Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for December 29th​

Coming to Mount Zion​

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm... But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:18,22-24

The writer is here speaking of that which motivates us in the Christian life. We are not to be driven by fear. Not by the Law with its demands upon us, Do this, or else. Not by self-effort, not by the gritted teeth and the clenched fist and a determination that we are going to serve God. If we serve because we are afraid, as the Law frightened Israel in the terrible scene on Mt. Sinai, we will lose something from God. It is not fear that is our motive; it is fullness, it is what God has given us.

You have come not to this Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion, the place of grace; and to the new Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come under a new government. And to angels. Angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are to be the heirs of salvation, i.e., Christians. And to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. This is those who are born in Christ, sharing his life with our names written in heaven. And to God, the judge of all, whether they are Christians or not. And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. These are the Old Testament saints, men and women of God who lived in the days when the promise was given before the cross, who looked forward by faith and who are waiting now for us. And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. A mediator is not someone up in heaven somewhere, in some distant reach of space; he is an indwelling Christ. He is available to us. He is right here to be our strength, our righteousness, our wisdom, whatever we need. When Abel's blood was shed it cried out for vengeance, as the book of Genesis tells us, but Jesus' blood did not speak of vengeance — it speaks of access, of vindication, of the fact there is no problem between us and God that is not settled by his blood. There is no longer any question of guilt. We can come completely accepted in the Beloved.

Thus, with all this on our side there is no need to fail, is there? That is the point he is making. Certainly it gets rough, certainly it gets discouraging, surely there are times when the pressures are intense, but have you reckoned on your resources? Have you forgotten them?

Gracious Father, I am so grateful that by grace you have led me to Mount Zion. Now help me to stand strong, and to be yours in every circumstance of life.

Life Application​

Have we entered Mt. Zion, where joy and freedom from fear is our spiritual heritage? Is our worship and our works motivated by God's grace, and His love which casts out fear ?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for December 30th​

Nonconformity​

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

Hebrews 13:4-5

Nonconformity to the world must certainly involve these areas. The loose sexual standards of our generation and the intense materialistic spirit of this age constitute a constant peril to our hearts, and we must beware of them. We must realize that God has undertaken to sustain the sacredness of marriage and that he unceasingly, unrelentingly judges violations of it. Therefore, we dare not heed the fine sounding declarations being made today about a new morality, as though we had passed beyond the ancient standards and they no longer had significance.

As this writer reminds us, God judges the immoral and adulterous. He does not mean that God looses lightning bolts from heaven against them, or that he causes terrible diseases to come upon them; these are not the forms of judgment. But we can see the judgment of God in the anguish and pain which sweep like a plague across this land. They are due to the breakdown of moral standards. The certain deterioration of life is the judgment of God. It is the brutalization of humanity, so men become like animals and live on the level of animals. This is so apparent in our day.

Then there is the danger of materialism. We must swim against the strong currents of a luxury loving age. We must not give in to the pressures to keep up with the Joneses, the mad rush to have all that the world around us has. The weakness of the Church is due in large part to the failure of Christians to be content with what God gives them.

This does not mean that all Christians should take a vow of poverty. There is nothing like that in the New Testament. God allows levels of prosperity that are different one from another. The point the writer makes is not that there is anything wrong in riches, but that we must learn to be content with what God has given. Contentment is not having what you want; it is wanting only what you have.

It is difficult to know where to draw the line between a proper increase in the standard of living, and needless luxury which is really waste, but the secret is given in the latter part of the verse: For he has said, I will never fail you nor forsake you. That is the promise of God. He is our great and unending resource and will never fail us. Here is the strongest negative in the New Testament. The original carries the thought, I will never, never, under any circumstances, ever leave you or forsake you. It is a mighty declaration and on the basis of it the writer says we should declare, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid (of loss or poverty or anything else). What can man do to me? If I have God, what can man do to me? The point is that we must be content to take only what God gives us.

Lord, help me not to conform to this world, always grasping for more. Teach me to be content and to believe that you will never leave nor forsake me.

Life Application​

Is either affluence or poverty making us restless and discontent? What effect does our discontent have on our marriage? Whom, or what do we trust to both determine and provide our essential needs?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for December 31st​

The God of Peace​

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Humanity possesses great nuclear submarines by which the oceans can be traversed without ever coming to the surface. The secret of their tremendous power lies in a nuclear reactor hidden away in the depths of the submarine. That remarkable force does not need any refueling but is constantly giving off energy, so the submarine never needs to go into port for refueling. So it is in the life of a Christian. In these two verses is revealed the nuclear reactor for every Christian.

Look at the elements of this: Now may the God of peace. In this letter we have seen what peace is. The nearest modern equivalent is emotional health. In Christ we are in touch with the God of emotional health, the God who intends life to be lived on a peaceful level. With him is linked the Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. I came from Montana and know much about sheep. If you are from the city you have probably thought that if you leave them alone they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them. But I can assure you it is all a lie! There are two outstanding characteristics of sheep: They have no wisdom, and they have no weapons. They are forever running off and getting lost and unable to find their way back, and if anything attacks them they are utterly helpless to defend themselves. That is why they need a shepherd. That is why we need a shepherd, and why the Bible likens us to sheep. We have a Great Shepherd of the sheep. He is our resource, our provision — a God who is concerned about us, and a Great Shepherd who is there to watch us — because we have no wisdom and we have no weapons for our defense.

Linked with them is this great process that is spoken of here, who brought again from the dead ... by the blood of the eternal covenant. There you have the cross and the resurrection. The cross means the end of the old life of self-reliance, and the resurrection sets forth the power of the new life. That is the power that is released within the Christian by the indwelling Christ within him. We talk about the conquest of outer space but the greatest conquest ever made was when the Lord Jesus conquered inner space by moving into the heart of man, to plant within us the greatest power by which life can be lived — a power that heals and makes whole.

The result of all this is that God will equip you with everything good that you may do his will. This is the secret of effective service. You do not have to ask God to do this, he is there to equip you with everything to do his will. There is a full supply here and full ability. God is going to work through you, not apart from your will, but right along with it. You choose, you start out, but he is there to carry it through.

Then there is full acceptance, even before it happens. Working in you that which is pleasing in his sight. You know you are going to please God, you know that you cannot help but please him when you walk in this way and live on this basis. You are fighting a battle already won. But if we try to live in the self-effort of the flesh, we are fighting a battle already lost. This whole thing is wrapped around with the most life-changing phrase ever uttered by man, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Through Jesus Christ — that is the secret of life, that is the way God intended man to live. What good news for this present life! God intended it for you, that you might live in your present circumstances, wherever you are.

Father, help me to grasp and understand these truths, but more than that, give me the courage to step out upon them, that I might enter into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Life Application​

The life-giving, life-changing Presence of our indwelling Christ is transcendent power of which nuclear-powered submarines is but a replica! Are we opting to stray as helpless sheep, or are we 'beholding the glory of the Lord', being transformed into His image?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2025 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

Devotion for Today — January 1st​

The Place To Begin​

And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 1:4

John announced this great word: that repentance is the way people come to God, and the result is the forgiveness of sins. The greatest blessing people can experience is to have their sins forgiven. This is what the people who streamed out of Jerusalem to listen to John were looking for, and this is what they found. They found forgiveness of sins, and it came by way of repentance.

That is why the prophet Isaiah said John's message would be like a great bulldozer, building a highway in the desert for God to reach the isolated stranger in the midst of the wilderness. Without a road you cannot drive out into the desert in order to help somebody. You must have a road, a highway in the desert. John was God's bulldozer to build that highway. You know how roads are built—exactly as Isaiah describes in chapter 40: Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain (Isaiah 40:4). That is what repentance does. It brings down all the high peaks of pride that we stand on and refuse to admit are wrong. It takes the depressed areas of our life, where we beat and torture and punish ourselves, and lifts them up. It takes the crooked places, where we have lied and deceived, and straightens them out. And it makes the rough places plain. Then God is there at that instance of repentance.

John brought people to Christ the only way they can come—through acknowledgment of guilt. When people come this way, God meets them, cleanses them, and forgives them. John demonstrated that by the baptism he performed. But there is a greater baptism—that of the Holy Spirit. And on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God came, Peter stood up and offered people two things: forgiveness of sins and the promise of the Spirit. From that time on, God has made these things available to any man or woman who will begin at the beginning—the place of repentance.

Have you ever repented? Have you ever changed your mind, stopped defending yourself and trying to blame everything on others, and said, No, Lord, no one else is to blame, only I. This is the way I am—and I need help? That is where God will meet you. He always meets humans at that point, washes away guilt, cleanses, forgives. That is where you will find forgiveness of sins. If you have never repented before, I urge you to do so now. God will meet you right there. In the quiet of your own heart, where God alone hears, you can say to Him, Lord, I repent. Lord, send me the Holy Spirit through Jesus. And He will.

Lord, thank You that You promise to meet me in this place of repentance. I come to You now on that basis.

Life Application​

A new year can begin with the liberating gift of forgiveness. Have we understood and embraced the means by which this blessing may be known?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2026 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

Devotion for Today — January 2nd​

Like A Dove​

As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

Mark 1:10

There is no greater need that we have as individuals than to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are able to live as we long to live and are able to overcome the power of sin and guilt and fear within us. Therefore, the primary, elementary, most fundamental need of guilty people is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when Jesus began to take our place, there was immediately given to Him the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This is not the first time Jesus had the Spirit. It is recorded of John the Baptist that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. And certainly if that was true of John, it was also true of Jesus. He lived by the Spirit during those quiet years in Nazareth. He submitted Himself to His parents, grew up in a carpenter's shop, and learned the trade. And through those uneventful days, Jesus lived by the power of the Spirit in His life.

Then what is happening now, when the Spirit comes upon Him like a dove? The answer is that He is given a new manifestation of the Spirit, especially in terms of power. To use the language of Scripture, Jesus was anointed by the Spirit at this point. In Old Testament times kings and priests were anointed by pouring oil upon their heads, committing them to the function and office in which they were to serve. This is the picture of what is now occurring in Jesus' life. He is being anointed by God through the Spirit with power—power to meet the demands of the ministry upon which He is about to launch.

Do not think of this as something remote from us. All these things that happened to Jesus can happen and, indeed, must happen to us. That is the whole thrust of this teaching. He was taking our place; therefore, what happened to Him must happen to us. That is why Jesus, standing with His disciples after the resurrection, said to them, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you (Acts 1:8). The Spirit of God must come upon us.

This is not so that we can perform dramatic acts, but, rather, so that we can have a new quality of life that is beautiful and resistless, yet quiet and gentle. Notice the symbol of the kind of power that is given here—it is a dove. Athletic teams sometimes use birds as emblems, signs of their power and ability. We have the Falcons and the Eagles—even the Ducks. But did you ever hear of a team called the Doves? No team would ever use a dove as a symbol of its power. A dove is a gentle, non-threatening bird, one that does not fight back and yet is irresistible.

This is the power that Jesus is describing—the power of love, of course—love that can be beaten and battered down and put to death and yet can rise again, until it wins the day—that amazing love Jesus released. The greatest force in the world today, without a doubt, is love. And yet it is the kind of power that does not threaten or break apart or destroy; it gathers and heals. It is rejected, turned aside, and beaten down; yet it rises again and again. So the dove is an apt symbol of the new life our Lord came to teach.

Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit Manifest through me the power of love.

Life Application​

What power is symbolized by the dove at Jesus' baptism? How does it compare with the power promised the believer by which we can daily demonstrate His love?

Daily Devotion © 2006, 2026 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

New Morality Or Ancient Foolishness?​

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

Ephesians 5:3

That charge to Christians must have seemed even more unrealistic and incapable of fulfillment to the pagans of Ephesus than it does to Americans today. Why is it there? Not because Christianity is negative and prudish. The whole of Scripture is written for the welfare of humanity. God's purpose in telling us the truth is that we might fully enter into life. Jesus said, I have come that they may have life, and to have it to the full (John 10:10).

Why is this passage here? It is because, as Paul says, even the hint of sexual immorality, impurity, or greed is improper among saints. The word he chooses is a word that means becoming, wholesome, attractive, refreshing. Who of us has not had the experience of being exposed to something filthy, obscene, or improper in sexual matters and coming from that experience feeling dirty and unclean? What a refreshing thing it has been to come into a company of people who talk about wholesome matters, whose time and talk is filled with that which is healthy. That is what the apostle means. By implication, to indulge in improper talk is unwholesome, unfitting, uglifying, debasing, defiling.

We are being told today that all sex is beautiful and natural, that it is in the same class as any of our bodily desires or urges, and therefore, we should feel free to satisfy it as openly as we do any other of our bodily needs, without shame or apology.

This idea that all sex, any sex, is natural and beautiful is a lie. Like all powerful lies, it derives its strength from being based upon a partial truth. It is true that sex is related to our physical body like hunger or thirst or the need to sleep or any other physical urge. But what is never said is that these other urges also require regulation and control. They are not indulged in at will, any time, any place.

Like these other natural urges, sex requires regulation and restraint. And the intended regulation of sex is marriage! Marriage is the way to regulate sex so that it is right and wholesome and beneficial. Anything else becomes a violation, not only of propriety in Christian society but of elementary humanity as well. One thing is clearly true: Sex is obviously much more complicated that any other of our natural urges. It requires a partner, which no other urge does. And it is not only a physical union but a psychological union as well. In fact, and this is what is so often forgotten, it is the psychological union that is the more important of the two.

Sex is intended to be a total union of two beings, and only in marriage is such a total union possible. It is the giving of two people to each other totally—body, soul, and spirit—with all their possessions, their name, everything they own. Only in marriage is that kind of a union possible.

Father, I pray that I may heed these important words and take them to heart, not to read them lightly or to forget them and give myself to improper practices and improper thoughts.

Life Application​

Lies derive their strength from partial truth. When lies are heard often enough they become truth for many. What powerful lie about sex we are constantly exposed to?

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for March 27​

A Basket Case​

But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.

Galatians 1:15-17

Since Paul uses his own experience as the example of the New Covenant, it is helpful to trace the way he came to learn this truth himself. Paul tells us that he went away into Arabia and then returned to Damascus. Scripture doesn't tell us what he did there, but it's not difficult to figure out. We need only imagine the shock his conversion produced to realize that he desperately needed time to go back through the Scriptures and find how his discovery of the truth about Jesus related to the prophetic revelations he had trusted since childhood. As we might surmise, he found Jesus on every page. No wonder that when he returned to Damascus, he went into the same synagogues and began proclaiming and proving that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 9:19-21).

But the Jews were not responsive to his arguments. There was a conspiracy to kill him, and Paul's friends had to take him by night and lower him in a basket through an opening in the wall (Acts 9:23-25). What a humiliation to this dedicated young Christian! Paul had become — quite literally — a basket case! How confused he must have been as all his dreams of conquest for Jesus were halted. It was humiliating to be let down over the wall in a basket like a common criminal escaping from the law!

Where does he go next? He goes to Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. Once again he was determined to persuade the Greek-speaking Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah. But it is the Damascus story all over again. Years later, Paul tells us what happened, When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking. Quick! he said to me. Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me. (Acts 22:17-18) It is understandable that Paul would seek the comfort of the temple at this discouraging moment. There Jesus appeared, yet His message was anything but encouraging: Get out of Jerusalem. They will not receive your testimony concerning me. Paul argued, … these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him (Acts 22:19-20).

Here Paul gave himself away. He saw himself as the one person eminently qualified to reach the Jews for Christ. His argument was, Lord, you don't understand. If you send me out of Jerusalem, you are going to miss the opportunity of a lifetime. If anyone understands how these Jews think and reason, it is I. Lord, don't send me away. I have what it takes to reach these men.

Jesus' answer is to the point: Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles' (Acts 22:21). What a shattering blow! But Luke tells us, When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus (Acts 9:30). Tarsus was Paul's hometown. There is no tougher place to go as a Christian than back home. Paul tried his best to serve his Lord with all his ability, but it amounted to nothing. Paul was not the dynamic missionary he later became.

Lord, how many times have I tried to serve you in the flesh and ended up a basket case like Paul? Teach me to wait, knowing that nothing comes from me but everything comes from you. Amen.

Life Application​

Can you think of a time in your life when you sought to serve the Lord with good intentions, but in the power of the flesh? How did that go?

Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for March 28th​

The Struggle​

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Ephesians 6:11

Our experience confirms the suggestion of this passage—that life is basically a struggle. Life never conforms to the rosy idealism of our dreams or to the romanticism of our songs. The explanation of this struggle lies deeper than we ordinarily think. The common view of our struggle has been that we are engaged in conflict against flesh and blood, against other men and women. But Paul says the battle is not against flesh and blood; it lies deeper than that. The basic problem is that this is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that people themselves are the battlefield. The battle is visible not only in the wars, revolutions, and crime waves that fill our newspapers, but it is also seen in the inner tensions and fears of individual lives, in the neurotic problems and mental illnesses that afflict us today, in family fights and church struggles. It is even visible in nature, where all of life competes in a ruthless, deadly struggle to survive.

The whole race has fallen under the control of satanic forces, which Paul calls, the world rulers of this present darkness (6:12 RSV)—a most significant phrase. The picture of the Bible from beginning to end is that all human beings without Christ, without exception, regardless of how clever or educated or cultured they may be, are the helpless victims of satanic control. Under the control of satanic forces human beings are uncomfortable and unhappy but also completely unable to escape by any wisdom or power of their own.

But the good news is that some have been set free through the coming of that stronger one, Jesus Himself, who came, as John tells us, to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8b). Through Him deliverance is obtained. Through the amazing mystery of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan over human lives. Those who individually receive and acknowledge this are set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God.

They are not set free to live unto themselves. They are set free in order to battle. That is the call that comes to all Christians. We are not set free in order to enjoy ourselves. We are set free to do battle, to engage in the fight, to overcome in our own lives, and to become the channels by which others are set free. How do you do this? Paul's answer is in one phrase: Put on the whole armor of God. Full provision has been made that you might win in this battle. This is the amazing thing we must learn. God has made full provision for us to fight these forces that hold the world in their grip.

Father, tear away the delusive veils by which I have allowed myself to be rendered powerless in this great battle. Help me to understand that I would have no possibility of fighting were it not for the delivering work of the Lord Jesus, who has come to bind the power of darkness.

Life Application​

Why does life not conform to our rosy idealism and romanticism? What is the true nature of the human struggle? How can we face life with confidence and freedom?

Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for March 28th​

The Struggle​

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Ephesians 6:11

Our experience confirms the suggestion of this passage—that life is basically a struggle. Life never conforms to the rosy idealism of our dreams or to the romanticism of our songs. The explanation of this struggle lies deeper than we ordinarily think. The common view of our struggle has been that we are engaged in conflict against flesh and blood, against other men and women. But Paul says the battle is not against flesh and blood; it lies deeper than that.

The basic problem is that this is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that people themselves are the battlefield. The battle is visible not only in the wars, revolutions, and crime waves that fill our newspapers, but it is also seen in the inner tensions and fears of individual lives, in the neurotic problems and mental illnesses that afflict us today, in family fights and church struggles. It is even visible in nature, where all of life competes in a ruthless, deadly struggle to survive.

The whole race has fallen under the control of satanic forces, which Paul calls, the world rulers of this present darkness (6:12 RSV)—a most significant phrase. The picture of the Bible from beginning to end is that all human beings without Christ, without exception, regardless of how clever or educated or cultured they may be, are the helpless victims of satanic control. Under the control of satanic forces human beings are uncomfortable and unhappy but also completely unable to escape by any wisdom or power of their own.

But the good news is that some have been set free through the coming of that stronger one, Jesus Himself, who came, as John tells us, to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8b). Through Him deliverance is obtained. Through the amazing mystery of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan over human lives. Those who individually receive and acknowledge this are set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God.

They are not set free to live unto themselves. They are set free in order to battle. That is the call that comes to all Christians. We are not set free in order to enjoy ourselves. We are set free to do battle, to engage in the fight, to overcome in our own lives, and to become the channels by which others are set free. How do you do this? Paul's answer is in one phrase: Put on the whole armor of God. Full provision has been made that you might win in this battle. This is the amazing thing we must learn. God has made full provision for us to fight these forces that hold the world in their grip.

Father, tear away the delusive veils by which I have allowed myself to be rendered powerless in this great battle. Help me to understand that I would have no possibility of fighting were it not for the delivering work of the Lord Jesus, who has come to bind the power of darkness.

Life Application​

Why does life not conform to our rosy idealism and romanticism? What is the true nature of the human struggle? How can we face life with confidence and freedom?

Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for March 29th​

The Breastplate Of Righteousness​

...with the breastplate of righteousness in place...

Ephesians 6:14b

Christ is the ground of your righteous standing before God, your acceptance before Him. If you are wearing that breastplate, you can rest secure that your heart, your emotions, are securely guarded and adequately protected against attack. This is perhaps the most frequent ground of attack against Christian faith. Christians often feel they lack assurance. They feel unworthy of God. They feel they are a failure in the Christian life and that God is certain to reject them, that He is no longer interested in them. They are so aware of their failures and shortcomings. Growth has been so slow. The first joy of faith has faded, and they feel God is angry with them or that He is far off somewhere. There is a constant sense of guilt. Their conscience is always stabbing them, making them unhappy. They feel God blames them. This is simply a satanic attack.

How do you answer an attack like this? You are to remember that you have put on the breastplate of righteousness. In other words, you do not stand on your own merits. You never did. You never had anything worthwhile in yourself to offer to God. You gave all that up when you came to Christ. You quit trying to be good enough to please God. You came on His merits. You came on the ground of His imputed righteousness—that which He gives to you. You began your Christian life like that, and there is no change now. You are still standing before God on that basis.

Paul himself used this breastplate of righteousness when he was under pressure to be discouraged and defeated. Here was a man who was small of stature and unimpressive in his personal appearance. His background was anti-Christian, and he could never get away from that completely. He had been the most hostile, brutal persecutor of the church that it had known. He must constantly have run across families with loved ones whom he had put to death. He was often reminded by many people that he was not one of the original twelve apostles, that his calling was suspect, that perhaps he really was not an apostle at all.

What a ground for discouragement! How easy it would have been for him to say to himself, What's the use? Here I am working my fingers to the bone, making tents and trying to preach the gospel to these people, and look at the blessing God has brought them, but they don't care. They hurl recriminations back into my face. Why try anymore? But that is not what he does. Instead, he says, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not without effect (1 Corinthians 15: l0a). There he is using the breastplate of righteousness. I don't care, he says, what I have been; I don't defend what I am. I simply say to you, by the grace of God, I am what I am. What I am is what Christ has made me. I'm not standing on my righteousness; I'm standing on His. I am accepted by grace, and my personal situation does not make any difference at all. So his heart was kept from discouragement.

Father may these words meet me right where I am and help me right in the conflict in which I am engaged. Lift up my heart by the consciousness that Christ is my righteousness.

Life Application​

Are we still trying to be good in order to please God? Have we been met by our short- comings and resulting guilt? How can we constantly preclude this from happening?

Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for March 31st​

Relevant Prayer​

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests

Ephesians 6:18a

There is a strong and powerful relationship between putting on the armor of God and praying. These two things belong together; in fact, one grows out of the other. It is not enough to put on the armor of God; you must also pray. It is not enough to pray; you must also have put on the armor of God. It is impossible to divide these two. Putting on the armor is essentially something that is done in the realm of your thought life. It is an adjustment of the attitude of your heart to reality, to things as they really are. It is thinking through the implications of the fact that revelation discloses. This is always the necessary thing to do in trying to face life.

The apostle does not reverse this and say, First pray, and then put on the armor of God. This is what we try to do, and this is why our prayer life is so feeble, so impotent. There is great practical help here if we follow carefully the designated order of Scripture. I think most Christians would confess that they are dissatisfied with their prayer life. They feel it is inadequate and perhaps infrequent. Sometimes we struggle to improve the quality as well as the quantity of our prayer lives. Sometimes we adopt schedules we attempt to maintain or long lists of names and projects and places we try to remember in prayer. In other words, we begin with the doing, but when we do this we are starting at the wrong place. The place to start is not with the doing, but with the thinking.

Prayer follows putting on the armor of God. It is a natural, normal outgrowth. I am not suggesting that there is no place for Christian discipline; there is. I am not suggesting that we will not need to take our wills and put them to a task and follow through. There is this need. But the place where discipline should come in is not in praying first, but in doing what is involved in putting on the armor of God. First, think through the implications of our faith, and then prayer will follow naturally much more easily. When it comes in that order, it will be thoughtful prayer, prayer that has meaning and significance.

This is the problem with much of our praying now. It is so shallow, so superficial. Sometimes our prayers are only a cut above the simple childhood prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. What is needed? Prayer should be an outgrowth of thoughtfulness about the implications of faith. This adds depth, meaning, and significance to it. Prayer should be pointed and purposeful.

If you take the whole range of Bible teaching on this great subject of prayer, you will find that underlying all the biblical presentation is the idea that prayer is conversation with God. What the apostle is saying is, After you have put on the armor of God, after you have thought through the implications of your faith in the ways that have been suggested previously, then talk to God about it. Tell Him the whole thing. Tell Him your reactions, tell Him how you feel, describe your relationship to life around you, and ask Him for what you need.

Forgive me for the way I have looked at prayer as though it were insignificant and optional. Help me to take it seriously. Help me to realize that You have made this my point of contact with You. Teach me to pray.

Life Application​

Do we struggle to pray, or feel we pray too infrequently or inadequately, or realize our prayers are indeed superficial? How can we talk with God in a real & relevant way?

Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for April 1st​

The Need to Belong​

The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.

Leviticus 1:1-2

There are five offerings in Leviticus: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the trespass offering, and the sin offering. All five represent aspects of the work of Jesus Christ. The first offering is the burnt offering. The most important characteristic of the burnt offering is that it had to involve a death. Death in these offerings is always a picture of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. So when the Israelites offered this sacrifice, they were learning the great truth that only by means of the death of an acceptable substitute can man ever satisfy this great longing to belong. Only in the recognition of the death of Jesus Christ for you, can you ever satisfy that longing. He is the expression of the love of God. So we must give ourselves to God through Christ, acknowledging that he owns us, that we belong to him: You are not your own; you are bought with a price, (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a RSV). God does not and will not exploit you and run you like a robot or a slave. He loves you and wants to fulfill you and set you free. But you do belong to him. That is the most basic truth of all.

You can find a certain amount of satisfaction in having a family. You will be very restless if you do not have a family. You can find satisfaction in having a background, an identity. But you will never satisfy it wholly that way. You will find that this cry of your heart, this clamorous hunger to be possessed and to belong, can be satisfied only by God in Jesus Christ coming into your life. By the death of Christ that door is open. Only through the death of Christ, and only through my relationship with the living God which that death enables can this hunger be stilled, can this basic desire to belong be met. That is what accounts for the sense of joy and relief upon becoming a Christian. Do you remember that? Now I belong! God is my Father! I'm in a family. I'll never be alone again! God will never forsake me nor abandon me! I belong to God!

Thank you, Father, that you have made provision for this most basic of all needs to be met in Jesus Christ, who died for me that I might have it. Teach me to rejoice in my relationship with you.

Life Application​

The death of Christ has purchased the basic needs for our human longings, at immeasurable cost, and all intended for our joy. Are we accessing this inheritance as our first and primary resource for living?

Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman Ministries.

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for April 2rd​

The Invisible Kingdom​

And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:8 RSV

We must never read these passages in Genesis without asking ourselves what they intend to teach us on the moral or spiritual level. What inner reality is reflected in the atmosphere's ability to suspend water above the earth? The key is found in what God called this firmament: Heaven. There were heavenly waters, and there were earthly waters. Water is used very frequently in the Scriptures as a symbol of life. In the book of Revelation, John was told that the great harlot that he saw sitting upon the waters was a picture of the false church and that the waters were peoples and nations and multitudes gathered together (Revelation 17:15). Thus, the waters here in Genesis are a picture of human life.

What God is saying by this beautifully symbolic description is that there is earthly life and there is heavenly life, and, further, that we are surrounded by an invisible spiritual kingdom, just as with an invisible atmosphere. That spiritual kingdom is as real as anything we can see or taste or touch or feel. And from it, just as from the atmosphere around us, comes blessings that make human life happy and even possible—blessings such as joy, love, and peace; hope, trust, and power. Without that invisible spiritual kingdom, human life would be mere animal life devoid of all these other qualities that make life worth living.

Furthermore, as the rain falls upon the just and the unjust alike, so do these blessings come to the good and the bad equally all over the earth. Paul reminds us that all these mercies come from God upon the just and the unjust alike, in order to lead people unto repentance (cf. Romans 2:4) and to make them stop and think, Where does this come from? Why is it that we are granted the ability to love and to share companionship with others? The apostle tells us that all these blessings come from the loving heart of a Father who pours them out even upon those who are resistant to His will. He loves and blesses mankind throughout this life in order that we might come to a change of mind about ourselves and God, that we might remember where these blessings come from and open our hearts to the influences of God's gracious kingdom. These blessings grow fewer for unbelievers as life goes on because of their resistance to the grace of God, but for the believer they come in increasing abundance, pouring into the life that recognizes the spiritual atmosphere around us.

Also, just as the waters upon the earth are invisibly drawn up and disappear into the higher ocean above, so the human spirit, as it comes to the end of its journey, quite unseen, leaves this earth, for good or evil, depending on the attitude shown in life toward the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ. All this is beautifully symbolized in the creation of the firmament and the operation of the atmosphere in its physical manifestation. It is all designed to teach us that there is a life to come as well as a life now.

Lord, I realize that I only see in part with my human eyes. Open the eyes of my heart that I might see the spiritual realities that govern my own existence.

Life Application​

The Genesis story of creation is meant to open our eyes to something far greater than the visible. What is the two-fold reality that governs our present and future existence?

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for April 3nd​

Out Of The Darkness​

God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day.

Genesis 1:5

The present recurring twenty-four hour day is a symbolic microcosm of past ages. If that is the case, then we do not have twenty-four hour day periods in Genesis 1, but rather an indefinite length of time much more descriptively termed an age, or an epoch, of time. But each is to be characterized by an evening and a morning. Note the order of that. The evening comes first. We Westerners, with our penchant for compromise, have divided the day so that it is a sandwich, beginning with a period of darkness, then a period of light in between, and finally another period of darkness. We begin our day at midnight. But in the Eastern world the day begins at sunset, so that each day starts with an evening and ends with a period of light. That is in line with this revelation of the way God works. No matter whether it is humanity's day upon earth, an age of time, or a twenty-four hour period, each begins with a period of darkness and then a period of light. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46). That is the invariable order.

What meaning does that have for us as Christians? Can we not trace the fulfillment of this in our own experience? Did we not all begin our lives in darkness, in the grip and bondage of death and darkness? Through the glorious redemption of the cross of Jesus Christ, we have passed into a period of light that is shining ever brighter till the full light of day (Proverbs 4:18); we have entered a period of growing and ever-expanding light. You can see this order in the work of the Lord Jesus Himself. There was the darkness of the crucifixion, passing very shortly into the glorious morning of the resurrection when He stepped forth into the glory of a new day and a new life. An evening and a morning, one day. Scripture also makes clear that if we have never gone through the darkness with Him, there is no morning to come. We must not live constantly in the darkness. The testimony of Scripture is that those who cling to the darkness, who refuse to be brought into the light, become, at last, as Jude describes them, wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever (Jude 13b).

Father of lights, thank You that from dark You bring light and that You have brought that light into my own experience through faith in Jesus Christ.

Life Application​

So many are still blind in total darkness, yet sincerely feel and think they see clearly. Have we by faith personally grasped Jesus' hand to lead us into His glorious life?

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for April 4th​

To Bring Forth Fruit​

And God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear. And it was so.

Genesis 1:9

God's act in calling the land up out of the oceans seems to mark the period of evening in this third day. During this period we have the rising of the continents, the weathering of the rocks, and the soil forming gradually to make preparation for the plant life that is to follow.

But remember that all this on the physical level is but a manifestation of the parallel spiritual and moral reality, and every view of nature ought to speak volumes to us about who God is, what He does, and what He intends. These things are at once real and visible and, at the same time, the picture of something unseen that relates to our inner life.

We learn that this human life on earth, between the period of birth and death, is itself divided. This is pictured for us by the rising of the land out of the ocean. The waters are a picture of human life. Rising up out of the ocean of human life is land, which has the capability of producing fruit. Thus, there exists that which is capable of producing fruit and that which is totally incapable of doing so.

There is an old humanity that, by nature, is incapable of fulfilling what God desires; a new humanity, called out of the old, is capable of producing the fruit God envisions. The old humanity is all one fallen race--blinded, darkened, confused, restless, and, as the ocean is one yet divided, so fallen humanity is separated into divisions: nations, peoples, and tongues. The prophet Isaiah says, the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud (Isaiah 57:20).

You are asking, Do you mean that all who are not Christian are wicked? We need to bear in mind that there is a respectable form of wickedness as well as a notorious form. You can be knowingly wicked, and you can be ignorantly wicked. People who are exposed to the knowledge of God's purpose, His love, and the program He has for the deliverance of humanity from its bondage and resist God's work, rejecting the Savior whom God has sent and refusing to yield to His gracious call, are clearly wicked and oppose God's will. They are raising their fist in a defiant act against their Creator. That is also why they are restless. The restlessness of our age is directly due to the fact that it is wicked. It is pictured by the ocean, with its wild, surging waves that are never still.

But out of that ocean there comes a new humanity, the earth, a fruitful race of those in Jesus Christ, all one originally in Him as the continents were once, but now divided and fragmented by the forces that have come in since to separate us from one another. Yet there is an ever-present underlying unity that we discover when we come together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, thank You that You are bringing a new humanity out of the old, and that as part of that new humanity I can bear fruit for You.

Life Application​

The natural world speaks to us metaphorically about the inner life of our humanity. Can we see a distinction in our lives between the old, fallen race & new life in Christ?

 

[Obadiah]

A daily devotion for April 5th​

Signs And Seasons​

God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.

Genesis 1:16

The great question is never How? but Why? The answer to the question, Why did God make the sun and moon and stars? is given in a threefold way here in this passage.

The greater light exists, first, to give light upon the earth, both during the day and at night. We all know that the sun makes the day. The rotation of the earth is what determines the length of the day, and the speed of the earth as it rotates determines the 24-hour duration. Yet that speed is regulated by the moon, which acts as a brake upon the earth. It restricts the speed of the rotation of the earth to the exact time that makes possible the 24-hour-day, which is the length of time best adapted to the needs of humans.

Isn't that remarkable? Other planets have entirely different lengths of days. On some of the planets, a day would occupy months, and even years, of our time. Others have much shorter days. But God has designated a 24-hour day for our planet because it precisely fits the needs of humanity.

Second, the great lights exist to measure the process of time for days and for years, says the Scripture. They are the means by which we measure time. The orbit of earth around the sun determines the length of the year, which, again, is just right for human needs. The orbit of the earth around the sun is determined by two factors: the gravitational pull of the sun and the velocity of the earth. No one knows what determines the velocity of the earth, what strange force hurls us through space at about 1,100 miles per minute. But here we are told that God has ordained the sun and moon to provide measures of the time that mark off the segments of life we call days and years.

Third, these lights are designed to mark significant events; they are for signs and for seasons. The entire record of human history confirms the truth of this. This is exactly what the sun and moon and stars do. Eclipses are like mileposts in human history, marking off certain dates. We can study events in ancient history because eclipses have been recorded. Many times in the Bible the sun and the moon have served as great signs. We are all familiar with the story of the star of Bethlehem. It announced the birth of the greatest person ever born in the history of our globe. There is also the strange darkening of the sun at the time of the crucifixion, an unexplained darkness that lasted for three hours. There have been other times like this. And through the Bible there runs a refrain, beginning in the early books and running through the New Testament, which says there is coming a day when the greatest event the world will ever know, the return of Jesus Christ to earth, will be heralded by the darkening of the sun and the moon's turning to blood. These bodies are provided for signs and for seasons.

You are the Lord of all creation. I see that you have created the signs and seasons to serve Your great redemptive purpose in Jesus Christ.

Life Application​

Speculation can unceasingly ask how and why questions. How the seasons came to be we will never know while citizens here. But where can we find the why answers?