Bob Hoekstra draws our attention to Joshua meeting the mysterious Man outside Jericho with sword drawn. Joshua asks a natural question, Are You for us or for our adversaries. The answer reorients everything. No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come. Victory would not flow from Israel recruiting God to their side. Victory would come as Israel yielded to the Lord who was already in charge.

A. B. Simpson points us to a hard mercy that becomes a glad relief. We begin life in the natural. We lean on our own plans, our own character, our own resolve. Then the Lord, in kindness and care, lets the props of self-confidence give way so that we discover our need for something more than better habits. Simpson says this collapse is not the end. It is the doorway into the life of Jesus within us.

Oswald Chambers draws our eyes to God’s purpose for His people. The destiny set before us is not comfort or applause, it is holiness. Through the atoning work of Jesus, the Father restores us to union with Himself, removing every shadow that stood between. Chambers presses us to ask a searching question, do I actually believe I need to be holy, and do I believe God can make me holy from the inside out.

Miles Stanford points our eyes to a gracious pattern in the Father’s care. God is not out to crush faith. He cultivates it. Over time He shows us the limits of our own resources so that we rest in the sufficiency that is already ours in Jesus. When we are carried beyond our depth, we discover that our weakness is not a liability in the kingdom. It is the very place where His life meets us.

Today’s reading from Witness Lee invites me to live from the Father’s hidden life rather than my natural desire to be noticed. Jesus points to giving that is quiet, unseen, and free from display. The world measures generosity by applause and totals, yet the Father smiles on what is done in secret. Lee highlights that this cannot be produced by our natural life. It flows from the divine life within, a life that does not crave a spotlight.

T. Austin-Sparks draws our attention to a truth that can be easy to overlook. Jesus said that the defining mark of His disciples is not deep knowledge or flawless doctrine, but love for one another. Sparks reminds us that love is the governing matter with the Lord. Truth and understanding are precious, but without love, they cannot build up the body of Christ. Love, on the other hand, has the power to restore, unite, and give rest.

E. Stanley Jones warns against a subtle danger that can creep into ministry and Christian life: drawing attention to ourselves rather than to Jesus. Paul’s words in Philippians 1:26 remind us that his whole purpose was that others would have ample cause to glory in Jesus Christ because of him. Paul lived not for his own recognition, but for Christ to be magnified through his life. This devotional presses us to examine whether our words and actions highlight ourselves or direct people to the Savior.

This devotional reminds us that trusting Jesus for daily victory can bring with it a subtle temptation. As Charles G. Trumbull points out, once we discover the secret of victory, we may be surrounded by fellow believers who have not yet seen or experienced it. In that moment, the peril of pride can creep in. We may be tempted to look down on others, to speak a critical word, or to act as if we are somehow better. Yet the truth is clear: our victory is not ours at all, but His.

T. Austin-Sparks invites us to look honestly at what often clogs the flow of Jesus’ life within us. He points to the subtle ways the enemy introduces self-love, worldliness, or even hurt feelings to block the Spirit’s free course. Many times the issue is not an obvious sin but something quieter, such as unkind thoughts toward fellow believers, resentment, or even timid withdrawal. These hindrances may seem small, yet they weigh heavily, like stones dropped into a well. They obstruct the fellowship through which the Spirit delights to work.

Ray Stedman walks us through Jeremiah 50 and 51, where God declares the fall of Babylon. He explains that Babylon is more than an ancient city. Throughout Scripture it becomes a picture of organized opposition to God, especially where religious power is used to gain fame, status, and control. Stedman helps us see that whenever human pride builds towers to reach the heavens, the Lord brings those towers down. I am grateful for Stedman’s steady voice here, pointing us away from fear and back to the simple confidence that Jesus overcomes the world.

Israel stood on the edge of the Promised Land with real enemies ahead. Bob Hoekstra draws our eyes to Moses’ pastoral word in Deuteronomy 20. The people would see horses, chariots, and crowds that outnumbered them. Their hearts would want to race. Moses did not call them to match the enemy’s strength. He pointed them to the Lord who went with them, to fight for them, to save them.

A. B. Simpson points us to the quiet difference between a life that wins sometimes and a life that walks in steady victory. On the surface the two may look alike. Both have bright moments. Both know seasons of triumph. Yet Simpson reminds us that the small gap between occasional faith and constant trust is wide. One is rooted in human effort that rises and falls. The other draws on the faithful life of Jesus within, producing a durable constancy that holds when pressures rise.

We often imagine that God is testing us to see if we will pass or fail. Miles Stanford gently reframes this. Our Father is not grading our worth. He is growing our trust. Over time He makes us honestly aware of our utter inability so that we may rest in His total sufficiency. What looks like weakness to the world becomes the doorway where the life of Jesus flows.

God’s fatherly discipline is not a sign that we are cast off. Witness Lee helps us see that it is a loving confirmation that we belong to the family. Hebrews 12 says the Father of spirits disciplines His sons and daughters for our good so that we may share His holiness. The hand that corrects is the same hand that embraces. When He trains us, He is not lowering our worth. He is drawing us more deeply into the life of Jesus that already dwells within us.

Oswald Chambers points us to the kind of joy Jesus promised. It is not a mood swing or a lucky break. Jesus speaks of a joy that is His own, the joy of glad surrender to the Father, the joy of saying yes to the mission for which He came. Chambers reminds us that this joy is not found by managing outcomes, but by living in union with the One who did only what pleased the Father.

E. Stanley Jones points us to a truth that runs opposite of what we would expect. Paul’s imprisonment, rather than discouraging the early believers, actually gave them more confidence to speak the Word of God with boldness. Our usual way of thinking would assume that release and freedom from suffering would strengthen faith, but here the opposite happened. The very chains that bound Paul became the instrument God used to inspire courage in others.

Today’s devotional from Nick Harrison draws us into a lesson that runs against the noise of the world. Both François Fénelon and Hannah Whitall Smith remind us that strength does not come from restless activity or constant effort. It comes instead from quiet trust, stillness, and the life of abiding in Jesus. The verse from John 8:28 anchors us: Jesus Himself only spoke what the Father taught Him. He did nothing independently, but lived fully dependent upon His Father’s presence.

T. Austin-Sparks reminds us that in Jesus, the fullness of God has already come near. There is nothing more to be added. God’s final and complete word is His Son, and He will not speak through another. This truth is both a comfort and a warning. Comfort, because in Jesus we have all the resources of heaven at our disposal. Warning, because if we ignore the Son, there is no other message left. Sparks urges us to see that the gospel is not a philosophy or a teaching, but an encounter with the living God Himself.

Ray Stedman takes us into Jeremiah 46, where the prophet describes Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish. Though the battle was historical, its imagery continues to speak. Egypt, in Scripture, often symbolizes the world system that draws God’s people back toward bondage. Israel longed for the food and comforts of Egypt even after God freed them, just as we sometimes crave what enslaves us. Egypt becomes more than geography. It represents a mindset: living for pleasure, for comfort, for self rather than for the glory of God.

Israel’s story teaches more than rescue from bondage. It pictures a God who brings His people out, then brings them in. Bob Hoekstra traces Joshua and Caleb’s confidence in the Lord and shows how humble faith enters the fullness that grace provides. Their generation left Egypt, yet most never stepped into the good land. Two believed God in the face of giants, and they tasted what He had already promised.