Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Jan 19, 2025, 7:49 PM
Passage Read: Joshua 6-9
Meditation Verses: 7:20-21
Thought
Achan confessed his sin and returned the things he had stolen, but that didn't remove the consequence of his actions. He still bore the death penalty, he and his whole family. Even all he had and all he'd stolen were buried with him.
Jan 18, 2025, 7:51 PM
Passage Read: Joshua 2-5
Meditation Verses: 2:9-12
Thought
There are two responses to the Lord's overwhelming power and authority and commitment to judge: surrender and plead for life, or tremble and hopelessly defend. Rahab saw the certainty of God's coming and surety of His victory, and she decided to beg for her life and the lives of her family.
Jan 16, 2024, 9:18 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 22 - Judges 1
Meditation Verses: Joshua 23:6-7
Thought
The Israelites didn't drive out all the Canaanites at once, but many were left to be conquered after Joshua's death. Joshua warns them to remain faithful to the Lord and He will give them victory over the remaining Canaanites. So on their part, they were to be firm and do all that Moses had taught them, and they were not to make friends with the Canaanites, and especially not to learn the names of their gods and follow their practices. But of course, that is what they did.
Jan 15, 2024, 9:19 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 18-21
Meditation Verse: 21:44
Thought
Oh to have rest from all my enemies. It is a promise but not for this life. Unless I make peace with all my enemies. Which would require giving in to their way of thinking and living. The Israelites did that in many cases with the Canaanites, not so much with the surrounding enemies, though there were times when their neighbors left them alone. There's no real rest from my enemies until this life is done, and oh how I wish that were soon.
Jan 14, 2024, 9:21 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 14-17
Meditation Verses: 17:14-15
Thought
The sons of Joseph were not content with the land they had been allotted; it wasn't enough for them. Joshua didn't dispute them or rebuke them, but acknowledged that what they said was true and right, so he gave them another portion. However, that portion was still in the hands of Canaanites; they would have to fight to claim it. That would be too hard for them, they said, but Joshua assured them that they'd be able to take it.
Jan 13, 2024, 9:22 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 10-13
Meditation Verse: 11:20
Thought
The Canaanites received no mercy from God. They were to be completely destroyed. Some however would receive mercy from the Israelites, not for love of them, but because they chose to enslave them rather than destroy them. Perhaps they considered themselves more noble than the Lord, for offering mercy to people the Lord had set apart for destruction. It's a shame that the Lord didn't harden their hearts too; the Israelites and the Lord could have avoided much grief if they had obeyed the Lord.
Jan 12, 2024, 9:24 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 6-9
Meditation Verses: 7:11-12
Thought
God's response was immediate, though the people didn't realize it until later. Things went badly at Ai, and then they were afraid that the Lord had given them over to destruction. But the Lord had simply withdrawn His help from them, and with that, they were powerless against the people of the land. And it didn't occur to them that their failure was because someone among them had sinned. God had to point that out to them.
Jan 11, 2024, 9:25 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 2-5
Meditation Verses: 2:10-13
Thought
The only right response to the news that the Lord is coming to claim the land is to humble yourself and plead for your life, and to serve the servants of God in whatever way you can. This is also the gospel message, that the Lord is returning to claim His world and to establish His King to rule over everything and everyone, so that the world and everyone in it does His will. Those who humble themselves and plead for their lives and submit themselves to this new king will be spared and allowed to remain in the land.
Jan 4, 2023, 2:35 PM
Passage Read: Joshua 22 - Judges 1
Meditation Verses: Joshua 24:19-20
Thought
What does God require of His people that is so hard to do? The Israelites in this moment have complete confidence that they can and will follow the Lord. The main danger Joshua points out is serving other gods, but how hard is it to avoid that? The goal of God's Law is to show us how to love each other. Is that really all that hard? It doesn't require constantly seeking out ways to bless a neighbor, but only to think of their good alongside my own as I interact with them, and as I live beside them.
Jan 3, 2023, 2:36 PM
Passage Read: Joshua 18-21
Meditation Verses: 21:4-7
Thought
According to Jacob's prophecy or blessing, the Levites were scattered among Israel. They were given towns and villages from each of the other tribes. What seemed like a curse was actually meant to be a safeguard. The Levites were supposed to know the Lord and His commands best, and they should have been a safeguard in each town and village so that all the people knew, remembered and understood the Lord's will, not that it was too terribly hard to understand.