Devotional Thoughts

Joshua 10:12-14     "Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.  (13)  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.  (14)  And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel." I cannot leave Joshua without including this event that took place in his life. Five kings of the Amorites had gathered themselves together to go against the people of Gibeon. The Gibeonites had tricked the people of Israel to make a covenant with them. When the king of Jerusalem heard of this, he called the other kings together...

Matthew 13:3-9      " And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;   And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:   Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:   And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.   And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:   But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.   Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."   We find references in the scriptures to both sowing and planting. While both are designed to yield an increase, there is a difference in the method. Sowing refers to broadly scattering seeds on a prepared field in a sweeping motion whereas planting is done in a more defined area of...

Joshua 2:18     "Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee." Joshua 2:21     "And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window." Yesterday we saw the great statement of faith that was given by Rahab to the two spies who had been sent into the land. "I know that the LORD hath given you the land." She had greater faith than the 10 spies who had been sent into the land 40 years prior to this. They doubted. She knew. And not only did she know that God was going to give them the land, she dared believe that this same God would spare her and her family. Her house was on the wall which would soon be crumbling to the ground; yet, she believed God would have mercy upon her. I...

Matthew 13:1-2    " The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore." Our past several devotionals have all been about one single day in the life of Jesus. He cast out a devil from a blind and mute man and healed him. He rebuked the scribes and Pharisees over their self-centered and self-righteous behavior. By His actions, He proved to those gathered that He was sent from God and both spoke and did good things because they came from a good source. When His mother and brothers came to see Him, He used that as a moment to teach us that, as His disciples, we are all family to Him. The close of chapter twelve tells us that His mother and brother were waiting outside the house to see Him. I imagine this was because there were so many people already in the house there was no room for anyone else to come in. On this same d...

Joshua 2:9-11    "And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.  (10)  For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.  (11)  And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." "And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there." (Joshua 2:1) If we remember, one of the things that struck fear into the hearts of the 10 spies was the fact that Canaan had "great wal...

Matthew 12:46-50     " While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.  Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.  But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?   And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!   For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."   Jesus, as a man, was tempted in all points like we are (Hebrews 4:15). He never yielded to these temptations and therefore never sinned. We also know that He ate and slept like other men. He got tired and needed to rest (John 4:6, Mark 6:31). Jesus travelled with His disciples to their cities. He healed multitudes of diseases and cast out devils. He taught words of hope and comfort while contending w...