In today’s reading from Bob Hoeksra, we are reminded that the greatness of grace is found not in a principle but in a Person—Jesus, our eternal High Priest. The old covenant, with its temporary priests from the line of Aaron, could never bring perfection. These priests were mortal, limited, and symbolic of the One to come. Their ministry ended in death. But Christ’s priesthood is eternal—anchored not in the law or lineage, but in the power of His endless life.

Oswald Chambers reminds us that abiding in Christ is not something we schedule around—it is the state we are invited to live in. His message dismantles the false idea that communion with God must be carefully protected from the bustle of daily life. Jesus Himself remained perfectly united with the Father in every situation—not by escaping His reality, but by surrendering to it.

Today’s reflection from Miles Stanford reminds me that God’s aim is not just to meet my needs—it is to keep me close. He is not content to dispense provision like a distant benefactor. Instead, He supplies in a way that keeps the eyes of my heart turned toward His. Trials, then, are not interruptions to God’s will—they are often the very expression of it.

Today’s devotional from Witness Lee draws from Peter’s bold declaration in Acts 3, where he contrasts the crowd’s choice of a murderer over the “Holy and Righteous One,” identifying Jesus as the Author of life. The Greek term archegos reveals much more than we might see on the surface—it means originator, captain, founder, the very beginning from which all life flows.

Genesis 8 paints the quiet and holy aftermath of a storm. The floodwaters begin to recede not merely because of natural progression, but because God remembers. This remembrance is not mere recall—it is covenantal faithfulness. Just as the Spirit hovered over the primordial chaos in Genesis 1, so now a wind (the same Hebrew word as “spirit”) moves over the floodwaters, bringing about a new beginning. What was once a judgment becomes a renewal. The world is being re-created.

Hosea is a love story, but not the kind we expect. It is the story of a covenant marriage betrayed and yet—astonishingly—pursued with relentless affection. God, as the faithful husband, binds Himself to a people who persist in spiritual infidelity. And through the heartbreak of His prophet’s own marriage, He paints the divine drama in human terms: Israel’s idolatry is not merely rule-breaking—it is soul-breaking disloyalty. Yet still, God yearns.

Psalm 20 is a community prayer of blessing and trust, uttered before the king leads the army into battle. The people pray that God would remember the king’s offerings and respond favorably, not because of merit, but because of the relationship God initiated with His anointed. The hope expressed is not merely in the strength of armies, but in God’s faithfulness to His purposes. The first half of the psalm (vv. 1–5) is voiced corporately—asking for God to bless the king’s plans and grant victory. In the second half (vv. 6–9), one voice rises—perhaps the king’s or a prophet’s—expressing firm confidence in God’s answer. The contrast is stark: some trust in chariots and horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord.

E. Stanley Jones clarifies a critical truth about what really confirms someone’s calling in Christ—not a lineage of ordination, but the unmistakable fruit of transformed lives. Paul, often questioned about his apostolic authority, doesn’t appeal to a chain of human ceremonies or tradition. He simply says, “You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 9:2). His validation is not institutional—it’s incarnational. The evidence of his calling is living and breathing in the changed lives of those to whom he ministered.

Jesus didn’t shrink back from the cross. When He declared, “Father, the hour has come” (John 17:1), it wasn’t a sigh of resignation, but a cry of anticipation. He had long awaited this hour—not as the end, but as the beginning of the fulfillment of all He came to accomplish. Unlike our tendency to see difficult moments as loss or endings, Jesus saw His hour of suffering as a gateway to eternal fruitfulness.

Today's reflection from A.B. Simpson emphasizes that words, though less deliberate than actions, possess a spiritual weight that reverberates beyond time. The writer paints a sobering picture: while deeds may gain attention from others, words rise like vapor before the throne of God. They're not lost to the wind—they’re recorded, preserved, and, one day, revealed.

God has not merely improved the old way—He has replaced it entirely. The first covenant, built on law, had a divine purpose: to expose the need for righteousness and point sinners toward it. But it was never meant to impart life. Instead, it held up a mirror that reflected our inability to fulfill the law’s demands. As good and holy as it was, the law could never justify or sanctify.

Oswald Chambers invites us to confront a subtle but powerful resistance to Jesus: our temperament. We often use personality traits—our preferences, introversion or extroversion, aversions, even our so-called gifts—as excuses to maintain control of how we live. But Jesus doesn’t ask us to offer up what we’re comfortable surrendering. He asks for the one thing we always try to keep—our right to ourselves.

Today’s meditation from Miles Stanford draws our gaze upward and inward, anchoring us in the reality that suffering is not just a season to survive—it’s a sacred thread in the tapestry of transformation. The devotional invites us to see life’s trials not as detours, but as part of God’s deliberate and loving path to conform us into the image of His Son.

The heart of today’s reflection by Witness Lee is simple yet powerful: refreshing doesn’t come from relief in circumstances—it flows from rejoicing in the presence of the Lord. Isaiah points to this refreshment using the image of drawing water from the wells of salvation. It’s not a casual or silent drawing; it's done with joy, even with a strong, audible call upon the Lord’s name.

E. Stanley Jones invites us to pause and consider what true freedom looks like—not in the worldly sense of doing whatever we wish, but in the liberating safety of living in the Lord. Reflecting on Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 7:39, he points out that even our personal desires, such as the desire to remarry, must remain guarded by this phrase: only in the Lord. Within that boundary lies both blessing and security, even if not always immediate happiness.

It’s easy to read Jesus’ words—“ask anything in My name and I will do it”—as if He’s handing us a blank check. But our hearts instinctively know it can’t mean asking for anything and everything without boundaries. A Christian athlete praying for sunshine and a Christian farmer praying for rain can’t both receive their wish if Christ’s name is simply a spiritual tagline.

Today’s reflection from A.B. Simpson invites us to fix our eyes on Jesus so intently that His image becomes imprinted upon every facet of our lives. Just as those Greeks approached Philip with a sincere longing—“Sir, we want to see Jesus”—we too are drawn by the Spirit into deeper vision, one that alters how we perceive everything else.

Today’s devotional from Bob Hoekstra reminds us that the Christian life begins by grace and continues by grace—not by effort, striving, or willpower. Paul’s words to the Galatians confront the absurdity of beginning with the Spirit but trying to finish the race with the flesh. The same Spirit who brought us new life is the One who grows that life within us.

Oswald Chambers invites us into the simple, stunning reality of abiding with Christ—not for a moment, not even just a day, but continually. Many of us begin well—we hear Jesus say, “Come,” and we do. We enter into sweet fellowship with Him. But then life interrupts. Worries press in, self-focus returns, and the nearness of Christ seems to drift into the background. Chambers reminds us that abiding in Christ is not situational—it’s unconditional. No life circumstance excludes His presence. He is the One who makes His home in us.

Many believers have never tasted the simplicity and joy of enjoying the Lord—not merely knowing about Him, but delighting in His presence moment by moment. Today’s devotional from Witness Lee invites us into this refreshing reality: that we can experience peace, release, and joy simply by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus.