A.B. Simpson’s reflection on 1 Samuel 15:22 reminds us that obedience to the voice of God is of greater worth than any sacrifice we might offer. He points out that our healing, both spiritual and physical, is connected to a heart that delights in pleasing the Lord. Simpson highlights that praise is a service dear to God. When we approach Him with gratitude and joy, He mirrors that joy back to us in the form of renewed health, strength, and vitality. Our bodies often respond to the condition of our hearts; a joyful spirit prepares the way for trust to grow.

In this reading, Oswald Chambers invites us into the tension between common sense and living faith. He notes that every time we step out in faith, something contrary will appear to challenge it. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. They occupy different realms. Chambers asks if we can trust Jesus when our common sense fails, when the facts of our lives seem to mock our belief. It is easy to say “I believe” when we are on the mountaintop, but real faith is forged in the valley where facts shout, “It’s impossible.”

Miles Stanford invites us to lift our gaze from the dust of earth to the heights of heaven. We live in a world so saturated with earthly concerns that it is easy to forget where our true life is found. Stanford laments that the Church can become so tethered to the here and now that it loses its heavenly effectiveness. We are reminded that, like the Greeks who said, “Sir, we would see Jesus,” our hearts are hungry for a vision of the Risen One who sits at the right hand of God. The devotional encourages us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things, because our life is hidden with Jesus in God. It is a call to live from our heavenly position, not merely to aspire to it.

In today’s reading, Witness Lee points us to a deep truth about the hiddenness of God. Throughout the universe, we can see His works, yet we do not see Him. He remains secret even as He acts in power and love. Lee reminds us that God’s life has this hidden nature, and those who live by His life will often go unseen by the world. While our human nature craves applause and recognition, God’s life in us does not display itself for show. When we love others by His love, it is not to make a spectacle; it is quietly faithful.

Today’s devotional from Nick Harrison reminds us that true power before others only comes from first being filled with God. Edward Dennett warns that one of the greatest mistakes we can make is to try to impress people or seek influence apart from the presence of God. Without His indwelling fullness, we are left with only self-confidence, which quickly becomes a barrier to peace and joy.

T. Austin-Sparks points us to the women at the tomb, who came expecting to find the stone sealed and immovable. Instead, they discovered that it was already rolled away. Their amazement reflects how often we underestimate the quiet power of God. We imagine His works must be explosive, accompanied by earthquakes and thunder, but more often His strength accomplishes what is needed in silence, removing obstacles as if they had never existed.

Ray Stedman reminds us through the sobering words of Jeremiah that when people or nations persist in ignoring God, judgment eventually comes. The account of Jerusalem’s fall is not just a piece of history. It reveals the justice of God at work. The city that rejected Him was itself rejected. The temple that burned incense to idols was set aflame. The king who refused to see had his eyes put out. The people who enslaved others were themselves led captive. God’s judgment is often allowing us to fully reap what we have sown.

Ray Stedman reminds us of the tragic reality that unfolded in the days of Jeremiah. When the words of God were read to King Jehoiakim and his court, they showed no reverence, no trembling, and no sorrow. Instead, the king defiantly burned the scroll, exposing not only his arrogance but also the deeper problem of a heart void of the fear of God. To lose that holy awe is to set oneself on the road to destruction. For the fear of God is not terror, but the sober recognition that His authority governs all of life.

A.B. Simpson reminds us today of the immeasurable riches found in union with God through the indwelling Spirit. When the Holy Spirit takes His rightful place within us, we step into the inheritance God has promised. The verse in Ephesians 3:20 declares that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us. Simpson encourages us to see that this power is not distant or external, but alive in us through Jesus Christ.

A.B. Simpson reminds us that the world’s values are often turned upside down from God’s perspective. In Matthew 6:25, Jesus tells us not to worry about the things that dominate earthly concerns, for life is much more than what we eat, drink, or wear. In the same way, Simpson points out that God delights to use the things and people that the world rejects. The names “Nazarene” and “Christian” were once slurs of contempt, yet they became titles of honor in the Kingdom. God is not looking for those the world praises, but for those who are yielded to Him.

Oswald Chambers draws us into the heart of prayer, stripping away our ordinary assumptions and reminding us what prayer truly is. Too often, we treat prayer as a means of securing blessings or stirring up emotion, but Chambers points us higher. Prayer, he says, is the very nourishment of the life of Jesus within us. Just as physical food sustains the body, prayer sustains the divine life born in us when we were made new in Him.

Oswald Chambers warns us not to treat spiritual insights as trophies of past experiences, but as living truths meant to be obeyed in the present. He uses the picture of the mountaintop and valley to remind us that what God shows us in moments of clarity must be worked out in daily life. If we brush aside His revelation, the very light we once rejoiced in can become darkness, leaving us dry and restless.

Miles Stanford points us to the staggering reality that our acceptance before God is not earned but already secured in Jesus. For many, there are long seasons of reckoning without much relief, fighting sin in their own strength, only to find frustration and futility. Then, by the Spirit’s gracious leading, our eyes are lifted to the Deliverer Himself. We are reminded not only of what He has done, but of where He has placed us. We are raised up together with Him and seated in the heavenly places.

Miles Stanford draws us to Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7, where he declares that what once seemed valuable is now counted as loss compared to knowing Jesus. This is not a call to despise life’s blessings, but rather to see them in their proper place. When the Lord reveals Himself as our true life, our hearts begin to release their grip on things and hold fast to Him.

In today’s devotional, Witness Lee brings us back to the heart of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6. He shows us that righteous deeds such as giving, praying, and fasting are not meant to be displayed for others to applaud. The flesh naturally longs for recognition, but the children of God are called to live differently. We are invited into a hidden life with the Father, one that seeks only His pleasure and His presence.

Witness Lee draws our attention to the contrast between two ways of living. The first is the hopeless path of the natural life, which is weak and powerless to meet God’s standards. The second is the way of divine life, which God has given us in His Son. Through union with Jesus, we are no longer left to strive in the weakness of our flesh. Instead, we live by the life of the Spirit within us. This is the very life of the Father, expressed through the Son, now dwelling in us.

Romans 8:15-17 reminds us of a truth too great to overlook: as believers, we did not receive a spirit of fear or slavery, but the Spirit of adoption. By that Spirit we cry out, “Abba, Father.” This is not a distant God we approach, but a loving Father who calls us His children. And if children, then heirs. More than that, we are co-heirs with Jesus, destined to share not only in His glory but also in His sufferings.

E. Stanley Jones points us to the simple but searching truth found in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” At first glance, it may seem like a common command, but Jones shows us it carries a deep principle about how we live under authority. The natural tendency of our flesh is to resist, saying, “I am free in Jesus, so I owe nothing to anyone.” Yet Paul insists that obedience and submission must be carried out “in the Lord.” This changes everything.

In today’s reading, T. Austin-Sparks draws us into the wonder of God’s unchanging nature. The Lord declares, “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). From the old covenant to the new, the nature of God remains perfect in holiness and righteousness. Grace has not altered His standard, nor has it lowered His character. The difference between the old and the new lies not in God, but in the Mediator who stands between God and man.

Ray Stedman points us to a sobering truth from Jeremiah 34. The people of Judah had made a covenant before God, setting their slaves free as an act of obedience. Yet shortly afterward, they went back on their word, reclaiming those same people as slaves once again. God declared this to be no small matter. He said, you have profaned My name. The Hebrew meaning behind “profane” is to wound, pierce, or deface. In other words, God was saying, you have defaced Me by your actions.