ESOCS Devotional 20 August 2026 – It Is Not By Power But By God’s Grace
MEMORY VERSE: Deut. 9:3 “But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them. He will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.”
TEXT: Deuteronomy 9:1-6
“Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ 3 Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.
4 “Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
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In our text today, we read of how Israel was able to displace nations stronger than them and took over their lands. This story will serve as a sample for us to copy if we desire to attain heights that seem impossible before by ordinary human endeavour. Very many good and great things that happen in our favour come through the power of God.
The first point to note here is that Israel was in a position far less in status and in strength that it would enter and occupy. The nations were stronger and greater – the Anakites, nobody dares them because of their physical stature and strength. The information of their elevation came by revelation by a man of God. They believed the word of and they became what the word of God said. We have got to hear and believe the scriptures today. If we believe, we can step into what God says about us.
The second is that God walks and works together with those who believe in him. In our text the Israelites wanted to go to war but God will go ahead of them like a devouring fire. We should venture and be sure that the God we serve and believe in goes with and ahead of us.
The third point to note is that God does not support wicked people. He displaces them and gives their place to those he has chosen and blessed. We can only loose our position in the kingdom of God and in God’s favour if we use what God has made us become to perpetuate wickedness. God displaced and destroyed the Anakites because of their wickedness. Deut. 9:4-5.
Again, God gave the lands and possessions of the wicked Anakites to Israel because of the promise he made to Abraham. Abraham laid the foundation for his descendants to enjoy. He believed and obeyed God. Till date, God still fights for and sustains Israel. Let us with our choice of life lay a foundation which will benefit our descendants tomorrow. Israel was a stiff necked people but God favoured them. Their ancestors lay the foundation decades ago.
(Gen. 12:17, Deut. 7:5). May our lives today bless our descendant’s tomorrow. Let us never be the reason why our children will suffer in the future.
Question
Who is the source of your favour?
Prayer
Father, remember me for good. Give me a portion. Remember your promises and perform them in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading: Heb. 6:13-end, Judges 13:1-end, Luke 1:5-38.
ESOCS Devotional 20 August 2026
