Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 1ST​

Give Them Something to Eat​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: MATTHEW 14:13-21

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish, they answered.
Matthew 14:15-17

The scene is by the seashore in the evening hours; the crowd has been listening all day and they are hungry. Philip comes to Jesus and tells him to send the crowds away so they can go and buy themselves some food. Instead, Jesus tells him to give them something to eat. And what was Philip's reaction? The Gospel of John tells us he said, It would take more than half a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! (John 6:7). Philip is counting on his human resources. Here is the Lord Jesus, whom he had just seen do wonderful things, standing in front of him, but he did not reckon on him at all. His reckoning was on the normal resources of life. If Philip had been an atheist and Jesus had said to him, Give them something to eat, he would have said the same thing exactly. In other words, there is no difference between the believer and the unbeliever in the way he acts in this situation.

How often and how easily we do this! God tells us to do something and we start immediately saying, Have I got the training, the background, the skill, the necessary knowledge? Have I had the course? Can I do this? Have I got the personality? I am not implying that you don't have to do some planning, because God does direct us to do certain things and not to do other things. But the point is, who do you reckon on when you do decide to do something? Is it you, or God in you?

That is the difference between the Old and the New Covenant. The Old Covenant says, everything comes from me, it all depends on me. If I don't have what it takes, it can't get done. On the other hand, your attitude can be that everything depends on God. He has called you and asked you to be his agent by which things get done. This is the New Covenant. The Old Covenant produces what Paul calls in Galatians, the acts of the flesh. That is what the Old Covenant is: the flesh at work. Thus it produces the works of the flesh which he says are evident: The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like (Galatians 5:19-21a).

Thank you, Father, for the wonderful truth of the New Covenant, that everything comes from you.

​

Life Application​

Who is your source when you decide to do something -- yourself or God within you?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 2ND​

Unquenchable Optimism​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 2:14-17

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?
2 Corinthians 2:14-16

There are certain qualities of living under the New Covenant. First, there is a kind of unquenchable optimism. Thanks be unto God, Paul says. This marks the kind of life Paul lived. He was always giving thanks for everything that happened, no matter how rough and tough it was. With that came unvarying success: who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession, Paul says. Never in failure; that is, not triumph in his own plan, but Christ's plan. Then there is an unforgettable impact.

Everywhere Paul goes he is like a perfume which fills a room, a fragrance of Christ. To some who are rejecting him, this fragrance is an odor of death unto death, but to those who accept it, it is an odor of life unto life.

Paul asks this question: And who is equal to such a task? Where do you get that kind of ability and adequacy? What kind of a study course will give you that? What kind of chemical compound will produce that? I am always fascinated by magazine ads. They are forever offering the secret of adequacy. If you get a certain deodorant you will be adequate to handle whatever comes your way, or if you would use the right mouthwash it will help tremendously. Everybody knows those ads are fake. Nobody even takes them seriously, although people do buy the product, which is what these ads seek. But if you really took seriously the claims of advertising, you would think you had discovered the elixir of life in some of these things. They are offering adequacy because that is what human beings long for — how to be able to cope, how to handle situations. And not only are chemical compounds offered, but also courses. One says, Have you discovered all the hidden powers of your personality? Do you know the secrets of the ancients, now rediscovered? Send a hundred dollars for this course. Read this and you will get all these secret powers. Again, it is the offer of the secret of adequacy. In a hundred ways today, the world is offering this.

Where do you find the secret of that kind of living? His answer is the New Covenant. The New Covenant consists of this: Nothing coming from us, everything from God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God (2 Corinthians 3:5). It is God at work in us that makes us act and produce this kind of living, if we are going to do it at all.

Lord, teach me to live by this life-changing principle: nothing comes from me, everything comes from you.

​

Life Application​

What truth do you rely on to help you cope with life's situations? Are you trusting the world's solutions or God's power?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 3RD​

The Source of Confidence​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 3:1-6

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6

What kind of confidence does Paul claim to possess? Paul is referring to the boldness, the confident sense of adequacy he has in his life that makes him able to function as a human being, and even in his work as an apostle. He says this confidence, this adequacy, comes from a certain source.

It does not come from ourselves. Those who depend on themselves are operating according the Old Covenant. Paul links this with the Law of Moses. He calls it, the letter which kills, which was engraved in stone. Why would Paul associate this with the Law of Moses? Because the Law was given in order to show us that the basis of our human life, inherited from Adam, is all wrong. It won't work. The Law makes a demand upon us and when we try to fulfill that demand, we find out we can't. Nobody has ever lived up to the Ten Commandments by trying his best. If you doubt that, give yourself twenty-four hours in which you seek with all your strength and might to live up to the Ten Commandments. I will guarantee you will have broken one of them before fifteen minutes is over. If not any others, the last one: You shall not covet. That means you must not look around and see anything that anybody else has that you would like to have. That is the Law! It is given to show us that the way we are living now, the resources of our life in Adam, is not workable.

The New Covenant Paul describes consists of this: Nothing coming from us, everything from God. It is God at work in us that makes us act and produce this kind of living, if we are going to do it at all. If that is the New Covenant, what do you think the Old Covenant is? Everything coming from us; nothing coming from God. At any given moment you are operating as a Christian on one or the other of those two options; you never can draw from both at once. But how could a believer in Jesus Christ even act as though nothing depended on God? It's amazing how easy it is to do this. We all know that God is there, but we really don't expect him to do anything. I am astonished at how little Christians expect God to do anything, and how churches are run and operated exactly like businesses, never expecting God to do a thing. Everything depends on us. It all has to be organized and carried out by people alone. Organizations can often become the substitute for the Holy Spirit. Somebody well said that if the Holy Spirit were suddenly removed from most of the churches of this country, nobody would know that anything had happened because they were not depending on him anyway.

Father, grant me this confident sense of adequacy that comes from depending on you.

​

Life Application​

What or Who is your source of confidence? Do you live as though you believe God can act through you?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 4TH​

How To Handle The Pressure​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-9

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:7-9

That is life, isn't it? Here are listed all the pressures common to man, not removed in the life of a Christian. It is false that when you become a Christian everything smooths out, and you are given a membership in a red carpet club through life, so that mysterious bridges appear over all the chasms, the winds are tempered for you, and there are no pressures or difficulties. What a far cry that is from reality! The problem is, the pressures are all there. This is life in the raw. Look at these categories:

Hard pressed on every side (afflictions): These are the normal trials which everybody faces, Christian and non-Christian alike. Your washing machine breaks down on Monday morning, your mother-in-law arrives just when you didn't want her, sickness strikes in your family, heartbreaks come, the buffetings of life which come to everyone. They are all so normal, so daily. I tell you, these last two weeks I feel as though I've been fighting ten rounds a day with Cassius Clay!

Perplexities: This refers to all the pressing calls for decisions when we don't know what to decide. We are at a loss, we can't see the end, we don't know how it is going to turn out. We are afflicted with fears, anxieties, worries, and uncertainties, all gathered up in this word perplexities.
Persecutions: These are the misunderstandings we all run up against, the ostracisms, the cold shoulders which are shown to us at times, the malicious actions and attitudes, deliberate slights, attacks on our character and our reputation, and oftentimes, the bigoted, prejudiced, unfair practices of members of society against one another; these are all part of the Christian's life as well as the non-Christian's.

Struck down: Stunning, shattering blows which drop out of the blue into our lives — accidents, fatal illnesses, war, earthquakes, famine, riot, insanity — the terrible episodes which shatter a family or an individual, and leave us frightened and baffled. All these things are part of normal Christian experience. There is no change in the problems, the pressures.

But look at the reactions. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. There is a power within, a transcendent power, different than anything else, which keeps pushing back with equal pressure against whatever comes from without, so that we are not destroyed, not crushed or despairing. That is what the Christian life is intended to be. There is no question about it. We are called to this kind of victorious experience.

Perhaps every one of us who knows Jesus Christ has experienced something of this at times. We know how Christ can undergird us in times of sorrow and strain, but usually it is in the big things, the shattering things, that we experience something of the reality of this. But this is intended to be a constant, continuous experience. We are to meet the pressures with an answering inner pressure, not only in the big things but in the little things as well.

Lord, I pray that I may learn to accept gladly, cheerfully, and understandingly the experiences which come my way, which force me to rely upon your grace.

​

Life Application​

How do you respond to the "slings and arrows" that life throws at you? Do you turn to Christ for his help, or do you respond with despair?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 5TH​

Life From Death​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:10-18

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
2 Corinthians 4:10-11

There are two factors at work here. One is an inner attitude to which we must consent: We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus. The second is an outward activity to which we are exposed: For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake. But notice that the result is the same. Each verse closes with these words: … so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body. That is, in our outward life, now. Not in heaven some day — now! …so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. Not our immortal flesh, not sunshine someday, but now!

What is the secret? It is the death of Jesus, the dying of Jesus, the cross of Jesus. The key to experiencing the life of Jesus is the death of Jesus. The key to discovering the glory of this treasure hidden within (the living out of the life of the Lord Jesus now) is the accepting of the meaning and practical result of his death.

The cross of Jesus had only one purpose: It was to bring to an end in evil man. That may be strange to say about Jesus, because we do not usually think of him as an evil man. But remember that Scripture says that he was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). And when he became what we are, there was nothing else God could do but put him to death. He brought him to an end. That is what God intends to do with what we are, apart from Christ. Jesus desires to bring it all to a crashing end in the death on a cross.

The cross puts to death the proud ego, that factor within us which, when we do good, wants to blow a trumpet so everyone can hear. Or when there is an opportunity to show off, it makes us eager to get in line. It is that faculty within which wants no one else to be as educated or as popular or as skillful or as beautiful as I, that faculty which resents it when another is chosen for what I want. It is the thing which struggles to be the center of my life, and expresses itself in self-pity, self-indulgence, and self-assertion, the ego which seeks constantly to be ministered to. And the secret of experiencing the life of Jesus is an attitude which welcomes the cross and gladly consents to having the ego crucified within us — put to death, allowed no expression, allowed no place of indulgence in our life. When we do that, then the life of Jesus becomes manifest immediately, and shines out.

I think of Gideon and his band of three hundred men who gathered around the camp of the Midianites. They had torches hidden in earthen vessels, earthen jars, which obscured the light. They circled the camp of the Midians and, at a given signal, broke the vessels, and the light flared forth (see Judges 7:20-22). There was a great victory over the Midianites who saw, as it were, an army surrounding and threatening them. That is what Paul is getting at. The vessel must be broken. There must be that which grinds down this proud ego within us, this self-expression. As we consent to that, the life of Jesus comes flowing out.

Lord, teach me to accept these snubs to my ego, these humiliating experiences which crush me, but which also produce the life of Jesus within me.

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Life Application​

Do you understand and acknowledge that the death of Jesus paved the way to crucify your own self-dependence?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 6TH​

The End of Your Resources​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 7:14-20

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Romans 7:15

Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever seen a zealous, eager young Christian or older Christian desperately trying to do something for God and ending up after a while so discouraged and defeated that he just wants to quit? In fact, he probably does. But that is a very hopeful stage. Jesus said that those who are poor in spirit and have come to the end of their own resources are blessed (Matthew 5:3). Why? That is the time when God can give you something. When you have come to the end of your own resources, then he can give you his. That is why the Old Covenant is, Nothing coming from God, everything coming from me, while the New Covenant is, Everything coming from God, nothing coming from me.

You only have to look at yourself to see how much of your life is lived in that Old Covenant. You expect success by virtue of something resident in you: your ancestry, your training, your personality, your good looks or something like that. This attitude produces the kind of person that reckons on his resources: I've got what it takes, I can do that. Now he may be very modest in his language. We learn all kinds of little subtle tricks to hide this kind of egoism. We say, I have never really had any special training for that, but I have had some experience in it, and I will do my best. Thus we are subtly saying to people, I have got what it takes. Or we look at the demands, the specific problem, the situation we are asked to enter into or perform, and we say, I don't have what it takes. I can't do that. Don't ask me to do a thing like that. I am one of those people that was behind the door when the gifts were passed out, and I just can't do anything like that.

But who are you looking at when you say something like that? Yourself! You are reckoning on your un-resources but your eye is fixed on the same person, yourself. So both responses are wrong. One view focuses on our power, our abilities, our experience, while the other view focuses on our un-resources, our inabilities, our inexperience — but both fix the focus on ourselves.

Forgive, me, Father, for the times I rely on myself rather than you. Teach me to reckon on my un-resources.

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Life Application​

Where have you been relying on your own resources and not considering that God offers all the resources you need?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 7TH​

The Secret of Life​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 5:15-17

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Romans 5:17

This is the secret of life. This is the way man was intended to live, and this is the way he did live in the beginning. When Adam was created, he was a man in-dwelt by the Spirit of God, and therefore everything he did, he did by the power of God. Whenever Adam planted a tree, or weeded the garden, or picked up a shrub, or named the animals, or whatever it was, he did it by the wisdom and power of God. It was done by God at work in him. Adam had an exhilarating sense of doing things right by virtue of the fact that he expected God who lived within him to supply what it took to do it. That is the New Covenant. But when God gave him the choice of obedience, which involved Adam continuing to expect God to supply him with all the knowledge that he needed, Adam chose to disobey and he lost that relationship. The Spirit of God was withdrawn from his human spirit and he was plunged into the condition in which we are all born, that of counting on something within us for success.

This is basic to an understanding of human activity and the problems of human life. We have to teach people that the problem with them is that they are counting on the wrong resource. We must patiently set it forth, and help people to recognize the flesh (the old life at work within them) and analyze various situations to see whether it is the Old or the New Covenant they are drawing on. Nothing is more basic to getting people operating rightly than this.

Most of us know something about this life in the Spirit. We try to live this way, but the trouble is that we try to hang on to both. Do you ever see that in your prayers? Do you ever come to God and say, Lord, I have worked this all out, I want you to bless it? What is that saying? It all depends on me. I want you to make it work, that's all. That is trying to mix the old and the new, and it will never work. God will never go along with this process. He just folds his arms and says, If that is the way you want to do it, then you do it. I'll watch you. And he watches us until we fall flat on our face. But when we are discouraged, after finding out it did not work, and cry out, Lord, help me, he says, Here I am. I have been here all along and I am willing to work through you right now, as long as you quit working and depending on yourself.

This does not mean that people become robots. The choosing is left up to us, just as it was to Adam. The power of choice is what is given to men, not the power to do. The minute you choose to act, something else must supply the power within you: Either it is the old twisted form of life called the flesh, or it is the new life from the Spirit which will produce the fruit of the Spirit. But the key is that you must reject the old; then you can choose the new. God allows us to make the choices and he works through us. That is what this New Covenant is all about.

Thank you, Lord, for the power to choose, and through your Spirit the power to do. Teach me to reckon on that great truth.

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Life Application​

How can you practice turning to God for the power to choose his strength and not your own, exercising the fruit of the Spirit over your old way of life?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 8TH​

Getting to Know God Better​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 1:16-17

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17

The Apostle Paul has been teaching the great facts underlying the Christian faith in Ephesians 1, and we turn now to his prayer. This is a helpful revelation of the place of prayer in the Christian experience, especially in believers who are maturing, and in relationship to the study of Scripture. This brings prayer and the Scriptures together. The apostle, having finished a great passage in which he has set forth what the three-fold God is doing for us, now adds these words addressed to the Ephesian Christians.

That is really the major objective of a Christian life — to know God better. We need to ask ourselves, Is this happening with us? Are we really getting to know God better?

There is a principle in the Scripture that is very important for us to understand. We are all familiar with the phrase that says we are made in the image of God, which means in some way that humanity reflects God. But this fact means that we cannot learn who we are until we begin to know and learn who God is. It is the revelation and understanding of the nature of God that will tell us what we are like.

I believe that this is one of the major reasons why many people today never seem to discover who they are. They never learn what they can do, what possibilities lie within, and what potential is theirs because they have never discovered who God is. We reflect him, and therefore it is extremely important that we come to know God better. Remember that Jesus said this in his great prayer to the Father: Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).

This is the reason that we exist — that we may know God better. I hope this is happening to you, young and old alike. You never get to the end of knowing more about God. He is such a fantastic being that revelations about his character and nature keep coming to us, and we discover that as we know him better, we suddenly realize we know ourselves better too.

So Paul prays for these people. He doesn't know their circumstances. He can't pray for their daily problems and pressures as you can when you know somebody personally. But he can pray, and does pray, that they may know God better. That will take care of everything.

Open my eyes, Lord, so that I may see more of who you are.

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Life Application​

Will you make it your top priority to know God better? Will you pray to this end on a daily basis?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 9TH​

The Eyes of Your Heart​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 1:18-23

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 1:18-19a

The eyes of the mind can grasp the doctrine and teaching about God, for we see with our minds. Perhaps somebody has said something to you and you have replied, Oh, yes, I see what you mean. You didn't see it with your eyes; you saw it with your mind. But Scriptures declares that your hearts have eyes too. And Paul prays that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened.

In the Scriptures the heart is the seat of the emotions. The apostle's prayer is that we may so grasp the revelation that is made to the mind, that it begins to enlighten, move, and motivate our hearts. That is when we become vital Christians — turned on, ready to serve, and highly motivated because we have begun to feel the power and the wonder of the truth that we have been taught.

Paul begins by praying that we might see the hope to which he has called us. This is clearly the hope of being changed into his likeness, the hope of glory. Paul speaks of it many places in the Scripture. He says, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, (2 Corinthians 4:17). We must not look at life as the world around us does, as being all that we'll ever get, as the only chance you are going to have to find fulfillment. The world says, If you don't take it now, you are never going to get another chance. I have seen that misunderstanding drive people into forsaking their marriages after 30 or 40 years and running off with another, usually younger, person, hoping that they can still fulfill their dreams because they feel life is slipping away from them.

Christians are not to think that way. We are being told that life is a school, a training period. It is where we are being prepared for something that is incredibly great, but it is yet to come. I don't understand all that is involved in this, but I believe it, and I can hardly wait until it happens. Don't succumb to the philosophy that you have got to have it now or you will never have a chance. You can pass by a lot of things now and be content because you know that what you are getting, what God is sending you in terms of your present experience, is just what you need to get you ready for what he has waiting for you when life is over.

So don't lose hope. You are headed for hope, headed for life, headed for glory. All of this life is working toward that end. You don't need to be depressed or feel that everything is useless, that you can't do anything, you are getting older, you have lost your ability to function, and so on. This is not true. Paul prays that these Christians may feel in their hearts the great hope to which he has called them. It is all waiting for them beyond death, it is the shining hope that they are moving inevitably toward.

Lord, open the eyes of my heart that I might see the power and the wonder of the hope I've been given.

​

Life Application​

Am I living as though this life is all that matters, or am I recognizing that the hope I've been given is a certainty to come?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 10TH​

God's Inheritance In Us​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 1:18-23

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 1:18-19a

In this prayer for the Ephesians, Paul prays that they might come to see the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. When people hear the word inheritance, everyone thinks in terms of the inheritance that we have in God, and the Scripture teaches that. He is our inheritance. He is like a great bank deposit of resources from which we can draw strength, comfort, encouragement, correction, and whatever else we need as we face problems in our lives. We can draw on God — daily, moment by moment. We have all sung hymns about it, and you have experienced it yourselves. But that is not what Paul is talking about here. He is talking about God's inheritance in us, and the enrichment that will come to our lives when we discover what it means to let God have what is his — his inheritance in us.

What is that? All through the Scriptures we are being told that, when we became Christians, God gave us gifts which we never had before. Every Christian has one or more, and they are given to us in order that, when we begin to exercise them, we find that we can help others and life becomes an exciting adventure of faith. God's inheritance in us is the joy he feels in using us to accomplish his work of changing people and bringing them from death to life, using the gifts he has given us. The apostle is saying that he wants us to discover how exciting and enriching that can be for us. Do you know that the greatest thrill that any human being can have is the sense that God has just used you to help somebody else? This is the most wonderful feeling that you can ever have. And God has given each of us gifts for that purpose.

Think about the gift God has given you, and put it to work in helping someone. Some have the gift of helps, some teaching, some administration, some wisdom, some knowledge, etc. All of these things are gifts that the Spirit of God has given to us. When we begin to exercise them, we lose the dullness and routine of our lives because we are caught up in an exciting ministry. When we do this, we discover the exciting riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

Father, thank you that I am your inheritance. Teach me to use my gifts and thus to bring you more joy.

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Life Application​

How can you discover the gifts God has given you and bring him joy when you exercise them?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 11TH​

Quiet Power​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 1:18-23

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know…his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 1:18-20

In the last of three requests Paul makes on behalf of the Ephesians, Paul prays that they may know God's incomparably great power, which is at work in us, for us who believe. When you became a Christian, you were immediately equipped with power. It came with the Spirit of grace who came into your heart. When we receive the Lord Jesus, he gives us the Spirit of love and grace and of power; and all of that comes when we believe in him. What we need to understand is the way this power works.

The resurrection of Jesus is the model of the power we possess. Unfortunately, when we read about the resurrection, we focus upon the angel's rolling away of the stone, and the earthquake, and the terror of the Roman guards. But what we don't realize is that all those events followed the resurrection. He was already resurrected when those things took place. His body lay in the tomb wrapped in the grave clothes, and yet at a moment that God determined, the body left those grave clothes. They were left lying there, crumpled up and sunken down, with no body in them. Jesus passed through the great stone while it was still standing before the door of the tomb. It was later rolled away to let the disciples in! The resurrection power of God is not a power that makes a great demonstration. It is quiet. This is power that you don't feel. You don't have any sense that it is happening, but it is happening.

This power only happens when you begin to act. When you begin to exercise the gifts that God has given you, then the power begins to flow, not before. Then God will work through you to accomplish things that will leave you gasping at what he has done. You didn't feel this power. You don't suddenly feel strong, capable, and mighty. No, you felt weak; God's power is made perfect in weakness. Many people never discover what God can do in their lives because they keep waiting to feel powerful before they act. No, you won't feel powerful. Begin to reach out and act to meet the needs around, and suddenly you discover that there is unusual power at work.

When Joshua crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the priests were told to go first and bear on their shoulders the ark of the covenant. They were to walk down to the River Jordan, which was flowing in flood before them, and trust in God that something would happen by the time they got to the river. And so they did. In faith they believed that God would do what he said he would do. When the priests put the ark of the covenant on their shoulders, they walked down, and when the soles of their feet actually touched the water, the water parted, and they went through on dry ground to the other side. That is the way God's power works. When you put it to work, when you begin to act yourself, expecting him to be with you, then his power begins to work. There is no noise, no flash, and no movement. The power is already there, and God is waiting for you to trust.

Father, grant that I might know this quiet power of the resurrected Christ in my life as I step out in dependence on you.

​

Life Application​

What can you do today, exercising faith that God will work through your actions for his glory?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 12TH​

A Funnel for Power​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 1:18-23

That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:19b-21

You will never find out what God can do with you until you begin to step out and take on some activity that you need power for. Then you will discover his power. What are some of the wonderful things this power can do? First, this power allows us to face our inner hurts and fears. Many people are locked into uselessness by dwelling on their past. It helps to know your past and to acknowledge it. But once you know the things that set you on a wrong path, you also have to remember that the Scripture says we are to forget the things that are past and press on, because we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. We are no longer what we once were, and therefore we can set aside that past, having once faced it and seen its impact upon us. Day by day we begin to walk with God as his newly created child. We will discover that this power will enable us to overcome all the dysfunctions of a bad past.

Second, it is power to abandon evil habits. I know Christians who are still in bondage to habits that have held them in an iron grasp — alcoholism, drug use, an evil temper, lustful practices, and bad attitudes. Here is a power that enables you to say No! to these things, and to go on saying No. It can break the grip of these things upon us. It is a power to restore broken relationships. There may be members of your family or friends that you haven't spoken to for a long time. You may be bitter over some experience that you had long ago, and you never want to forgive somebody for what they have done. Here is power to forgive, power to remember that you have been forgiven. Therefore you can forgive, and you can heal those broken relationships, and give a word of acceptance to somebody who has been estranged from you.

Finally it is power to reach out to others to help them in their need. It is power to respond to people's hurts around you and power to take time to minister to them. This is what makes a church function as God intended it to in society. The church is God's great funnel through which all this great power flows.

Lord, thank you fore the power to face my inner fears, to abandon evil habits, and to reach out to others in need. May I be a funnel through which your power flows.

Life Application​

Are you ready to rely on God's power to experience changes within your heart and in your behavior, and to reach out to others who need help?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 13TH​

Legality or Licence?​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: GALATIANS 4:8-20

But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
Galatians 4:9-10

Paul asks, Why are you going back under Law now that you have been brought out into the liberty that is Christ Jesus? The Word of God makes it very plain that a Christian is to be controlled by grace and not by Law. There are many misunderstandings about the application of grace to a Christian life. One that is prevalent today is that grace really means no control at all. Their idea is that you can do anything you want in grace. If you are under grace you do not have any rules or any regulations; you just do as you please, and nothing can stop you. Since you will be forgiven, you may feel free to live it up all your life. This is a very common misunderstanding of grace, and it is one that is far from the truth.

In a Christian life there are two extremes: Legality and license — and the devil does not really care which one he pushes you into. If he can get you into either one, your life is ruined as far as usefulness for God is concerned. But grace represents the middle path that goes right down between the two. License is lawlessness; it is anarchy; it is saying I'm free to do anything I want, there are no limits to my indulgence. If I want to do something that the Bible says is wrong, well, I'm not under the Law but under grace, and I can go ahead and do it. This is license and it is wrong. At the other extreme, there is legality. Our trouble is that to escape license, sometimes we rebound into legality. We feel the condemnation of conscience that comes with living a wild, free, untrammeled life, and we react with legality. We impose on ourselves laws, rigid rules, long lists of don'ts which prevent us from doing anything but eat, sleep, and read the Bible.

There are many who wrongly think that the standards of grace are much lower than the standards of legalism. True Christians, someone says, never smoke, or dance, or go to the movies, or gamble, or drink. And since you sometimes see those who say they are living by grace do these things, it proves the standards of grace are lower than those of the Law. Actually, the reverse is true. According to God's Word, these outward acts are much less serious sin, if they are sin at all, than the inward, vicious sins of the spirit that legalists almost invariably permit in their own lives.

Legal standards always are concerned with outward acts. As long as you can keep the outward aspect of your life adjusted to a particular rule or standard, you can consider yourself spiritual. But grace goes beyond the outward act into the heart, and it says the heart must be right as well. The standards of grace are concerned with those inward attitudes that create the outward act. Legalism can never rise to that level. It is only concerned with a few outward things visible to others, but the heart may be rank and evil with slander, malice, bitterness, gossip, and all the other works of the flesh.

Father, thank you for the riches of grace I have in Christ Jesus. I pray that my heart may be awakened to the riches of grace, and that I may be stimulated to do the very things that are pleasing to you.

​

Life Application​

How can I order my life so that my outward behavior is based on reliance on Jesus Christ's grace?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 14TH​

Not Ashamed​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 1:8-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans 1:16

Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. He has reached the intelligent conclusion that the gospel has no rivals, that it can do what nothing else can do, and therefore there is no need to be ashamed because it is pure, undiluted, undiminished power! And not merely power, but God's power, resurrection power, a unique kind of power which nothing in the world can rival. This is the missing note, above all else, that we lack in our present life in the world today. Christians have forgotten that the gospel is absolutely unique. It does not borrow anything from any human source — it does not borrow from psychology, from history, from philosophy, from science, or from anything. It is an absolutely unique force. That is why Paul is not ashamed of it.

If anything could make him ashamed, it would be the city of Rome. Rome sneered at the Christian story. These proud Roman citizens laughed at this fantastic tale of a man named Jesus who lived in an obscure Roman province, and who was supposedly raised from the dead after the procurator Pontius Pilate had put him to death. It was absurd to these practical, hard-headed Romans. Rome ruled in haughty power as mistress of the earth. Rome was proud of its roads which ran throughout the whole empire and made trade and commerce possible everywhere. Rome was proud of its culture, with its beautiful cities and its wonderful statues and art and music. Rome was proud of its conquests, of the fact that its armies were unbeatable. For over 1,000 years, a kind of uneasy peace lay over the world called Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, because of the power and might of Rome's invincible armies.

But with all this display of power, there were many things Rome could not do. Rome was powerless when it came to freeing the slaves that abounded in the Empire. Romans were seemingly powerless to curb their own lusts. The seeds of disintegration were already manifest in Roman society, which would ultimately bring the whole thing crashing down around their ears. Romans were absolutely helpless when it came to vanquishing their fears. They lived in terror of the barbarian hordes that were around the borders of the empire. They were engrossed in rank superstition because of their fears. They were powerless to cure or heal the inner agonies of their spirits. You only need to read the literature of that day to know their poignant cry for help against the meaninglessness of life. They were unable to awaken hope, and on tombstone after tombstone you find written in Latin, No Hope.

But the gospel meets all these needs. That is the uniqueness of it. Here is our world today, like Rome, powerless amid its display of power. It can do so many things of a technological nature, but one thing it cannot do: It cannot heal a human heart, it cannot awaken hope, and it cannot unite that which is fragmented and divided. It has no power in this realm. But when you have been used as an instrument of that kind of power, beside that the exercise of earthly power is dull and drab indeed.

Lord, strengthen me with a deeper understanding of the power of the Gospel so that I will not be ashamed of it.

​

Life Application​

Do you fully understand the power of the Gospel so that you need not be ashamed of being a follower of Jesus?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 15TH​

God is Able​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-11

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

Paul begins where we should always begin in our thinking about Christianity — with the power of God: God is able, he says. In many places the church is weak because it has forgotten or lost sight of the power of God. The church has only one kind of power it can operate on, and that is God's power. If it loses that, it is reduced to the same power the world or any worldly organization has — the power of numbers, the power of political maneuvering, or the power of moral constraint. This verse is declaring that we must begin our thinking there: God is able.

It is easy for us to see God's power in nature. I stood beside a mountain lake high in the Sierras on a bright moonlit night and looked out at the lake with the moon shining on its waters. I was surrounded by frowning peaks which were reflected in the waters of the lake. I was moved by the beauty and power of God in nature. I thought of those words in Hebrews that say that the Lord upholds all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3b). The great universe is sustained in its complexity by the power of God at work.

Paul also gives us the channel by which this power comes to us: And God is able to bless you abundantly or as the King James Version puts it, all grace shall abound. That is the literal rendering of the Greek. The word is grace. Grace is a general term for all that God has made available to us. It is God's character, God's virtue, all God's being made available to us. Grace has one peculiar mark about it. It is a gift. It cannot be purchased or worked for. It is unmerited. That is why so many Christians do not know anything about the power of God, because that power comes only through the channel of grace. They keep trying to bargain for God's power, but if you bargain for it, then it is no longer grace. To bargain with God is like turning off the tap. You cannot experience the power of God if you are trying to earn it. This is why many Christians cannot get hold of the power of God.

What is all this for in your life? It is that so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. In other words, that you may be engaged in work that blesses, strengthens, and helps others. That is what God is doing in this world. This is the way he expects his people to operate — to have all they need. God is no miser. God does not deal out only so much patience, only so much love, giving only a limited supply. He does not put you on rations and say, Sorry, you can only have a little bit, there's not quite enough. No, you can have all it takes, any time. He will give you exactly what you need, but never too much. My question is this: Is God obtaining his purpose with you? Is it all working out to good works in your life, works that help others, works that minister to the needs of others? That is what God is after.

Lord, you have provided all that I need. Thank you that through your power I am able to abound in every good work.

​

Life Application​

Are you accepting everything that God gives you in his grace and by his power, so that you can extend his grace to others?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 16TH​

Legalism: False Christianity​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: GALATIANS 5:1-6

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

Legalism. We tend to think that everybody else has it, but that we don't. It's like the common cold. We don't understand what it is or how to cure it, but almost everyone suffers from it, and we find it to be very highly contagious. Legalism is like that. It comes upon you and you hardly know what has happened, but there it is. The symptoms are suddenly present and you don't know what to do with it — certainly not how to cure it — and so you suffer through it, but don't know what is wrong.

But legalism is one of the favorite weapons of the enemy. He loves to get Christians to be legalistic, for then he has destroyed their enjoyment of the Spirit and he can use them to spread havoc among other believers. That is what happened in Galatia. Here was a group of young Christians who had a fantastic beginning. They had given themselves totally to Christ. But, after a while, legalism set in. What had been a bright and marvelous testimony of the grace of God was being turned into a dull, apathetic group of religionists — cold, barren, and empty.

This is what legalism will do. It destroys! It did then, and it does the same thing today. I know of no affliction in Christendom which is more widespread, and more devastating in its destructiveness, than this. Across the world today many churches are sunken into a pall of boredom and futility, largely because of the legalistic spirit which has throttled their spiritual vitality.
Legalism can be described as false Christianity. It sounds Christian, and looks Christian, but it is not true Christianity. It as a spurious fake, an empty, hollow counterfeit of the real thing. True Christianity, on the other hand, is to manifest genuinely Christ-like behavior by dependence on the working of the Spirit of God within, motivated by a love for the glory and honor of God. This is the genuine article. There is an expected pattern of Christ-like behavior. There is also the necessary element of a sufficient and adequate power. The good news is that God has given us a sufficient and adequate power, indwelling us, available to us at all times, so that we never have an excuse for not being what we ought to be. With the Spirit of Jesus Christ indwelling us, we have what it takes — a sufficient and adequate power. There is also a powerful, compelling hunger for the glory of God. In short, the true Christian life is fulfilling a law by means of a unique power because of an overwhelming desire.

Lord, help me to identify those legalistic tendencies in my life, and live in the freedom of the Spirit that you have made available to me.

​

Life Application​

Will you ask the Lord to help you recognize and eradicate any aspects of legalism in your life, and seek to live in the freedom of
the Holy Spirit's power?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 17TH​

Legalism: The Wrong Standard​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 14:1-9

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.
Romans 14:1-3

One form of legalism is to have the wrong standard. Legalism then becomes making unwarranted or unnecessary demands on yourself or on someone else, especially in areas which are not prohibited in the Scriptures. There is a standard which is prescribed; the Law of God never changes and it is always right, always applicable and relevant to a Christian. For instance, it is always wrong to murder, or to lie, or to steal, or to commit adultery, or to covet your neighbor's things. These are always wrong, they are never right, and there is no way ever of justifying them.

But there are other areas in which we are given a great deal of personal liberty, and it is legalism to make standards (particularly for someone else) in these areas. Here we must be careful, because, for ourselves, it is proper to set standards or rules which apply to us. When we have difficulty with some situation, or we discover a weakness within ourselves, it is wise to make a rule for our own protection.

But legalism comes in when a group of Christians makes rules for each other. When the early Christians wrote to Paul, they asked, What about these Christians who are eating meat offered to idols? A group of them were upset about this and they wrote to the apostle, saying, We don't think that is right. But Paul wrote back and said in effect, Here is an area where each man must be fully persuaded in his own mind. You can't make rules for each other, and you have to honor a weaker brother's conscience. If he is troubled by a certain action, then don't flaunt your liberty in his presence, but be careful to love each other.

So it becomes legalism for Christians to levy standards of achievement or behavior or spirituality upon others. Today this involves how we dress, how we observe the Sabbath, the kinds of entertainment we enjoy, and what we chose to eat and drink — all these things become legality when they are legislated upon somebody else. These are areas in which we are left free to be guided by our conscience, instructed by the Word of God in general principles. We are free to counsel one another and help one another, but not to legislate. It is wrong, absolutely wrong, to do so. It becomes legalism when we make unwarranted demands upon others in an area not prohibited by Scripture.

Forgive me, Lord, for those times I have judged others by standards not in your Word. Remind me not to judge those whom you have accepted.

Life Application​

Will you ask God to give you awareness of any legalistic standards you are imposing on others, and ask for freedom from judgmentalism?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 18TH​

Legalism: Depending on the Flesh​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: GALATIANS 5:13-26

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:16-18

One form of legalism is to make proper demands, but with no awareness of the proper power it takes to fulfill them. This becomes a very subtle form of legalism because it is always based on a proper demand which is in Scripture. But even in that area it is wrong to make a demand upon someone who doesn't understand the power by which it is to be met.

Do you see how subtle this can be? The actual behavior can be exactly the same in the case of a legalist or of one behaving as an authentic Christian. They both may be real Christians and their behavior may be exactly the same, but one is legalistic and the other is not. It is what is going on inside that matters. It is a matter of inner reliance. What are you depending on to meet this demand? Are you counting on your ability, your own adequacy, your talent, your personality? Is that what you are depending on in order to accomplish what is expected of you? If you are depending on anything other than the activity of God at work in you, you are a legalist!

The most widespread form of legalism in the Christian church is the flesh — trying to do something before God which will be acceptable to him. The flesh is the old life, the natural life inherited from Adam, with its apparent resources of personality, of ancestry, of commitment, and of dedication. You can do all kinds of religious things in the flesh. The flesh can preach a sermon. The flesh can sing in the choir. The flesh can act as an usher. The flesh can lead people to Christ. The flesh be very zealous in its witnessing and amass a terribly impressive list of people won to Christ. The flesh can do these things, but it is absolutely nauseating in the eyes of God. It is merely religious activity. There is nothing wrong with what is being done, but what is terribly wrong is the power being relied upon to do it.

It is paramount that we understand that. Because other Christians around you approve of what you are doing is no sign at all that what you are doing is acceptable to God. What you are doing must be done out of a reliance on the power he provides, or else it is nauseating religious hypocrisy in his sight, and it will ultimately prove to be that in the eyes of others as well.

How often have I, Lord, fallen into the trap of trying to do the right thing in complete reliance on myself? Thank you for the power you provide through simple faith to do what's right.

Life Application​

How can you practice depending upon the power of God within you, and not on your own abilities, to live out your daily life as a Christian?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 19TH​

How to Kill a Lion​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: 1 CHRONICLES 11:22-24

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits… He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
1 Chronicles 11:22-23

Benaiah was made captain of David's bodyguard. He was chosen for that position of honor close to the person of the king because of the deeds of valor for which he was widely known throughout the nation. Perhaps the greatest deed for which he was known was that he went down and slew a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. A lion is a very ferocious adversary. Benaiah met him in a very difficult place and slew him, and thus was recognized as a man of valor.

Who among us has not been confronted with such an enemy? I am sure you can guess at what the lion symbolizes. Peter tells us: Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, (1 Peter 5:8 RSV). Here is an enemy who is sinister, has tremendous majesty and authority and power, and is out looking for something to eat. I am sure we have sensed a tremendous dread of the devil and felt terrified by this adversary.

Benaiah met this lion in the worst possible place. If you are going to fight a lion, certainly the one place not to choose is a pit, where you cannot get away. If I were to fight a lion, I at least would want to be out on a plain where I could take certain steps — preferably long ones — to get away! But you cannot run in a pit. Have you ever been there? Have you ever run into this terrible thing you dreaded to have happen, and found there was no way to avoid it? Notice also that Benaiah met this lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. That made it a very treacherous situation — the worst possible foe, in the worst possible place, under the worst possible circumstances.

How did he win? Benaiah was able to win because that is the kind of man he was. In the Bible, when you want to know what a man is like, look at his name. Biblical names are designed to give you a clue to the character of the individual. In almost every instance his name is with his father's — Benaiah the son of Jehoiada? If you take the meaning of those two names, you get the secret of how to kill a lion on a snowy day. Jehoiada means God knows, and Benaiah means God builds. Those twin truths are the secret of how to meet a lion, the worst possible foe, in the worst possible place, under the worst possible circumstances, and win.

Remember to rest upon the facts that God knows where you are. He chose that place for you. God put you where you are, and he knows all about you. Ah, but more than that, he builds. He has a purpose in mind. He knows what is happening and he is using it to work toward an end. Out of all the record of Paul's heartache and sorrow and suffering, This light affliction, he said, is but for a moment, and is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV). And this is not only in heaven some day, but now. Those who go through heartaches, pressure, problems, and tribulation always emerge, when they are in God's hand, softened, chastened, mellowed, more loving, warmer, more compassionate. This is the secret of survival: God knows, God builds.

Thank you for this truth, Lord, which leaps at me from an obscure incident in the Scriptures, that I may know how to face life and live as you want me to live. Amen.

Life Application​

What can you do today to act in trust that God knows your life and is using circumstances according to his plan?

Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries

 

[Obadiah]

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR FEBRUARY 20TH​

True Humanity​

READ THE SCRIPTURE: JOHN 14:15-21

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.
John 14:20-21

There is nothing more important for us than to understand the earthly life of Jesus Christ. There is a very mistaken concept among Christians that Jesus came to show us what God was like and how he would behave among men. This is far from the truth, for Jesus did not come to show us how God behaves. It is true that he came to reveal the Father in his character, but in his activity he came to reveal humanity as God intended humanity to be. In everything he did we see humanity acting as God intended us to act, from the very beginning.

At the very heart of that manifestation is the key and secret of human life. The principle on which he lived is the principle on which God intended man to live and by which we are to live. Throughout our Lord's ministry he reminded us continually of that great principle, not only by his words, but by his deeds. You put Christ back into the Christian and you put God back into the man. This is the revolutionary claim of Christianity. Unfortunately, it is often obscured in our day. This is why there are so many false claims and so many attempts to substitute something dramatic, something which would appeal to the human heart to distinguish Christianity from other faiths. The radical claim of Christianity is that Jesus Christ offers to live his human life all over again in you, in the midst of the situations that you daily face.

There are few who seem to step out into this kind of living, but wherever it is attempted, strange things begin to happen. Not that the life becomes suddenly spectacular and people go around doing miracles and other wonders, but in the quiet daily experience of life, in the various decisions that come to us, there is a quiet trust in the wisdom of God to meet our need, and things begin to work out in unexpected ways. Extraordinary things follow ordinary activity, as God begins to work in human life. This is the secret of human life, as our Lord demonstrated it, making it available to us as we by faith receive Jesus Christ, that his life may be lived again in us.

Father, thank you for this mighty revelation of the basic secret that makes life make sense. I pray that you will open my minds to teach me these things that are so different from what I have learned in the world.

​

Life Application​

Which circumstances in your life could be changed by increased trust that God is in control and will meet your needs?
Daily Devotion © 2024 by Ray Stedman Ministries.