Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

27 March 2024

Reading From Joshua 19-21

 ^“So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”

–Joshua 21:43-45

     Our God is ALWAYS faithful to fulfill His promises.  When He tells us something, we can bank on it.  More than that, we can build our lives upon His Word.  Not only did Yahweh lead them in to possess the land, but He also blessed them with rest and protection.  He is the faithful God!  Where these wonderful conditions become spoiled is when men and women begin to take their blessings for granted, start attributing success to human effort and eventually go astray into selfish sin. 

     Humans inevitably go their own way when left to their own devices, which is exactly what Satan uses to spoil their goods.  How do we prevent this?  By keeping our focus on the Lord and putting His Word into practice in our daily lives.  The promises of God are how He forms us into who we are called to be.  As we believe Him and take Him at His Word, we realize who we are in Him. Our identity is in Him.  He uses this knowledge and the power of His Spirit to shape us into the image of His Son Jesus.  His Promises are what give us our identity, lead us into community united by the Spirit, and reveal our destiny in Him.

“Lord God, thank You for Your faithfulness to Your people.  We are so blessed by Your promises.  They bring life to us!  Help Your children not take You or Your tender mercy for granted.  Lead us forward to our heavenly Promised Land.  According to Your goodness and grace, bring Heaven to Earth as is Your will.  Bring us together as Your eternal family, O God. We praise and glorify Your faithful and holy Name!  Amen.”

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself.

–II Timothy 2:11-13

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

–II Peter 1:3-4