Joshua 24, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Prayers Not Yet Answered - May 2, 2022

The gospel of John tells the story of a man from Capernaum who approached Jesus in Cana. “Come heal my son,” the man asked. And Jesus said the boy would be healed, and the man set out for Capernaum.

Do you find yourself somewhere between Cana and Capernaum? Like the official, you begged Jesus for help. And, like the official, you didn’t receive the answer in the way you wanted. This is the issue of not-yet-answered prayer. Or not-answered-in-the-way-I-asked prayer. How should we react? I’m sorry the job did not materialize or the cancer chose to metastasize. Life has its share of dark, dank moments.

Read the Bible from the table of contents in the front to the maps in the back, and you will not find any promise of a pain-free life on this side of heaven. But you will find this assurance: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). You are never alone.   

Joshua 24

The Covenant at Shechem

Joshua called together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called in the elders, chiefs, judges, and officers. They presented themselves before God. Then Joshua addressed all the people:

2-6 “This is what God, the God of Israel, says: A long time ago your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived to the east of the River Euphrates. They worshiped other gods. I took your ancestor Abraham from the far side of The River. I led him all over the land of Canaan and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac. Then I gave Isaac Jacob and Esau. I let Esau have the mountains of Seir as home, but Jacob and his sons ended up in Egypt. I sent Moses and Aaron. I hit Egypt hard with plagues and then led you out of there. I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. You came to the sea, the Egyptians in hot pursuit with chariots and cavalry, to the very edge of the Red Sea!

7-10 “Then they cried out for help to God. He put a cloud between you and the Egyptians and then let the sea loose on them. It drowned them.

“You watched the whole thing with your own eyes, what I did to Egypt. And then you lived in the wilderness for a long time. I brought you to the country of the Amorites, who lived east of the Jordan, and they fought you. But I fought for you and you took their land. I destroyed them for you. Then Balak son of Zippor made his appearance. He was the king of Moab. He got ready to fight Israel by sending for Balaam son of Beor to come and curse you. But I wouldn’t listen to Balaam—he ended up blessing you over and over! I saved you from him.

11 “You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The Jericho leaders ganged up on you as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I turned them over to you.

12 “I sent the Hornet ahead of you. It drove out the two Amorite kings—did your work for you. You didn’t have to do a thing, not so much as raise a finger.

13 “I handed you a land for which you did not work, towns you did not build. And here you are now living in them and eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.

14 “So now: Fear God. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship God.

15 “If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.”

16 The people answered, “We’d never forsake God! Never! We’d never leave God to worship other gods.

17-18 “God is our God! He brought up our ancestors from Egypt and from slave conditions. He did all those great signs while we watched. He has kept his eye on us all along the roads we’ve traveled and among the nations we’ve passed through. Just for us he drove out all the nations, Amorites and all, who lived in the land.

“Count us in: We too are going to worship God. He’s our God.”

19-20 Then Joshua told the people: “You can’t do it; you’re not able to worship God. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won’t put up with your fooling around and sinning. When you leave God and take up the worship of foreign gods, he’ll turn right around and come down on you hard. He’ll put an end to you—and after all the good he has done for you!”

21 But the people told Joshua: “No! No! We worship God!”

22 And so Joshua addressed the people: “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen God for yourselves—to worship him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses.”

23 Joshua said, “Now get rid of all the foreign gods you have with you. Say an unqualified Yes to God, the God of Israel.”

24 The people answered Joshua, “We will worship God. What he says, we’ll do.”

25-26 Joshua completed a Covenant for the people that day there at Shechem. He made it official, spelling it out in detail. Joshua wrote out all the directions and regulations into the Book of The Revelation of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak that was in the holy place of God.

27 Joshua spoke to all the people: “This stone is a witness against us. It has heard every word that God has said to us. It is a standing witness against you lest you cheat on your God.”

28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his own place of inheritance.

* * *

29-30 After all this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of God, died. He was 110 years old. They buried him in the land of his inheritance at Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

31 Israel served God through the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had themselves experienced all that God had done for Israel.

32 Joseph’s bones, which the People of Israel had brought from Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the plot of ground that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor (who was the father of Shechem). He paid a hundred silver coins for it. It belongs to the inheritance of the family of Joseph.

33 Eleazar son of Aaron died. They buried him at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the mountains of Ephraim.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Monday, May 02, 2022

Today's Scripture
John 8:39–47

hey were indignant. “Our father is Abraham!”

Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would have been doing the things Abraham did. And yet here you are trying to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth he got straight from God! Abraham never did that sort of thing. You persist in repeating the works of your father.”

They said, “We’re not bastards. We have a legitimate father: the one and only God.”

42–47     “If God were your father,” said Jesus, “you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn’t come on my own. He sent me. Why can’t you understand one word I say? Here’s why: You can’t handle it. You’re from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone on God’s side listens to God’s words. This is why you’re not listening—because you’re not on God’s side.”

Insight

In both the Old and New Testaments, the idea of being a son or daughter implied more than DNA and legal paternity. It also alluded to the ways children possess the characteristics and likeness of their parents. This implication comes into play in the conversation in John 8 where voices in a crowd first claimed to be children of Abraham and then later children of God (vv. 39, 41). Jesus, however, challenged their claims and suggested that by their lies they were actually reflecting the likeness of their father Satan. On the other hand, He suggested that the self-evident truths He spoke and the miracles He performed were evidence that He was not only the Son of Man, but also the Son of God (vv. 27–28, 36).
By: Mart DeHaan

Father of Lies

When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44

Victor slowly became addicted to pornography. Many of his friends looked at porn, and he fell into it too. But now he understands how wrong it was—he sinned against God—and it crushed his wife. He’s vowed to put safeguards in his life so he’ll never look at it again. Yet he fears it’s too late. Can his marriage be saved? Will he ever be free and fully forgiven?

Our enemy, the devil, presents temptation as if it’s no big deal. Everyone’s doing it. What’s the harm? But the moment we catch on to his scheme, he switches gears. It’s too late! You’ve gone too far! You’re hopeless now!

The enemy will say whatever it takes to destroy us as we engage in spiritual warfare. Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

If the devil is a liar, then we should never listen to him. Not when he says our sin is no big deal, and not when he says we’re beyond hope. May Jesus help us dismiss the evil one’s words and listen to Him instead. We rest our hearts on His promise: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (vv. 31–32).

Reflect & Pray

What sin has you feeling hopeless? Do you think this despair comes from Satan or from Jesus? What promise from the Bible might you claim today?

Jesus, You died and rose again to free me from the bondage of sin. Please help me to live in that liberty today!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 02, 2022

The Patience To Wait for the Vision

Though it tarries, wait for it… —Habakkuk 2:3

Patience is not the same as indifference; patience conveys the idea of someone who is tremendously strong and able to withstand all assaults. Having the vision of God is the source of patience because it gives us God’s true and proper inspiration. Moses endured, not because of his devotion to his principles of what was right, nor because of his sense of duty to God, but because he had a vision of God. “…he endured as seeing Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). A person who has the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue— he is devoted to God Himself. You always know when the vision is of God because of the inspiration that comes with it. Things come to you with greatness and add vitality to your life because everything is energized by God. He may give you a time spiritually, with no word from Himself at all, just as His Son experienced during His time of temptation in the wilderness. When God does that, simply endure, and the power to endure will be there because you see God.

“Though it tarries, wait for it….” The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have already grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. The psalmist said, “What shall I render to the Lord…? I will take up the cup of salvation…” (Psalm 116:12-13). We are apt to look for satisfaction within ourselves and say, “Now I’ve got it! Now I am completely sanctified. Now I can endure.” Instantly we are on the road to ruin. Our reach must exceed our grasp. Paul said, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on…” (Philippians 3:12). If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing. But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience. Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. Shade of His Hand, 1216 L

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 12-13; Luke 22:1-20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, May 02, 2022

The Secrets Sin Hides - #9211

It takes a little longer to pick out a cereal at the supermarket than it used to. You've got to read all the ingredients these days; all the nutrients, and how much calcium, and how much of my daily requirement of vitamin C, and vitamin X there. You know all that. Well, it's on the package. In fact, on everything we buy in the supermarket, it's there because of laws that we call "truth in packaging." Good idea.

And it's good they have to tell you what's inside, because they probably would never tell you what is really inside, and the calories and all of that. Now, it's too bad there aren't truth in packaging laws to clarify some of our bigger choices.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Secrets Sin Hides."

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Genesis 19. I'll be in verses 4-9. It's sort of like an x-ray machine. Well, this is an x-ray passage to show what sin really does. Now, the devil obviously doesn't believe in truth in packaging. You'd never buy into some of the things he's trying to get you to do if he told you where it would take you and what was really inside. That sin that has been tugging on you right now, it seems to promise maybe pleasure, or relief, or excitement, or advancement. That's why God exposes what's in that package in Genesis 19.

In this story sin is exposed in all of its ugliness. Oh, it looked good to Lot before we get to Genesis 19. Remember, Lot had left Abraham and decided to move into Sodom - a city full of wickedness. And pretty soon Sodom had moved into him. And Sodom had looked good; bright lights, and music, and all the advertisements - they looked great. But then he discovered three poisons about sin that are not on the package. Here's what they are. I'll read these verses to you. What has happened is that the two angels have come now to warn Sodom and get Lot out of there, because they are about to be destroyed.

Here's what it says: "Before they'd gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them.' Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, 'No, my friends don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you and you can do what you like with them. (Can you believe this? This is a dad!) But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.' 'Get out of our way,' they said. 'This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge. We'll treat you worse than them.' And they moved forward to break down the door."

Three poisons that weren't on the package, Lot. Number one, sin calls the shots. Notice how demanding sin is. You think it's freedom you're going to get, only to find out you're a slave. It wants your time, wants your relationships, it wants your best, it wants your soul. Secondly, sin cheapens relationships. These people were Lot's friends he thought. You watch what happens if you stop doing the sin that connects you to some of your friends. They'll drop you fast! See, you're expendable if you get in the way of my desires if sin is our connection. And thirdly, sin makes people into objects. These men wanted these other men just to have sex with them. Lot was willing to give away his daughters! The fact is sin is so terribly depersonalizing. It cancels love.

It may be that you've gotten regrets over some of the ways you've bought the lies of sin in your past. How good it would be to be clean. So many of us have found that there's a spiritual shower that cleans us up forever in God's eyes the day we give our heart to Jesus Christ. I'd love to help you do that, and our website is for that. It will tell you about how He loved you enough to die for you.

Want to be clean today from all the dirt of the past? Listen, tell Jesus, "I'm yours." And go to our website and check that out. Get a new story. That's the name of it - ANewStory.com.

That sin that looks so good on the package; it will take over your personality, and your body, and your relationships, and your dignity, and your worth. No matter how inexpensive sin seems to be, it will end up costing you everything.