"The just shall live by faith…So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him."
— Romans 1:17; 10:17; 2 Timothy 1:12

The Christian life is not a matter of human effort or passivity but of confident trust in the One who is faithful. From the moment we first believed, every step forward has been designed to be taken by faith—faith that accesses the endless riches of God's grace. Trying harder does not unlock His grace, nor does sitting back in resignation. But when we rely upon Him, whether through action or patient endurance, He works in and through us as only He can.

📖 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." —Psalm 51:10

There is a tendency among believers, especially those who experience a dramatic transformation at salvation, to believe that the primary battle with the flesh is behind them. The more obvious patterns of sin fall away, and they rightly rejoice in their new life in Christ, often declaring "I have been crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20) or "old things have passed away" (2 Cor. 5:17). However, the deeper work of the Spirit is just beginning.

Ezekiel 7 is a sobering declaration of divine judgment against Judah. The people had exhausted God’s patience, rejecting His calls to repentance, and now the time for mercy had passed. The land once flowing with blessing had become a land under wrath. God had warned them through prophets, yet they refused to listen. Now, the end had come—not merely the end of an era, but the full and final reckoning for their persistent rebellion.

Job’s words in this chapter reveal a deep and universal longing—the desire to stand justified before God. He recognizes God’s sovereignty, but in his suffering, he struggles to see how justice and righteousness can be reconciled. He knows he cannot contend with God (v. 3), nor cleanse himself (vv. 30–31). His heart aches for a mediator, someone to bridge the gap between himself and God (vv. 32–35).

Condemnation is a weight the human soul was never meant to carry. When it presses down, it crushes hope, darkens the mind, and leaves a person feeling orphaned, estranged, and alone. This was the experience of Admiral Sato, who built his life upon a belief that collapsed beneath him. When the emperor—whom he had worshiped as divine—was revealed as merely human, everything he trusted in crumbled. Stripped of his rank, income, and faith, he was left with nothing but despair.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”
— Isaiah 11:1-2

Ray Stedman’s devotional, Immeasurably More, highlights how Isaiah’s prophecy gives us a picture of Christ’s coming—not in grandeur, but in humble obscurity. The image of a shoot emerging from the stump of Jesse speaks of life springing forth where all seemed lost. The once-thriving tree of David’s royal line had been reduced to insignificance, yet from that humbled place, the Messiah would rise.

“Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” — Luke 16:10 BSB

There is a subtle danger in looking at what we have—our time, skills, and opportunities—and deciding it’s too insignificant to matter. The servant in Jesus’ parable who buried his one talent didn’t lose it through outright rebellion. He lost it through neglect, through the belief that his portion was too small to be of consequence. The enemy loves this deception, whispering that unless we can do something grand, we might as well do nothing at all.

📖 “But we trusted…and beside all this, to-day is the third day…” — Luke 24:21

Disappointment has a way of creeping into our hearts when our expectations are unmet. The disciples on the road to Emmaus had all the facts about Jesus right—they had witnessed His ministry, His crucifixion, and now the mysterious disappearance of His body. But their conclusion was wrong. They thought all hope was lost. Their sorrow was not because God had failed, but because they had drawn the wrong inference from His delay.

“Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand…therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace… 'the just shall live by faith.'"
(Romans 5:2; 4:16; 1:17)

Every moment of the Christian life is an invitation to trust the Lord—to step out in faith and receive the abundance of His grace. The grace in which we stand is not a one-time experience but a continual reality, accessed only through faith. Just as we first entered into salvation by trusting in Christ, so too do we walk in the fullness of life by faith, drawing from His inexhaustible supply.

📖 “For they disciplined us only a short time, as it seemed proper to them; but He does it for our good, in order that we may share His holy character.” — Hebrews 12:10 (WMS)

Spiritual maturity is not something we attain instantly. The Holy Spirit does not simply hand us victory but leads us through a process of growth, teaching us endurance and shaping us to reflect Christ. If change came too quickly, we would remain unprepared for the weight of His calling and unable to walk in wisdom and grace toward others.

📖 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
— Isaiah 9:6

The brilliance of this verse is not only in its prophetic depth but in its immediacy. It declares that Christ, who has always existed, was given to us, stepping into time as a child, the very embodiment of God's presence among us. The world may drift in darkness, but this Light has come, not as a distant beacon to be sought but as One who has entered our world, ourstruggles, our very lives.

"Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints." — Ephesians 6:18 (BSB)

There is a beauty in shifting the focus of our prayers beyond ourselves. It lifts us from the narrow concerns of personal needs and into the vast landscape of God’s purposes. When we pray with the heart of Christ—seeking His will in the lives of others, interceding for the lost, and standing in the gap for His Church—we align ourselves with His love in action.

📖 “I am already being poured out as a drink offering.” — 2 Timothy 4:6 (R.V. Marg.)

Oswald Chambers reminds us that being “offered” is not a sentimental notion, but a decisive act of the will. It is yielding fully to God, knowing that whatever He chooses to do with our lives is His right and privilege. There is no hesitation, no bargaining—only surrender in trust.

"Be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'…And whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
—1 Peter 5:5 and Matthew 23:12

The Lord calls us to wear humility as our daily attire. Not as a temporary garment we put on when convenient, but as a permanent covering woven into our character. Pride stands in direct opposition to this call. It resists grace, shuts out God's working, and places us on a path that leads to humbling circumstances. The Scriptures leave no ambiguity: those who lift themselves up will be brought low, but those who walk humbly before the Lord will be upheld by His hand.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul gives us a striking picture of his life as a minister of the gospel. Rather than demanding his rights, he voluntarily lays them down for the sake of others. He refuses financial support from the Corinthians, not because it isn’t rightfully his, but because he wants to remove any obstacle to the gospel. He models a selfless commitment to Christ, becoming “all things to all people” to win them for the kingdom. He disciplines his body, like an athlete in training, so that he may not be disqualified from the prize.

The birth of Jesus in Luke 2 is a masterful display of God’s sovereignty, orchestrating history to bring forth His Son at the appointed time and place. Caesar Augustus, the most powerful ruler of the known world, issues a decree for a census, unknowingly setting in motion the fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The One who reigns over heaven and earth enters the world not in a palace, but in a humble setting, wrapped in cloth and laid in a manger.

“Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead.” —Romans 6:13

The journey through Romans 6, 7, and 8 is a passage from struggle to rest, from self-effort to Spirit-led living. These chapters unfold as a unified revelation: the Cross as the key to both deliverance from sin’s dominion and liberty in Christ’s life.

Romans 6 lays the foundation—we have died with Christ, severed from sin’s rule. The command to reckon this as true and yield to God is not an invitation to effort but to recognition. We do not strive to crucify the old self; we acknowledge that it has already been done.

The story of Jehoshaphat’s battle against overwhelming odds is a powerful reminder that God is not merely a distant observer but the One who fights on behalf of His people. Faced with an invading army far beyond his ability to defeat, Jehoshaphat did not rely on military strategy, alliances, or his own strength—he turned his eyes to the Lord.

Ezekiel 6 presents a sobering message: God will utterly destroy the high places, the altars, and the people who engage in idolatry. His judgment will stretch across the land, and those who worship false gods will see the futility of their rebellion. Yet, amid the devastation, God preserves a remnant—a people who will acknowledge His sovereignty and turn back to Him. This passage highlights the Lord’s unwavering holiness, His intolerance of idolatry, and His mercy in preserving a faithful remnant.

Bildad’s words to Job reveal a harsh and legalistic mindset, one that assumes suffering must always be the result of sin. Unlike Eliphaz, who tried to reason with Job, Bildad comes in with a rigid confidence, insisting that Job's children must have perished because of their wrongdoing (v. 4). He urges Job to seek God in repentance, believing that if he is truly upright, God will restore him (vv. 5-6). His argument is rooted in tradition, looking to the wisdom of past generations as the foundation of his beliefs (vv. 8-10).