Our Daily Bread for today is here. Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11).
The word of God is food to the spirit man. “Eat and digest” the word of the Lord for today and let its unchanging power nuture your faith and help in your daily walk to Christ.
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 9–10 Ephesians 3
Memory Verse: For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Joshua 2:11
Today’s Scripture & Insight: Joshua 2:1–4,9–14
Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute who’d put her faith in Yahweh even before she met the two Israelite spies (Joshua 2:9–10). The New Testament commends her for her faith in God (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25). Rahab wasn’t only delivered from death (Joshua 6:17, 22–23) but was raised to a position of honor.
She married Salmon, an Israelite, and was blessed to be an ancestor of King David as well as the Messiah (Ruth 4:21–22; Matthew 1:5). Rahab was one of four non-Israelites (also Tamar, probably a Canaanite; Ruth, a Moabite; Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba], probably a Hittite) and one of five women listed in Jesus’ genealogy (Matthew 1:1–17).
Click Here to Read Previous ODB Devotional
ODB MESSAGE FOR TODAY
Hollywood gives us larger-than-life spies who are dashing drivers of flashy Aston-Martins and other luxury sports cars. But Jonna Mendez, a former CIA chief, paints an opposite picture of the real thing. An agent must be “the little gray man,” she says, someone nondescript, not flashy. “You want them to be forgettable.” The best agents are those least likely to appear like agents.
When two of Israel’s spies slipped into Jericho, it was Rahab who hid them from the king’s soldiers (Joshua 2:4). She was seemingly the least likely person for God to employ as an espionage agent, for she had three strikes against her: she was a Canaanite, a woman, and a prostitute. Yet Rahab had started to believe in the God of the Israelites: “Your God is God in heaven” (v. 11). She hid God’s spies under flax on the roof, assisting in their daring escape. God rewarded her faith: “Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family” (6:25).
Sometimes we might feel we’re the least likely to be used by God. Perhaps we have physical limitations, don’t feel “flashy” enough to lead, or have a tarnished past. But history is filled with “nondescript” believers redeemed by God, people like Rahab who were given a special mission for His kingdom. Be assured: He has divine purposes for even the least likely of us.
Reflect & Pray
In what ways do you feel “in the background”? What do you think might be the mission God has for you?
Dear God, please help me be ready for Your calling, for the mission You might have for me.
Our Daily Bread 2023 Devotional is written by Kenneth Petersen and published by Our Daily Bread Ministries. Read more
Thank you for reading. This Devotional was shared via www.TheDevotionals.Com.NG
♥Blessed by this? Click here to Share This Devotional