Read to prACTice

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* A second chance to amend... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 17   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (on apportioning land to the sons of Manasseh...) 12  But the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.   13  It came about when the sons of Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely . . .   17  Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying . . .  18  . . . You shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong.” III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was the second opportunity mentioned in the above Scriptural passage? IV. Application Dear Lord God, I thank You for showing me that You did not give up on Manasseh, even though...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Didn’t do vs Couldn’t do... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 16   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches (Having distributed land to the descendants of Joseph...) 10  But they did not  drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so  the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.   III. Reflection *  Questions :  About Ephraim, what is the difference between “they did not drive out the Canaanites…” and “they could not drive out the Canaanites…”? IV. Application Dear Lord God, thank You for showing me that although it is my choice not to do what I can, it is not my choice at all when it comes to the consequences of such decisions. These would impact me and the generations to come, just as they did for the Israelites. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking me to this point to remind me of the decision the prodigal son made and his ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Ask to have, Come to get... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 15   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches   (Caleb gave his daughter, Achsah, as a prize to the victor of the  Kiriath-sepher battle...)   18  It came about that when she came to him, she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So she alighted from the donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?”   19  Then she said, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was considered a blessing in the above Scripture passage? Why? How did she have it? IV. Application Dear Lord God, I thank You for letting me know that living in a desert is a constant reminder that water is among the most sought-after blessings. Nothing else matters if the wat...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Wholeheartedly, not Haphazardly... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 14   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (Caleb reminded Joshua about a promise Moses made to him 45 years earlier...) 9  So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely  the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the  Lord  my God fully.’ III. Reflection *  Questions :  What is significant in the promise of reward for those who follow the Lord fully? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that You love those who follow You fully and that the reward extends through his or her lifetime unto the generations to come. What a precious reward from the ever-living God who is always there to honor His promise. I thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking me to this point to also remind me of Your teaching that the do...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Fighting General vs Land Distributor... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 13   first . 1  Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the  Lord  said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed. . .  6 . . .  I will drive them out from before the sons of Israel; only allot it to Israel for an inheritance as I have commanded you..."  II. One thing the Bible teaches  III. Reflection *  Questions :  Joshua's job was changed. What was it? IV. Application Dear Lord God, I thank You for showing me that You designed a process for us to go through, and it works as You intended it to do — aging. You kept Joshua serving, but You changed his job. Not defying the aging process, the battle-fighting General Joshua transitioned graciously to being the land Distributor to his people. I tha...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Historical witnesses... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 12   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (Regarding the promised land for the Israelites...)  7  Now these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the sons of Israel defeated beyond the Jordan toward the west...  9  the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;   10  the king of Jerusalem, one...  24  the king of Tirzah, one:  in all, thirty-one kings. III. Reflection *  Questions :  How significant was the naming of each of the 31 countries involved in the above Scriptural passage? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that the promised land was very real; it was not a legend. The ones whose lands were dislodged were real witnesses in history — 31 countries with a global presence in the Middle East. Each of these wa...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Fear not the fearsome... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 11   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (the great alliance of 12 countries in the area came out together to fight against Israel...) 4   They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.   5   So all of these kings having agreed to meet, came and encamped together at the waters of Merom, to fight against Israel. 6  Then the   Lord   said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid because of them..." III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was the impossible thing mentioned in the above Scriptural passage? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me the greatest task that only You can do: counting sand on the seashore. The fighting men of the opposing forces at that time must have been so many and ve...

  To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Maker of promise Keeper of promise... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 10   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (Gibeon was under attack by the alliance of the 5 neighboring countries because it made a covenant with the Israelites...) 6  Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.”   7  So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors.   III. Reflection *  Questions :  Why will associating with God's people be a cause to be hated and attacked by other people? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that it is true today as it was in the millennia past-- it is a norm that people of...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Sincerity in Deception... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 9   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (the people of Gibeon fabricated a story to deceive the Israelites' leadership to enter a covenant with them to save their lives. When Joshua asked about their background...) 9  They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of the  Lord  your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt,   10  and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was at Ashtaroth. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was right and what was not right in the response of the Gibeon to Joshua? IV. Application Dear Lord God, I thank You for showing me the sincere part of the Gibeonites' deception. They heard about the fame of th...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Neglect not the neglected... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 8   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (after winning the war with the Ai country, Joshua built an altar to the Lord. He led his people in worshiping the Lord. He read the Word of the Lord...)  35  There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel  with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were  living among them. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was the significance of including in the listening audience women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them when Joshua read the Word of God? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that Joshua included the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived in the community in his listening audience as he read Your Word to the Israelites....

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Glorify God? Bring forth the sins...  I. Click here to READ  Joshua 7   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (finding out Achan to be the one who was responsible for the shameful defeat of the Israelites against Ai, a small country...) 19  Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the  Lord , the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”   20  So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the  Lord , the God of Israel, and this is what I did:   21  when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.” III. Reflection *  Questions ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* From Jericho to the Gospel, all in the decibels... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 6   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (The Israelites were instructed to walk around the fortified Jericho once each day for 6 days. On the 7th day, especially, it was to be done 7 times.  At the right time on this day, all the people ought to shout at the same time...) 20  So the people shouted, and  priests  blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the  wall fell down  flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight  ahead, and they took the city. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What did the Lord use to cause the fortified Jericho wall to fall? Where is its power mentioned again in the Bible? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that the thin and weak ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* First lesson first__taking orders... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 5   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (approaching the city of Jericho...) 13  Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”   14  He said, “No; rather I indeed come now  as  captain of the host of the  Lord .” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”   15  The captain of the  Lord’s  host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was the hardest thing for Joshua to do? Wh...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Torrential water, Flying time... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 4   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (about the crossing of the Jordan River by the Israelites into the promised land...) 10  For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the  Lord  had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;   11  and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the  Lord  and the priests crossed before the people. III. Reflection *  Questions :  Why did the people have to hurry and cross the Jordan River? Was the drying up of the river a timed event? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for letting me know that Your people were not racing against the clock in crossing the Jordan River because t...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Drying up half the river, only half of the story... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 3   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (the day has come for the Israelites to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. When the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the river water, the water stopped flowing, stood up, and rose up in one heap...) 17  And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the  Lord  stood firm  on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was the difference between the crossing of the Red Sea and that of the Jordan River? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that in crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites walked with walls of water on both sides ( Ex 14:29 ). When it c...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Tomorrow's death, Today's action... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 2   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (The great things that the Jehovah God did for His people from Egypt and through the 40 years in the wilderness have reached the ears, and terrified the hearts, of the Canaanites and the Rahab woman. She said to the two Israelite spies after risking her life to save theirs...) 11  When we heard it  [the Lord's deliverance of His people in the wilderness] , our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the  Lord  your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.   12  Now therefore, please swear to me by the  Lord , since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth,   13  and spare my father and my mother and my b...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Command v Recommend... I. Click here to READ  Joshua 1   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches  (The Lord said to Joshua after the death of His servant Moses…) 9  H ave I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the  Lord  your God is with you wherever you go. III. Reflection *  Questions :  How is "command" different from "advise," "remind," or "instruct"? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that when You told Joshua and Your people to be strong and courageous, You commanded them to do so. You did not just advise them, or remind them, or instruct them. You commanded them as when You commanded Adam  — that was an order ( Gen 3:11 ). I thank You, Lord Jesus, for bringing me to this point to remind me that when You told people to repent ( Matt  4:17 ), it wasn't advice, a reminder, or an ...