Archives: Devotionals

The Big Idea “Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:4 Chambers closes the month with a call to attention to the small, careless details of life that the Holy Spirit is pointing to. God’s purpose is not only general holiness but the perfecting of the…

The Big Idea “Jesus did not commit Himself to them, for He knew what was in man.” John 2:24-25 Chambers teaches that disillusionment—properly received—is one of God’s greatest gifts. When our illusions about people and circumstances are stripped away, we can see reality as it is. The goal is not cynicism but the freedom from…

The Big Idea “Behold, He is coming with clouds.” Revelation 1:7 Chambers teaches that the clouds of life—sorrow, bereavement, confusion, suffering—are not obstacles to God’s presence but the very vehicles of it. God does not come to us in clear-shining brightness; He comes with clouds, and learning to see Him in the darkness is what…

The Big Idea “He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side.” Mark 6:45 Chambers teaches that God is not working toward particular outcomes the way we are—He is working toward persons. What we call the process, He calls the goal. Obedience in the middle of apparent chaos…

The Big Idea “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine.” John 7:17 Chambers establishes obedience, not intellectual pursuit, as the path to spiritual understanding. Spiritual darkness is not primarily an intellectual problem but a disobedience problem—and the remedy is not more study but the specific act of obedience that…

The Big Idea “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart… These are the things which defile a man.” Matthew 15:18-20 Chambers confronts the self-deception of assumed innocence—the comfortable belief that because we have not acted on certain impulses we are free of them. Jesus’ diagnosis goes all the way to…

The Big Idea “Blessed are…” Matthew 5:3-11 Chambers teaches that the Beatitudes are not gentle spiritual suggestions but spiritual dynamite—they look harmless until the Spirit applies them to specific circumstances, at which point they produce ‘startling’ and demanding upheaval. The Sermon on the Mount is not a moral code to apply literally but a picture…

The Big Idea “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20 Chambers teaches that Christ’s kingdom requires a righteousness that goes all the way down into motives, aspirations, and the deep patterns of thought—not just external behavior. This inner righteousness…

The Big Idea “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us sanctification.” 1 Corinthians 1:30 In the second devotional on sanctification, Chambers focuses on its life side—the gift of Christ’s own perfect qualities imparted instantly to the one who enters by faith into the realization that Christ became our sanctification. This…

The Big Idea “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3 In the first of two devotionals on sanctification, Chambers focuses on its death side—the stripping away that precedes the gift of life. Sanctification requires willingness to be reduced to a bare, naked self before God, separated from every prop and support…