Before Christ’s death and resurrection, the disciples followed Him by physically going where He went. They had to leave their homes, trades, and families in order to be near Him. There was no spiritual shortcut—no way to be “with” Jesus unless one was literally beside Him. But now, everything has changed. Jesus is no longer limited by time and space. His Spirit has come to dwell within every believer, personally and powerfully present no matter where we are or what we face.

E. Stanley Jones draws a crucial distinction in today’s reflection from In Christ: not all faith glorifies God. He reveals that when faith is separated from love, it not only loses its beauty but also becomes a destructive force. This distortion has left a tragic mark on history—religious movements, even in the name of Christ, have sometimes weaponized belief without love, leaving damage in their wake.

In today’s meditation, T. Austin-Sparks draws our attention to the divine upheaval that God allows—or even initiates—so that only what is rooted in Christ remains. Citing Hebrews 12, he reminds us that created things—systems, traditions, institutions—are inherently shakable. Only the eternal, spiritual life sourced in Christ is unshakable.

Today’s devotional from Ray Stedman reminds us that Paul never told Jews to abandon the Law of Moses or circumcision altogether. Rather, he clearly drew a distinction between Jewish believers who could continue their cultural observances as symbols pointing to Christ, and Gentile believers who were not to be burdened with those rituals. For Paul, it was never about rejecting the past—it was about recognizing how it had been fulfilled in Christ.

There’s a deep sorrow in Paul’s voice when he asks the Galatians why they would turn back to the very thing that once enslaved them. They had come to know God—and more importantly, had come to be known by Him. Yet, they drifted back into striving, back into rule-keeping, back into spiritual poverty. The law was never designed to breathe life into us. It only reveals the lack that grace fills.

A.B. Simpson reminds us that many believers live in endless skirmishes with sin because they’ve never fully entered into the victory that is already theirs in Christ. Rather than settling the matter with a decisive surrender and resting in Christ’s finished work, they remain in the trenches, exhausting themselves trying to win battles that were already won at Calvary. The City of David didn’t fall to David because of brute force or strategy—it fell because God had ordained it. “Nevertheless,” David captured it.

Oswald Chambers gently reminds us that Jesus never forces Himself on us. He doesn’t demand submission, manipulate our decisions, or coerce obedience. Instead, He reveals Himself—and in that revealing, those who belong to Him willingly recognize His moral authority. When Christ’s life is birthed within us through redemption, obedience becomes a response of love, not obligation.

God has not withheld a single spiritual blessing from us—He has lavished them all upon us in Christ. At the heart of this generosity is His love. It isn’t a love we’re meant to admire from a distance or strive to earn. It’s a love that has been poured into us, that now defines us, that frees us to live and love in return.

The miraculous birth of Jesus wasn’t merely an entry into the world for the sake of starting His earthly ministry. It was the eternal God stepping into humanity—without absorbing its fallen nature. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born through the virgin Mary, Jesus took on the likeness of sinful flesh, but not sin itself. He wore our skin but not our corruption. His appearance reflected fallen man, but His essence remained holy and untouched by sin.

E. Stanley Jones presents a vision of Christian faith that transcends outward markers and religious rituals. Circumcision, once a defining sign of covenant belonging, has been eclipsed in Christ by something deeper. While some may substitute baptism today as a dividing line between who is “in” and who is “out,” Jones challenges us to go further—past the surface and into the substance. It is not religious status or external rites that matter, but the reality of being a new creation in Christ.

Watchman Nee draws a striking contrast between self-effort and Christ-effort. He reminds us that many believers assume spiritual victory depends on willpower, strategy, and vigilance—as though temptation is a battle where we must tighten our grip, grit our teeth, and push through by sheer determination. But this approach leaves us exhausted, anxious, and self-congratulatory when we succeed… and ashamed when we don’t.

T. Austin-Sparks invites us to peer through a window—not into theory, but into the living reality of Christ’s surpassing beauty. He draws from Galatians 5:7 to highlight the Galatians’ passionate start in the Christian race, only to be hindered mid-run. Their downfall? They were fueled by emotion instead of the sustaining love of Christ made real through the Holy Spirit.

Paul's heart burned with a deep desire to honor Christ—even unto death. But according to Ray Stedman’s devotional today, Acts 21 shows us that sincerity and courage, while admirable, are not always indicators of Spirit-led action. In this passage, Paul receives a dramatic warning from the prophet Agabus: if he continues toward Jerusalem, he will be bound and handed over to the Gentiles. Agabus, speaking by the Spirit, visually demonstrates this warning using Paul’s own belt. It’s a vivid, loving intervention meant to protect Paul from walking into something the Spirit had already revealed was not God’s will for him.

Many Christians rightly rejoice in the truth that we are justified by grace through faith, apart from the works of the law. But fewer realize that the same truth that set us free for salvation also sets us free for sanctification. Today’s devotional from Bob Hoekstra gently uncovers the subtle but widespread misunderstanding that sanctification depends on our performance under the law. The author walks us from the familiar legal verdict of being guilty before God into the liberating promise of dying with Christ—and being raised to serve in a new and living way, not under the letter of the law but in the life of the Spirit.

Today’s devotional from A.B. Simpson draws our hearts to the staggering truth that we are already complete in Christ. Paul’s declaration in Colossians 2:10 isn’t a promise of future wholeness—it’s a present reality for those in Him. Just as an architect’s model is already perfectly designed before the construction begins, so too is our life of holiness fully realized in Christ. All that we need—wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption—has already been given to us in Him.

Oswald Chambers invites us to marvel at the supernatural transformation that occurred in Saul of Tarsus. This wasn’t a behavioral shift born of strong will or religious discipline—it was a divine intervention. What happened on the road to Damascus defied logic, explanation, or predictability. Saul didn’t adjust his moral compass; he was remade by the miracle of redemption. And what followed was not forced compliance, but a life of willing, loving obedience to the One who now indwelt him.

We often want progress on our terms—measurable, immediate, and visible. But our Father works with eternal precision, never rushed, never late. Today’s devotional from Miles Stanford reminds us that when we come into agreement with God’s purposes for our lives, our urgency fades and our peace deepens. We no longer feel the need to press the gas pedal for Him; instead, we learn to yield to His steady and intentional pace.

Today’s devotional by Witness Lee explores a rarely taught yet biblically faithful truth—Jesus took on not only the form of humanity but the likeness of a serpent, according to God’s view of fallen flesh. Just as Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the wilderness to bring healing to the Israelites, Jesus was lifted up on the cross, bearing the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. He was not sinful Himself, but He wore the form of one who was—so that we might be delivered from the curse that rightfully belonged to us.

E. Stanley Jones reflects on Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 to present a radical truth of the gospel: all earthly distinctions are abolished in Christ. He points out that in the new society born of the Holy Spirit, divisions based on race, class, gender, culture, or religious observance no longer have any bearing on identity. There is no room for superiority or inferiority in the Body of Christ because the old hierarchies and labels do not carry into the new creation. In Him, we are one—not figuratively, but factually.

Not all service offered to God rises up as a sweet aroma. Some comes from strain, pressure, and inner unrest—well-intentioned, perhaps, but flesh-born. Alexander's reflection reminds us that the service which pleases God is not the kind that originates in our efforts or our desire to perform, but rather the kind that descends from heaven itself and flows through us by the Holy Spirit. This is the difference between Martha’s initial frenzy and her later quiet attentiveness—between a flurry of performance and a fragrance of peace.