July 20 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Romans 8 is the chapter on the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's children. So it closes with a beautiful song of assurance: "We know . . ." "I am sure . . ." "I am convinced . . ." These things we can say only by the Spirit of God.

Faith does not close our eyes to the realities of the opposition. Our spiritual environment is full of obstacles to faith, and countless forces want to drive us away from God.

But now faith hurls its challenges at the environment in which we live. In the assurance of God's power, we say, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The gospel says that God is for us. And since God has come to our side, we have no fear. Let them come! God is for us! So who can be against us?

And who will bring any charge? We challenge the prosecutor. That's not only the devil but also, at times, our own heart. We are justified by faith, and it is from the position of faith that we challenge our deadly opponents. Even if my thoughts, my guilt feelings, and the devil himself should line up and poke fingers and shake fists, I cry into their faces that it is God who justifies. Even if my conscience accuses me, and even ifthe devil laughs, I say, "It is God who justifies! Who can condemn?"

And who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

We don't want to sound overly confident. By nature we are afraid of what is coming tomorrow. There are heights to travel and depths to go through. There are powers to face that suck our lifeblood. There are people and powers we fear by nature.

Now we line them up—all these powers and principalities. We don't underestimate them for a minute. But we confess and are persuaded that there is one power that is stronger than the power of money or the power of sex or the power of the devil. And that is the power of God's love. Nothing and nobody will be able to separate us from the power of God's love.

REFLECTIONS

Complete your own "I am convinced that" statement, citing the worries or concerns that sometimes threaten to separate you from Christ's love— but never will.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.