Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 5th​

God's Wisdom​

I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.

1 Corinthians 2:3-5

This ought to be one of the most encouraging passages to any of us who have tried to be a witness as a Christian. Speaking of the things of Christ and the things of God is easy in a church like this where you are gathered with Christian friends because nobody objects. However, when you try to talk about these things with unbelievers, people who are committed to the philosophy of taking care of number one first and who are out to seek for fame or fortune or whatever it may be, you find it very difficult. You feel much personal weakness and fear and trembling. That is the way Paul felt, and that ought to be an encouragement to us.

The reason he felt like this is because what he was saying to them was not in line with what the world wants to hear about itself. It did not massage the ego of man; it did not make him sound like he was incredibly important. Paul deliberately rejected that approach which is wrong because it does not help man. Instead, he began to talk about this judgment of God upon the thinking, the attitudes, and the wisdom of man, and it left him feeling rejected. In a sense that is what Paul was suffering in Corinth. He came, but there was no great ego-pleasing reception for him, there were no dinners, there was no Academy Award given to him.

He tells us how he felt. He felt fearful, weak, and ineffective. He felt his words were not outstanding; he felt he did not impress anybody by the way he came at this. Have you ever felt that way? I have, many times. I have sat down with somebody to witness to him and I felt as if I had two tongues and they were stumbling over one another. I did not seem to have the right answers to things. I could only talk about how it affected me; I felt like I was doing nothing effective. Yet Paul was not discouraged. In the book of Acts we are told that after he had been in Corinth for a few months the Lord Jesus appeared to him in a vision and strengthened him and said to him, Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent, ... and no man shall attack you to harm you, (Acts 18:9-10). Paul was afraid he was going to be beaten up as he had been in other cities. He was afraid of being branded as a religious fanatic. He did not like those feelings, nevertheless he faithfully began to talk about Jesus Christ.

Soon there was a second visible result. Paul calls it the demonstration of the Spirit's power. As Paul in this great sense of weakness told the facts and the story out of the simple earnestness of his heart, God's spirit began to work and people started coming to Christ. You read the account in Acts. First, the rulers of the synagogue turned to Christ, and then hundreds of the common, ordinary, plain people of Corinth began to become Christians. Soon there was a great spiritual awakening, and before the city of Corinth knew what had happened, a church had been planted in its midst and a ferment was running throughout the city. I believe that this working through our human inadequacy is God's continuous and perennial way of evangelism.

Does that encourage you? It does me. You may sit down with somebody over a cup or coffee and hardly know how to say it, but you stammer out some word about what Jesus Christ has meant to you, and the earnestness in your face and the love and compassion in your heart comes through in that simple way and somebody is touched who would never have been reached by eloquent oratory or rhetoric. That is what Paul is talking about, the simplicity of the approach. He knew what he was doing because he was simply being honest with them. He was telling them what was true about their life.

Father, thank you that you have come to fill me with the glory of the truth and of life, of hope and of courage, of faith and fulfillment. I pray that, despite fear and trembling, I may be willing to speak for you.

Life Application​

Do we fall apart when our attempted witness is received with rejection and skepticism? Are we learning to speak the Truth with compassion? Do we count on the power of God, rather than our own human resources?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 6th​

God's Teacher​

...these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11

That passage introduces to us how this mighty teacher come from God, the Holy Spirit himself, is designed to instruct us with the Word of God and lead us into the truth of God that will change our lives and expose us to this secret and hidden wisdom of God (v.7). When you discover that, life is going to be exciting and adventurous, like nothing you ever dreamed before, for this line of truth is designed to set us free, to let us be the men and women God designed us to be.

Notice how the apostle first underscores here the spirit's knowledge: No one understands the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him. Have you ever tried to talk to your plants? We are told that plants can respond to our moods and reflect our attitudes. I know a woman who even prays over each plant. I don't know what it does for the plant, but it probably helps her a great deal. But it is evident that plants do not talk back. Life is constructed at various levels; the higher can take hold of the lower, but the lower cannot reach up to the higher. We have plant life, we have animal life, then human life, then the angelic life, and finally, divine life. The higher can reach down to encompass the lower, but the lower cannot reach up to the higher. That is Paul's argument here. Though no animal can reach into the realm of human relationship and converse with us, other human beings like ourselves can.

Now here is this great Being of God in our universe, this fantastic Being of infinite wisdom and mighty power. How can we know anything about him? Paul's answer is that we cannot, except he discloses himself to us. You cannot find out God by searching. Man by wisdom does not know God. Man by investigation of all the natural forces of life will never find his way to the heart of God. Only God himself must disclose himself, must open himself to us. That he has done by means of the Spirit of God — the Spirit has come to teach us about God.

The Lord Jesus himself appeared as a man so that we might have a visible demonstration of what God is like. The simplest answer to the question, What is God like? is to say he is like Jesus. But it is the work of the Spirit to show us what Jesus is like. Jesus said, He will take of the things of mine and show them unto you, (John 16:14 KJV). You can read the record of the Gospels, and read the historical record of Jesus, but the living Lord does not stand out from the pages merely by reading them. It is as the Spirit illuminates those pages and makes them vivid and real that you find yourself confronted with the living, breathing Christ himself. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Father, how grateful I am for this mighty teacher, the Spirit of God, come from you into my heart to instruct me of the things of Jesus and give to me his very life that I might live a new and different way.

Life Application​

Where can we go when our efforts to know God by means of human wisdom end in a vacuum? Have we realized the power of God's self-disclosure as the Holy Spirit reveals Him in the Person of Jesus Christ?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 7th​

God's Servants​

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Paul is writing of the true view of ministry and ministers, and he does not mean by ministers only the apostles, or only a select group called the clergy, the pastors. This is a devilish idea that has possessed the church. It sees the clergy as different people, with a special pipeline to God. That idea is never found in Scripture. No, in Scripture all Christians are in the ministry, everyone without exception. All are given gifts by the Spirit. All are expected to have a function, a service that God uses. It does not have to be in the meeting of the church. It is out in the world, anywhere you are.

But how are we to view one another? As big shots striving to see who can get the most recognition, as dignitaries with special dress to indicate our rank and style of life? Are we to be the heavies, the bosses, the brass? No, Paul says we are servants; that is all. Everyone, servants of Christ. That is the highest rank possible in the church, and everybody has it to start with. Therefore, there is no need for competition or rivalry in any sense at all. We are all servants of Christ. Jesus himself told us what our attitude is to be: The Son of Man, he said, came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and give himself a ransom for many, (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45 KJV). Now that is serving, it is not being ministered unto.

How do you think of yourself when you come to church? What is your reason for coming to church? Is it to be ministered unto? Do you judge the purpose of our assembly together in order that you might have a blessing, or is it that you might be a blessing? The attitude of a servant is always, What can I do for another? In the process you will find yourself abundantly ministered unto. But we hear so much of this cult of the self-life today that insists that everything has to meet my needs. That is pre-eminent. Now that is the world's thinking, isn't it? The apostle is telling us that this thinking will be nothing but trouble in the church; it creates divisions and factions. We must come to see each other as servants of Christ, mutually living and ministering to one another as God gives opportunity to do. This is what the Lord Himself demonstrated for us. Are we in competition? No, says Paul, we're in cooperation. I planted; Apollos watered; but God gave the growth. We are doing different things, but we need both of them.

One of the glories of the church is that nobody does the same thing. Churches that try to turn out people that all look alike, dress alike, carry the same kind of notebook, speak the same kind of language, use the same version of the Bible are missing what God has in mind, because we are all to be different, yet working together and needing one another. The evangelist plants, the Bible teacher waters. Well, which is more important, Bible teaching or evangelizing? Paul's answer is: Neither! God can do away with both of those. The important thing is not what either can do, but what God alone can do — take that truth and change lives with it. Evangelists cannot do that. Bible teachers cannot do that. Only God gives increase. Only God opens the mind, changes the heart, and makes people different. That is the thing that ought to be emphasized then, instead of putting all this emphasis upon our methods, and our abilities to do this and that, and all the educational demands that some people want to make for training. That is all emphasizing the people, not the God who gives the increase.

Lord Jesus I ask you to take my life and use me where I work, where I live, in my home. I know this is what you love to do, and I ask that you will grant me the grace to understand how to do this, and yield myself to you.

Life Application​

What is the highest rank possible in the Body of Christ? Does this leave room for competition, comparisons or pedestals? Do we serve with expectation of increased status? Whose power produces growth and fruit from serving?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for October 8th​

God's Builders​

If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved — even though only as one escaping through the flames.

1 Corinthians 3:14-15

In 2 Corinthians, Paul says, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10), and in John's book of Revelation he describes the Lord before whom we appear. John says, His eyes are like a flame of fire, (Revelation 1:14). Those flaming, searching eyes are going to examine all our Christian lives, what they have been made of, what we are building with. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, Then we shall receive the things done in the body whether they be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10) — the same two categories — whether they are built on the revelation of the mind and Spirit of God, gold, silver and precious stones, or whether they reflect the current philosophies of the spirit of the age around us.

What are we building with? One or the other. If it is good it will endure; it will stand the test, and we will be given a reward. What is the reward? There are a lot of guesses as to what this is because the Scriptures do not tell us flat out, but I think there are hints that indicate what it is. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he said, Are you not our crown of rejoicing? (1 Thessalonians 2:19 KJV). I think the reward is simply joy, joy over having spent your life in a way that counts.

Did you ever watch a winning team at the end of a game? Do you notice what they do? They go crazy! Grown men jump on each other's backs; they pound one another, and hug one another, and even kiss one another. Why? They are filled with joy because the efforts they put forth produced results and it was satisfying to them. That was their reward. Did you ever watch the losing team? There is no jumping around and slapping one another on the back. Sadness and gloom prevail; they are ashamed because all their efforts were to no avail. It was all wasted effort. All of us shall have some of both in our lives. There is nobody who is a Christian who will not have some degree of gold, silver and precious stones because God guarantees it by having come into our lives as Christians. But there can also be a lot of wood, hay and stubble too, built upon the philosophy of the flesh instead of the Spirit.

What is your life going to count for? Every one of us is investing his life in something. You cannot live without making an investment. What is it in? Will it stand the test? In the great day when all the universe sees things the way they are, will you be filled with joy that your life was invested in what stood the test and contributed to the glory of the Lord himself? Or will you be ashamed that you wasted all these years making an impression on people, but it was all burned up in the fire? I know there are people who do not like this kind of preaching. They say we ought to all preach the grace of God, but the Scriptures teach us that we have some choice in this matter. Are our lives going to be lived on the basis of gold, silver and precious stones, growing out of that revelation of God by the Spirit, or are they going to reflect the empty, vain philosophies of the world around so that we live only for pleasure, fame and power?

Lord, I know that these words are not sent to condemn me, but to encourage me to choose the right path and to invest my life in ways that will fulfill the promise that you have given me. Help me to manifest this increasingly as I go on day by day, guided and guarded by your Spirit.

Life Application​

Are we going for the gold, following the wisdom of our Master Architect's plan and purpose? When crunch time comes, will our life assessment bring honor to Him, and resulting joy to us, His building?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.