Daily Devotional from Joshua 19—Verses 10-11…and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.Such a simple sentence. Do you ever wonder what pleases the Lord? Exposing the things hidden in darkness is pleasing to the Lord. It’s not so much just telling people what’s wrong. Much of the time this won’t always be done with wor...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 18–Verse 3How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?They say, “Half the job is just starting.” Yet beginning a big task can tend to psych a person out.When I was in seminary, I had to write a 200-page dissertation. I looked forward to it, but I felt a little intimidated too. Had I read enou...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 17—Verses 17-18Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 16–Verses 4-5a, 10aThe people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans…However, they did not drive out the Canaanites…The specificity of the boundaries God described shows his wisdom to avert future disputes. I once heard of a study that was done with school children. On the playgrounds without f...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 15–Verses 16And Caleb said, "Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife."Here we see Othniel, the nephew of Caleb going after a prize....a wife. All he had to do to win the prize was to show himself a capable military leader and capture a city. God had allotted the land to the tribe of Judah, but they had to conquer it...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 14--Verse 14Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh. It makes sense that Hebron would go to Caleb. Hebron was a significant place. Some 500 years prior to this, Abraham purchased it to bury his wife, Sarah. And eventually all the patriarchs were buried there. Therefore, when the spies (of which Caleb was one) came into the promised land they immedia...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 13–Verse 7I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.Joshua was old and advanced in years, meaning he was really old! Yet much of the land that God had promised to Israel had y...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 12–Verse 24…the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.Wow, what a list of success! There are more defeated kings listed here than Doritos in a chip bag! Besides all the kings that Moses and Joshua defeated, the thing that stands out to me is the title that Moses gets in this chapter. “Moses, the servant of the Lord.” What a beautiful, humbling title to hold.It’...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 11--Verse 15Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.Joshua was faithful to the original command God gave Him to be strong, courageous, and careful to follow all the directions given through Moses. Throughout our reading today, we see how Joshua faced ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 10--Verse 13“Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.What a miraculous God we serve, who listens to us and moves on our behalf. The sun was stopped in the sky for a whole day. What does this show us about our God? Well, I think it’s clear here that w...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 9–Verse 14So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD.Joshua didn’t seek the Lord and was deceived by the Gibeonites.Even though a decision may seem clear or simple, it’s important that we rely on the Lord for wisdom and discernment. What seems right in our own eyes may take us in the wrong direction. The Word says that all who ask f...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 8– Verse 34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.A battle was just won and Israel celebrated by sacrificing to God and hearing His Word. In life we have many victories and I hope in those moments we choose to honor the Lord. This battle was intense; Israel’s strategy was geniu...  Read More