Daily Devo

Listen to today’s devo!

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? (Rom. 3:1)

Expanded Passage: Romans 3:1-2

At first glance, Paul’s words to the Roman church seem a bit awkward and hard to understand. However, if you consider this passage in light of what is written at the end of Romans 2, you will see that it makes perfect sense. In order to show God’s grand plan of salvation for the whole world, Paul had to build a bridge between the children of the Jewish (circumcised) people, and everyone else (the uncircumcised). Paul did that by asking the series of questions found in Romans 3:1–8.

By asking these questions, Paul first exposed the sinful human heart for what it really is—partial to those like us. God never intended the Jewish people to be exclusive. The purpose of choosing them was to show the world that there is a God who is real and is firmly committed to all of his people.

The second thing Paul did was show that anyone can become a Jew. Or, to say it another way, anyone can become chosen simply by believing in Christ in their heart. For being a Jew is not a matter of outward signs but of inward faith lived out in the world (Rom. 2:29). God’s grand plan of salvation was never meant to be exclusive. Anyone can join if they seek God with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Look in the mirror and say, “I am chosen by God.”

Devon Smith is district superintendent of the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church and founder/director of the CROSS Training ordination program at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation. (Ps. 71:18)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 71:9-18

When I was perhaps ten or eleven years of age, I overheard adults talk about a couple in the church who were in their midthirties and had been married for fifteen years. He was thirty-five years old and she thirty-four. And they’ve been married how long? Fifteen years? Seriously? Are you kidding me? As a kid it was unfathomable that someone could be that old and be married for as long as they had. Now that I’m a little more than twice their age and have been married to my wife for fifty years plus, that childhood memory is laughable. The process and perspective of aging is an interesting phenomenon. I don’t feel I’m as old as my birth certificate insists that I am.

The poet is old and feeling his age. He may be ill. His enemies are conspiring to take him out. At this season in his life when his strength is ebbing, life is difficult, perplexing, and hard. Nevertheless, he looks back at the past several decades through the rearview mirror and recognizes the faithfulness of the Lord.

The eyewitness testimony of those who have walked with Christ for a number of years can fortify the emerging faith of the next generation. Firsthand accounts from seasoned sojourners declaring the faithfulness of God to millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha can be invaluable.

Share your testimony to the rearview mirror of future generations.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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Do you . . . not [realize] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Rom. 2:4)

Expanded Passage: Romans 2:1-11

Within the past 24 hours, you’ve likely encountered someone who felt entitled, or you’ve read something on social media that portrayed a person with a strong sense of entitlement. Entitlement is the sense that someone is owed certain rights and privileges because of who they are, because of who their parents are, because of the color of their skin, because of the level of education they have obtained, or because of the level of their annual income, etc. The entitled believe they inherently deserve specific privileges or special treatment. When one’s entitlement has convinced them that a violation can be overlooked or winked at because of their status or privilege, the sound of gnashing teeth erupts from those who sense that justice has been undermined.

Due to their unique status with God, the Jews believed they were entitled to be treated gently when it came to their immoral shenanigans. The Jews could not afford to think they were entitled and could sin with impunity just because they were in a unique, covenant relationship with God. While God is kind, he does not wink at stubbornness. Because of their unique, covenant relationship with God, the New Testament Jews felt entitled to act with impunity. While God was kind, he did not ignore their stubbornness.

God’s kindness is intended to lead to a change of heart. Unlike some parents who have little backbone standing up to their entitled kids, God will administer a conclusion that does not favor the entitled, but is wise, appropriate, and fair.

Do not misconstrue the kindness of God for slackness.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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God does not show favoritism. (Rom. 2:11)

Expanded Passage: Romans 2:11

Discrimination usually carries a negative or unsavory connotation. The term carries the undesirable implication that an unjust or prejudicial distinction has been made regarding the treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of their ethnicity, sex, age, or disability. Examples could be cited of tasteless and harmful discrimination whether it’s based on the color of one’s skin or the use of a government program to help pay for groceries. Yet there is a positive side to what it means to discriminate. To discriminate also means to distinguish between or tell the difference. For example, not all coffee tastes the same. Connoisseurs of coffee can discriminate between an Ethiopian Hamasho with hints of apple blossom and fresh pecan and a Tanzanian Peaberry with its undertones of chocolate and grapefruit. Discrimination matters.

The Jews believed God’s judgment of them could be indiscriminate. They were, after all, his chosen ones! Their unique status gave them an automatic rubber stamp, a free pass in matters of divine judgment. They erred in assuming that their status as Jews granted them guaranteed immunity.

Is it possible to believe that one’s affiliation with a church or denomination alone or one’s generational participation in a heritage of faith alone forces God to rubber stamp his approval based solely on those criteria? Such factors do not coerce him. His judgment involves wise and just discrimination.

Consider God’s just discrimination on your life.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Rom. 2:8)

Expanded Passage: Romans 2:8-10

Late in the evening on July 16, 1999, a Piper Saratoga aircraft piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr. crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, nose first, off Martha’s Vineyard. He, his wife, and sister-in-law were on their way to a cousin’s wedding. All three perished. Initially, the search and rescue personnel were optimistic that Kennedy and his passengers might have survived, but hope waned after pieces of the aircraft were recovered in the ocean. Investigators from the National Safety Transportation Board eventually determined the crash occurred because weather conditions and the darkness of the night obscured visual landmarks, creating a phenomenon called spatial disorientation. Spatial disorientation causes pilots to lose track of where they are, for example, whether the aircraft is nose up or down. Mr. Kennedy had been certified to fly under visual fly rules only. He lacked certifications that would have kept him oriented when flight conditions deteriorated. He became disoriented. The consequences were catastrophic, fatal.

God has provided truth as a compass, which provides moral and spiritual orientation. The lifestyle of the self-absorbed person who deliberately rejects the guidance and guardrails of truth sets himself or herself up for harsh outcomes.

Mercifully, through his Word, the life of Jesus, and the witness of the Spirit, God orients us to truth in such a way that those who respect and abide by it have little to fear.

Check your spiritual compass and assess whether you’re flying disoriented.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

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God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” (Rom. 2:6)

Expanded Passage: Romans 2:5-7

While I am not an accountant by any stretch of the imagination, I am somewhat familiar with an accounting term called “accrued interest.” It is the amount of interest that has been incurred on a loan or other financial obligation but has not yet been paid out. Interest that has not yet been paid by the borrower or received by the lender is accrued interest. Accrued interest piles up until it is paid by the borrower or received by the lender.

Due to their stubbornness and refusal to acknowledge that they were in the same moral boat as the Gentiles, Paul warned the Jews that they would accrue interest for their unrepentant lives. They would face an inevitable accounting for their obstinate persistence in charting their own path. But those who tenaciously pursued a life of goodness and honor could expect to receive the accrued interest of reward.

The last day of our accounting period is the day we die. The accrued interest of one’s bent toward hard-heartedness or virtuousness will then be resolved by the righteous judgment of God.

Reflect on the “balance” of your “accrued interest” with God.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

When you . . . do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (Rom. 2:3)

Expanded Passage: Romans 2:3-4

Being given a pass from something required of everyone else or avoiding a consequence faced by others often comes with being a part of a class or group that has special protections or privileges. Athletes who have a rockstar status on a university campus are sometimes given special exemptions for what is expected of others in the classroom. Another example: it is commonly perceived that there is one law for the wealthy and another for the poor. Those who have deep pockets can often hire the best lawyers who navigate the judicial system more advantageously than those who earn a minimum wage; they are often forced to rely on a burned-out public defender. Because of the privilege afforded by their wealth, the rich often have a better chance of escaping judgment.

The Jews were convinced that due to their special status with God as his chosen ones they could skate with impunity should they commit the same sins they so quickly judged in the Gentiles. In other words, we are God’s people, loved by him even when we sin. Paul warns his Jewish kin, “Not so fast!”

Likewise, while you and I bask in our relationship with a kind and good God, we cannot allow ourselves to become cavalier toward sin, convincing ourselves that God will overlook our disobedience because of his kindness. God is kind, but not soft.

Thank God that his judgment is based on truth, not privilege or status.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Rom. 2:1)

Expanded Passage: Romans 2:1-2

My wife and I enjoy watching police procedural movies on Netflix, especially those set in the United Kingdom. One of the strategies often employed by the bad guys is misdirection. Misdirection sends detectives in one direction, confusing them, while the perpetrator storms away in a different or opposite direction. Misdirection temporarily baffles the squad room who are puzzling over solving the crime. The intent of misdirection is to distract and sidetrack the police from apprehending the criminal. When I was a kid, I used misdirection (with mixed results) after I had misbehaved in Mrs. Quinn’s Sunday school class. On the way home from church, I’d chat up my dad about sports, the weather, or something pertaining to his work—anything to divert his attention from disciplining me from my poor behavior in Sunday school. The strategy was to divert his mind off the task of disciplining me for my misbehavior.

Pointing to the misdeeds of others as a strategy to misdirect God’s judgment of me fails. Why? Because it takes one to know one. The reason I’m quickly able to discern and censure flaws in others is because I am so intimately acquainted with the same flaws in myself, even though I may be reluctant to own up to them.

Attempting to misdirect God’s judgment by directing his attention to the deficits of others fails because he sees the same flaws in me.

Remember that the shortcomings we so quickly see in others, God sees in us.

Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel. For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence. (Ps. 71:4–5)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 71:1-8

What would it mean for God to be with you? It can be easy to assume that God’s presence will prevent us from facing adversity: the way we know God is with us (we think) is that our heart rate goes down and our life becomes peaceful.When things fall into place supernaturally, we turn to one another with a smile, and say, “That was a God thing.”

Rarely do we turn to one another in seasons of conflict, opposition, scarcity, or fear, and say, “This is a God thing.”

But if we take the psalmist seriously, high-pressure moments may be chances to trust God with things we usually trust only ourselves for: security, advocacy, protection, and gentle correction. When the heat is turned up, our picture of God may be moldable enough for the truth to fold in.

That doesn’t mean God will always give us perspective in the moment; sometimes, life is just hard, and our suffering doesn’t feel spiritual. It may be years (or decades, or into eternity) before parts of our lives make sense—and yet, in our confusion, we can experience God’s presence. Remembering God’s presence is not a guarantee against facing hard things, but a guarantee that God will go with us through hard things and protect us from things we could not shield ourselves from.

Recall and share a time when God gave you what you needed.

Ethan Linder is the discipleship pastor at College Wesleyan Church (IN) and contributing editor for Education and Clergy Development of The Wesleyan Church.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. (Rom. 1:19)

Expanded Passage: Romans 1:18-32

We tend to think of “spiritual things” as those things that are somehow separate from our everyday lives. And sometimes, that can be true: God can move in ways that are supernatural, extraordinary, and “other than” our normal routines—perhaps even in ways that disrupt us.

But more often than not, God’s most durable work is done in ways that fly under the radar—ways that, because of our pace, our focus, or our attention, we walk right by.

This past week, we’ve walked through a lot of heavy theology laced throughout Romans 1. But underneath the beliefs, behaviors, and dispositions Paul talks about is a surprisingly simple theme: God is—everywhere and always—yearning to make himself known.

Every time I read through Romans 1, I get tripped up by the words “God has made it plain to them,” because it seems to me that there are many people to whom God’s work isn’t plain, and I wish God would show off a little bit more. But God is not obsessed with showmanship in the ways we often are. He just keeps subtly inviting us to pay attention to the quiet, “plain” ways he shows up to us.

Our task is to stay content and pay close enough attention to catch the gifts God is yearning to give us each day.

Name one way God has been plainly present in your life.

Ethan Linder is the discipleship pastor at College Wesleyan Church (IN) and contributing editor for Education and Clergy Development of The Wesleyan Church.

© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.