March 23rd, 25:Unwrapping God's Love: Challenges, Lessons, and Timeless Truths

Welcome to another episode of the Daily Radio Bible, where your host, Hunter, guides us through the scripture, making space for divine insights and personal reflections. Today, we kick off with a heartfelt message from Alex, a long-time listener from Rotenfelds, Germany. Alex shares his spiritual journey, highlighting the transformative power of God's love—a theme that resonates throughout today's readings. We dive into the book of Joshua and the New Testament, where Hunter illuminates passages about land inheritance, identity, and the profound gifts God offers to His children. Whether you're tuning in from a bustling city or a quiet town, join us as we explore these timeless truths and engage in a moment of prayerful reflection. Remember, as Hunter always reminds us, you are loved. Let's jump right in.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

Like many in our world, I grew up in a family with divorce. And there were times in my childhood when I was visiting my father where I didn't really feel at home. The home, its rooms, the yard, the toys, all of it really didn't feel like it was mine. It felt like they belong to someone else, to my step siblings. I felt displaced. I was an interloper. The point of this is not to blame any particular person for this. Sometimes these insecurities are just there. So for whatever reason, I failed to see myself for what I was, for who I was as the son of my father. And through the years, I've struggled with a diminished view of myself. I failed to fully understand my identity and hear the words of embrace and permission that are really offered to me by God. Words like the ones spoken by the tribe of Manasseh in today's reading.

They were growing and they needed more land, and so they ask. The answer they get from Joshua when they ask was, take it. Take all you need. I marvel at things like this. I've often thought that to have more or to ask for more, well, that's for people for whom it was meant to be. People who are more deserving, more together, smarter, less broken than me. But Joshua doesn't say anything like that. To these people, he simply says, do you need more? Take all you need.

We see the same kind of boldness from the five daughters of Zelophehad. I wonder whether these ladies had been taught by their father and mother to know how worthy and valuable they were. Even when the culture at that time would have said otherwise, somehow, they knew that they were worthy of their father's inheritance, and so they were bold enough to ask. They boldly come to Joshua and say, the Lord commanded Moses to give us a grant of land along with the men of our tribe. In other words, this is ours, and we're here to take it. I marvel at this courage and the clarity to see and to know who they really were. The same can be true for us, for all of us today. Because we have a good father who is making it clear how valuable you are and that you are worthy of his inheritance, not because you've lived up to some standard or you've been a good child, but because of who you are.

You're family. You're his child, and he is good. We can have clarity and boldness to see and to take what is ours in Christ. Let these five daughters of Zelophehad speak to you today, and then reach out and take what is yours.

That's a prayer that I have for my own soul. That's a prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, for my daughters, and my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be yours, and may it be so.