Today’s reflection from A.B. Simpson brings us to a foundational truth: true victory doesn’t begin with the enemy out there, but with the battle within. Just as Joshua’s physical triumph depended on Moses' intercession, so our spiritual victory hinges on our unseen union with Christ—our banner, Jehovah-nissi.

Today’s reading from Bob Hoekstra reminds us that the Christian life is anchored not in our promises to God, but in His promises to us. Scripture doesn’t require us to vow things to God, but it does reveal a God who delights in making—and keeping—promises. From the earliest moments of human failure in Genesis 3, God spoke a promise of rescue and victory, one that foretold the cross of Christ and His triumph over Satan.

There’s something sacred about sorrow—not because it’s pleasant, but because of what God does through it. Oswald Chambers invites us to stop resisting sorrow and instead receive ourselves within it. He isn’t calling us to embrace suffering for its own sake, but to recognize it as a crucible where shallowness is burned away and the real, Spirit-born self emerges.

Today’s reflection from Miles Stanford confronts one of the most persistent misunderstandings in the Christian life—confusing law with grace, mixing old covenants with new life, adding the minus back into what Christ has already made whole.

John the Baptist lived his message. Born into a priestly line, he had every right to wear linen and eat from the altar. But he chose camel’s hair and wilderness fare. His life was a walking contradiction to the religious and cultural expectations of his day. Why? Because he wasn’t called to preserve the old system—he was called to break with it.

Paul warns Timothy that the "last days" are not a distant time, but the present reality in which the church must stand firm. The apostle outlines a sobering list of godless traits, not to stir fear, but to clarify what happens when people are governed by self-interest rather than the Spirit of God. The vice list in 2 Timothy 3:1–5 is not merely about individual sins—it’s a sweeping portrait of a world adrift from its Creator, marked by self-love, slander, arrogance, and moral confusion.

It’s easy to look for God only in the large, dramatic events—the Red Sea moments. But today’s reflection shows us something stunning: one of Israel’s greatest deliverances began with a quiet, routine act. Pharaoh’s daughter went to bathe at the river. A simple decision, a daily habit. Yet God used that ordinary moment to begin His extraordinary plan of rescue.

E. Stanley Jones draws our attention to the profound weight of being sealed by God. The Holy Spirit is not just a silent witness—He is the seal that marks us as God’s own and the guarantee of His promises being fulfilled. In the ancient world, a seal implied both security and authority. That same image applies to us: when God places His Spirit within us, it isn’t a symbolic placeholder—it is the authority of heaven resting on the believer.

T. Austin-Sparks reminds us that life’s decisions should never be weighed merely by what seems good, beneficial, or even spiritual on the surface. Instead, each new opportunity must be brought under the searching light of God’s eternal purpose in Christ. Not a fragment of Scripture, but the full testimony of God’s Word must guide us.

This morning’s reflection from Ray Stedman draws us into the heart posture of Daniel, whose prayer in Daniel 9 models an often-missing element in our conversations with God—humble, honest confession. What’s striking is that Daniel, a man of integrity and unwavering faith, includes himself in the failings of his people. He doesn’t point fingers or maintain distance. Instead, he confesses with solidarity: We have sinned. We have turned away.

Today’s reflection from A.B. Simpson calls us to see holiness not as our achievement, but as our adornment—something we wear, not something we work up. Just as the high priest Joshua was stripped of filthy garments and clothed in splendor in Zechariah’s vision, so we are robed in the righteousness of Christ. The apostle Paul knew this truth deeply. His maturity didn’t lead to self-confidence but to deeper dependence.

Today’s reading from Bob Hoekstra invites me to examine how I frame my intentions, goals, and promises—especially those aimed at self-improvement, success, or personal transformation. The devotional doesn’t discourage setting plans or hoping for better outcomes, but it lovingly redirects the foundation upon which such plans must rest: the will of God.

Oswald Chambers offers a sobering yet liberating insight: we must be reconciled to the fact that sin exists—not only around us but also within fallen humanity. To deny this truth is to build our lives on a false optimism that inevitably collapses under pressure. When we idealize human nature without acknowledging the bent toward self-seeking and rebellion, we set ourselves up for confusion, compromise, and disappointment.

The heart of today’s message from Miles Stanford is this: mixing grace with law is not merely unhelpful—it’s spiritually devastating. The devotional points us to a vital freedom available to believers, not through effort, obligation, or religious systems, but through the grace of God alone. The author warns that attempting to apply past dispensations—like the Mosaic Law or even the Sermon on the Mount as a present-day rule of life—undermines our position in Christ and forfeits the freedom we were meant to walk in.

Today’s reflection from Witness Lee draws our attention to John the Baptist—not as a man standing inside the established religious structure of his day, but as one who stepped entirely outside it. Though born into the priesthood, John rejected the formality and legacy of the temple and chose instead to become a voice in the wilderness. His ministry was not shaped by robes, rituals, or lineage, but by a divine calling that broke away from tradition to proclaim something entirely new.

Genesis 12 opens the door to God’s plan to bring restoration to a world that has been reeling from curse after curse in the first eleven chapters. Here, God speaks again—this time not to all humanity, but to one man. Abram is called to leave behind everything familiar: his land, his culture, his family, and to walk into the unknown based solely on the word of the Lord. It’s a calling to radical trust and total reorientation.

Hosea 4 is a sobering courtroom scene where God, as both prosecutor and judge, lays out His charges against Israel. The core issue is spiritual amnesia—God’s people have forgotten Him. This forgetfulness isn’t casual; it results in broken relationships, widespread injustice, and even environmental decay. The priests, who were supposed to model God’s ways and teach His law, have failed miserably. They’ve traded their divine calling for personal gain and indulgence.

Psalm 24 is a majestic celebration of God's ownership of all creation and His triumphant entry into the hearts and places where He is welcomed. Likely written for a temple procession after a military victory, it portrays the scene of the ark of the covenant being ushered back into Jerusalem, accompanied by formal ritual chants between priests and gatekeepers. It begins with the truth that the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord because He made it all (vv. 1–2). But then the psalm pivots to a serious question: who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who is worthy to stand in His holy place (vv. 3–6)?

E. Stanley Jones reminds us that only one foundation holds steady: Christ Himself. Not doctrine. Not a beloved preacher. Not even the most reverent worship service. All these can shift like sand, but in Christ, we are firmly established.

He then unpacks four realities that are ours in Christ from 2 Corinthians 1:21–22:

• God establishes us in Christ.

• God commissions us in Christ.

• God seals us with His ownership.

• God gives us His Spirit as a guarantee.

Today’s reflection from His Victorious Indwelling reminds us that Christ’s indwelling presence—though always true—is not always consciously experienced. Turmoil in the soul does not drive Him away, but it does crowd out our awareness of Him. When the heart is at war with fear, anxiety, striving, or inner tension, it becomes difficult to sense the nearness of the One who never leaves.