Joshua 21:43-45

43 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. 44 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. 45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

In verses 43 -45, the LORD gave the Israelites all that he had sworn or promised to them.  Each tribe inhabited their land, and the Levites dwelled in the 48 cities allotted to them with land for their flocks.  The LORD was faithful to keep his promises. God made them his chosen people and gave them specific instructions to live for their protection and His best for them. On the other hand, the Israelites did not follow God's commands, and the consequences were costly as we will see later in Judges.

Do we still cling to old strongholds? Romans 6:14, tells us " For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but grace."  Through the power of the resurrection, we should no longer have strongholds. Sin has no right to destroy us. We have grace for every trial and the power to overcome every temptation and difficulty. We must ask ourselves if we are living like the 12 tribes, or are we genuinely living like children of God? Are we walking as a chosen member of the "Royal Priesthood"? I do not have Jewish heritage, but I still have some of the "12 tribe hard-headedness" in my spiritual DNA. At times I am just as guilty as the Israelites, who did not wholly follow God's command and ultimately drive out the Canaanites.  How about you?

Prayer: O Heavenly Father, we so need the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in complete victory. Help us to remember we are part of Your Royal Priesthood. Those of us with children want the best for them. How much more do you want the best for us? Forgive us when we fail to follow your commands, when we let the busyness of life take our focus off you, when we settle for something less than your best, when we simply don’t listen. You are a patient loving God, and we thank you for sending your son, Jesus to make atonement for our sins and shortcomings, and in His name we offer this prayer to you. Amen.