My Favorite Daily Devotion by Ray Stedman

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR NOVEMBER 21ST

The Wise Use of Liberty
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. Romans 15:1-2

There are two thumbnail rules to follow when you have to make a quick decision whether you ought to insist on liberty in a certain area, or give way to someone else's qualms, or prejudices, or differences of viewpoint.

The first rule is: Choose to please your neighbor rather than yourself. Do not insist on your way of doing things; be quick to give in. This is what love does. Love does not insist on its own rights, Paul tells us in First Corinthians 13. Therefore, if you are loving in your approach, love will adjust and adapt to others.

The second rule, however, says to be careful that your giving in does not allow your neighbor to be confirmed in his weakness, that you do not leave him without encouragement to grow, or to rethink his position. We are to seek to build one another up. If we do nothing but give in to people's weaknesses, the church eventually ends up living at the level of the weakest conscience in its midst. This presents a twisted and distorted view of Christian liberty, and the world gets false ideas about what Christianity is about. So this helps to balance the situation. Please your neighbor, but for his own good, always leaving something there to challenge his thinking, or make him reach out a bit, and possibly change his viewpoint.

A man made an appointment to see me and told me he was a teacher in a Christian school. He had been asked by the board to enforce a rule prohibiting students from wearing their hair long. It was a rule that he did not agree with, so he found himself in a dilemma. If he did not enforce the rule, the board had told him that he would lose his job. If he did enforce it, he would be upsetting the students and their parents, who felt that this was a matter that did not merit that kind of attention. Our culture has long since changed from regarding long hair as a symbol of rebellion, so this man found himself in between a rock and a hard place. His plea to me was, What shall I do? My counsel was that we should not push our ideas of liberty to the degree that they would upset the peace. So I said to him, For the sake of peace, go along with the board and enforce the rule for this year. But make a strong plea to the board to rethink their position and to change their viewpoint. At the end of the year if they are unwilling to do that, perhaps you might well consider moving to a different place. That way you would not be upsetting things, and creating a division in the school.

That illustrates what Paul is saying. People can lose sight of the main objectives of being together as Christians, and they get so focused in on these issues that a church can split right down the center. Or else these issues will create such arguing, bickering and dissension within the group that the whole atmosphere of the church is changed. Paul is saying to us that this is really not necessary as there are things that can be done to work these problems out.

Father, thank you for the liberty and freedom that you give. I pray that we who regard ourselves as strong, may be willing to bear the burdens of the weak. May your people manifest a spirit of unity to the watching world that knows no way to get divergent factions together.

Life Application
Are we committed to pleasing our 'neighbor' for their good? How will we discern the good that is needed? Do we have increased awareness of our own need for discernment from the Word, both written and indwelling us His people?

Deep Dive> Our Great Example

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR NOVEMBER 22ND

Accept One Another
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Your name. Romans 15:7-9

I do not know if you have ever been involved in a church fight, but if you have, you know that tempers can get very hot. People can get very upset, and factions can form; divisions and feuds break out.

Yet I have never heard of a church fight that was any worse than the attitudes that Jews and Gentiles had toward one another in Paul's day. The Jews held the Gentiles in contempt; they called them dogs. They would have nothing to do with them. The Jews even regarded it as sinful to go into a Gentile's house and they would never dream of eating with a Gentile. They regarded them with utter contempt. In the book of Acts, Peter got into serious trouble with his Jewish friends because he went into the home of Cornelius, and ate with him. It was only because Peter could show that the Holy Spirit sent him there, that he was able to justify his conduct to his friends.

Of course, if the Jews felt that way about the Gentiles, the Gentiles paid it right back in kind. They hated the Jews. They called them all kinds of names. This is where modern anti-Semitism was born. These were opposing factions who hated one another, and would have nothing to do with one another.

Yet, Paul says, that kind of division God is healing by the work of Jesus. How did Jesus do it? A more literal translation of the text is that, he became a minister of circumcision. What the apostle is arguing is that the Lord healed this breach between the Jews and the Gentiles by his giving in and limiting his own liberty. He who designed the human body, he himself consented to the act of circumcision. Jesus consented to that and limited himself in that way. He became a circumcised Jew. He who declared in his ministry that all foods are clean, and thus gave clear evidence that he understood the liberty that God gives us in the matter of eating, never once ate anything but kosher food. He limited himself to the Jewish diet, even though he declared that all foods were clean.

He who was without sin insisted on a sinner's baptism. He came to John, and John said, Why are you coming to me? I need to be baptized by you. You do not need to be baptized. Jesus said, Allow it to be so, for in this way it becomes us. It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, (Matthew 3:15). So he who had no reason to be baptized consented to be baptized. He who longed to heal the hurts of the world said that when he came, he limited himself to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Paul's argument is that the results of that limitation were that Jesus broke the back of the argument and of the contempt between the Jew and the Gentile. He reached both Jews and Gentiles to the glory of God. If you trace this through you can see that what Paul is saying is that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God showed his faithfulness to the Jews in fulfilling the promises made to the patriarchs; and he showed his mercy to the Gentiles, saving them who were without any promises at all. Thus the two, Jew and Gentile, shall fully become one, just as the Scriptures predict.

What Paul is really saying is, You do not need to separate; you do not need to split; you do not need to fight; you do not need to sue one another. You can work the problems out, and God is honored and glorified when you do.

Thank you for this miracle of unity in Christ, and I ask that it be preserved in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Life Application
Jesus' example is the answer to 'What would Jesus do?' The cross was the price He paid for our acceptance. Are we laying down our rights in order to accept others for Jesus' sake?

 Deep Dive> Our Great Example

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR NOVEMBER 23RD

Full of Goodness and Knowledge
And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. Romans 15:14


In this chapter of Romans, Paul gives us a little further insight into the church at Rome. Here, in Verse 14, there are three things that he says about this church, three great qualities that they possessed.

First, he says, I am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness. That is, their motives were right. They had come to the place where they were motivated by a sense of goodness. Certainly, this church at Rome was a responsive church, a compassionate church. It reached out to people who were in need. It responded to those who had hurts and burdens and concerns. This is one of the qualities I most appreciate about a congregation. Whenever a need is shared, there is always a compassionate response.

The second thing that the apostle says is that they were complete in knowledge. That is rather remarkable. Here was a church to which Paul did not need to give any new theology. He acknowledges that they had it already. Though this is one of the most deeply penetrative theological treatises in the New Testament, Paul did not write it because these people did not already know the truth that he was giving them. If you think back through the letter, there were certain themes that the apostle emphasized: One was justification by faith, i.e., the gift of worth in God's sight. This gift could not be earned: It was a gift because of the work of Jesus Christ for us. They also understood the nature of the flesh, the need for sanctification. They knew that even though they had been redeemed, they were still possessed of a fallen body. The flesh was still there, giving them trouble. I still struggle with my own flesh, and so do you. Young Philip Melancthon, the colleague of Martin Luther, once wrote to Luther and said, Old Adam is too strong for young Philip. These people at Rome understood this truth and they knew that this would be the struggle of their Christian lives. Paul did not have to tell them that; they knew it before he wrote. But they knew also that God is working out a great plan, that he is creating a whole new humanity, and building a new creation. Right in the midst of the ruins of the old, he is producing a new man, and they were part of it. Finally, they understood the great themes of glorification, and of the eternal ages to come.

The third thing the apostle had to say about this church was that they were competent to instruct one another. In a sense, he was saying, You are able to counsel one another. That is a remarkable thing. This is the answer to all the terrible pressure that is placed upon pastors, who are expected to solve all the problems of their congregations, and to counsel everyone first-hand. That was never God's intention. The plan of God is that the whole congregation be involved in the work of counseling. The whole congregation is to be aware of what is going on with neighbors and friends and brothers and sisters, and do something about meeting their problems. The way this is done is by the imparting of the gifts of the Spirit. So the church at Rome had the right motives, they had complete knowledge, and they had the full range of gifts, so that they were able to do many things within their church community and in the city of Rome.

Thank you, Father, for all the gifts of goodness and knowledge and instruction that you have given to your church to use in serving and loving one another.

Life Application
Three great doctrines of the faith were known by the church in Rome. Are we being equipped to serve and counsel others with the gifts of godly insight and knowledge?

Deep Dive> An Adequate Ministry

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR NOVEMBER 25TH

Pioneers or Settlers?
Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation...

Romans 15:17-20
Concerning the principles of his ministry, Paul tells us five things: First, everywhere he went he found himself boasting, or a better translation is rejoicing. He said, I rejoice, I glory in Christ Jesus, in my service to God. Why? Because when this man came into a city, he usually found it in the grip of Roman authority, and ruled with an iron hand. He would find the people in widespread despair, empty and longing for something they could not find, and fallen into terribly degrading habits that were destroying homes and the very fabric of society itself. He would find them in the grip of superstitious fears. No church existed where he went, but after he had been there a while, and had begun to preach these tremendous themes, light began to spring up in the darkness. People were changed; they began to live for the first time. They discovered why they were made, and excitement appeared in their lives. So Paul just spent his life rejoicing over what was happening. That is the kind of ministry he had, and he gives us the secret of it in Verse 18: I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done. That is the greatest secret God has to teach man — that man was designed, not to do something to make God happy, but to let God work through the man. God would do the work — that is what Paul said, .. Christ has accomplished through me.

Paul's life and ministry were constantly characterized by the display of the power of God to change lives. Then look at how widespread his ministry was (Verse 19): So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Jerusalem is way down on the eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, in Asia. Paul had traveled up and down that coast, on into what we call Turkey, in Asia Minor, up and across the Dardanelles, into Europe, then into Macedonia and Greece. He had gone into what we call Yugoslavia (Illyricum). And the nature of his ministry was pioneering (Verse 20): It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known. He never wanted to build on another man's work.

There are two kinds of Christians: Some want to be Settlers, to live around the courthouse and let the mayor run everything. They have lost all desire to reach out. But then there are the Pioneers, like Paul. They want to be getting into new areas that have never been touched adequately. I believe this is characteristic of the Spirit of God. He loves to thrust out into new areas.

Some of us are praying for a thrust into unreached and needy areas, to touch folks who have never been touched much. You should pray to be able to reach into these areas, that something will develop that will have the touch of God upon it. And this is Paul's great hunger. We are to reach out with the good news, as Paul did.

I pray that I may not forget that I am still in the battle, and I am still to be your instrument. Help me to partake of the apostle's spirit and press on, until you are ready to call me home.

Life Application
Have we settled for apathetic complacency though surrounded by evidence of personal and worldwide spiritual warfare? What steps are urgently needed to be God's messengers, empowered by His wisdom and indwelling Presence?

Deep Dive> An Adequate Ministry

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR NOVEMBER 27TH

A Faithful Sister
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well. Romans 16:1-2

There is something in all of us that wants to see our names preserved. Years ago I visited the Natural Bridge of Virginia. There were thousands of names and initials scratched on the rocks, but high up on the side of it, above almost every other name, was scratched George Washington. Even the father of our country felt the urge to gain a kind of immortality by carving his name on the rock.

But here in Romans 16 is a list of names of men and women who never knew that they were going to be famous. I am sure that if they had known that mention in one of Paul's letters was to give them undying fame, there would have been a long line of people outside his door urging him to include them in the letter. But these names are mentioned only because they were personal friends of Paul's in Rome, to whom he was writing, or they were with him in the city of Corinth, from which he wrote.

The first name he mentions is Phoebe. The whole church can be grateful to this woman for her faithfulness. She bore and preserved this letter all along that hazardous journey from Corinth to Rome. She is called by the apostle a servant of the church in Cenchreae. Cenchreae was the port of Corinth, located about nine miles east of the city. Evidently, a Christian church had grown up there, and Phoebe was a deacon in it. That does not mean that she held some governmental office in that church; we sometimes read present-day meanings into these words. It means that she had assumed a ministry on behalf of the church. She represented them in some labor, and whether it was material, physical, or spiritual, she was very faithful in it. So Paul commends her to these Christians in Rome, and asks them not only to receive her, but to help her. She has been a help to many others, he says, and to me.

You cannot read Chapter 16 of Romans without being impressed by the number of women Paul mentions — many more than in any other literature of that day. In these first 24 verses there are 33 names mentioned. Nine of these people were with Paul — eight men and one woman. There are 24 names mentioned in Rome — 17 men and 7 women. There are two households mentioned, and two unnamed women — the mother of Rufus and the sister of Nereus — as well as some unnamed brethren. So there is quite a list of people the apostle knew personally in Rome, though he himself had not yet visited that city — these are people he had known somewhere else in the Roman Empire.

Women occupy a prominent place in these letters of the New Testament. Evidently, they handled very important tasks within the church, according to the gifts they had. There is strong suggestion here that Phoebe was a teacher or an evangelist — a laborer for the gospel with Paul. We do not know much more about her, but her name has been preserved forever because of this mention.

Lord, thank you for women like Phoebe who serve you faithfully. Help me to receive such people in a manner worthy of the saints.

Life Application
Do we aspire to serve as 'helper'? If not, what does that infer about our availability to God's gifts and His calling? How does our assessment compare with Paul's recognition of Phoebe's contribution as helper?

Deeper Dive> All in the Family

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR NOVEMBER 29TH

Paul's Friends
Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you his greetings. Romans 16:21-24

Here in the final paragraph Paul takes his pen and writes the last words himself. Up to this point he has been dictating this letter to a man named Tertius. The name indicates that he, too, was a slave. His brother, Quartus, is mentioned in Verse 23. They are educated slaves who have become Christians. They can read and write, and are part of this group in Corinth.

You can picture them gathered in the home of Gaius, this gracious host of the city, mentioned in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Gaius opened his house to the entire Christian community, so here is Paul, sitting there with his friends. Tertius is writing down the letter, and the others are gathered around listening to Paul as he dictates, and profiting much from the writing of these great truths. With Paul is his dear son in the faith, Timothy. Paul spoke of him always in the highest terms; his beloved son in the faith, who had stayed with him so long and remained faithful to the end. The very last letter Paul wrote from his prison cell in Rome was to Timothy. Paul also mentions Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, his relatives.

Here in Romans 16 are six members of Paul's family, kinsmen who are now Christians. Some were Christians before him, but some Paul influenced toward Christ. Lucius appears to be the same one who comes from Cyrene, mentioned in Chapter 13 of Acts as one of the teachers in the city of Antioch. Jason was evidently Paul's host when the apostle went to the city of Thessalonica. Paul stayed in Jason's home when a riot broke out in the city. Sosipater may be the man from Beroea, mentioned in Acts 20 as Sopater. Paul met him in Macedonia and may have accompanied him to Jerusalem with the offering to the churches there. The final name is Erastus, director of public works in the city of Corinth. You can see how the gospel penetrated all levels of society, with slaves, public officials, consuls, leaders of the empire, all sharing an equal ground of fellowship in the church of Jesus Christ. All class distinctions disappeared within the church and that is what happens whenever the church works.

These Christians were noted for four things: First, they were not their own. They did not have a right to direct their lives any longer. Second, they believed that life is a battle. It is not a picnic. They were engaged in warfare that never ended until they left this life, so they kept on fighting. Third, they believed that there is need for rest and leisure at times, but only to restore them to go back into the battle. They never envisaged retiring for the remaining years of their lives. They only envisaged getting adequate rest to come back and fight through to the end. Finally, they understood that the gifts of the Holy Spirit among them opened up a ministry for every believer. No Christian was without a ministry. Some of these dear people had only the gift of helps, and that is a great gift. They could not teach or preach but they could help, and they did, right to the end. This passage reminds us that God has called us all to a ministry, and we all have to give an account for what we have done with our gifts. We had better find out what they are and get to work, get involved in the battle, because God has not called us to a picnic ground. He has called us to a battleground.

I pray that you will grant to me, Lord, similar faith that I too may share with you in a time of testing, a time of rebuke and pressure and persecution and trouble, and stand steadfast to the end, for your name's sake.

Life Application
What four commitments were commonly shared among these early Christians? Do we share with them liberation from class distinctions, honoring our mutual members of the family of Christ?

Deep Dive> All in the Family

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.

A DAILY DEVOTION FOR DECEMBER 1ST

God's Final Word
In the past, God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke at many times. He spoke in different ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son. He is the one whom God appointed to receive all things. God made everything through him. Hebrews 1:1-2

When you open the Old Testament you are reading the Word of God spoken to the fathers by the prophets. I hope you understand and value the Old Testament. What a marvelous book! How many different ways God spoke in that book — in dreams, in visions, in sudden appearances — in that wonderful act of inspiration that nobody fully understands where somebody speaking the words that come to his mind and heart is uttering the words of God.

And it comes to us in many different forms, as the writer of Hebrews says. You open Genesis and you have first, the very straightforward but majestic and moving tale of creation, of the fall, and of the flood. This is followed by the simple narrative of the lives of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then the story of Moses and the Exodus, and the thunderings of the Law, coming at last to the sweet singing of the Psalmist, the homespun wisdom of Proverbs, and the delicate tenderness of the Song of Solomon. Then the rest of the Old Testament is filled with the exalted visions of the prophets, these mighty men who spoke to times of crisis in the nation and yet lifted their eyes up and saw far beyond the horizons of time to great events that God was going to bring into being when the seasons rolled around.

Yet, when you finish the book, and you have heard all the matchless oratory of the prophets, you still realize that God's voice has not answered the deep questions of the human heart. It is only when you open the Gospels and begin to read of Jesus, who he was, what he did, where he went, what he said, how he acted, how he lived and the way he handled situations, that all the utterance of the prophets begins to merge into one great voice and we get God's final word to humankind.

Not far away from where I used to live in Montana is what is called, The Three Forks of the Missouri River, the place where three rivers flow together to form the Missouri. They rise up in the mountains in the western part of Montana and they form this great river, the Missouri, that flows on down through Montana and then into North Dakota, South Dakota, through Missouri, and joins the Mississippi along with the Ohio. Altogether this forms the greatest river system and drainage network that the world knows. All these rivers drain out of hills and valleys and mountain ranges that are far separated from one another, and I always think of that when I think of the way the Old Testament has flowed together to form the one great voice that speaks in the New. All the various themes that God introduces to humankind in the Old Testament are brought together in the voice of Jesus. He is God's final word to man, greater than the prophets, fulfilling everything they have written.

Lord Jesus, you are God's final word. I thank you that I can see how all the entire story of the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in you.

Life Application
Are we missing the grandeur of the world's greatest epic through neglect of either the Old or New Testaments? Is the Person at the epicenter of it all central in our personal lives?

Deep Dive > What Child is This?

Daily Devotion © 2014, 2022 by Ray Stedman Ministries.