Daily Devotion, June 30, 2020

Devotion: Read Joshua 1:1-9.

Moses has just given his farewell address and sanctions Joshua as the Israelite leader. Joshua and Caleb showed great courage and faith 38 years earlier when they arrived at the Promised Land the first time. Joshua is now 80 years old and God calls him to settle the land of Canaan by conquering it through battles. God promises to be with him and never leave him and then gives him three commands to ensure his success.

1.  Be strong and courageous

2.  Obey God’s law

3.  Constantly read and study the Book of Instruction – God’s Word.

 The message for our personal success is the same! We are to show courage in difficult times. We are to obey God in all things. And we are to read, study, and meditate on God’s Word. If we do these things, God promises that we will be successful because we will be living according to his plan for us.

Adult Challenge:

Which of these three commands do you find the most difficult to obey? Do you struggle being strong in hard times? Do you know and consistently follow the principles God gives us in the Bible? Do you daily read and study God’s Word? Today choose one of these commands to focus on and practice. Write the three commands on a note card as a reminder of what God tells us to do to find personal success in life.

Youth Challenge:

Have you ever had to do something that was way out of your comfort zone? Or do something that you were not prepared to do? What helped you commit to it? How did it go? What can we learn from these scriptures?

 

Children's Challenge:

Focus on verse 9.

What You Do:

• Write the words of the verse on notecards or scraps of paper.
• Hide the verse cards around the room ahead of time.
• Hide the card with “Lord your God” or “the Lord” (wording depends on the version of the verse you use) somewhere in your pocket.
• Lead the kids to play “hot or cold” to find the pieces one at a time:

-During each kid’s turn, when she gets close to a hiding place, tell her she’s getting warmer, warmer, hot, super-hot, etc.

-Continue this until she finds a verse card.

-If a kid moves away from a card, tell him he’s getting cold, colder, FREEZING, etc. to get him to change his direction.

• Once kids have found “all” the pieces (except for the one you’ve kept), challenge kids to try to put the verse together.
• When they figure out they’re missing a card, ask which card they’re missing.
• In a funny way, help kids see the irony in losing the card with God on it.
• Then pretend to “find” the card in the spot where you hid it. Or act like you forgot it was there.

 

“Can we ever actually lose God?! (Of course not!) We lost the card with God on it, but God Himself is always with us. [Make It Personal] (Talk about a time when you were struggling, but something or someone helped remind you of God’s constant presence.) Sometimes when we’re struggling to have courage and be brave, we just need to remember that God is always with us. You can do what you should because God is with you.”