Joshua 16 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Gladdest News - April 22, 2022

Grace is simply another word for God’s reservoir of strength and protection. Not occasionally or miserly, but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We barely regain our balance from one breaker of grace, and then—bam—here comes another!

We dare to stake our hope on the gladdest news of all: if God permits the challenge, he will provide the grace to meet it. We never exhaust his supply. God has enough grace to solve every dilemma you face, wipe every tear that you cry, and answer every question you ask.

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Having given the supreme and costliest gift, how can he fail to lavish upon us all he has to give?

Joshua 16

Joseph

The lot for the people of Joseph went from the Jordan near Jericho, east of the spring of Jericho, north through the desert mountains to Bethel. It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) to the territory of the Arkites in Ataroth. It then descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites to the region of Lower Beth Horon and on to Gezer, ending at the Sea.

4 This is the region from which the people of Joseph—Manasseh and Ephraim—got their inheritance.

* * *

5-9 Ephraim’s territory by clans:

The boundary of their inheritance went from Ataroth Addar in the east to Upper Beth Horon and then west to the Sea. From Micmethath on the north it turned eastward to Taanath Shiloh and passed along, still eastward, to Janoah. The border then descended from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah; it touched Jericho and came out at the Jordan. From Tappuah the border went westward to the Brook Kanah and ended at the Sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim by clans, including the cities set aside for Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh—all those towns and their villages.

10 But they didn’t get rid of the Canaanites who were living in Gezer. Canaanites are still living among the people of Ephraim, but they are made to do forced labor.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, April 22, 2022

Today's Scripture
Genesis 2:4–10
,
15

This is the story of how it all started,

of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

Adam and Eve

5–7     At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

8–9     Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.

10–14     A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers.

15     God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.

Insight

Ancient Hebrew literature often conveyed meaning through intentional wordplays. In Genesis 2, the Hebrew word translated “man”—’adam (Genesis 2:7) is very similar to the Hebrew word translated “ground” (vv. 5–7)—’adamah. If a modern translation attempted to capture this wordplay, it might translate “man” (’adam) as “earthling” and “ground” (’adamah) as “earth.” By pairing these words, the passage communicates key insights into human nature. Humanity was formed from the earth or ground (v. 7) and so is intimately connected to it. But humanity was also given a unique relationship to God, who gave human beings the “breath of life” (v. 7). Formed from the earth, human beings are also those to whom creation’s care is entrusted (v. 15). By: Monica La Rose

Gratitude on Earth Day

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15

Earth Day is an annual event observed on April 22. In recent years, more than one billion people in about two hundred countries have taken part in educational and service activities. Each year, Earth Day is a reminder of the importance of caring for our amazing planet. But the mandate to care for the environment is far older than this annual event—it goes all the way back to creation.

In Genesis, we learn that God created the entire universe and formed the earth as a place for humans to dwell. Not only did He fashion the mountain peaks and lush plains, God also created the garden of Eden, a beautiful place providing food, shelter, and beauty for its inhabitants (Genesis 2:8–9).

After breathing life into His most important creation, humans, God placed them in this garden (vv. 8, 22) and gave them the responsibility “to work it and take care of it” (v. 15). After Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, caring for God’s creation became more difficult (3:17–19), but to this day God Himself cares for our planet and its creatures (Psalm 65:9–13) and asks us to do the same (Proverbs 12:10).

Whether we live in crowded cities or rural areas, we all have ways we can care for the areas God has entrusted to us. And as we tend the earth, may it be an act of gratitude to Him for this beautiful planet. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

What part of creation takes your breath away? How might you care for the part of the earth God has entrusted to you?

Creator God, You’ve entrusted to us a marvelous planet that sustains and astonishes me. Please help me to respond to Your gift by caring for it as a way to express thankfulness for Your provision.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 22, 2022

The Light That Never Fails

We all, with unveiled face, beholding…the glory of the Lord… —2 Corinthians 3:18

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come— people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, “…no one stood with me, but all forsook me….But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me…” (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When “important” individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do— to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 14-15; Luke 17:1-19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 22, 2022

The Bumpy Road to a Beautiful Place - #9205

When I would tell our kids we were going to Buttermilk Falls, I could expect two equally sincere reactions: "Oh good!" and "Oh no!" See, the "oh good" part was because it was just one of the "coolest" places in our area. There was this high, cascading waterfall, tucked in a remote place that few people knew about. It was magnificent to look at and it was fun to hike around. The "oh no" part was because of the road to get to this special spot. Think moonscape - potholes big enough to swallow an old Volkswagen. You couldn't avoid these craters; they were everywhere. So you went about as slow as a car can go, bracing yourself for a big bump and then another big bump. And then you were there, and it was great!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Bumpy Road to a Beautiful Place."

You know, lots of life's beautiful places are accessible this very same way - by means of a bumpy road. Maybe you're traveling one of those hard, even painful, bumpy roads right now. I imagine some people never made it to the majesty of those falls because the bumpy road made them decide to turn back - a temptation that may have occurred to you on your bumpy road. But any member of our family can tell you it was worth the trip. We did, in fact, go back multiple times; knowing full well that the process was not going to be fun. I guess it's kind of like labor in that regard - a painful process that every birth mother goes through, with a beautiful result that lasts a lifetime. And, often, she'll go back and do it again.

Our word for today from the Word of God may be a picture of the journey you're on right now. In Deuteronomy 1:19, God says this to His ancient people, "We set out from Horeb (that's Mt. Sinai) through all that vast and dreadful desert." That could be where you are. You're traversing one of life's "vast and dreadful deserts." But that's not the end of the story. Listen in Deuteronomy 1:21 to where that journey led: "See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

That's what the desert road, the bumpy road can do to you: make you afraid, make you discouraged, unless you focus on your Lord instead of your load, and on the result more than on the process. The bumps can make you wonder if you're even on the right road. Which you are, if God led you on it. The long, hard ride can leave you confused and hurting from all the bumps, all focused on yourself. If you're not careful, you'll turn around and leave the road God put you on; the road that ultimately leads to the Promised Land He wants to give you.

But it doesn't feel very much like Promised Land right now. It's just downright bumpy. What a tragedy, though, if you went through this painful process and bailed out before the beautiful result. The desert, the bumpy road - they're all part of the Plan. It's in the wilderness that well, like God's people of old, you see Red Seas part, water come from rocks, and manna come from heaven. It's on the hard road that you get rid of the junk that's keeping you from God's best. Because it's there that you're forced to abandon all self-reliance and learn total reliance on your Lord. That's when you are ready for your Promised Land.

So don't doubt in this darkness what God has told you in the light. There is no Promised Land without a wilderness. There is no new life without the pain of labor. There is no Easter morning without a Good Friday. Yes, it's a bumpy road. But it leads to a very beautiful place if you don't turn back.

Luke 10:25-42, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: My Grace Is Sufficient - April 21, 2022

Paul wrote, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh, from Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

The cancer in the body. The sorrow in the heart. The child in the rehab center. The craving for whiskey in the middle of the day. The tears in the middle of the night. The thorn in the flesh. “Take it away!” you’ve pleaded. Not once, twice, or even three times. You’ve out-prayed the apostle Paul, and you’re about to hit the wall. But what you hear Jesus say is this: “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Sustaining grace. Grace that meets us at our point of need and equips us with courage and wisdom and strength. Sustaining grace. It doesn’t promise the absence of struggle, but it does promise the presence of God.


Luke 10:25-42

Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

26 He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

27 He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

28 “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

29 Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

30-32 Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.

33-35 “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’

36 “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”

37 “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
Mary and Martha

38-40 As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”

41-42 The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Today's Scripture
Revelation 21:1–7

Everything New

1     21 I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.

2     I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.

3–5     I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”

6–8     Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me.

Insight

Today’s passage gives us a glimpse of heaven, describing it as a physical place (Revelation 21:1–2). Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us (John 14:2–3), and this promise is fulfilled in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, (Revelation 21:2). While it’s a great comfort that heaven is a perfect place (v. 4), the most important thing is that it’s the dwelling place of God (v. 3).

In this final vision of the beginning of eternity (21:1–22:9), John hears Christ declaring, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it, “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse will one day be completely removed and reversed (Revelation 21:4–5; see Genesis 3:16–19).  By: K. T. Sim

Really Alive

There will be no more death.
Revelation 21:4

Since it was the week after Easter, our five-year-old son, Wyatt, had heard plenty of resurrection talk. He always had questions—usually real stumpers. I was driving, and he was buckled into his seat behind me. Wyatt peered out the window, deep in thought. “Daddy,” he said, pausing and preparing to ask me a tough one. “When Jesus brings us back to life, are we going to be really alive—or just alive in our heads?”

This is the question so many of us carry, whether or not we have the courage to speak it aloud. Is God really going to heal us? Is He really going to raise us from the dead? Is He really going to keep all His promises?

The apostle John describes our certain future as “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). In that holy city, “God himself will be with [us] and be [our] God” (v. 3). Because of Christ’s victory, we’re promised a future where there’s no more tears, no evil arrayed against God and His people. In this good future, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (v. 4).

In other words, in the future God promises, we’ll be really alive. We’ll be so alive that our life now will seem a mere shadow. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

Where do you experience death in your life? If God promises that death is doomed and we’re going to really live, how does this renew your hope?

God, You said death will meet its end and You promise me genuine life. Thank You

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Don’t Hurt the Lord

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? —John 14:9

Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us— astounded at how “un-simple” we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be— it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask— “Lord, show us the Father…” (John 14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, “Can’t you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found.” We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.

“Let not your heart be troubled…” (14:1, 27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus.  Facing Reality, 34 R

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 12-13; Luke 16

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Life in the Backwards Seat - #9204

Our grandson was gaining weight, and boy, he was going to be glad! (Unlike his grandfather who happens to find weight gain depressing.) Yeah, he was soon going to be over 20 pounds. Well, that meant his parents would turn his car seat around. No more looking out the rear window. That's a great feeling! You know, you don't have to keep looking back at where you've already been. It's all about looking where you are going - now.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Life in the Backwards Seat."

Now, that's a change that's good news for even us grown up kids; turning your "seat" around I mean. Moving past that depressing view you get when you just keep looking back at where you've been, especially when what you see is the hits, the hurts, the hard times in your past. Every time I look through that window, clouds roll in and start to cover the sun. If I look back a lot, I'll end up looking down even more.

I flew to a meeting and I had that same predictable experience at baggage claim. Not a missing suitcase. I'm talking about the mystery suitcase. You know, that one that just keeps going around and around on the baggage carousel, and nobody ever claims it. We just keep watching that same old bag go by again and again.

Well, sadly, too many folks live their life that way -watching the same old baggage over and over again, and triggering those all-too-familiar - and often disabling - feelings of resentment, anger, depression, "poor me," victim-itis.

There was a time my wife and I were talking with a woman who had been hurt and wounded quite a bit. And as she retold it, we could watch her visibly wilt. I had to share with her a bold and a hopeful alternative from the Bible. It's one I've fallen back on so many times. It's a "catch me, I'm falling" prescription for us when the old baggage circles back on our radar.

In our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 43:18-19, God says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! It is springing up before you. Do you not perceive it?" Now, "dwell." That's an interesting word. Don't live in, don't camp out on, don't stay in what happened in the past. The enemy of my soul, the devil, he loves to have me living in the past, because it can't be changed. And dwelling on what can't be changed equals despair.

Now, while our enemy keeps pointing backwards, our Savior keeps pointing to what's ahead. "I am doing a new thing" He says. But those who insist on rehashing the old things are going to be looking the wrong way and they're going to miss God's new thing.

Now, God doesn't ask us to deny the past. But He tells us we don't have to be defined by our past. He invites us to release all the hurts and all the hurters. Release them to Him and to His justice. Leave the payback to Him. To open up the locked closet doors of your past, to drag all that's ugly there into the light and face it once and for all, but with Jesus standing there by your side. And then let the healing begin.

For two thousand years, wounded people have found Jesus to be the Lord of New Beginnings. See, first, the Bible says He makes us a "new creation in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17) - with rewired desires, self-worth, hopes and a passion to live pure. He says, "The old has gone; a new life has begun." That's the rebirth miracle He made possible by dying to cancel and forgive every sin you've ever committed - including mine. That's the rebirth miracle He made possible by dying to cancel and forgive every sin you've ever committed.

Jesus forgives what no one else can forgive and He heals what no one else can heal. With Jesus running things, your life becomes what He's going to do for you and through you - rather than what others have done to you. You really can turn your seat around. It's a whole lot better to see where you're going than where you've already been. Just ask my grandson.

The new beginning can be today when you say, "Jesus, I'm yours." We'd like to help with that. Go to our website. It's ANewStory.com. See, hope has a name. His name is Jesus.

Joshua 15 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Place Where Healing Happens - April 20, 2022

Find a congregation that believes in confession. Avoid a fellowship of perfect people—you won’t fit in anyway. Just seek one where members confess their sins and show humility, where the price of admission is simply an admission of guilt. Healing happens in a church like this.

Followers of Christ have been given authority to hear confession and proclaim grace. Jesus said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23). The Bible also says, “If we say we have no sin, we’re fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done” (1 John 1:8-9). Not he might cleanse us, could, would, or has been known to cleanse us. He will cleanse us! Oh the sweet certainty of his words.

Joshua 15

Judah

The lot for the people of Judah, their clans, extended south to the border of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin in the extreme south.

2-4 The southern border ran from the tip of the Salt Sea south of The Tongue; it ran southward from Scorpions Pass, went around Zin and just south of Kadesh Barnea; then it ran past Hezron, ascended to Addar, and curved around to Karka; from there it passed along to Azmon, came out at the Brook of Egypt, ending at the Sea. This is the southern boundary.

5-11 The eastern boundary: the Salt Sea up to the mouth of the Jordan.

The northern boundary started at the shallows of the Sea at the mouth of the Jordan, went up to Beth Hoglah and around to the north of Beth Arabah and to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. The border then ascended to Debir from Trouble Valley and turned north toward Gilgal, which lies opposite Red Pass, just south of the gorge. The border then followed the Waters of En Shemesh and ended at En Rogel. The border followed the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite ridge (that is, Jerusalem). It ascended to the top of the mountain opposite Hinnom Valley on the west, at the northern end of Rephaim Valley; the border then took a turn at the top of the mountain to the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah, and followed the valley out to Mount Ephron, turned toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim), took another turn west of Baalah to Mount Seir, curved around to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), descended to Beth Shemesh, and crossed to Timnah. The border then went north to the ridge of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, passed along to Mount Baalah, and came out at Jabneel. The border ended at the Sea.

12 The western border: the coastline of the Great Sea.

This is the boundary around the people of Judah for their clans.

13 Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a section among the people of Judah, according to God’s command. He gave him Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. Arba was the ancestor of Anak.

14-15 Caleb drove out three Anakim from Hebron: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, all descendants of Anak. He marched up from there against the people of Debir. Debir used to be called Kiriath Sepher.

16-17 Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and takes it, I’ll give my daughter Acsah to him as his wife.” Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took it; so Caleb gave him his daughter Acsah as his wife.

18-19
When she arrived she got him
    to ask for farmland from her father.
As she dismounted from her donkey
    Caleb asked her, “What would you like?”
She said, “Give me a marriage gift.
    You’ve given me desert land;
Now give me pools of water!”
    And he gave her the upper and the lower pools.

* * *

20-32 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah, clan by clan.

The southern towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev were near the boundary of Edom:

Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,

Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,

Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (that is, Hazor),

Amam, Shema, Moladah,

Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet,

Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,

Baalah, Iim, Ezem,

Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah,

Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—

a total of twenty-nine towns and their villages.

33-47 In the Shephelah (the western foothills) there were:

Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam,

Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (or Gederothaim)—

fourteen towns and their villages.

Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad,

Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel,

Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish,

Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah—

sixteen towns and their villages.

Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,

Keilah, Aczib, and Mareshah—

nine towns and their villages.

Ekron with its towns and villages;

From Ekron, west to the sea, all that bordered Ashdod with its villages;

Ashdod with its towns and villages;

Gaza with its towns and villages all the way to the Brook of Egypt.

The Great Sea is the western border.

48-60 In the hill country:

Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (that is, Debir),

Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—

eleven towns and their villages.

Arab, Dumah, Eshan,

Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah,

Humtah, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—

nine towns and their villages.

Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,

Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—

ten towns and their villages.

Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor,

Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon—

six towns and their villages.

Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah—

two towns and their villages.

61-62 In the wilderness:

Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,

Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi—

six towns and their villages.

63 The people of Judah couldn’t get rid of the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites stayed put, living alongside the people of Judah. They are still living there in Jerusalem.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Today's Scripture
John 21:15–19

Do You Love Me?

15     After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16     He then asked a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Master, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.”

17–19     Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, “Follow me.”

Insight

The two verbs translated “love” in the Greek New Testament are phileo (“to be a friend of” [person or object] or to “have tender affection for”) and agapao (“love founded in admiration, veneration, esteem”).

Both words are used in John 21:15–16. Jesus uses agapao while Peter uses phileo. In verse 17, however, both Jesus and Peter use phileo. Some scholars find significance in the use of these two different words in John 21 while others don’t. Commentator Craig Keener notes: “The two Greek words for ‘love’ here are used interchangeably elsewhere in John.”

Peter had denied Christ three times (see John 18:15–18, 25–27). How gracious of Jesus to prompt him to affirm his love three times. Was Peter’s love authentic? Yes, authentic enough for him to live a life and die a death by which he would glorify God (see 21:18–19). By: Arthur Jackson

Love Is Worth the Risk

If you love me, keep my commands.
John 14:15

After a friend ended our decade-long friendship without explanation, I began slipping back into my old habit of keeping people at arms’ length. While processing my grief, I pulled a tattered copy of The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis off my shelf. Lewis makes a powerful observation about love requiring vulnerability. He states there’s “no safe investment” when a person risks loving. He suggests that loving “anything [will lead to] your heart being wrung and possibly broken.” Reading those words changed how I read the account of the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection (John 21:1–14), after Peter had betrayed Him not once but three times (18:15–27).

Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” (21:15).

After experiencing the sting of betrayal and rejection, Jesus spoke to Peter with courage not fear, strength not weakness, selflessness not desperation. He displayed mercy not wrath by confirming His willingness to love.

Scripture reveals that “Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ ” (v. 17). But when Jesus asked Peter to prove his love by loving others (vv. 15–17) and following Him (v. 19), He invited all His disciples to risk loving unconditionally. Each of us will have to answer when Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” Our answer will impact how we love others. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

Why would a loving God ask His beloved children to risk being hurt for the sake of loving others like Jesus did? How can an intimate relationship with God help you feel safe enough to risk loving?

Loving God, please break down every wall that keeps me from being vulnerable so I can love You and others with Spirit-empowered courage, compassion, and consistency.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?

All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen… —2 Corinthians 1:20

Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30  was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” When it is a question of God’s Almighty Spirit, never say, “I can’t.” Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.

The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.” A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, “I haven’t had a decent chance,” and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.

Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ.  The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Soft Cement - #9203

If you're walking along the street and you see some couples' initials written in the sidewalk cement (isn't that romantic!), you know it wasn't put there today. It's doubtful they spent hours chiseling it into the cement. You know those impressions had to be made when that sidewalk had just been laid. I mean, right before it turned hard. You know that famous theater in Hollywood where they have the footprints of many stars in the sidewalk. They didn't use a jackhammer or chisel. No, they did it in fresh cement; soft enough to write in. If they waited, well it would be pretty tough to leave their mark.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Soft Cement."

Our word for today from the Word of God is in Psalm 78, and David begins here in verse 4, "We will not hide God's commandments from our children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power and the wonders He has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children so the next generation would know them. Even the children yet to be born and they in turn would tell their children." Now you can see David here is totally focused on the future generations, he wants them to know the Lord as he and the people he knows have known the Lord.

Here's the battle cry, "We will tell the next generation!" Man, that is a battle cry. That's a drum beat. And it's never been more urgent than it is today. With so many young people who are deciding to die by their own hand. With so many who are addicted. With so many who are abused and then becoming abusers as a result of it. They need to know our Jesus and we know that our Jesus can change lives forever.

Now, think about this - over two thirds of people who ever come to Christ do it by the age of 18. So if you see someone walk across that graduation platform without Christ in their life, they're probably going to live and die without Him. And spend eternity without Him. Yeah, we've got to tell the next generation about Jesus when the cement is soft. Any passive response - doing nothing - is equivalent to surrendering to an enemy who is actively engaged in enslaving, and diluting, and deceiving the next generation.

Maybe you say, "Well, what can I do? I mean, how can I make a difference?" Well number one, would you just ask God to break your heart for the young people of your area. Many years ago I prayed that God would break my heart for young people and I've never gotten over the heart trouble that resulted and I never want to. And then you pray regularly, passionately for the young people close to you, when you see them coming out of school, when you see them hanging out at the local store, cruising the mall. And then pray for the Christian young people who try to live for Christ in that school and that community.

And then listen to where kids really are. I mean it's nothing like your teenage experience. We cannot reach these kids like the kids in the '50s or '60s or '70s or '80s or '90s or the early 2000s. Interview your own children, your own grandchildren. Listen to them. Read whatever you can about our young people today. The more you listen to where they are I'm convinced the more your heart will be broken.

And then make a commitment to make a difference. Ask God to show you. Is there any way you could make a difference for one young person; someone to whom you could show the love of Christ, or maybe a group of them. Be an advocate for ministry to young people: in your church, in an organization that's geared to young people, with your local Christian radio station. Be the one who says, "We've got to tell the next generation folks!" Now, you know you may say "Well, I don't think I could have a ministry to a young person." Let me ask you this, do you have the ability to make one person feel important? That's what it takes. If you could make one teenager feel like the only person in the world when they're with you, you'll be an adult they will never forget.

Remember the cement in young hearts is soft for just a short time, and it's turning hard sooner than ever. If we're going to write Jesus on a person's heart, we probably have to do it before they're 18. So let that ancient battle cry become your battle cry, and that of your ministry, and that of your church. "We will tell the next generation!"

Joshua 14 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Search Your Heart - April 19, 2022

What would an X-ray—an MRI—of your soul reveal? Regrets over teenage relationships? Remorse over a poor choice? Interested in an extraction? Confess. Request a spiritual MRI. “Search me, O God and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).

Many voices urge you to look deep within and find an invisible strength or hidden power, but that’s a dangerous exercise. Self-assessment without God’s guidance just leads to denial or shame, justification or humiliation. We need neither. We need a prayer of grace-based confession: God, I’ve done what you say is wrong. Would you wash away my guilt and make me clean again? No chant, no candle needed. Just a prayer of confession – try it.

Joshua 14

Land West of the Jordan

Here are the inheritance allotments that the People of Israel received in the land of Canaan. Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the family clans made the allotments. Each inheritance was assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, just as God had commanded Moses.

3-4 Moses had given the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan, but hadn’t given an inheritance to the Levites, as he had to the others. Because the sons of Joseph had become two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, they gave no allotment to the Levites; but they did give them cities to live in with pasture rights for their flocks and herds.

5 The People of Israel followed through exactly as God had commanded Moses. They apportioned the land.
Caleb

6-12 The people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite spoke: “You’ll remember what God said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me back at Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of God sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought back an honest and accurate report. My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with God, my God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for God.’ Now look at me: God has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since God spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised me. You yourself heard the report, that the Anakim were there with their great fortress cities. If God goes with me, I will drive them out, just as God said.”

13-14 Joshua blessed him. He gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to God, the God of Israel.

15 The name of Hebron used to be Kiriath Arba, named after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.

And the land had rest from war.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Today's Scripture
Deuteronomy 31:9–13

Moses wrote out this Revelation and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Chest of the Covenant of God, and to all the leaders of Israel. And he gave these orders: “At the end of every seven years, the Year-All-Debts-Are-Canceled, during the pilgrim Festival of Booths when everyone in Israel comes to appear in the Presence of God, your God, at the place he designates, read out this Revelation to all Israel, with everyone listening. Gather the people together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living among you—so they can listen well, so they may learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, and diligently keep everything in this Revelation. And do this so that their children, who don’t yet know all this, will also listen and learn to live in holy awe before God, your God, for as long as you live on the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”

Insight

The hopeful picture that Moses paints in Deuteronomy 31:9–13 of Israel gathered to hear the law of God foreshadows sadness. Throughout the Old Testament, it’s disheartening to notice that Israel never followed this command that Moses gave the people until after the exile.

We get reports of the abject failure of the priesthood (1 Samuel 2:22–36; 8:1–3), but nowhere until the time of Ezra do we find the priests teaching the people to follow God (Nehemiah 8:1–3). This is the first recorded time Israel obeyed Moses’ directions after nearly a millennium.  

Then the zeal of Ezra eventually led to the increasingly legalistic approach of the Pharisees. Israel always struggled with the law—first ignoring it and then making it more than it should be. The true task of following God’s law, as Jesus said, is summed up in loving God first and others as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–39). By: Jed Ostoich

Come and Worship

Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns.
Deuteronomy 31:12

As they sang praise songs together in the multi-generational worship service, many experienced joy and peace. But not a frazzled mother. As she jiggled her baby, who was on the verge of crying, she held the songbook for her five-year-old while trying to stop her toddler from running off. Then an older gentleman sitting behind her offered to walk the toddler around the church and a young woman motioned that she could hold the songbook for the eldest child. Within two minutes, the mother’s experience was transformed and she could exhale, close her eyes, and worship God.

God has always intended that all His people worship Him—men and women, old and young, longtime believers, and newcomers. As Moses blessed the tribes of Israel before they entered the promised land, he urged them all to meet together, “men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns,” so that they could “listen and learn to fear the Lord your God” and to follow His commands (Deuteronomy 31:12). It honors God when we make it possible for His people to worship Him together, no matter our stage of life.

That morning in church, the mother, the older gentleman, and the young woman each experienced God’s love through giving and receiving. Perhaps the next time you’re at church, you too could either extend God’s love through an offer of help or you could be the one accepting the act of grace. By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced the body of Christ as encompassing many generations and people groups? How have you given and received God’s love while at church?

Loving Jesus, You long that all people would feel welcomed when they come to worship You. Help us to be those who notice others and reach out in love.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28

Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.

“…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.  The Place of Help, 1032 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 6-8; Luke 15:1-10

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, April 19, 2022

A Shattered Trophy - #9202

I don't talk about it much, because I don't want people putting me on a pedestal or asking for autographs. But the fact is I was the (Are you ready for this? Drum roll...) the champion of our county's 8th grade spelling bee. Yep, I even got a trophy. That's right.

Can't find the trophy though. No, I think the last time I saw it, it was broken. Of course, that's the problem with trophies. Just ask the University of Alabama football team. They won it all a few years back, including the national champion trophy. It was a $30,000 Waterford crystal football. I said was.

Over one parent's weekend, a player's father somehow (I could see me doing this) knocked it off its stand. It's not a crystal football anymore; it's a million little pieces. Once again, that's the problem with trophies. They break.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Shattered Trophy."

All of life's prizes ultimately shatter and disappoint us. I remember one player on a past national champion football team saying how depressed he was the day after his sports dream had come true. Here's what he said, "When I saw that front page headline about us winning, all I could think was, 'My god just died.'"

Sounds like Alexander the Great. By the age of 33, he had conquered the then "known" world - a ton of trophies. But instead of being elated, he reportedly was darkly depressed. When an officer asked him why, he just said, "I have no more worlds to conquer."

One way or another, life's trophies seem to shatter on us. Oh, before we have our trophies in our hand, they look like they're worth whatever we need to do to get it. But then, they disappoint, they disillusion, they disappear. Like that football trophy, they're just like so breakable.

I suspect we all have a "trophy" we've pursued or are pursuing. You have recognition by some people or group that means a lot to you, a championship, a scholarship, a relationship, raising 'superkids', a dream home, a dream job, a dream person.

The problem, though, is that trophies tend to become idols; something or someone that pushes God from the center of your life to the margins, and that gets the best of your time, your talent, your treasure.

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to something John Calvin said, that "the human heart is an idol-making factory." Even your work for God can, at times, become an idol that usurps God's throne in your life. Your ministry can subtly become your master rather than your vehicle for loving Jesus. And suddenly you've got an idol, all wrapped up in Christian garb.

Trophies shatter because they become too important to us. It's the Demas syndrome. The Apostle Paul described Demas as his "fellow worker," a valued, spiritual soldier (Colossians 4:14). But then, in Paul's greatest hour of need, it says, "Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world" (2 Timothy 4:10).

See, God loves us too much to let our idols stand. When the Old Testament Philistines hijacked God's sacred Ark of the Covenant, "they set it beside (their god) Dagon." When they went to the temple the next day, "there was Dagon fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord." After they had set poor little Dagon up again, the next morning they found him "with his head and hands broken off, lying on the threshold" (1 Samuel 5:1-4). That's got to be really disturbing to find your god without his head! You know?

Well, when something becomes an idol, it's going to break on you. In our word for today from the Word of God, Jonah 2:8, it says it is because "those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Looking back, I see the broken pieces of some shattered trophies. And the wonderful discovery I've found in those fragments; the only real treasure is Christ.

The failure of our other "gods" points the way to the true God that we were made by and for. The God Jesus died to reunite us with. If you're tired of the disappointment, your heart's ready for Jesus; the Savior who died for you, who rose again from the dead, who's ready to come into your life and fill the hole only He can fill.

Which would make this a very good time for you to visit our website, ANewStory.com. Because the Bible says about Jesus, we are complete in Him.

Joshua 13 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Radical Reliance on Grace - April 18, 2022

Confession. It’s a word that conjures up many images—some not so positive! Confession isn’t telling God what he doesn’t know. That’s impossible. It’s not pointing fingers at others without pointing any at me. That may feel good, but it doesn’t promote healing.

Confession is a radical reliance on grace—a trust in God’s goodness. The truth is, confessors find a freedom that deniers don’t. Scripture says, “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done” (1 John 1:8-9).

Tell God what you did. Again, it’s not that he doesn’t already know, but the two of you need to agree. Then let the pure water of grace flow over your mistakes!

Joshua 13

The Receiving of the Land

When Joshua had reached a venerable age, God said to him, “You’ve had a good, long life, but there is a lot of land still to be taken. This is the land that remains:

all the districts of the Philistines and Geshurites;

the land from the Shihor River east of Egypt to the border of Ekron up north, Canaanite country (there were five Philistine tyrants—in Gaza, in Ashdod, in Ashkelon, in Gath, in Ekron); also the Avvim from the south;

all the Canaanite land from Arah (belonging to the Sidonians) to Aphek at the Amorite border;

the country of the Gebalites;

all Lebanon eastward from Baal Gad in the shadow of Mount Hermon to the Entrance of Hamath;

all who live in the mountains, from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim;

all the Sidonians.

6-7 “I myself will drive them out before the People of Israel. All you have to do is allot this land to Israel as an inheritance, as I have instructed you. Do it now: Allot this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
Land East of the Jordan

8 The other half-tribe of Manasseh, with the Reubenites and Gadites, had been given their inheritance by Moses on the other side of the Jordan eastward. Moses the servant of God gave it to them.

9-13 This land extended from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge and the city in the middle of the valley, taking in the entire tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon, and all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, and out to the border of the Ammonites. It also included Gilead, the country of the people of Geshur and Maacah, all of Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah—the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was one of the last survivors of the Rephaim. Moses had defeated them and taken their land. The People of Israel never did drive out the Geshurites and the Maacathites—they’re still there, living in Israel.

14 Levi was the only tribe that did not receive an inheritance. The Fire-Gift-Offerings to God, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as he told them.
Reuben

15-22 To the tribe of Reuben, clan by clan, Moses gave:

the land from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge and the town in the middle of the valley, including the tableland around Medeba;

Heshbon on the tableland with all its towns (Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on Valley Mountain, Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth Jeshimoth);

and all the cities of the tableland, the whole kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled at Heshbon, whom Moses put to death along with the princes of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who lived in that country, all puppets of Sihon. (In addition to those killed in battle, Balaam son of Beor, the soothsayer, was put to death by the People of Israel.)

23 The boundary for the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan River. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites, their villages and cities, according to their clans.
Gad

24-27 To the tribe of Gad, clan by clan, Moses gave:

the territory of Jazer and all the towns of Gilead and half the Ammonite country as far as Aroer near Rabbah;

the land from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the region of Debir;

in the valley: Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, with the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon (the east side of the Jordan, north to the end of the Sea of Kinnereth).

28 This was the inheritance of the Gadites, their cities and villages, clan by clan.
Half-Tribe of Manasseh

29-31 To the half-tribe of Manasseh, clan by clan, Moses gave:

the land stretching out from Mahanaim;

all of Bashan, which is the entire kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the settlements of Jair in Bashan—sixty towns in all.

Half of Gilead with Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan, belong to the descendants of Makir, a son of Manasseh (in other words, the half-tribe of the children of Makir) for their clans.

32-33 This is the inheritance that Moses gave out when he was on the plains of Moab across the Jordan east of Jericho. But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. God, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, just as he told them.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, April 18, 2022

Today's Scripture
1 Peter 2:11–21
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Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

13–17     Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

The Kind of Life He Lived

18–20     You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones. What counts is that you put up with it for God’s sake when you’re treated badly for no good reason. There’s no particular virtue in accepting punishment that you well deserve. But if you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God.

21–25     This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.

Insight

Encouraging believers in Jesus living in an unbelieving and hostile world, Peter exhorted them to live godly lives—to submit to authorities, respect everyone, love fellow believers, fear God, do good works, and persevere when unjustly treated. We’re called to do good and to follow Christ’s example in enduring suffering. Paul made similar calls to live such God-honoring lives in a pagan world in Romans 13:12–14; Philippians 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12; and Titus 2:7–8; 3:8, 14. His instructions for the slave-master relationship in Ephesians 6:5–8; Colossians 3:22–24; 1 Timothy 6:1–3; and Titus 2:9–10 would have resonated with Peter’s audience (1 Peter 2:18–21). By: K. T. Sim

Witness in the Workplace

If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
1 Peter 2:20

“Are you still upset that I want to reduce the size of your favorite department?” Evelyn’s manager asked. “No.” She tightened her jaw. She was more frustrated that he seemed to be teasing her about it. She’d been trying to help the company by finding ways to draw in different interest groups, but limited space made this nearly impossible. Evelyn fought back tears, but she made the decision to do whatever her manager asked. Maybe she couldn’t bring about the changes she’d hoped, but she could still do her job to the best of her ability.

In the apostle Peter’s first letter, he urged first-century believers in Jesus to submit “to every human authority” (1 Peter 2:13). Maintaining integrity in a tough work situation isn’t easy. But Peter gives us a reason to continue doing good: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (v. 12). Additionally, this helps us set a godly example for other believers who are watching.

If we’re in a truly abusive work situation, it may be best to leave if at all possible (1 Corinthians 7:21). But in a safe environment, with the Spirit’s help we can continue to do good in our work remembering “this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20). When we submit to authority, we have an opportunity to give others reason to follow and glorify God. By:  Julie Schwab

Reflect & Pray

What do you typically do when you’re in a difficult situation under someone else’s authority? How might God be trying to work in you through this?

Heavenly Father, help me to continue to honor You in my response to those in authority despite the difficult situations I may face. Help me to live each day in a way that glorifies You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, April 18, 2022
Readiness

God called to him….And he said, "Here I am." —Exodus 3:4

When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing— it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God’s plans may be, we are there and ready. Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God’s voice as our Lord heard His Father’s voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. “…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).

Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, April 18, 2022
Brotherness - #9201

I never had a sister when I was growing up, but my sons did. Our daughter is the oldest, and her two brothers each came at about two year intervals after that. As I watched their relationship over the years, it was interesting to see what I had missed: a lot of kidding around, some exciting disagreements, some hugs, some advice, some conflict, but a lot of loyalty. One thing was always really clear, say between our daughter and her older brother. No one had better do his sister wrong. He was always her personal "look-out-forer." Is that a word? And until our son-in-law came along, no guy had ever been good enough to get her brother's "thumbs up." Two years younger, he was always her protector. You know if you're a sister, it's nice to have a brother like that.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Brotherness."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Timothy 5:2, God's roadmap for relationships between young men and young women. He says very simply, "Treat the younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." That's not how our culture tells young men to treat young women. It's more like "treat the young women as conquests, as lovers or something like that." God says they should be treated as your sisters.

What does that mean? To tease them mercilessly? Argue with them? No, I don't think so. The love of a brother for a sister, after all is said and done, is protective love. Like our son for his sister. "Look, I'm your brother and I won't let anything happen to you that could hurt you." That's why God says that men should treat women "with absolute purity." "I won't use you. I won't push for us to get physically involved. I won't even think about taking your greatest gift - your virginity. I won't let my mind wander into fantasies that would reduce you to a thing. I'll guard your reputation. I'll guard your purity. I'll guard your character."

Now that's the heart of real manhood: protecting a woman from being hurt, from being used, from being exploited, from being devalued - especially by you. There's a critical shortage of that kind of manhood. The man who steps up to this kind of brotherness is a rare treasure, and like anything rare, he's very valuable. He stands head and shoulder above all the other men who are much more takers than givers.

How does this brotherness thing work out practically? It means that a young man focuses on developing friendships with women, more than romances. It means opening the door to real closeness by throwing his sexual agenda for the relationship out the window. I have no sexual agenda for this relationship.

And if you're a young woman who wants young men to be like this, you need to encourage guys you know in that way. Dress like you want brothers and friends, not users. Talk like it. Act like it. Young men desperately need young women who will bring out the best in them - the brother in them.

If you're a young man, you need some sisters! Develop brother-sister relationships with the young women in your world. You'll experience a level of sharing and caring that the sexual conquerors will never even get close to. Treat her like family, like God's family...like your sister. The manliest men in the world are the men with whom a woman can know she is safe, that she is respected, that she's treasure to be protected from anything that could spoil her.

Every sister needs that kind of brother. So, let it be you.

Luke 10:1-24 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Led by an Unseen Hand

For years I viewed God as a compassionate CEO and my role as a loyal sales representative. He encouraged me, rallied behind me, and supported me, but he didn't go with me. At least I didn't think he did. Then I read 2 Corinthians 6:1, "…we are God's fellow workers." Fellow workers? Co-laborers? God and I work together? Imagine the paradigm shift this truth creates. Rather than report to God, we work with God. We are always in the presence of God; there's never a non-sacred moment.
Our awareness of his presence may falter, but the reality of his presence never changes. What if our daily communion never ceased? Would it be possible to live-minute by minute-in the presence of God? Is such a goal realistic? Within reach? If we are to be just like Jesus, you and I will strive for constant fellowship with God!
From Just Like Jesus


Luke 10:1-24

Lambs in a Wolf Pack

 Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He gave them this charge:

“What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.

3 “On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.

4 “Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.

“Don’t loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.

5-6 “When you enter a home, greet the family, ‘Peace.’ If your greeting is received, then it’s a good place to stay. But if it’s not received, take it back and get out. Don’t impose yourself.

7 “Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don’t move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town.

8-9 “When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, ‘God’s kingdom is right on your doorstep!’

10-12 “When you enter a town and are not received, go out in the street and say, ‘The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we’re giving it back. Did you have any idea that God’s kingdom was right on your doorstep?’ Sodom will have it better on Judgment Day than the town that rejects you.

13-14 “Doom, Chorazin! Doom, Bethsaida! If Tyre and Sidon had been given half the chances given you, they’d have been on their knees long ago, repenting and crying for mercy. Tyre and Sidon will have it easy on Judgment Day compared to you.

15 “And you, Capernaum! Do you think you’re about to be promoted to heaven? Think again. You’re on a fast track to hell.

16 “The one who listens to you, listens to me. The one who rejects you, rejects me. And rejecting me is the same as rejecting God, who sent me.”

17 The seventy came back triumphant. “Master, even the demons danced to your tune!”

18-20 Jesus said, “I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing.”

21 At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. “I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

22 “I’ve been given it all by my Father! Only the Father knows who the Son is and only the Son knows who the Father is. The Son can introduce the Father to anyone he wants to.”

23-24 He then turned in a private aside to his disciples. “Fortunate the eyes that see what you’re seeing! There are plenty of prophets and kings who would have given their right arm to see what you are seeing but never got so much as a glimpse, to hear what you are hearing but never got so much as a whisper.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, April 17, 2022

Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 15:12–26

Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.

16–20     If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

21–28     There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death!

Insight

For Paul, the reality of the resurrection was paramount (1 Corinthians 15), and he seized every opportunity to tell others about it. We see this when he stood in chains before King Agrippa in Acts 26. As Paul made the case for the resurrection, Festus, the governor who’d sent him to Agrippa, interrupted and said, “You are out of your mind, Paul!” (v. 24). The apostle immediately appealed to direct evidence. “The king [Agrippa himself] is familiar with these things,” he said. “I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner” (v. 26). By: Tim Gustafson

This Changes Everything

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20

Jaroslav Pelikan, longtime Yale professor considered one of “his generation’s preeminent authorities on Christian history,” was renowned for his extensive academic career. He published more than thirty books and won the esteemed Kluge Prize as a lifetime award for his voluminous writing. One of his students, however, recounted what he considered his teacher’s most important words, spoken from his deathbed: “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not—nothing else matters.”

Pelikan echoed Paul’s conviction: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14). The apostle made such a bold statement because he knew that the resurrection was not merely a one-off miracle but rather the pinnacle of God’s redeeming work in human history. The promise of resurrection wasn’t only His assurance that Jesus would rise from the dead but His bold affirmation that other dead and ruined things (lives, neighborhoods, relationships) would also one day be brought back to life through Christ. If there’s no resurrection, however, Paul knew that we’re in deep trouble. If there’s no resurrection, then death and destruction win.

But, of course, “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead” (v. 20). Destroyed by the Victor, death loses. And Jesus is the “firstfruits” of all the life that will follow. He conquered evil and death so that we could live bold and free. This changes everything. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

What difference does it make to understand the expansive hope of Jesus’ resurrection? Where do you need resurrection in your life?

Dear God, allow me to see how Jesus’ resurrection changes everything about my life now and forever.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, April 17, 2022
All or Nothing?

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment…and plunged into the sea. —John 21:7

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ’s voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.  Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 1-2; Luke 14:1-24

Joshua 12 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Surrogate Spirituality

Some of us have tried to have a daily quiet time and have not been successful. Others of us have a hard time concentrating. And all of us are busy. So rather than spending time with God, listening for his voice, we'll let others spend time with him and then benefit from their experience. Let them tell us what God is saying. After all, isn't that why we pay preachers? Isn't that why we read Christian books?
If that's your approach, I'd like to challenge you with this thought: Do you do that with other parts of your life? I don't think so. You don't let someone eat on your behalf, do you?  Do others take vacations as your surrogate? Listening to God is a firsthand experience. When he asks for your attention, God doesn't want you to send a substitute. He wants you!
From Just Like Jesus

Joshua 12

The Defeated Kings

These are the kings that the People of Israel defeated and whose land they took on the east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon, with the whole eastern side of the Arabah Valley.

2-3 Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned from Heshbon: His rule extended from Aroer, which sits at the edge of the Arnon Gorge, from the middle of the gorge and over half of Gilead to the Gorge of the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. His rule included the eastern Arabah Valley from the Sea of Kinnereth to the Arabah Sea (the Salt Sea), eastward toward Beth Jeshimoth and southward to the slopes of Pisgah.

4-5 And Og king of Bashan, one of the last of the Rephaim who reigned from Ashtaroth and Edrei: His rule extended from Mount Hermon and Salecah over the whole of Bashan to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites (the other half of Gilead) to the border of Sihon king of Heshbon.

6 Moses the servant of God and the People of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of God gave this land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.

* * *

7-24 And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the People of Israel defeated in the country west of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon south to Mount Halak, which towers over Seir. Joshua gave this land to the tribes of Israel as a possession, according to their divisions: lands in the mountains, the western foothills, and the Arabah Valley, on the slopes, and in the wilderness and the Negev desert (lands on which Hittites, Amorites and Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had lived). The kings were:
The king of Jericho    one
The king of Ai (near Bethel)    one
The king of Jerusalem    one
The king of Hebron    one
The king of Jarmuth    one
The king of Lachish    one
The king of Eglon    one
The king of Gezer    one
The king of Debir    one
The king of Geder    one
The king of Hormah    one
The king of Arad    one
The king of Libnah    one
The king of Adullam    one
The king of Makkedah    one
The king of Bethel    one
The king of Tappuah    one
The king of Hepher    one
The king of Aphek    one
The king of Lasharon    one
The king of Madon    one
The king of Hazor    one
The king of Shimron Meron    one
The king of Acshaph    one
The king of Taanach    one
The king of Megiddo    one
The king of Kedesh    one
The king of Jokneam in Carmel    one
The king of Dor (Naphoth Dor)    one
The king of Goyim in Gilgal    one
The king of Tirzah    one

A total of thirty-one kings.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, April 16, 2022

Today's Scripture
Luke 23:49–56

Those who knew Jesus well, along with the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a respectful distance and kept vigil.

50–54     There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Taking him down, he wrapped him in a linen shroud and placed him in a tomb chiseled into the rock, a tomb never yet used. It was the day before Sabbath, the Sabbath just about to begin.

55–56     The women who had been companions of Jesus from Galilee followed along. They saw the tomb where Jesus’ body was placed. Then they went back to prepare burial spices and perfumes. They rested quietly on the Sabbath, as commanded.

Insight

The Romans normally left the decaying bodies of crucified criminals, especially those convicted of treason, on their crosses for birds to devour as a warning that this same fate awaited those who dared to rebel against Rome. Because it was a “special Sabbath” in that it was also the day of Passover/Unleavened Bread, the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the crucified bodies taken down (John 19:31). Corpses left hanging overnight would desecrate the land (Deuteronomy 21:22–23). Family members weren’t permitted to give their deceased a decent burial. Instead, the bodies were unceremoniously and unbecomingly dumped in a graveyard outside the city. Corpses left unburied as food for carrion birds and wild animals was the severest form of contempt and humiliation (Psalm 79:2–4). Because Joseph of Arimathea intervened and asked Pilate for Jesus’ body, He was buried in Joseph’s “own new tomb” (Matthew 27:60), an unused rich man’s tomb, fulfilling Isaiah 53:9. By: K. T. Sim

Not So

All those who knew him . . . stood at a distance, watching these things.
Luke 23:49

“I wanted somehow to make it not so,” lamented the man, eulogizing a friend who died young. His words gave poignancy to humanity’s ageless heart-cry. Death stuns and scars us all. We ache to undo what can’t be undone.

The longing to “make it not so” might well describe how Jesus’ followers felt after His death. The Gospels say little about those awful hours, but they do record the actions of a few faithful friends.

Joseph, a religious leader who secretly believed in Jesus (see John 19:38), suddenly found the courage to ask Pilate for Jesus’ body (Luke 23:52). Ponder for a moment what it would take to remove a body from a grisly crucifixion and tenderly prepare it for burial (v. 53). Consider too the devotion and bravery of the women who stayed with Jesus every step of the way, even to the tomb (v. 55).

These followers weren’t anticipating a resurrection; they were coming to terms with grief. The chapter ends without hope, merely a somber, “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes [to embalm Jesus’ body]. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (v. 56).

Little did they know the Sabbath intermission was setting the stage for history’s most dramatic scene. Jesus was about to do the unimaginable. He would make death itself “not so.” By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

Where do you turn for comfort when the worst happens? How do you live as though the resurrection is real?

Today, Father, I pause to remember how it must have been that day between Your Son’s crucifixion and His resurrection. I’m so grateful that He’s reversed sin’s curse for me.

Learn more about the resurrection of Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, April 16, 2022
Can You Come Down From the Mountain?

While you have the light, believe in the light… —John 12:36

We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, “I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!” We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.

Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don’t place yourself on the shelf by thinking, “How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!” Act immediately— do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don’t say, “I’ll do it”— just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary “gray” day according to what we saw on the mountain.

Don’t give up because you have been blocked and confused once— go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion.  The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 30-31; Luke 13:23-35

Joshua 11, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Christ Wore Our Sin - April 15, 2022

Scripture often describes our behavior as the clothes we wear. 1 Peter 5:5 urges us to be “clothed with humility.” In Psalm 109:18, David speaks of evil people who clothe themselves “with cursing.” Garments can symbolize character, and like his garment, Jesus’ character was uninterrupted perfection.

But when Christ was nailed to the cross, he took off his robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe: the wardrobe of indignity. Stripped before his own mother. Shamed before his family. The indignity of failure. For a few pain-filled hours, the religious leaders were victors, and Christ appeared the loser. Worst of all, he wore the indignity of sin. Scripture says, “He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). The cloth of Christ on the cross? Sin—yours and mine.

Joshua 11

When Jabin king of Hazor heard of all this, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the king of Shimron; to the king of Acshaph; to all the kings in the northern mountains; to the kings in the valley south of Kinnereth; to the kings in the western foothills and Naphoth Dor; to the Canaanites both east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah.

4-5 They came out in full force, all their troops massed together—a huge army, in number like sand on an ocean beach—to say nothing of all the horses and chariots. All these kings met and set up camp together at the Waters of Merom, ready to fight against Israel.

6 God said to Joshua: “Don’t worry about them. This time tomorrow I’ll hand them over to Israel, all dead. You’ll hamstring their horses. You’ll set fire to their chariots.”

7-9 Joshua, his entire army with him, took them by surprise, falling on them at the Waters of Merom. God gave them to Israel, who struck and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, to Misrephoth Maim, and then to the Valley of Mizpah on the east. No survivors. Joshua treated them following God’s instructions: he hamstrung their horses; he burned up their chariots.

10-11 Then Joshua came back and took Hazor, killing its king. Early on Hazor had been head of all these kingdoms. They killed every person there, carrying out the holy curse—not a breath of life left anywhere. Then he burned down Hazor.

12-14 Joshua captured and massacred all the royal towns with their kings, the holy curse commanded by Moses the servant of God. But Israel didn’t burn the cities that were built on mounds, except for Hazor—Joshua did burn down Hazor. The People of Israel plundered all the loot, including the cattle, from these towns for themselves. But they killed the people—total destruction. They left nothing human that breathed.

15 Just as God commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it. He didn’t leave incomplete one thing that God had commanded Moses.

* * *

16-20 Joshua took the whole country: the mountains, the southern desert, all of Goshen, the foothills, the valley (the Arabah), and the Israel mountains with their foothills, from Mount Halak, which towers over the region of Seir, all the way to Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon in the shadows of Mount Hermon. He captured their kings and then killed them. Joshua fought against these kings for a long time. Not one town made peace with the People of Israel, with the one exception of the Hivites who lived in Gibeon. Israel fought and took all the rest. It was God’s idea that they all would stubbornly fight the Israelites so he could put them under the holy curse without mercy. That way he could destroy them just as God had commanded Moses.

* * *

21-22 Joshua came out at that time also to root out the Anakim from the hills, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from the mountains of Judah, from the mountains of Israel. Joshua carried out the holy curse on them and their cities. No Anakim were left in the land of the People of Israel, except in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod—there were a few left there.

23 Joshua took the whole region. He did everything that God had told Moses. Then he parceled it out as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribes.

And Israel had rest from war.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Friday, April 15, 2022

Today's Scripture
Mark 15:16–24

The soldiers took Jesus into the palace (called Praetorium) and called together the entire brigade. They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thornbush on his head. Then they began their mockery: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” They banged on his head with a club, spit on him, and knelt down in mock worship. After they had had their fun, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they marched out to nail him to the cross.

The Crucifixion

21     There was a man walking by, coming from work, Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made him carry Jesus’ cross.

22–24     The soldiers brought Jesus to Golgotha, meaning “Skull Hill.” They offered him a mild painkiller (wine mixed with myrrh), but he wouldn’t take it. And they nailed him to the cross. They divided up his clothes and threw dice to see who would get them.

Insight

Though Simon of Cyrene is mentioned in each of the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26), we know very little about him. Aside from his hometown being in Cyrene, all we know of Simon is that he had two sons, Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21). This small piece of information, however, takes on possible significance when considered in the light of the belief of many that Rome was Mark’s primary audience for his gospel record. Why? First, it seems unlikely that Mark would’ve mentioned the sons’ names unless they were somewhat known to the early Christian community. Second, Paul mentioned a person named Rufus in his letter to Rome: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too” (Romans 16:13). It may be that the Rufus of the church at Rome was one of the sons of the man who carried Jesus’ cross. By: Bill Crowder

His Cross of Peace

A certain man from Cyrene . . . was passing by . . . and they forced him to carry the cross.
Mark 15:21

Somber eyes peer out from the painting Simon of Cyrene by contemporary Dutch artist Egbert Modderman. Simon’s eyes reveal the immense physical and emotional burden of his responsibility. In the biblical account from Mark 15, we learn that Simon was pulled from the watching crowd and forced to carry Jesus’ cross.

Mark tells us that Simon was from Cyrene, a big city in North Africa with a large population of Jews during Jesus’ time. Most likely Simon had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. There he found himself in the middle of this unjust execution but was able to perform a small but meaningful act of assistance to Jesus (Mark 15:21).

Earlier in the gospel of Mark, Jesus tells His followers, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (8:34). On the road to Golgotha, Simon literally did what Jesus figuratively asks His disciples to do: he took up the cross given to him and carried it for Jesus’ sake.

We too have “crosses” to bear: perhaps an illness, a challenging ministry assignment, the loss of a loved one, or persecution for our faith. As we carry these sufferings by faith, we point people to the sufferings of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. It was His cross that gave us peace with God and strength for our own journey. By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray

What “cross” have you been asked to carry? How can you use this struggle to point others to Jesus?

Jesus, thank You that You understand and sympathize with the pain I experience as I take up my cross and follow You. Give me courage and strength even when the journey is difficult.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 15, 2022
  
The Failure To Pay Close Attention

The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. —2 Chronicles 15:17

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly.  Disciples Indeed, 393 R

Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 27-29; Luke 13:1-22

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 15, 2022

Easter - Up and Personal - #9200

I'm having sort of flashbacks of some very special Easters past; often at a sunrise service. Like the Easter in Miami, with the sun rising over Biscayne Bay as I spoke about Jesus rising from the dead. Or celebrating Jesus with Native Americans in a public park. And the... Oh, yeah, there was the one on the mountaintop near New York City.

And then there was that sunny, but cold, Easter on an Ozark mountainside, with the backdrop of the massive white statue of Jesus known as "The Christ of the Ozarks." He stands there, night and day, with His arms open wide. You know, that's my Jesus - arms open wide.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Easter - Up Close and Personal."

That's why there's a personal invitation woven into the accounts of Jesus' resurrection. The women who had stuck with Jesus when everyone else ran away had come with spices to properly care for Jesus' hastily buried body. What they found rocked their world; the huge stone rolled away from the tomb and a powerful angel sitting on it! Then the shocker of all shockers. We find it in our word for today from the Word of God, Matthew 28:5-6. "I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; He is risen, just as He said."

Then, the invitation, "Come and see."

I remember the morning I "came and saw" for myself what Jesus did for me. My life has never been the same. That invitation, by the way, is still open this Easter. Come, see for yourself. You can miss the game-changing impact of Jesus' Easter triumph if you only look at it as a historical event; which, of course it is, but it's so much more than that. You can even miss it if it's just a religious event. It's so much more personal than that, because Jesus died on that cross to take my hell for my sin, so I can go to His heaven. And because Jesus blew away death that Easter dawn, I don't ever have to fear death again. He said to those who belong to Him, "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19). Jesus, and Jesus alone, proved He can give eternal life because He's got eternal life!

There's a lot on the line in that "come and see." Like eternity! Because just knowing about Jesus, liking Jesus, agreeing with Jesus is still missing Jesus. See, He's the gift you have to take to make it yours. He's the Rescuer you have to grab onto in order to be saved. You can be in church, celebrating Easter, but never really have a personal relationship with Him. He can be in your head, but not in your heart. And that's the difference between forever with Him and forever without Him.

And because everyone deserves a chance at Jesus, He won't let us just sit there and say, "Oh, it's so nice to be here with all the folks who know Jesus." No, His Easter invitation is followed by His Easter orders. "Go and tell" (Matthew 28:10).

When you've come and seen what Jesus can do, then go and tell those who haven't. To know the love of a crucified Savior and the power of a risen Savior, and not to tell others about Him? That's a crime against Him and a crime against them. And what should I tell them? It says, "Mary Magdalene went...with the news: 'I have seen the Lord'" (John 20:18). That's it! You tell them your Hope Story of your firsthand experience with Jesus and the difference He's made.

And, look, if you've never come and seen for yourself, if you've never personalized what Jesus did on the cross when He died to pay for every wrong thing you've ever done. If you've never taken Him into your life, let this be the day. What a wonderful time to do that! Just tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours." And go to our website. Because I think you'll find there the information that will help you be sure you belong to Him.

I'm so glad the arms of Jesus are still open wide this Easter, to send those who know Him to "go and tell" those who don't, and to welcome someone who's been searching for a long time - maybe you - to "come and see" His love and His power.

Yeah, Jesus walked out of His grave that first Easter. He's ready to walk into your life this Easter.