July 4, 2026 – Straying
Days – “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not” (I. John iii. 6). Chambers starts us off today talking about being set apart (sanctified) when we choose to believe in and follow Christ: “In sanctification what becomes of the old nature? Many people are somewhat duly concerned to know if it can be killed outright, and seem to desire a sort of certificate of its death and burial. It is enough to know that it is without and Christ is within. It may show itself again…but it is forever outside while we abide in Him. Should we step out of Him into sin we might find the old corpse…and its foul aroma might yet revive and embrace us once more…. Therefore let us abide and let us not be anxious to escape the hold of eternal vigilance and ceaseless abiding…. God has provided for us a full sanctification. It is strange that He should demand it of us, and require us to be holy, even as He is holy, seeing He has given us His own holiness. So let us put on our beautiful garments and prepare to walk in white with Him.”
Prevail #185 – Ezekiel 34:16 – “I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak.” Larson explains this verse and offers another reason, besides our own sin, that people would step out of God’s sanctification: “This part of Ezekiel’s prophecy came after he confronted the leaders who fed on the fruit of their high position while scattering those they were appointed to care for. The world is filled with Christian misfits who feel driven out, scattered, and untended by leaders who didn’t understand them, didn’t protect them, and didn’t care for them. They’ve walked away from the faith disillusioned and disheartened…. God sees them. He knows the whole story. Jesus himself has determined to go and find them, to bring them back into His fold, and bind up their wounds…. He sees and He cares. So don’t despair. Just whisper a prayer to the One who loves your loved one more than you do. He won’t forget about them.”
Power – John 15:5 – “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit.” Joyce points out that after we accept Christ and are sanctified, sanctification continues throughout our lives. “Have you ever responded unbecomingly to a situation (with anger or impatience, for example) and thought, “Who is this person? I thought I was nice and sweet! Sometimes we think we already have the fruit of the Spirit fully developed in us simply because we are Christians (see Galatians 5:22-23). But when we are caught off guard, or our fruit is ‘squeezed,’ we find out just how undeveloped the fruit in us actually is. These incidents are tests that are actually very good for us because they help us know the areas where we are weak and still need to grow…. I encourage you to depend on God’s grace (undeserved favor and blessing) to work through you to produce the fruit needed. If we ‘try’ outside of Him, we will fail, but when we partner with Him, we see His will come to pass. Stay attached to the Vine (see John 15) and your fruit will appear at the right time.”
JA – “TO EVERYONE WHO IS VICTORIOUS, I will give fruit from the Tree of Life in paradise…. I brought you out of darkness into My kingdom of Light…. In this world you will encounter fiery trials and temptations that highlight your sinfulness and weaknesses…. This can lead to discouragement…. Instead, cling tenaciously to My hand, trusting that the joyous wonders of paradise are indeed your promised inheritance.” See Revelation 2:7, Romans 8:30, and Revelation 21:23.
Max – Romans 7:24-25 NLT – “Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Max tells about a teacher he had who, unlike the types of leaders Larson told about, used his knowledge and compassion to “teach a handful of ten-year-old boys the meaning of Romans chapter seven…. That night I stepped into my father’s bedroom and ask him about heaving. He told me about grace. I asked Jesus to forgive me. The following Sunday I was baptized. I’ve not seen that teacher since, but I’ve seen thousands like him. Quiet servants. The support cast of the kingdom of God. Those who serve because they are free. In a society that seeks to be served, we seek opportunities to serve others.”
Streams – Habakkuk 2:3 – “The revelation awaits an appointed time…. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Sometimes people fall away from their faith not because the actions of others or because of their own willful disobedience, but because of despair. Cowman offers this helpful perspective from “the captivating booklet Expectation Corner” in which “one of the characters, Adam Slowman, was led into the Lord’s treasure-house. Among the many wonders revealed to him there was the ‘Delayed Blessing Office,’ where God stored the answers to certain prayers until it was wise to send them. For some who pray expecting an answer, it takes a long time to learn that delays of answers are not denials…. We tend to want to pick our blessings from the tree while they are still green, yet God wants us to wait until they are fully ripe…. The Lord watches over us in all the difficult places, and He will not allow even one trial that is too much for us…. Do not grieve Him by doubting His life. Instead, lift up your eyes and begin praising Him right now for the deliverance that is on its way to you. Then you will be abundantly rewarded for the delay that has tried your faith.”
Utmost – Psalm 37:8 (RV) – “Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil doing.” Chambers adds to the ideas of despair, “Fretting means getting out at elbows mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say ‘Fret not,’ but a very different thing to have such a disposition that you find yourself able to not fret. It sounds so easy to talk about resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him, until the nest is upset – until we live, as so many are doing, in tumult and anguish, is it possible then to rest in the Lord? …Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationships to God Himself. Fussing always ends in sin…. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not ‘out’ to realise His own ideas; He was ‘out’ to realise God’s ideas…. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.”
JL – “Invincible Jesus, Your Love has conquered me and set me free! …I am not my own; I was bought with a price – Your holy blood…. Because You are perfect in all Your ways, I can give myself wholeheartedly to You without fear that You might take advantage of me. Actually, being conquered by You protects me and makes me truly free. You have invaded the innermost core of my being, and Your Spirit is taking over more and more territory within me…. In Your powerful, loving Name, Amen.” See Romans 6:17-18; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV, and 2 Corinthians 3:17.
