Read Hebrews 11

We have seen the live stories of most of the characters listed here.
We’ve heard sermons as well on many of those same people.

• Who stands out to you for their faith and why?

• What will you take away concerning your own faith from these weeks of reading?

Read Joshua 5:13 – 6:27

If you’ve never seen the Veggie Tales short video based on the story of the fall of Jericho, it’s worth the half hour to watch! Forever embedded my brain is a couple peas mocking the Israelites for marching around the city. If you have 3 minutes extra, here is the link!

Let’s think about just a couple people: Joshua, Rahab, and the average Israelite.

• For each one, where do you see evidence of faith growing and blossoming?

• How does the Lord use their circumstance to grow their faith?

• In what circumstance is the Lord growing your faith right now? Are there ways that you are dragging your feet and resisting His faith lesson?

Read Joshua 4

OOOOOOHHHH I love this chapter!!!

• How would you feel if you were a priest and as soon as you step out of the river the water rushes past you?

• Why the stones? What purpose do they serve?

I’ve loved times hiking in the mountains and coming across piles of stones. I learned that these are called ‘cairns’. Wikipedia says this: A cairn is a man-made pile of stones. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn. Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes, from prehistoric times to the present. In modern times, cairns are often erected as landmarks, a use they have had since ancient times.

These stones remind me of the altars that we kept track of in Genesis. Altars built to remind the people of God’s character, of a way that He protected them, or a way that He revealed Himself in a fuller way.

• Think through the last year. How has God made Himself more known to you? What new name can you call Him because of experiences this past year?

• How could you build and altar or cairn to mark this growing?

Read Joshua 3

I love that the Lord sees Joshua so individually when He says that He is going to show the people that He is with Joshua as He was with Moses. How comforting in the midst of this huge task of leading hundreds of thousands of people.

• Grab a piece of paper and write out the sequence of events as they would have happened for the common person following the ark.

• Why do you think the Lord did not stop the waters as they approached?

• Suppose you are a priest, how are you feeling heading into the water’s edge as the river is rushing?

• Why do you think they obeyed the Lord?

• Today, in front of you, what is raging past you in your life? What does it look like to trust the Lord with those raging waters? What practical steps could you take to walk in that trust & faith?

Read Joshua 2

I remember reading this as we went through the book of James in our last devotional. Just amazed at Rahab’s response.

• How had the Lord gone before the spies to prepare Rahab to receive them?

• Why do you think they chose a prostitute’s house to enter? We don’t know for sure that they knew in advance, but certainly at some point they knew because it is recorded here.

• We read in Matthew 1:5 that Rahab is one of 5 women listed in the genealogy of Jesus. What does this say about God’s character that she is so highly esteemed?

Grace

We’ve covered so much ground in the past 7 weeks. Like we have been running along after the Israelites and watching their growing.

Spend some time this morning sitting and catching your breath! Just be with your Father who delights in you.

Read Joshua 1

• In this chapter as well as twice in Deuteronomy 31, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. What do you think were some possible things Joshua was fearing?

• Can you imagine following Moses as the next leader – talk about some insecure feelings! How does God pave the way for this transition in ways that would be meaningful to Joshua?

• How have you seen God reach into the areas where you have fear and insecurity?

• What are some fears and insecurities you would like to hand to Him today?