Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - You Belong with Jesus | Historical Books | Joshua 13

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

We desperately search for belonging. Where do you belong? Are you helping others feel a sense of God's belonging? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Joshua 13 encourages us to settle into our belonging with Jesus. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Joshua 13

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. Where do you belong? If you're in college, you might find yourself wondering this every time you move back and forth between home and school. I see it in my own kids. Half their laundry is here, but what they really need is there. Their toothbrush is here, but their toothpaste is there.

And that's only the outward part. It doesn't even scratch the surface of what's going on inside. Do you belong with your old friends or your new ones? home where your new stuff is or where your old stuff still waits. And then as you step into your 20s, the questions shift. Do you belong with the professionals climbing the career ladder or the friends still working on their degrees in a group that's married or single? And later in your 30s and 40s, life piles on more layers.

Do you belong at work or at home with your kids at the gym or taking care of your parents? Honestly, I don't think the questions about belonging ever stop. My 96-year-old grandfather still fosters his sense of belonging. He goes to a lakeside path just outside a town where he walks every day with other people who gather to enjoy the sunshine. Belonging is part of who we are. We've been created with an innate need to belong and a longing to find our place. But here's the catch.

When we're searching for belonging, we often feel awkward, overanalyze every interaction and try too hard. We think all eyes are on us when, in reality, they're not. And when we do belong, we hardly notice it. We take it for granted, unaware that we've arrived. Yet there's a kind of belonging God offers us that's constant. It doesn't change as we age. It doesn't depend on gaining or losing a job, a relationship, or a title.

This kind of belonging is rooted in God's presence, in him being with us right where we are. And that's where the Israelites find themselves in Joshua chapter 13. Until now, they've been consumed by action. They've been conquering enemies. They've been dedicating spoils to God. They've been addressing sin in the camp. They've been making treaties, some poorly researched,

and fighting alliances of kings. For a land promised to give them rest, there's been precious little resting since they crossed the Jordan River. Chapter 13 opens with a conversation between God and Joshua that reads a little like a to-do list. It says, when Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, you are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered. This is the territory that remains, all the regions of the Philistines and the Gesherites, and the larger territory of the Canaanites, extending from the stream of Shihore on the border of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron.

How would you feel if after working on something for a very long time, God reminded you of all that was left undone? At first glance, this kid seemed discouraging. But as the chapter unfolds, the focus shifts from conquering the land to inhabiting it. This verse is actually a turning point. See, God tells Joshua a few verses later, I myself will drive these people out of the land ahead of the Israelites. So be sure to give this land to Israel as a special possession, just as I have commanded you.

The message is clear. The Israelites don't have to accomplish this on their own. God is securing the promise to make sure they belong in the land. This shift has profound implications. First, this land is not just a political acquisition. It's a divine gift. And this reminds us of our own inheritance. life with God is a promise secured by his faithfulness, not by our efforts.

Nothing we do can take it away. Second, the Israelites are asked to live as if the promise is already fulfilled. Even though they don't yet fully possess the land, they are to anticipate it, plan it, living, and trusting as though it's theirs. And this speaks to us today as well. If we know God's eternal promise is secure, we can live with purpose. purpose and focus. We don't have to chase after everything or try to be everything all at once. Instead, we live with joyful anticipation of what's to come. Imagine going to a restaurant that serves

your favorite dessert. For me, a gooey butter cake. If it's on the menu, you tell the server right away, save me a slice. The entire meal, you're savoring the anticipation. You don't overeat your entree because you know something better is coming. This is how we live as people who know the best is yet to come. We don't have to have it all right now. Finally, God's promise doesn't mean Joshua gets to sit back. He still has work to do, defining the land's boundaries and ensuring that each tribe mentioned knows their place. This is a challenge for us too. God's gift of belonging is free, but how we experience it depends on how we engage with him. Are you comfortable being alone with God, honest and consistent in prayer?

Are you connecting with his community, investing in relationships with others who follow Jesus? Are you growing in your faith through spiritual practices that draw you closer to him? The more we settle into our belonging with Jesus, the less unsettled we will feel with our current, circumstances. Jesus said so beautifully in John 14.3, If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also. Think about how it feels when someone prepares a space just for you, a guest room, a seat at the table, a moment of their time. That's the promise we have in Jesus. We have security in God's promises. We have comfort in His soul. We have comfort in His

spirit, and we have a true home in Jesus. Because of that, we already belong. Now remembering where we truly belong changes everything. It frees us from the exhausting cycle of striving to fit in, from proving ourselves, from anxiously reading every social cue. Instead, it helps us move through life with a calm confidence, a winsomeness that draws people in. And when we're secure in our belonging to Jesus, we don't have to cling tightly to ourselves, to our comfort zones, and to our images. We can release our defensiveness, our self-centeredness, and make space for others. The security allows us to extend the gift of belonging to people who are still searching, offering them not just connection, but a glimpse of the ultimate peace that comes to a belonging found in Jesus.

Think about how that could change someone's life, a simple, authentic invitation into community where they can belong, where they can hear the gospel, where they can experience God's love, where they can find peace in knowing that they're not alone. Who in your life might be longing for that kind of belonging? Can you think of someone, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, who feels out of place, who feels disconnected, someone who might be longing for hope but doesn't yet know where to find it? Take a moment to name them, picture their face. Now ask yourself, is God calling me or how might God be calling me to reach out to them? It doesn't have to be a grand gesture.

Sometimes it's as simple as extending an invitation to share a meal or come to small group or sit with you at church. Maybe it's just sitting with them and listening and showing them that they matter. As you consider that person pray for courage and motivation, ask God to soften your heart, ask God to open theirs, and to create opportunities for meaningful connection.