If you don’t do these things, God will curse you. Sometimes we try to…

Joshua, Day 22 A reminder. Read Joshua chapter 22. As the people went back to their own homes, they set up a reminder so that they would always remember who gave them the victory over the land that they have. Now while this reminder caused a bit of controversy at first, ultimately, everyone recognized it for what it was. What reminders do we have set up in our own lives? What are the things that we use to call out the victories of God in our life and to remind us of his faithfulness and of our commitment to him? While we may not set up a large pile of…

Joshua, Day 21 God fulfills his promises. Read Joshua chapter 21. In this chapter, and in the last couple of chapters, we have seen God following through and fulfilling everything that he promised to the people of Israel. God fulfills his promises to us. When was the last time you looked through and found the promises of God throughout the Bible? There are so many promises that God has made to you and I, and we can confidently expect him to fulfill every single one of them. Do we look for that? Do we wait expectantly to see God move in a way that fulfills his promises? We can know…

Joshua, Day 20 Ensuring justice. Read Joshua chapter 20. The Lord made a provision for the people that if something terrible happened, the right person would be able to receive justice. He set up these cities of refuge. If an accident happened and had a terrible result, the person would still have an opportunity to plead their case. These cities of refuge ensured that would happen. They were not places where people got away with things, but they were places that ensured that all sides of the story were heard and understood before any actions were taken. In the United States, our justice system provides for that today, but in…

Joshua, Day 19 Honor our leaders. Read Joshua chapter 19. The land had been divided. And now, the time had come for Joshua to receive his portion. Throughout all the things they had been through, the Lord made sure that the people honored their leader. When we are truly following God the way we should be, we honor each other and we honor those that God has put in positions of leadership around us. God desires that we respect those who are leading us to be obedient to him. In what ways can we honor those today who are leading us closer to Christ?

Joshua, Day 18 Are we experiencing God’s promise? Read Joshua chapter 18. The people were in the land of promise, but they were not experiencing God’s promise. Joshua finally challenged them, “You guys are here, but you’re not experiencing the promise of God. How long are you going to wait until you go experience God’s promise?” This is a challenge even for us today. There are many things that God has promised us, but yet we choose not to experience them because we do not live in obedience to him. We must realize that we can be a follower of Christ and not be experiencing him and his fullness everyday.…

Joshua, Day 17 Non- traditional. Read Joshua chapter 17. As we went through this chapter of additional divisions of land for the people of Israel, we see that our God is often non traditional. The tradition of the time was that only men could own or inherit property. However, God made provision for women to own property in this case. Sometimes, we get lured in by our traditions and our routines. However, we must never forget that God’s truth is the absolute, not our traditions. We should never allow our traditions to dictate our actions and our truth. God’s word must dictate our actions and be the basis for all…

Joshua, Day 16 Partial obedience. Read Joshua chapter 16. The israelites started out strong, but as time went on, they found themselves lacking the follow through they needed. They started dividing up the land among the tribes, which was exactly what was intended, however the tribes failed to completely overtake the lands that they had been given. They all did just enough to be able to live comfortably, but they did not completely drive out the people that were living there before them. Unfortunately, that was in disobedience to what God had told them to do. They partially obeyed, but in the end, their partial obedience turned out to be…

Joshua, Day 15 What do we ask God for? Read Joshua chapter 15. The Bible continues to record the various territories that were given to the tribes as they conquered through the promised land. In this chapter, Caleb, who we saw in previous chapters, asks for someone who is brave to go and conquer a certain area and then that person can marry his daughter. A man steps up and does that. Then we see that the land that they conquered didn’t have water. So Caleb’s daughter goes back and asks her father for something additional, water. Her father gave that to her. Do we ask our father for what…