Joshua 10 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD’S WORD IS ENOUGH - January 8, 2026

Where do you feel empty? Are you hungry for attention, craving success, longing for intimacy? Be aware of your weaknesses. Bring them to God before Satan brings them to you.

Satan will tell you, as he did when tempting Jesus, to turn stones into bread. In other words, to take matters into your own hands. If Satan convinces us to trust our works over God’s word, he has us dangling from a broken limb.

Do what Jesus did. In Satan’s temptation of Jesus, three times Jesus repeated, “It is written…” “It also is written…” “It is written…” God’s book was enough. Jesus overcame temptation, not with special voices or supernatural signs, but by remembering and quoting Scripture. Do the same. Let God’s words silence Satan’s lies and see what happens.

God's Story, Your Story

Joshua 10

Israel Defeats the Southern Armies

Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and completely destroyed* Ai and killed its king, just as he had destroyed the town of Jericho and killed its king. He also learned that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel and were now their allies. 2 He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large town—as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were strong warriors.

3 So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent messengers to several other kings: Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon. 4 “Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them, “for they have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.” 5 So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack. They moved all their troops into place and attacked Gibeon.

6 The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal. “Don’t abandon your servants now!” they pleaded. “Come at once! Save us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have joined forces to attack us.”

7 So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon. 8 “Do not be afraid of them,” the Lord said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.”

9 Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. 10 The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword.

12 On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said,

“Let the sun stand still over Gibeon,

and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”

13 So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.

Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar* ? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.* 14 There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!

15 Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

Joshua Kills the Five Southern Kings

16 During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah. 17 When Joshua heard that they had been found, 18 he issued this command: “Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks, and place guards at the entrance to keep the kings inside. 19 The rest of you continue chasing the enemy and cut them down from the rear. Don’t give them a chance to get back to their towns, for the Lord your God has given you victory over them.”

20 So Joshua and the Israelite army continued the slaughter and completely crushed the enemy. They totally wiped out the five armies except for a tiny remnant that managed to reach their fortified towns. 21 Then the Israelites returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. After that, no one dared to speak even a word against Israel.

22 Then Joshua said, “Remove the rocks covering the opening of the cave, and bring the five kings to me.” 23 So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. 24 When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told.

25 “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua told his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.” 26 Then Joshua killed each of the five kings and impaled them on five sharpened poles, where they hung until evening.

27 As the sun was going down, Joshua gave instructions for the bodies of the kings to be taken down from the poles and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Then they covered the opening of the cave with a pile of large rocks, which remains to this very day.

Israel Destroys the Southern Towns

28 That same day Joshua captured and destroyed the town of Makkedah. He killed everyone in it, including the king, leaving no survivors. He destroyed them all, and he killed the king of Makkedah as he had killed the king of Jericho. 29 Then Joshua and the Israelites went to Libnah and attacked it. 30 There, too, the Lord gave them the town and its king. He killed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of Libnah as he had killed the king of Jericho.

31 From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lachish and attacked it. 32 Here again, the Lord gave them Lachish. Joshua took it on the second day and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Libnah. 33 During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer arrived with his army to help defend the town. But Joshua’s men killed him and his army, leaving no survivors.

34 Then Joshua and the Israelite army went on to Eglon and attacked it. 35 They captured it that day and killed everyone in it. He completely destroyed everyone, just as he had done at Lachish. 36 From Eglon, Joshua and the Israelite army went up to Hebron and attacked it. 37 They captured the town and killed everyone in it, including its king, leaving no survivors. They did the same thing to all of its surrounding villages. And just as he had done at Eglon, he completely destroyed the entire population.

38 Then Joshua and the Israelites turned back and attacked Debir. 39 He captured the town, its king, and all of its surrounding villages. He completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He did to Debir and its king just what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.

40 So Joshua conquered the whole region—the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills,* and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua slaughtered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and from the region around the town of Goshen up to Gibeon. 42 Joshua conquered all these kings and their land in a single campaign, for the Lord, the God of Israel, was fighting for his people.

43 Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, January 08, 2026

by Winn Collier

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

John 6:5-15

 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.

7  Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”

8–9  One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”

10–11  Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.

12–13  When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

14–15  The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.

Today's Insights

After the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:5-13), a crowd again found Jesus (v. 25). He knew they were there to see another miracle, so He said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life” (v. 27). He explained, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (v. 29). Just as a boy’s small gift of food had a momentous impact, so too the decision to trust Christ in the midst of a crisis has tremendous ramifications—for us and for the lives God will touch through us.

Small and Mighty

Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? John 6:9

On December 9, 1987, a squirrel chewed through a power line in Connecticut, and the Nasdaq’s vast financial machinery blinked, sighed, and went dark. Some of the world’s largest corporations stood limp and listless. Global economies watched, sweating bullets for nearly an hour and a half. All because of one tenacious, furry rodent.

Scripture tells many stories of something or someone small making a big impact. But God can turn meagerness into something mighty. John recounts how Jesus fed a hungry crowd (five thousand men, probably fifteen thousand with women and children included) when “a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish” handed over his small lunch (John 6:9). In the Old Testament we remember that a young shepherd boy named David trusted God and slayed a giant (1 Samuel 17). And Christ repeatedly insisted that the kingdom of God is something like a mustard seed, “the smallest of all seeds” (Matthew 13:32).

When we ponder the many complex global crises in addition to the bewildering concerns in our own neighborhoods and families, we’re tempted to believe that our seemingly small efforts lack power. But Scripture tells us to act in obedience and trust as God helps us—assured that with Him, small things can become mighty (John 6:10-12). 

Reflect & Pray

Where do you feel small or powerless? How do you sense God inviting you to surrender your smallness to Him?

Dear God, I often feel small, with nothing to offer. Please help me remember that with You, small things become mighty.

For further study, read The Strength of Weakness.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, January 08, 2026

Does My Sacrifice Live?

Abraham built an altar there and . . . bound his son Isaac. —Genesis 22:9

Abraham’s intentions in offering his son to God were good, but it was not the offering God wanted. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” the angel of the Lord told Abraham. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son” (Genesis 22:12). God didn’t want Isaac’s death; he wanted Abraham’s life.

We make a version of Abraham’s mistake. We think that the ultimate thing God wants from us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants from us is the sacrifice through death that enables us to do what Jesus did: sacrifice our lives. The idea isn’t “I am willing to go to death with Jesus,” but “I am willing to be identified with Jesus’s death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.” Nowhere in Scripture does God ask us to give things up simply for the sake of giving them up. He asks us to give things up for the sake of the only thing worth having: a life with him.

God disciplined Abraham to show him the error of his belief, and the same discipline goes on in our lives. The goal is to loosen the ties that constrict the life of Christ in us, so that we can enter into a relationship with him. We may be challenged and disciplined until we finally understand: it is of no value to God to give him our lives for death. He wants us to be a living sacrifice, to let him have all our vibrant, vital powers. This is the offering that is acceptable to God.

Genesis 20-22; Matthew 6:19-34

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The place for the comforter is not that of one who preaches, but of the comrade who says nothing, but prays to God about the matter. The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the “greater works” will be done by prayer (see John 14:12–13). 

Baffled to Fight Better, 56 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, January 08, 2026

A BIRTH CERTIFICATE FOR HEAVEN - #10174

When I had to go for a new passport, it meant I had to dig out a document that I don't look at very often - my birth certificate. I had to prove to the State Department that I exist! Of course, I have to be careful with my birth certificate - one that's been around that long is about to disintegrate. It's interesting that when you have to produce the most authoritative proof of who you are, what do they ask for? Your birth certificate! And mine, like yours, clearly identifies who you are and exactly when and where you were born. I was a little nervous before I went for my passport because we had just moved and I couldn't find my birth certificate for a little while! That's very bad news!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Birth Certificate for Heaven."

One thing that birth certificate demonstrates for sure - your life. Your relationship with your parents has a definite beginning. You know, you celebrate that day every year. Birth, of course, is a clear, definite thing - into your family...into God's family too. Tragically, a lot of people can't remember a beginning to their personal relationship with God - often because there hasn't been one. And without a "birth certificate" on file in heaven, one that marks the beginning of your belonging to your Heavenly Father, you are in real danger. Eternal danger if that doesn't change.

Our word for today from the Word of God talks about how a person gets born into God's family. John 1:12 says, "To all who received Him (that's Jesus), to those who believed in His name, (God) gave the right to become the children of God." Now, God likens our beginning with Him to birth into His family. That's why Jesus would say just two chapters later, "No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3:3).

There's a conscious, deliberate choice that begins your God-relationship. It's what our word for today calls "receiving" Jesus Christ, "believing" in Him. It's describing a moment when you consciously open up your heart for Jesus Christ to come in, when you tell Him you are putting your total trust in Him to remove that wall of sin between you and God and to give you a relationship with Him.

The reason we don't have that love relationship is because we've taken a life that God was supposed to run and we've run it ourselves. That "sin" has cut us off from a God whose sinless and perfect. And no religious ceremony can remove that sin - not baptism, not church attendance, not confirmation, not church membership, not all the good things you do. In fact, the Bible explicitly says, "It is by grace you have been saved" - listen to this - "not by works" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

It couldn't be any clearer. Our only hope is that Jesus paid for the sin that we could only pay for with an eternity in hell. So when you put your total trust in Him and welcome Him into your life, every sin is forgiven and God records your birth into His family.

Actually, God doesn't have birth certificates - He has what the Bible calls the "book of life." And your name is entered in it the moment you come to Jesus. Revelation 20:15 says that on Judgment Day, "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." My prayer is that if you have not begun your personal relationship with Jesus, that you'll do it today, so your name can be entered in God's Book of Life in indelible ink.

He doesn't intend for anybody; He never wanted anybody to suffer that judgment. That's why He sent His Son to take the judgment for us on the cross. This is your day to reach out and take what He died to give you. Tell Him you want what He died on the cross for - to forgive your sin, to change your life, to take you to heaven with Him.

If you don't know there's been a time when you gave yourself to Him, there probably hasn't been.

Let me encourage you as an action step to go to our website ANewStory.com. And there you're going to find the information that will help you know for sure that you belong to Him.

You need to know that you've been born spiritually. And you can today. God is waiting right now for you to reach out to Jesus, so He can enter your name in His Book of Life.

Luke 9:37-62, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:TOOLS OF SATAN - January 7, 2026

How do we explain our stubborn hearts and conniving ways? How do we explain Auschwitz, human trafficking, abuse? If I were the devil, I’d want you to feel attacked by an indefinable force. If I were the devil, I’d keep my name out of it. But God doesn’t let the devil get away with this. He tells us his name: splitter, a divider, a wedge driver. Don’t fault the plunging economy or a raging dictator for your anxiety. They are simply tools in Satan’s tool kit.

We can’t understand God’s narrative without understanding Satan’s strategy. Scripture says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). God calls the devil by name and promises to defeat him. Be alert to the devil, and be assured his days are numbered.

God's Story, Your Story

Luke 9:37-62

  When they came down off the mountain the next day, a big crowd was there to meet them. A man called from out of the crowd, “Please, please, Teacher, take a look at my son. He’s my only child. Often a spirit seizes him. Suddenly he’s screaming, thrown into convulsions, his mouth foaming. And then it beats him black-and-blue before it leaves. I asked your disciples to deliver him but they couldn’t.”

41  Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring your son here.”

42–43  While he was coming, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into convulsions. Jesus stepped in, ordered the vile spirit gone, healed the boy, and handed him back to his father. They all shook their heads in wonder, astonished at God’s greatness, God’s majestic greatness.

Your Business Is Life

43–44  While they continued to stand around exclaiming over all the things he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Treasure and ponder each of these next words: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into human hands.”

45  They didn’t get what he was saying. It was like he was speaking a foreign language and they couldn’t make heads or tails of it. But they were embarrassed to ask him what he meant.

46–48  They started arguing over which of them would be most famous. When Jesus realized how much this mattered to them, he brought a child to his side. “Whoever accepts this child as if the child were me, accepts me,” he said. “And whoever accepts me, accepts the One who sent me. You become great by accepting, not asserting. Your spirit, not your size, makes the difference.”

49  John spoke up, “Master, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t of our group.”

50  Jesus said, “Don’t stop him. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally.”

51–54  When it came close to the time for his Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?”

55–56  Jesus turned on them: “Of course not!” And they traveled on to another village.

57  On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.

58  Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”

Jesus said to another, “Follow me.”

59  He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.”

60  Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!”

61  Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.”

62  Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, January 07, 2026

by Bill Crowder

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Philippians 4:1-3

My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.

Pray About Everything

2  I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn’t want his children holding grudges.

3  And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you’re right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.

Today's Insights

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul calls on the believers in Jesus to rejoice no matter what circumstances they face (Philippians 4:4). He urges them to let go of personal pride and selfish ambition and continue to live in unity (see 2:3-4, 14; 4:2). They’re to have the same attitude that Christ had in order to live like Him (2:5-11). The apostle singled out two women—Euodia and Syntyche—whose personal rivalry was disrupting the church’s harmony. He urged them “to be of the same mind in the Lord” (4:2), echoing his earlier encouragement to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (2:2). He also called on an unnamed member in the church to help repair this fractured fellowship (4:3).

When we face conflict with other believers, the Spirit will help us be peacemakers and to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

The Bone Wars

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Philippians 4:2

In the American West in the late 1800s, the search for dinosaur bones created the Bone Wars, in which two paleontologists battled one another in their pursuit of making the most historic find. One writer noted how the two “used underhanded methods to try to outdo the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and the destruction of bones.” He noted how, in trying to ruin each other’s work, both destroyed their own reputations as well.

Conflict and competition are inevitable in our broken world. How we choose to engage those conflicts reveals what’s in our hearts. Paul learned of conflict between two women in the church at Philippi and wrote, “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” He asked a fellow believer to “help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel” (Philippians 4:2-3).

When we find ourselves at odds with fellow believers in Jesus, we need the Spirit’s help. As we submit to His work in our hearts, He’ll help us demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We’ll experience healing and peace—if not for our own reputations, for the reputation of Christ and the gospel.

Reflect & Pray

What conflicts do you face today? How could the peace of the Spirit make a difference in resolving them?

Loving Father, it must break Your heart when I war with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please give me Your wisdom and the aid of the Spirit to bring healing and unity.

Follow these ten rules for positive communication when resolving conflicts in relationships.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, January 07, 2026

Intimate with Jesus

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip?” —John 14:9

Jesus’s words to Philip weren’t said with criticism, or even with surprise. They were an invitation: Jesus wanted Philip to embrace a more intimate relationship with him.

Before Pentecost, the disciples knew Jesus as someone who gave them power to conquer demons and start a revival (Luke 10:18–20). The intimacy they felt with him was wonderful. But there was a much closer intimacy to come. Jesus said, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15). Friendship—true friendship—is rare on earth. It involves two people identifying with each other in thought and heart and spirit. Friendship with Jesus is the whole point of spiritual discipline, yet it is often the last thing we actually seek. We receive his blessings and know his word, but do we know him?

Jesus said, “It is for your good that I am going away” (16:7). He went so that he could lead his friends to ever greater heights and purposes. It is a joy to Jesus when we follow, when we move toward closer intimacy with him. The result is always abundance: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (15:5).

When we are intimate with Jesus, we are never lonely, never need sympathy. We can give tirelessly, pouring ourselves out. The impression we leave behind is never of ourselves, only of the strong, calm sanity of our Lord, a sign that our souls have been entirely satisfied by him.

Genesis 18-19; Matthew 6:1-18

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from.

The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, January 07, 2026

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF YOUR WORLD - #10173

Treasure Island, A Child's Garden of Verses - those are just some of the literary classics written by Robert Louis Stevenson. He must have had a way with words from the time he was a boy. Anne Graham Lotz tells of a night in his boyhood when his nanny just couldn't get him to bed. Young Robert just kept staring out the window, oblivious to her talking to him. Finally, she said, "Robert, what in the world are you looking at out there?" As she pulled back the curtain, she realized he was watching the lamplighter making his way down the street, lighting one street lamp after another. Young Robert Louis Stevenson saw something more. He said, "Look at that man! He's punching holes in the darkness!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Are the Light of Your World."

What an awesome description of the reason God has placed you where you are! You're not there to shake your head and bemoan how dark it is where you work or go to school or whatever your environment. You're there to punch holes in the darkness! So, how are you doing on that so far?

Well, let's listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, our word for today from the Word of God. If you belong to Jesus, He's including you in this. "You are the light of the world." Wow! Think of your personal world and people in your world. Jesus says you are their light. He goes on to say, "A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp or put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Look, we live in a pretty dark world, right. But it is not a world without light unless the Christian in a situation fails to punch holes in the darkness by living like Jesus would live there, treating people like Jesus would treat people there, and handling situations and temptations as Jesus would handle them. So many of Jesus' followers don't realize who they are - His personal representative in their personal world.

You punch another hole in the darkness every time you show up with joy instead of gloom on your face, with good things to say instead of griping, every time you stop for someone who's struggling, when you consciously put someone else ahead of you, when you insist on taking the high road when it's tempting to cut corners, every time you weep with someone who's weeping, or you rejoice with someone who's rejoicing, and when you reach out to someone who's really been acting pretty unloveable.

The lost folks around you probably won't be all that impressed with your don'ts or all the religious meetings you go to. No, they need to see meaningful differences in you because of Christ in you.

But it isn't enough that they just see that you're different. They need to know why, or they'll never be able to get out of the darkness themselves. They need Jesus. See, He put you in their life so they could find out what Jesus did for them on the cross; so they could find out from someone who's living proof that Jesus is alive and how they, too, could have a life-changing relationship with Him. Have you told them about your Jesus yet?

Humanly speaking, you may very well be their best chance at heaven - or maybe their only chance. They could watch you for the rest of your life and they're never going to say, "You know, Charlie's such a nice guy. I'll bet Jesus died on the cross for my sins." They're not going to figure that out. You have to tell them that.

Every morning, before your Lord, tell Him and tell yourself, "I am the light of my world." And go out there, showing a harsh and lonely and self-serving world that there's another way to be. Defy the darkness wherever you go. Punch holes in the darkness with the brilliant light of Jesus Christ that lives in you!

Joshua 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: PRAY BOLD PRAYERS - January 6, 2026

How bold are your prayers? As John Wesley crossed the Atlantic, he was reading in his cabin and became aware of heavy winds knocking the ship off course. He responded in prayer. A colleague wrote it down:

Almighty and everlasting God…Thou holdest the winds in thy fists and sittest upon the water floods…command those winds and these waves that they obey Thee. Take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go.

Having offered the prayer, Wesley took up his book and continued reading. On deck his colleague found calm winds and the ship on course. Wesley made no mention of the answered prayer. His friend wrote, So fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted he was heard.

How bold are your prayers?

Glory Days: Living Your Promised Land Life Now

Joshua 9

Gibeon

1–2  9 All the kings west of the Jordan in the hills and foothills and along the Mediterranean seacoast north toward Lebanon—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Girgashites, and Jebusites—got the news. They came together in a coalition to fight against Joshua and Israel under a single command.

3–6  The people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai and cooked up a ruse. They posed as travelers: their donkeys loaded with patched sacks and mended wineskins, threadbare sandals on their feet, tattered clothes on their bodies, nothing but dry crusts and crumbs for food. They came to Joshua at Gilgal and spoke to the men of Israel, “We’ve come from a far-off country; make a covenant with us.”

7  The men of Israel said to these Hivites, “How do we know you aren’t local people? How could we then make a covenant with you?”

8  They said to Joshua, “We’ll be your servants.”

Joshua said, “Who are you now? Where did you come from?”

9–11  They said, “From a far-off country, very far away. Your servants came because we’d heard such great things about God, your God—all those things he did in Egypt! And the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth! Our leaders and everybody else in our country told us, ‘Pack up some food for the road and go meet them. Tell them, We’re your servants; make a covenant with us.’

12–13  “This bread was warm from the oven when we packed it and left to come and see you. Now look at it—crusts and crumbs. And our cracked and mended wineskins, good as new when we filled them. And our clothes and sandals, in tatters from the long, hard traveling.”

14  The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn’t ask God about it.

15  So Joshua made peace with them and formalized it with a covenant to guarantee their lives. The leaders of the congregation swore to it.

16–18  And then, three days after making this covenant, they learned that they were next-door neighbors who had been living there all along! The People of Israel broke camp and set out; three days later they reached their towns—Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. But the People of Israel didn’t attack them; the leaders of the congregation had given their word before the God of Israel. But the congregation was up in arms over their leaders.

19–21  The leaders were united in their response to the congregation: “We promised them in the presence of the God of Israel. We can’t lay a hand on them now. But we can do this: We will let them live so we don’t get blamed for breaking our promise.” Then the leaders continued, “We’ll let them live, but they will be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire congregation.”

And that’s what happened; the leaders’ promise was kept.

22–23  But Joshua called the Gibeonites together and said, “Why did you lie to us, telling us, ‘We live far, far away from you,’ when you’re our next-door neighbors? For that you are cursed. From now on it’s menial labor for you—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

24–25  They answered Joshua, “We got the message loud and clear that God, your God, commanded through his servant Moses: to give you the whole country and destroy everyone living in it. We were terrified because of you; that’s why we did this. That’s it. We’re at your mercy. Whatever you decide is right for us, do it.”

26–27  And that’s what they did. Joshua delivered them from the power of the People of Israel so they didn’t kill them. But he made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the Altar of God at the place God chooses. They still are.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, January 06, 2026

by Patricia Raybon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Matthew 2:1-2, 7-12

Scholars from the East

1–2  2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory—this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”

7–8  Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”

9–10  Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

11  They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

12  In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

Today's Insights

Matthew alone shares the account of star-gazing Magi who traveled in search of the newborn king of the Jews. Though this was a one-time phenomenon, the diligence of these men as they searched for Jesus deserves our attention and emulation. As we search and study the Scriptures, we’ll find Him too. Stressing the fact that the Old Testament Scriptures spoke of Christ, He said to the fault-finding religious leaders of His day: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40). The Bible (Old and New Testaments) testifies about Jesus (see also Luke 24:27, 44-45). As we seek Him and worship Him, we’ll grow in our faith, and God will lead us from our old ways to new paths.

Seeking the Christ Child

They bowed down and worshiped Him. Matthew 2:11

When writing teacher Peter Turchi sees a map, he looks for the adventure it holds. “To ask for a map,” he says, “is to say, ‘Tell me a story.’ ” I seized on that idea when preparing to teach a Sunday school class during Christmas on the “Faith of the Wise Men.” As I studied maps, I learned the Magi traveled some nine hundred miles—perhaps over several months—to find the Christ child, finally finding not a babe in a manger but a toddler living with His parents in a house. Their reaction after such a long trip? “They bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:11).

Their journey invited my students and me to plan with intention to seek Christ more fully. As Scripture tells us, when the Magi finally arrived in Jerusalem, their urgent question was: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (v. 2).

Distance didn’t deter their worship. Nor did danger or delays. Herod’s deadly demand was ironic: “Go and search carefully for the child” (v. 8). Nobody had searched more diligently for Jesus than the Magi.

We can heed the example of the wise men by seeking Christ diligently too. Then, as we worship Him, we can expect our heavenly Father to speak to our hearts, leading us from old ways to new paths to journey with Him.

Reflect & Pray

How can you seek Christ this new year? How can you worship Him?

Dear Father, please help me to seek Your Son Jesus with all my heart and worship Him with all I have.

To learn more about seeking Jesus, watch In Pursuit of Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, January 06, 2026

Worship

He . . . pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord. —Genesis 12:8

Bethel is the symbol of communion with God; Ai is the symbol of the world. Abraham pitched his tent between the two, knowing that the value of his public activity for God depended on the moments of profound private communion spent with him.

The two things—private worship and public work—went together in Abraham’s life, just as they did in the life of Christ. Too many of us think that in order to worship we have to drop out of our everyday lives, to flee Ai and go deep into Bethel, that quiet fortress where nothing and no one can disturb us.

This way of thinking may be a trap. There is always time to worship, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. Rush is wrong every time. Instead of jumping around like spiritual frogs, from working to waiting to worshipping, we should strive to live as Jesus did: unhurrying and unyielding, his entire existence an act of worship.

Worship is giving God the best he has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. If you try to keep a blessing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual rot, just as the manna rotted when the Israelites hoarded it (Exodus 16). Offer it back to God as a love gift, in a deliberate act of worship, and he will make it a blessing to others.

Genesis 16-17; Matthew 5:27-48

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray.

So Send I You, 1325 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, January 06, 2026

HEAVEN'S WAITING FOR YOU - #10172

It turned out to be one of TV's biggest and most surprising hits of the time - "Touched By an Angel." Actually, CBS almost canceled it after its first season. But they responded to all this mail they got, encouraging them to give it another chance. And with that, it just took off. It was consistently one of the top 10 TV programs in America! It was about three angels who take on human form and assignments from God to bring His hope and His messages into certain people's lives. And in an age when angels had become an intriguing subject for a lot of people, this positive program was really a success. Who would have guessed that it would be a success? Stories of humans whose lives are "touched by an angel"? Of course, there's an even bigger surprise. Did you know that angels can be touched by a human?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Heaven's Waiting for You."

Actually, the Bible says there is something you can do that literally touches the angels in heaven. It all has to do with a spiritual homecoming God has been waiting for a long time for you to experience.

Our word for today from the Word of God is about that. It's in Luke 15:10. Jesus has just been telling about the joy of a shepherd who is bringing home his lost sheep...and a woman who has just found a treasured possession she had lost. In both cases, the finder gets their friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep...or my lost treasure." Then Jesus tells how people like us can touch the angels in heaven. He says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

In heaven, they know that God sent Jesus, His one and only Son, to rescue us sinners. And according to the Bible, that's me, that's you, that's all of us. It says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The angels were there the night the Son of God came to live among us that first Christmas. An angel was there strengthening Jesus when He agonized in a garden over the cross that He knew He was going to be facing in a few hours.

The angels know that we who have lived outside of God's plans deserve the death penalty for running our own lives. They also know that God loved you so much that He sent His Son from Heaven to die so you don't have to.

And now God is waiting, has been waiting for a while, for you to respond to His love...to turn from your "my way" living and put all your trust in Jesus to forgive what only He can forgive, because only He died for it. He's waiting for you to come home spiritually. And when you do, the angels - who know how much is at stake in your decision about Jesus - they start celebrating your homecoming - a party in heaven.

If you've never had your moment when you've begun your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you could make your peace with God right where you are right now. Here's a homecoming prayer you could pray from your heart, "Lord, I know my only hope of having my sins forgiven, my only hope of going to heaven, is You and what You did when You died on the cross for me. I know you're alive! You walked out of your grave, and now I want you to walk into my life. I'm putting all my trust in You. I want You to be my Personal Savior. Beginning this day, Jesus, I'm Yours." If you prayed that, It's your homecoming day!

Let me invite you to go to our website, and there you'll see explained very simply and briefly how to begin and be sure you've begun your relationship with Jesus; how to know you belong to Him. The website is ANewStory.com.

If you will make this the day you come home to the One who died for you, the Bible says, heaven starts celebrating. Why? Because now, you'll be going there someday...and you'll be there forever.

Joshua 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE - January 5, 2026

You have bills to pay, beds to make, and grass to cut. Your face won’t grace any magazine covers, and you aren’t expecting a call from the White House. Congratulations—you qualify for a modern-day Christmas story.

Step into the stable, cradle in your arms the infant Jesus. Listen as one who knew him well puts lyrics to the event. What no theologian conceived, what no rabbi dared to dream, God did. John 1:14 proclaims, “The Word became flesh.” Christ in Mary. God in Christ. The Word of God entered the world with the cry of a baby. God writes his story with ordinary people like Joseph, like Mary. People like you, like me.

God's Story, Your Story

Joshua 8

Ai

1  8 God said to Joshua, “Don’t be timid and don’t so much as hesitate. Take all your soldiers with you and go back to Ai. I have turned the king of Ai over to you—his people, his city, and his land.

2  “Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you may plunder its stuff and cattle to your heart’s content. Set an ambush behind the city.”

3–8  Joshua and all his soldiers got ready to march on Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, tough, seasoned fighters, and sent them off at night with these orders: “Look sharp now. Lie in ambush behind the city. Get as close as you can. Stay alert. I and the troops with me will approach the city head-on. When they come out to meet us just as before, we’ll turn and run. They’ll come after us, leaving the city. As we are off and running, they’ll say, ‘They’re running away just like the first time.’ That’s your signal to spring from your ambush and take the city. God, your God, will hand it to you on a platter. Once you have the city, burn it down. God says it, you do it. Go to it. I’ve given you your orders.”

9  Joshua sent them off. They set their ambush and waited between Bethel and Ai, just west of Ai. Joshua spent the night with the people.

10–13  Joshua was up early in the morning and mustered his army. He and the leaders of Israel led the troops to Ai. The whole army, fighting men all, marched right up within sight of the city and set camp on the north side of Ai. There was a valley between them and Ai. He had taken about five thousand men and put them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, west of the city. They were all deployed, the main army to the north of the city and the ambush to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley.

14  So it happened that when the king of Ai saw all this, the men of the city lost no time; they were out of there at the crack of dawn to join Israel in battle, the king and his troops, at a field en route to the Arabah. The king didn’t know of the ambush set against him behind the city.

15–17  Joshua and all Israel let themselves be chased; they ran toward the wilderness. Everybody in the city was called to the chase. They pursued Joshua and were led away from the city. There wasn’t a soul left in Ai or Bethel who wasn’t out there chasing after Israel. The city was left empty and undefended as they were chasing Israel down.

18–19  Then God spoke to Joshua: “Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai—I’m giving it to you.” Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward Ai. At the signal the men in ambush sprang to their feet, ran to the city, took it, and quickly had it up in flames.

20–21  The men of Ai looked back and, oh! saw the city going up in smoke. They found themselves trapped with nowhere to run. The army on the run toward the wilderness did an about-face—Joshua and all Israel, seeing that the ambush had taken the city, saw it going up in smoke, turned and attacked the men of Ai.

22–23  Then the men in the ambush poured out of the city. The men of Ai were caught in the middle with Israelites on both sides—a real massacre. And not a single survivor. Except for the king of Ai; they took him alive and brought him to Joshua.

24–25  When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation. The death toll that day came to twelve thousand men and women—everyone in Ai.

26–27  Joshua didn’t lower his outstretched javelin until the sacred destruction of Ai and all its people was completed. Israel did get to take the livestock and loot left in the city; God’s instructions to Joshua allowed for that.

28–29  Joshua burned Ai to the ground. A “heap” of nothing forever, a “no-place”—go see for yourself. He hanged the king of Ai from a tree. At evening, with the sun going down, Joshua ordered the corpse cut down. They dumped it at the entrance to the city and piled it high with stones—you can go see that also.

30–32  Then Joshua built an altar to the God of Israel on Mount Ebal. He built it following the instructions of Moses the servant of God to the People of Israel and written in the Book of The Revelation of Moses, an altar of whole stones that hadn’t been chiseled or shaped by an iron tool. On it they offered to God Whole-Burnt-Offerings and sacrificed Peace-Offerings. He also wrote out a copy of The Revelation of Moses on the stones. He wrote it with the People of Israel looking on.

33  All Israel was there, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, standing on opposite sides of the Chest, facing the Levitical priests who carry God’s Covenant Chest. Half of the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim and half with their backs to Mount Ebal to bless the People of Israel, just as Moses the servant of God had instructed earlier.

34–35  After that, he read out everything written in The Revelation, the Blessing and the Curse, everything in the Book of The Revelation. There wasn’t a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua didn’t read to the entire congregation—men, women, children, and foreigners who had been with them on the journey.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, January 05, 2026

by Dave Branon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Samuel 12:19-24

Then all the people begged Samuel, “Pray to your God for us, your servants. Pray that we won’t die! On top of all our other sins, we’ve piled on one more—asking for a king!”

20–22  Samuel said to them, “Don’t be fearful. It’s true that you have done something very wrong. All the same, don’t turn your back on God. Worship and serve him heart and soul! Don’t chase after ghost-gods. There’s nothing to them. They can’t help you. They’re nothing but ghost-gods! God, simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people. God took delight in making you into his very own people.

23–25  “And neither will I walk off and leave you. That would be a sin against God! I’m staying right here at my post praying for you and teaching you the good and right way to live. But I beg of you, fear God and worship him honestly and heartily. You’ve seen how greatly he has worked among you!

Today's Insights

Despite Samuel’s excellent character as a judge and prophet, his sons “accepted bribes and perverted justice” (1 Samuel 8:3). This prompted “the elders of Israel” to request a king (v. 4). Samuel disapproved and consulted God in prayer. He told Samuel, “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king” (v. 7).

Five hundred years before the time of Samuel, God had told Israel, “[When] you say, ‘Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,’ be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses” (Deuteronomy 17:14-15). But this didn’t mean that God approved of them choosing a king. 

Samuel outlined the problems a human king would create for them (1 Samuel 8:9-18), but they “refused to listen” (v. 19). Still, he continued to serve God by shepherding Israel and praying for them (12:19). We too honor God when we pray for the needs of others.

Care Prayer

Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. 1 Samuel 12:23

A woman was unusually nervous as she sat in the dentist’s chair. Family burdens troubled her greatly, and it was noticeable. Her dentist sensed her anxiety and asked her about it. Her story led him to ask, “Can I pray for you?” When the dental hygienist came into the room, she also prayed for the woman. Two prayers and one completed dentist’s visit later, the woman left the office knowing that she’d truly been cared for.

Praying for others is one of the best ways for us to show that we care because it calls on the greatest resource we know—our heavenly Father—to be actively involved in the lives of others. In 1 Samuel 12, the prophet Samuel was faced with the concerns of a very nervous group of people (v. 19). The Israelites had erroneously asked for a king, and they were afraid of how it was going to go for themselves. The prophet told them to “not be afraid” (v. 20) and assured them of God’s goodness as seen in these words: “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you” (v. 23).

We also have the privilege and calling to pray for others. Silently sometimes and out loud at other times, we honor God when we petition Him for assistance on behalf of others in need.

Reflect & Pray

How can you provide caring prayer right now? What will it mean for people to know you’re praying for them?

Thank you, dear God, for telling us that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Please help me to be that kind of person.

For further study, read Man of God and Man of the People.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, January 05, 2026

Not Now, but Later

Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later. —John 13:36

When Peter first encountered Jesus, he was fascinated. Jesus said, “Follow me,” and Peter went easily. Then he denied Jesus three times, his heart broke, and fascination turned to shame. When Jesus called to him again, Peter could go only because he’d received the Holy Spirit. The first time Peter followed, there was nothing mystical about it. The second was based on a supernatural change, an internal martyrdom made possible by the Spirit (John 21:18).

Between these two moments, Peter denied Jesus with oaths and curses. He came to the limits of himself, the end of his human power. Destitute and empty, realizing he could no longer trust himself, he was finally ready to receive the gift of the Spirit. “[Jesus] breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (20:22). Now, when Peter looked to Jesus, all he saw was Jesus: not the dreams that had enchanted him before, not a vision of himself playing the devoted follower. God had changed Peter, awakening shame and self-knowledge inside him. Yet even these changes Peter knew not to count on. He’d learned to count only on a person—on Jesus himself—and on the Spirit he gives.

“Receive the Holy Spirit”: it is an invasion, one that cannot happen until we come to the end of ourselves. We must come to this end not just in our imaginations but really. When we do, we realize that, in fact, we never did have any power of our own. That’s why all our vows and resolutions ended in failure.

Now, on the other side of that failure, we see clearly. Only one star shines in our sky—our lodestar, Jesus Christ.

Genesis 13-15; Matthew 5:1-26

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him.

Approved Unto God, 10 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, January 05, 2026

THE ROYAL SWITCH - #10171

My friend, Ed, thought he had the perfect hiding place, and he told me about it. Now, Ed's not really his name, but it is a true story. The incident happened this way. Some years ago when he was a teenager, and he came from a nice Christian family - nice Christian boy, except for some of his reading material. Now, it was before Internet days but there was a magazine called Playboy. He had a habit of going out and buying Playboy and some other magazines like it, and he hid them in an old, unused icebox where no one ever went. And he was sure no one knew the place. Well, when he went to get his dirty magazines one day, they were gone. But that's only part of it. In their place there was a Bible. He knew his dad had to leave it there. There was never any yelling, his dad never talked to him about it, but he bought no more magazines because of that little switch his dad had made.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Corinthians 10, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 3. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Now, this talks about weapons that will tear down strongholds. And as you study this passage, it becomes obvious that spiritual strongholds are sinful ways of thinking that, well, maybe they've been part of our personality for a long time. Maybe they're wrong ways of thinking about the opposite sex, about depressing feelings in your life, or about a relationship with someone who's hurt you, maybe it's lust, or depression, or bitterness, or self-pity. But it's got a strong hold on us. And then it goes on to say, "We can take captive every one of those wrong thoughts to the obedience of Christ."

Now, until you can master the source of sin, which is your wrong thoughts, that sin will master you. How do you do that? Well, Ephesians 6:17 talks about the spiritual weapon that will work. It says, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." learn a lesson from a friend's wise father. Where there had been dirt in the form of those magazines, he put God's Word. He didn't just remove the dirty; he replaced it with a Bible. Now, if you want to beat sin...if you want to beat those wrong thoughts, then you've got to have two strategies working for you. First, take out the garbage - the garbage thoughts - and don't collect any more. That means turning your eyes away from the magazine rack. It means flipping the channel when something comes on that has no business going into your mental computer. It means not ever clicking again to go to those places on the Internet. It may mean, as it did for some of my friends, of putting a picture of Jesus on their computer, or another man who said, "I can't even afford to have a computer at home. I've got to beat the monster inside." It may mean avoiding negative conversations that fuel the dark side of you; canceling a subscription to a magazine, or a streaming service, or monitoring the music you listen to - whatever it takes to be free of the bondage.

Secondly, you have to put the Bible where the dirt has been. You take a Bible bath daily. You dwell on what you read. You write it down in a journal so you remember it. You use it that day so it becomes part of your personality. There's no substitute for memorizing the Word of God.

D. L. Moody said it so well, "Think sin - think scripture." I like what someone wrote in my Bible one time, "Either sin will keep you from this book, or this book will keep you from sin." Now you have a weapon that can tear down a stronghold of sin and tame the most sinful of thoughts.

"Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." Put God's Word in the same hiding place where you've been hiding that sinful stuff. That is the royal switch.

Joshua 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado: God’s Best Idea

Grace is God’s best idea.  Rather than tell us to change, he creates the change!  Do we clean up so God can accept us?  No, he accepts us and begins cleaning us up.  His dream isn’t just to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you. Can’t forgive your enemy?  Can’t face tomorrow? Can’t forgive your past?  Christ can.  Forgiven people, forgive people.  Deep sighs of relief happen when grace happens.  We still stumble aplenty, but we despair seldom.  Grace changes everything!  To be saved by grace is to be saved by Christ—not by an idea, doctrine, or church membership, but by Jesus Himself. I have no tips on how to get grace. Truth is, we don’t get grace. But it sure can get us!  If you wonder whether God can do something with the mess of your life, then grace is what you need.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen. Ephesians 3:20?

From GRACE

Joshua 7

Achan

1  7 Then the People of Israel violated the holy curse. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took some of the cursed things. God became angry with the People of Israel.

2  Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (The Ruin), which is near Beth Aven just east of Bethel. He instructed them, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai.

3  They returned to Joshua and reported, “Don’t bother sending a lot of people—two or three thousand men are enough to defeat Ai. Don’t wear out the whole army; there aren’t that many people there.”

4–5  So three thousand men went up—and then fled in defeat before the men of Ai! The men of Ai killed thirty-six—chased them from the city gate as far as The Quarries, killing them at the descent. The heart of the people sank, all spirit knocked out of them.

6  Joshua ripped his clothes and fell on his face to the ground before the Chest of God, he and the leaders throwing dirt on their heads, prostrate until evening.

7–9  Joshua said, “Oh, oh, oh … Master, God. Why did you insist on bringing this people across the Jordan? To make us victims of the Amorites? To wipe us out? Why didn’t we just settle down on the east side of the Jordan? Oh, Master, what can I say after this, after Israel has been run off by its enemies? When the Canaanites and all the others living here get wind of this, they’ll gang up on us and make short work of us—and then how will you keep up your reputation?”

10–12  God said to Joshua, “Get up. Why are you groveling? Israel has sinned: They’ve broken the covenant I commanded them; they’ve taken forbidden plunder—stolen and then covered up the theft, squirreling it away with their own stuff. The People of Israel can no longer look their enemies in the eye—they themselves are plunder. I can’t continue with you if you don’t rid yourselves of the cursed things.

13  “So get started. Purify the people. Tell them: Get ready for tomorrow by purifying yourselves. For this is what God, the God of Israel, says: There are cursed things in the camp. You won’t be able to face your enemies until you have gotten rid of these cursed things.

14–15  “First thing in the morning you will be called up by tribes. The tribe God names will come up clan by clan; the clan God names will come up family by family; and the family God names will come up man by man. The person found with the cursed things will be burned, he and everything he has, because he broke God’s covenant and did this despicable thing in Israel.”

16–18  Joshua was up at the crack of dawn and called Israel up tribe by tribe. The tribe of Judah was singled out. Then he called up the clans and singled out the Zerahites. He called up the Zerahite families and singled out the Zabdi family. He called up the family members one by one and singled out Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah.

19  Joshua spoke to Achan, “My son, give glory to God, the God of Israel. Make your confession to him. Tell me what you did. Don’t keep back anything from me.”

20–21  Achan answered Joshua, “It’s true. I sinned against God, the God of Israel. This is how I did it. In the plunder I spotted a beautiful Shinar robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a fifty-shekel bar of gold, and I coveted and took them. They are buried in my tent with the silver at the bottom.”

22–23  Joshua sent off messengers. They ran to the tent. And there it was, buried in the tent with the silver at the bottom. They took the stuff from the tent and brought it to Joshua and to all the People of Israel and spread it out before God.

24  Joshua took Achan son of Zerah, took the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, sheep, and tent—everything connected with him. All Israel was there. They led them off to the Valley of Achor (Trouble Valley).

25–26  Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? God will now trouble you. Today!” And all Israel stoned him—burned him with fire and stoned him with stones. They piled a huge pile of stones over him. It’s still there. Only then did God turn from his hot anger. That’s how the place came to be called Trouble Valley right up to the present time.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, January 04, 2026

by John Blase

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Luke 12:22-31

Steep Yourself in God-Reality

22–24  He continued this subject with his disciples. “Don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.

25–28  “Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don’t fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

29–32  “What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Today's Insights

Jesus assured His disciples not to worry about food, clothing, and shelter but to trust in God’s providential care (Luke 12:22-31). Just as He feeds the ravens (who were deemed unworthy because they were considered unclean) and adorns wildflowers with beauty (even though they last only a short time), He’ll most certainly take care of those who belong to Him. His children are much more valuable than all His creations (Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:7, 24). In a world of worries and sorrows, Christ tells those who believe in Him not to be afraid. When we see how He cares for His creation, we can be assured that He’ll care for those who belong to Him.

God’s Beautiful Creation

Consider the lilies . . . . Luke 12:27 esv

For a parent, the death of a child is devastating. But to lose two of your children? Unimaginable! Yet that’s the experience of Australian musician, writer, and actor Nick Cave. In 2015, his fifteen-year-old son fell from a cliff and died. A few years later, Cave’s oldest child also died. In the grip of such overwhelming grief, how did Cave and his wife keep going? How would you?

Cave attempted to find comfort in the world around him. “It’s the audacity of the world to continue to be beautiful . . . in times of deep suffering. That’s how I saw the world,” he said. “It was just carrying on, being systemically gorgeous.”

Jesus spoke of such beauty, and He saw it for what it truly is: the creation of God. His oft-quoted words in Luke 12—“consider the lilies” (v. 27 esv)—don’t dismiss the reality of suffering in our lives. In fact, they honor our great tragedies by offering an antidote to such harsh realities. Stop and consider the lilies or the ravens (v. 24) or the sunrise. Christ taught us, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field . . . how much more will he clothe you” (v. 28).

In the face of grief and loss, the world’s perspective falls short. Jesus encourages us to consider our creator God, who holds His audacious creation together and cares for us deeply.

Reflect & Pray

When was the last time you stopped and considered the world around you? What did you notice?

God of all comfort, in seasons of suffering please give me the presence of mind to consider Your beautiful world.

Learn how lament can help you praise God in the storms of life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, January 04, 2026

Why Can’t I Follow Now?

Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” —John 13:37

There are times when we can’t do what we want, and we don’t understand why. When this happens, wait. It is God who brings these blank spaces into our lives, and it is God who must fill them.

A blank space might come before we are sanctified, to teach us what sanctification means. Or it might come after, to teach us what service means. Whatever the reason, we must not try to fill it on our own. Never run before God’s guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then he is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt, don’t.

Sometimes, we have a clear picture of an outcome God wants for us—the end of a certain friendship or business relationship, for example—but we are not sure about how God wants to accomplish it. If it isn’t clear that God wishes us to act, we must wait. If we act impulsively, on a feeling, we will end up causing difficulties that could take years to put right. Wait for God, and he will accomplish the task without any heartbreak or disappointment.

In John 13, Peter doesn’t want to wait. “I will lay down my life for you,” he declares to Jesus (v. 37). It’s an honest declaration, but an ignorant one: Peter doesn’t know himself as Jesus does. “Jesus answered . . . ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’” (v. 38). The feeling Peter wants to act on, his natural devotion to Jesus, is a good one. But Jesus wants him to act on something else—not devotion but discipleship. He uses the blank space, the “not now,” to discipline Peter and bring about the thing Peter wants in the proper way and at the proper time.

Genesis 10-12; Matthew 4

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

A fanatic is one who entrenches himself in invincible ignorance.

Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R

Luke 9:18-36, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado: Christ – The Hope of Glory

The wasted years of life.  The poor choices of life.  God answers the mess of life with one word:  grace! We talk as though we understand the term.  But do we really understand it? Here’s my hunch:  we’ve settled for wimpy grace. It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign.  Never causes trouble or demands a response.  When asked, “Do you believe in grace?”—who could say no?

Ah, but grace is huge!  Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.  When grace happens, it’s not a nice compliment from God we receive but a new heart. Give your heart to Christ, and he returns the favor. When grace happens, Christ enters.  “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27?

From GRACE

Luke 9:18-36

Don’t Run from Suffering

18  One time when Jesus was off praying by himself, his disciples nearby, he asked them, “What are the crowds saying about me, about who I am?”

19  They said, “John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back.”

20–21  He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”

Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Jesus then warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said.

22  He went on, “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the religious leaders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and on the third day be raised up alive.”

23–27  Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.”

Jesus in His Glory

28–31  About eight days after saying this, he climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.

32–33  Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking.

34–35  While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.”

36  When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days of what they had seen.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, January 03, 2026

by Poh Fang Chia

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Nehemiah 3:6-12

The Jeshanah Gate was rebuilt by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, which was under the rule of the governor from across the Euphrates, worked alongside them. Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the goldsmiths’ guild worked next to him, and next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers. They rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

9–10  The next section was worked on by Rephaiah son of Hur, mayor of a half-district of Jerusalem. Next to him Jedaiah son of Harumaph rebuilt the front of his house; Hattush son of Hashabneiah worked next to him.

11–12  Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab rebuilt another section that included the Tower of Furnaces. Working next to him was Shallum son of Hallohesh, mayor of the other half-district of Jerusalem, along with his daughters.

Today's Insights

Centuries before the wall-building effort led by Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 3), Moses, as directed by God, oversaw the construction of the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary where God met with His people. This special initiative also allowed for broad participation by His people with a variety of gifts. Giving to the project was open to all: “Everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments” (Exodus 35:21). Furthermore, those with unique gifts were given assignments. Unnamed skilled women (v. 25) and leaders (v. 27) also participated in the effort, as did Bezalel and Oholiab (vv. 30-35). Today, God has given all of us gifts, and He’ll show us how to use them to build up the church and serve our communities.

The Friendship Bench

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Romans 12:6

A young patient committed suicide because he couldn’t afford the bus fare to the hospital for mental health treatment. Distressed, Dr. Chibanda tested ways to make treatment more accessible. Friendship Bench was born, a program where therapists sit on discreetly placed benches, ready to counsel people with needs. And who did he train as therapists? Grandmothers! In an interview, Dr. Chibanda shared, “[Grandmothers] are rooted in their communities . . . they have an amazing ability to . . . make people feel respected and understood.”

In Nehemiah 3, we read of another project that involved unconventional groups of people. They understood that the city’s wall had to be rebuilt so they’d “no longer be in disgrace” (2:17). As Jerusalem lay in ruins, the surrounding nations mocked its defeat. And besides professional craftsmen like Uzziel, who was a goldsmith (3:8), others who may have had other talents—like Shallum, a district ruler—chipped in too (v. 12).

Just as Dr. Chibanda saw the influence and compassion of grandmothers to make a difference in mental healthcare in Zimbabwe, may God open our eyes to see the strengths of each person. God has gifted each of us with unique experiences, resources, and talents (Romans 12:6). Let’s allow Him to use us in building up the church and serving our community.

Reflect & Pray

What has God laid on your heart to do for the church or community? Who can you invite to join you?

Dear Father, please help me see the strengths in others so I may serve with them for good.

Discover more about being a serving church.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, January 03, 2026

The Grace of God’s Forgetting

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. —Ephesians 2:8

No one can be saved by their own efforts. We have the sneaking idea that we can earn God’s favor by praying or by believing, by obeying or by repenting. But the only way we get into his favor is by the free gift of his almighty grace.

It takes some of us a long time to understand that we don’t deserve to be saved, and that nothing we do can make us deserving. We say to God, “I really am sorry for what I’ve done. I really am sick of myself.” If only this were true! We have to become sick to death of ourselves, even to the point of despair, even to the point where we can do nothing. Then we will be in the exact right state for receiving his overflowing grace. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Think of what God’s forgiveness means: it means he forgets away all our sins. Forgetting, in the human mind, may be a defect; in the divine mind it is an attribute. God illustrates it through vibrant images drawn from his creation: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist” (Isaiah 44:22).

When we think of forgetting in human terms, we place limits on God’s grace that don’t exist. His overflowing grace never ends. When God forgets our sins, he forgets them completely: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). This is the grace of God’s forgetting.

Genesis 7–9; Matthew 3

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from.

The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

Joshua 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MORE TO YOUR STORY - January 2, 2026

Everything changes when you know the rest of your story. In 2 Samuel 22:25 (MSG) David says, “God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.” But what is the text of our lives? Self-help gurus and magazine headlines urge you to “find your narrative.” “Look inside yourself,” they say. But the promise of self-discovery falls short.

Your story indwells God’s. This is the great promise of the Bible. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone” (Ephesians 1:11-12 MSG). In his story, you’ll find there’s more to your story.

God's Story, Your Story

Joshua 6

Jericho

1  6 Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no one going in, no one coming out.

2–5  God spoke to Joshua, “Look sharp now. I’ve already given Jericho to you, along with its king and its crack troops. Here’s what you are to do: March around the city, all your soldiers. Circle the city once. Repeat this for six days. Have seven priests carry seven ram’s horn trumpets in front of the Chest. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, the priests blowing away on the trumpets. And then, a long blast on the ram’s horn—when you hear that, all the people are to shout at the top of their lungs. The city wall will collapse at once. All the people are to enter, every man straight on in.”

6  So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and told them, “Take up the Chest of the Covenant. Seven priests are to carry seven ram’s horn trumpets leading God’s Chest.”

7  Then he told the people, “Set out! March around the city. Have the armed guard march before the Chest of God.”

8–9  And it happened. Joshua spoke, the people moved: Seven priests with their seven ram’s horn trumpets set out before God. They blew the trumpets, leading God’s Chest of the Covenant. The armed guard marched ahead of the trumpet-blowing priests; the rear guard was marching after the Chest, marching and blowing their trumpets.

10  Joshua had given orders to the people, “Don’t shout. In fact, don’t even speak—not so much as a whisper until you hear me say, ‘Shout!’—then shout away!”

11–13  He sent the Chest of God on its way around the city. It circled once, came back to camp, and stayed for the night. Joshua was up early the next morning and the priests took up the Chest of God. The seven priests carrying the seven ram’s horn trumpets marched before the Chest of God, marching and blowing the trumpets, with the armed guard marching before and the rear guard marching after. Marching and blowing of trumpets!

14  On the second day they again circled the city once and returned to camp. They did this six days.

15–17  When the seventh day came, they got up early and marched around the city this same way but seven times—yes, this day they circled the city seven times. On the seventh time around the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua signaled the people, “Shout!—God has given you the city! The city and everything in it is under a holy curse and offered up to God.

“Except for Rahab the harlot—she is to live, she and everyone in her house with her, because she hid the agents we sent.

18–19  “As for you, watch yourselves in the city under holy curse. Be careful that you don’t covet anything in it and take something that’s cursed, endangering the camp of Israel with the curse and making trouble for everyone. All silver and gold, all vessels of bronze and iron are holy to God. Put them in God’s treasury.”

20  The priests blew the trumpets.

When the people heard the blast of the trumpets, they gave a thunderclap shout. The wall fell at once. The people rushed straight into the city and took it.

21  They put everything in the city under the holy curse, killing man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey.

22–24  Joshua ordered the two men who had spied out the land, “Enter the house of the harlot and rescue the woman and everyone connected with her, just as you promised her.” So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, and brothers—everyone connected with her. They got the whole family out and gave them a place outside the camp of Israel. But they burned down the city and everything in it, except for the gold and silver and the bronze and iron vessels—all that they put in the treasury of God’s house.

25  But Joshua let Rahab the harlot live—Rahab and her father’s household and everyone connected to her. She is still alive and well in Israel because she hid the agents whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

26  Joshua swore a solemn oath at that time:

Cursed before God is the man

who sets out to rebuild this city Jericho.

He’ll pay for the foundation with his firstborn son,

he’ll pay for the gates with his youngest son.

27  God was with Joshua. He became famous all over the land.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, January 02, 2026

by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Colossians 2:13-15

When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.

Today's Insights

Physical death plays a central role in the story of our redemption from sin, as Paul highlights in Colossians. Why is death so key? The apostle wrote, “[God] has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith . . . and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (1:22-23). The apostle is combatting false teaching here—probably Gnosticism. Among its claims were that Christ didn’t have a physical body. This isn’t a biblical teaching, as it denies the crucifixion and resurrection. Paul warned, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy” (2:8). As he said, “You were dead in your sins” but now “God made you alive with Christ” (v. 13). When we accept Jesus’ sacrifice as payment for our sin, we become free from sin’s burden.

Visit go.odb.org/010226 to learn more about salvation through Christ.

No More Debt

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal [debt]. Colossians 2:13-14

A doctor decided to retire after treating cancer patients for nearly thirty years. While working with a billing company to resolve his clinic’s finances, he opted to forgive $650,000 of debt people still owed him. “I’ve always been rather uncomfortable with sick patients not only having to worry about their own health,” the physician explained in a related interview, “[but also] their families, and their jobs, [and] money. That’s always tugged at me.”

Even if we’ve never been deep in financial debt, all of us have experienced something similar in a spiritual sense. The Bible likens sin to “debts” (Matthew 6:12). It also says there’s no way for us to repay what we owe God. We can’t donate money to charity, serve others, or work out a deal with Him to cover what we owe. Jesus is our only hope. Through His death and resurrection, Christ “canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).

Accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for the wrong things we’ve done means waking up to a new day, completely free from the burden of sin. May God’s mercy and forgiveness shine into the world as He helps us lovingly address people and circumstances in our lives.

Reflect & Pray

Why do you think God cares whether or not you show mercy to others? How does your outlook on life reflect the freedom you have in Jesus?

Dear Jesus, thank You for paying the price for my sin.

Learn more here: odbm.org/personal-relationship-with-god

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, January 02, 2026

The Unplanned Journey

By faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. —Hebrews 11:8

Have you ever set off on an unplanned journey, taking, as Christ instructed, no thought for your life, no thought for what you would eat or drink or wear (Matthew 6:25)?

“Where are you going, and what will you do?” If you begin to live for God, people will ask you this all the time. But if you are living in the way Christ wants, you won’t have a logical answer: there is none. You can’t know what you’re going to do; you can’t know what God is going to do. All you can know is that God knows. This is what it means to trust entirely in him.

Have you been begging God to tell you his plans? He never will. God doesn’t tell us what he’s going to do; he reveals to us who he is. It is through taking action, through stepping out in faith, that we receive this revelation. Ask yourself: Do I believe in a miracle-working God, and will I step out in surrender to him until I am not surprised one iota at anything he does? To step out in this way is to journey beyond your convictions and creeds and past experiences, until, as far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing at all between yourself and God.

Imagine, for a moment, that God really is who he says he is: the God of your days and your nights, of your future and your past; the God of all. What an impertinence worry is! Set aside your worries, and let your attitude be one of eager adventure.

Genesis 4–6; Matthew 2

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, January 02, 2026

ESCAPE FROM LONELY ISLAND - #10170

There's this beautiful spot on the coast of Maine called Bar Harbor, because there's a bar in the harbor. It's a sandbar that's totally exposed at low tide and totally submerged at high tide. The bar goes from the mainland to a little island called (you'll never guess) Bar Island. The island's okay, but you wouldn't want to spend a lot of time there. Although some people do - a lot more time than they had planned to spend. When our family walked across the bar at low tide, we made sure to check that tide chart to see when the tide would be coming back. As we were walking back from the island, the tide had started coming in. Then there were those intelligent tourists who waited a little too long to start back, and suddenly there was no way back! Now, you know what? No one has to be stranded on that island. There is a way off, if you take it!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Escape From Lonely Island."

Lonely Island is not on any map that I know of, but it's an island we've all spent time on. Loneliness is like an emotional island and we can get stranded there when we've been isolated, or ignored, or left out, or forgotten, maybe misunderstood, abandoned. Maybe even today finds you in the middle of another one of your lonely times.

The good news is you don't have to be stuck on Lonely Island. Loneliness is ultimately not a prison sentence. It's a choice! Feeling lonely is unavoidable. It's part of being human, but staying lonely is a choice. Just like Bar Island, there are some steps you can take to leave that island.

One way to make a lonely time a short time is to find somebody who needs you; to reach out from your loneliness, even if you don't feel like it, to make a difference for someone else. At a time when loneliness leaves you thinking mostly about you, it's important to decide to look beyond yourself. Another antidote to loneliness is to expand your world, especially your circle of friendships. If you take the risks to reach out to more people, you can reduce your trips to Lonely Island.

But even with all our efforts to cope with the lonely times, a lot of us carry this gnawing sense of loneliness with us most of the time. It isn't necessarily that there aren't people there for us, it's just that those people have never been enough to fill us up inside. It's like there's always something missing. Actually, like someone missing. Well, there is - the One you were made by - the One you were made for.

The incurable loneliness in the human heart is ultimately cosmic loneliness. We're lonely for God. No earth relationship has ever been able to fill the God-shaped hole in your heart. In the words of the Bible, in Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins have separated you from your God." Your sins are all those thousands of choices you've made in your lifetime that disregarded God's way for "your way." So here we are, away from the one person who has the love we're looking for. The only person who knows why we were created; the person we will meet the moment we die.

For our word for today from the Word of God, consider this promise from Jesus in light of the loneliness you know all too well. Hebrews 13:5 - "I will never leave you. I will never forsake you." Think of it - unloseable love, unconditional love. Jesus' love for you took Him all the way to a brutal death on a cross, where He gave His life to pay your sin-bill with God. The one whose love you've been looking for all these years is yours the moment you say, "Jesus, I'm Yours." You are one step of faith away from the world's only "never leave you" love. Would you take that step today? "Jesus, I'm yours. I'm pinning all my hopes on You."

Our website is there to help you get started. I hope you'll check it out today. It's ANewStory.com.

Your anchor relationship could begin this very day and it will never end. Never, no matter what else changes and no matter who else leaves. And you will have just spent your last day alone.