A Personal Journal of Grace and Discipleship

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:20

From the blog


 

The Exchanged Life: Finding Freedom and Wholeness Through Spirituotherapy

In a world filled with competing counseling models, it’s not uncommon to find contrasting views on what “biblical” or “Christian” counseling truly means. Searching for answers can feel overwhelming, and the terms alone—“biblical counseling” versus “Christian counseling”—can spark endless debates on how, or whether, secular counseling methodologies fit within a Christian framework.

From Trying to Trusting
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

From Trying to Trusting

Today’s devotional from Miles Stanford draws a clear and freeing distinction between being under law and living by life. The law was never given to empower us but to expose us. As sinners, it revealed our guilt. As believers, it reveals our inability to overcome sin by effort. This painful realization is not failure. It is the very place where God begins to teach us what true deliverance looks like.

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Satisfied by a Righteousness Beyond Our Own
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Satisfied by a Righteousness Beyond Our Own

Today’s devotional from Witness Lee draws our attention to the fourth beatitude: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. This isn’t about striving for moral uprightness by our own effort, but about longing for a righteousness that only Jesus can produce. The devotional reminds us that true righteousness is not just a matter of external obedience, like avoiding murder. It reaches deeper, addressing even the anger of the heart. The new law of the kingdom calls us to a higher standard that goes far beyond the old.

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Fixing My Eyes Beyond My Limits
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Fixing My Eyes Beyond My Limits

Today’s devotional from E. Stanley Jones traces the rich link between faith and love as revealed in Ephesians 1:15 and other scriptures. Over and over, the early church is praised for both their faith in Jesus and their love for one another. These two fruits are not separate by coincidence, but deeply connected. Love, the kind that reflects God's heart, grows out of faith in Jesus.

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A Salvation So Full, A Love So Near
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

A Salvation So Full, A Love So Near

Today’s meditation compiled by Nick Harrison unfolds the sweeping wonder of what salvation truly means. Quoting 1 John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” the writers remind us that this cleansing is not partial or delayed. It is total, finished, and available now. The grace of God has delivered us not only from the eternal consequences of sin but also from its present grip.

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Through the Open Window of Revelation
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Through the Open Window of Revelation

T. Austin-Sparks calls our attention to the pressing need for spiritual vision in the Church—not just men with words, but men who have heard directly from God. The passage centers on Proverbs 29:18, where lack of revelation leads to unrestrained living. Sparks is not speaking about general ministry roles but a deep, personal, revelatory call. This is the kind of message that comes through divine appointment, often forged through suffering, mystery, and seasons of spiritual upheaval. These crises are not mistakes. They are divine classrooms.

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The Word That Uproots and Rebuilds
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The Word That Uproots and Rebuilds

Today’s devotional from Ray Stedman centers on the calling of Jeremiah, where God not only gives him words but appoints him over nations and kingdoms. It is a staggering reminder that the real power in this world does not reside in governments, armies, or prominent names. It resides in the living word of God, spoken through those who yield to Him. Jeremiah, a young man from a humble background, is entrusted with divine authority, not to wield for his own glory but to carry out God’s purposes, to uproot, tear down, build, and plant.

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Standing on the Sure Ground of Grace
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Standing on the Sure Ground of Grace

God’s promises are meant to be embraced with unwavering assurance. He does not want us to live with anxious uncertainty about whether He will do what He has said. According to Romans 4:16, the certainty of His promises comes from the relationship between grace and faith. His promises are sure because they rest on His grace, and grace is accessed by faith, not effort or merit.

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Power in the Pressure
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Power in the Pressure

Today’s reflection from A.B. Simpson invites us to see trials not as obstacles, but as the very means through which God's purposes advance in and through us. The writer points out that after enduring suffering, we often find ourselves valuing life more deeply and using our time more intentionally. These difficult seasons refine our focus. They draw us out of self-concern and press us into greater compassion and service.

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When Purpose Takes You Where You Didn’t Expect
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When Purpose Takes You Where You Didn’t Expect

Oswald Chambers reflects on Jesus’ unwavering march toward Jerusalem, the place where He would fulfill the Father’s will. For Jesus, Jerusalem symbolized not personal ambition but surrender. He did not come to carry out His own ideas or build His own legacy. He came to do the will of the One who sent Him, and nothing, joy or sorrow, acclaim or opposition, could distract Him from that purpose. His life was singular in aim: obedience.

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Only the Hungry Grow
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Only the Hungry Grow

Today’s devotional from Miles Stanford explores a key distinction in our spiritual journey. While Romans 1 through 5 contain the birth truths of salvation, it is Romans 6 through 8 that reveal the growth truths essential for maturity. The Reformation rightly reclaimed the truth of justification, but it often stopped short of ushering believers into the indwelling life of Jesus as their functional source for living. That inner dependence is where transformation takes place.

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The Meek Will Own What the Mighty Could Not Keep
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The Meek Will Own What the Mighty Could Not Keep

The world today is under the rule of Satan, but Revelation 11:15 assures us that the day is coming when the world will fully belong to our Lord and His Christ. That reclaimed world, the earth itself, is the same one spoken of in Matthew 5:5 where Jesus says the meek will inherit it. Today’s devotional from Witness Lee uncovers the countercultural nature of this promise. In the world’s eyes, land is taken by power. History is full of wars fought for territory, and those who resist or refuse to fight are often seen as weak and forgotten. But in the eyes of the kingdom, meekness is not weakness. It is yielded trust.

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Love That Looks Deeper
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Love That Looks Deeper

T. Austin-Sparks invites us to look through a window, not of judgment, but of love. and to see the surpassing excellence of Jesus as we engage with others. The love we’re called to express is not limited to those who are easy to love or who share our spiritual maturity. Scripture makes it plain that love must abound not only within our circle, but toward all people. That is a searching and deeply practical call.

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The Call That Comes With a Companion
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The Call That Comes With a Companion

Today’s devotional from Ray Stedman invites us to look into Jeremiah’s initial hesitation when God called him. Jeremiah, feeling too young and too unqualified, responded in much the same way many others have throughout Scripture. Like Moses, Gideon, and Isaiah, he shrank back in fear and insecurity. But that hesitation, far from disqualifying him, placed him in a long line of servants whose strength came not from self-confidence but from divine companionship.

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Trust Over Terms: Why God’s Promises Are Never Earned
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Trust Over Terms: Why God’s Promises Are Never Earned

Today’s devotional from Bob Hoekstra brings us back to Abraham, the man God called righteous not because of what he did but because of whom he trusted. The heart of the message is this: God’s promises are never bound by law-keeping. They are given freely and received through faith. Even before circumcision, before Mount Sinai, and long before the law, Abraham believed, and that belief alone was counted as righteousness.

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The Quiet Grace That Carries
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

The Quiet Grace That Carries

Today’s devotional from A.B. Simpson centers on Psalm 18:35 and highlights a truth often overlooked: that God’s gentleness, not just His strength, lifts us up. While many of us may be drawn to the power of God to deliver or protect, this passage reminds us that His quiet, patient love is what makes us truly great. We are not transformed by harshness, fear, or force, but by the gentle, personal touch of His Spirit.

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Grace in the Strain
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

Grace in the Strain

In today’s devotional, Oswald Chambers confronts a common misunderstanding: that the Christian life is meant to be free from trouble. In reality, following Jesus does not remove hardship, but transforms its meaning. Troubles are not canceled, but conquered. Jesus Himself said that in this world we would face tribulation. The promise is not the absence of pressure, but His presence in the midst of it.

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When Glory Grows Through Gloom
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When Glory Grows Through Gloom

Today’s reflection from Miles Stanford begins with a direct and sobering word from 1 Peter 4:12. Followers of Jesus are not to think it strange when fiery trials come. Instead, these trials are meant to shape, deepen, and purify the servant of God. The author draws a connection between the visible glory of ministry and the hidden burden it often carries. Just as sowing requires dying, so does reaping. And both are drenched in trust that God is working even when nothing seems to bloom.

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The Hidden Comfort of Holy Sorrow
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The Hidden Comfort of Holy Sorrow

At first glance, Jesus' words in Matthew 5:4 seem puzzling. How can mourning be a blessing? Why would those who grieve be called happy? Yet, when seen through the lens of the kingdom within us, this statement becomes a deep encouragement. Those who mourn are not merely sorrowful over personal loss or disappointment. They carry the burden of God’s heart for the brokenness of this world.

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When Direction Is a Whisper
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When Direction Is a Whisper

Jeremiah 10:23 reminds us that our lives are not our own to direct. Rosalind Rinker builds on this truth with a heartfelt reflection on discerning God's guidance. She shares a story of a woman who was confident that she had heard from God, only to find that things did not unfold as expected. The issue was not just in what she believed she heard, but in how confidently she asserted that God had spoken, even when others could not confirm it.

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The Heaven Within
Believing Thomas Believing Thomas

The Heaven Within

Ephesians 1:13–14 declares that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. In today’s devotional, E. Stanley Jones pauses again on this truth to explore the beauty of this sealing. It is not simply a mark of ownership. It is a deeply transformative act where the Holy Spirit applies the reality of heaven within us even before we step into it physically. This is not a second conversion but a personal and internal sanctifying work that brings our whole being under divine authority and peace.

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