From Joshua 21

In previous chapters, each tribe of Judah was given land to possess and take care of.  The one tribe that didn’t receive land was the tribe of Levi, the tribe of priests.  In this chapter, the Levites receive cities and pasturelands within each of the other tribes’ territories.  They were given cities in this way so that they could continue to minister to all the people of Israel where they were and given pasturelands so that they could sustainably support themselves and their families.  That way, Israelites did not have to go to some central location to connect with a priest of God.

Professional church workers can be compared in some ways to these ancient priests.  There are certainly differences, but there are also some similarities.  For example, God has consistently established local congregations for His people to gather with other believers around them.  These local congregations today support pastors who minister to the Christians gathered in that place.  Having pastors and other professional church workers deployed into these local places (just like the ancient cities of the Levites) gives people a local contact to support their spiritual formation.  God calls men and women into these roles in the local congregations, but today instead of cities we have buildings where congregations meet.  Professional church workers don’t receive pastureland either, but at their installations congregations promise to support and sustain their church workers – to allow them to take care of themselves and their families.  There is a culture present in some parts of Christianity that thinks along the lines of “a church worker should accept not being paid sufficiently because it demonstrates their dedication to the call.” That’s not how God treated the priests of Israel or the church leaders of the New Testament – none of them were getting rich, but God worked through the congregations to make sure they were supported.  God has always made a way for people to connect to Him locally and grow in their spiritual formation, and we trust that He will continue to do so until Jesus comes again.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously provides local ministries for His people.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to connect with and support our local ministries.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

• Thank God for putting local ministries into place to support your faith.
• Confess to God the times where you have taken your local ministry for granted.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to bless the local ministries in your community.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Joshua 20

Many people describe God in the Old Testament as angry, punitive, vengeful, and violent while they describe God in the New Testament as calm, merciful, gracious, and kind.  That oversimplification can lead to thinking almost that the Old Testament God and the New Testament God somehow totally different entities.  But an oversimplification is exactly what those distinctions are.  None of them are necessarily false, but none of them are exclusive to the Old Testament or the New Testament.  God demonstrates anger in the Old Testament and Jesus conveys anger in the New Testament.  God punishes sin in the Old Testament and Jesus accepts the punishment for sin on our behalf in the New Testament.  Jesus is merciful and gracious in the New Testament and God shows His people forgiveness and creates room for grace repeatedly in the Old Testament.

The reading for today gives us one example of that Old Testament grace.  God recognizes that there are some instances where the punishment for a crime should be less immediate so that there is time for a balanced judgement. So He commands Israel to create cities where people can go to when they commit accidental crimes (specifically resulting in the loss of human life) to be safe until they can go before the congregation for judgement.  This would protect them from the immediate retaliation and, if the congregation determines it was an accident, the person would be able to go back to their lives.  This shows God’s mercy, even in the Old Testament, because even accidental sin is still sin, yet God provides a way for grace to be administered in those situations.  This can also remind us that God has set a precedent of His community treating accidental sins differently.  When people in our own lives sin against us without deliberate intent, God would encourage us to respond with grace and understanding – not with a grudge and retaliation.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God is gracious throughout Scripture, throughout the story of everything – even up to today.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to give people the benefit of the doubt and have a default stance of grace.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

• Thank God for His merciful nature.
• Confess to God the times where you hold grudges over accidental sins against you.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in forgiveness.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Joshua 15-19

Readings like these chapters can be challenging for us as modern readers (you’ll notice that I chunked five chapters together today).  We can sometimes fall into a trap of only going to God’s Word for what is useful for us, for what we can learn, for the instructions or promises that God revealed that can apply to our daily lives.  On the other hand, sometimes we can get caught up in things that are interesting but, ultimately, useless – knowledge just for the sake of knowledge.  There is a grain of truth in both extremes.  God’s Word does contain a wealth of knowledge that can and should be practically applied to our lives.  It is also a good thing in and of itself to learn more about God and the truth He passes down to us in Scripture.  If we only look for that which is useful, we miss out on knowing more about our God.  If we only look for that which is interesting, we miss out on applying God’s lessons to our lives and conforming more closely to Christ.

I don’t have much to add to the chapters here.  Israel is distributing the land that God promised to His people after He followed through on that promise.  I would like to challenge you, whoever might be reading this devotion, take the time to sit down today and read these five chapters.  It might not radically change your life, but it has now helped you to practice the discipline of being in God’s Word.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God’s Word does not revolve around us.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to let God’s Word be what it needs to be, not what we want it to be.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

• Thank God for His Word.
• Confess to God the times where you look for only what you need or find interesting in His Word.
• Ask God to give you what you need to sustain your faith and life.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Joshua 14:6-15

The first time Israel stood on the border of the Promised Land, Moses sent spies ahead of them to get the lay of the land.  Those spies saw that the people who already lived there were intimidating and would resist Israel’s conquest, and they reported that Israel shouldn’t go forward.  Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who returned and said that Israel should rely on God and trust Him to carry them through the campaign.  The Israelites ignore them, choosing to align instead with the fearful spies.  As a result, God punishes the people of Israel by sending them back into the wilderness for forty years with the understanding that no one of that generation would see the Promised Land – with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.  In our reading today, Caleb recalls part of God’s promise to him and asks Joshua to follow through and give him Hebron.  Joshua does exactly that and Caleb takes possession of Hebron.

We can look at Caleb’s life and learn several things about what God expects from His people.  Caleb’s trust in God and Caleb’s faith in God’s promises are both worthy of emulation.  I would like to draw special attention to the fact that he asked Joshua for the thing that God promised.  We might think that God would’ve told Joshua directly to reward Caleb or sent a messenger to do it, but He waited for Caleb to ask.  It reminds me of how God handles our prayers today.  He already knows what we need and what we want, but He still invites us and challenges us to go to Him in prayer to ask for it.  We read about what happened with Caleb and it can remind us that God sometimes waits for us to go to Him and ask Him in prayer for the things we need and want.  It can also remind us that He will listen and that He will follow through on His promise to take care of us.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously follows through on His promises.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to go to God in prayer for our wants and needs.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

• Thank God for promising to hear our prayers.
• Confess to God the times where you don’t go to Him like you should.
• Ask God to give you what you need to sustain your faith and life.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Joshua 13:8-14:5

Israel started out as a single family.  Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and his sons.  During a long famine, God provided for Jacob and his family by putting Joseph (one of his sons) into a position of great authority in Egypt.  As a result, the family moved to Egypt. Over the next few generations, the descendants of Jacob grew more and more numerous.  The Pharaoh of Egypt was concerned about this foreign people growing so rapidly within his borders, so he started treating them badly.  God stepped in and worked through Moses to lead His people out and towards the Promised Land.  I remind us of all this history to point out that Israel had been a single family and then they had been under the rule of Pharoah within the structure of Egypt. When they left, they had never been a nation before.  God gave them the Ten Commandment to help structure this new community and in these verses He helps them to establish themselves geographically.

All this goes to show us that God works even in mundane ways, using mundane things.  It shows us that God cares about the material things in this world. Sometimes we get caught up in this idea that spiritual things are good and physical things are bad, that God doesn’t care about our bodies or our homes or our possessions.  He created all of those things though, He created a physical world and operates with it.  We should be good stewards of the material things in our lives, making sure not to elevate them above where they should be, but taking care of them knowing that God’s plan includes such things.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously uses physical, worldly things for the sake of His plan and people.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to appropriately steward the material parts of our lives.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

• Thank God for the material things He has given you in life.
• Confess to God the times where you disregard or elevate material things inappropriately.
• Ask God to use the material things around you to point to Him.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious