Reading for today: Joshua 3:5, Hebrews 6:1-8

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”  Joshua 3:5

Consecrate or “sanctify” in Hebrew means to make yourself morally or ceremonially clean.  The word “hallow” can even be used here.  This makes me think of what James wrote in James 4.  God loves us to “humble” ourselves to Him; to submit ourselves completely to Him.  He speaks of “coming near” and “resisting” the devil.  He talks about “weeping,” “wailing,” and “grieving.”  This is a major hallowing out, isn’t it? When I come to the end of myself and realize that I really need the Lord to do some serious stuff in my life, I will take the time and the effort to consecrate myself.

Reading for today: Joshua 3:1-4, Hebrews 5:5-14

“Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.”  Hebrews 5:8

Many of us fight pain and suffering.  It seems natural and human to resist what hurts us.  Jesus resisted His suffering in prayer and asked God if there were a different way.  Paul also asked the Lord - three times - to relieve him of his own burden.  C.S. Lewis said that pain is “God’s megaphone.” Could it be that God has a plan for our pain?  Could He be trying to tell us something that we are having a hard time learning or hearing?  Ask for relief, but remember to pray, “Nevertheless Lord, Thy will be done.”

Reading for today: Joshua 2:22-24, Hebrews 5:1-4

“So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them.”  Joshua 2:23

The spies went to verify what God had said about the land but actually God used them to save Rahab and her house.  They did not have to go - the land was already promised to them.  We set out seeking to do what we feel is God’s leading and sometimes God has another reason that we do not see or know.

Reading for today: Joshua 2:17-21, Hebrews 4:14-16

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  Hebrews 4:15

There is not a day that goes by that I fall short and sin against God.  Jesus, having been a man, knows all the things that befall us and is merciful toward us.  He gives grace to start each day new.  His mercies are new every morning.

Reading for today: Joshua 2:14-16, Hebrews 4:11-13

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.”  Hebrews 4:13

Do you fear that people will catch you in your sin, but not fear the Lord who sees the heart and knows the thoughts of all.  We are accountable for every word or thought or action.  Even when we succeed in keeping our sins from men, God knows!!!

Reading for today: Joshua 2:12-13, Hebrews 4:1-10

“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said…”  Hebrews 4:3a

There is a special rest waiting for the people of God.  When the toils and trials of this life are over, we have eternal life and rest with Christ in heaven - which He established from the foundation of the world.

Reading for today: Joshua 2:8-11, Hebrews 3:16-19

“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you.  For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.”  Joshua 2:9-10

God used the Israelites to display His mighty works to the Canaanites, causing them to fear Israel.  Does a lost and dying world today recognize that same power in Christians and the church body?

Reading for today: Joshua 2:4-7, Hebrews 3:7-15

“Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”  Hebrews 3:12

Whenever situations come your way that strain your belief or cause you to lose your faith and fall away from the living God remember to hold fast to the confidence and trust you had in God when you first believed.

Reading for today: Joshua 2:1-3, Hebrews 3:1-6

“Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, ‘Go view the land , especially Jericho.’  So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.”  Joshua 2:1

Why did Joshua send out two spies when he knew God had given them the land, and why did they stay with Rahab the harlot?  God, working through Joshua, sent the spies to protect her and her family from destruction. God knew Rahab’s heart; she proclaimed Him as the “Supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.”  God promises that those who seek Him will find Him.

Reading for today: Joshua 1:16-18, Hebrews 2:14-18

“For in that, He himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”  Hebrews 2:18

Jesus was fully God and fully man.  The Creator of the universe stepped down to live among us, and then sacrificially was crucified for our sins.  As a man He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and yet He did not sin.  We can be assured that there is nothing we will endure that Jesus did not.  Jesus knows what we are going through because He went through it.  This is why we can cast our burdens upon Him.