My Utmost For His Highest

[nChrist]

June 19


John  21:16 (Joh_21:16)

Jesus did not say to make converts to your way of thinking, but He said to look after His sheep, to see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Him. We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . , he cannot be My disciple" (Luk_14:26). In this verse, there is no argument and no pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He is simply saying, in effect, "If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to Me." A person touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says, "Now I see who Jesus is!" --- that is the source of devotion.

Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes and so few are devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not really want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is deeply offensive to the educated minds of today, to those who only want Him to be their Friend, and who are unwilling to accept Him in any other way. Our Lord's primary obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of people --- the saving of people was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble. But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a "doormat." The secret of a disciple's life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of that life is its seeming insignificance and its meekness. Yet it is like a grain of wheat that "falls into the ground and dies" --- it will spring up and change the entire landscape (Joh_12:24).

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 20

Have You Come to "When" Yet?

Job  42:10 (Job_42:10)

A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ. I pray, "Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer --- I will walk rightly before You if You will help me." But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us --- He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.

If you are not now receiving the "hundredfold" which Jesus promised (Mat_19:29), and not getting insight into God's Word, then start praying for your friends --- enter into the ministry of the inner life. "The Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends." As a saved soul, the real business of your life is intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you comein contact now.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 21

The Ministry of the Inner Life

1 Peter  2:9 (1Pe_2:9)

By what right have we become "a royal priesthood"? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our "hanging on by the skin of our teeth," although we say, "What a wonderful victory I have!" Yet there is nothing at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don't worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, "Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men." Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: "Oh, Lord, I have done my best; please hear me now."

How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[linssue55]

May 20

Taking Possession of Our Own Soul
Luke  21:19 (Luk_21:19)

When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (Phi_2:5). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!

There are certain things in life that we need not pray about --- moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won't. The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

21:19~~"By your 'patient endurance' {hupomone}
  {this is the Practice of the Faith Rest Technique}
you will 'gain your lives'
  {idiom: literally 'take to yourselves your souls'}.

So very true.  One must take charge so to speak of our inner being, and to Rest in the Lord knowing He will come through for us today by claiming His promises.  Moods are very self destructive, and it can start a cycle of self destructive sinnings, one piled on the other.  This is when emotion controls us, instead of we controling it.  Staying in fellowship (1 John 1:9) stops these mood swings, which are just another part of our OSN, and all sinnings for that matter when we allow the filling of the Holy Spirit to work through us again. Knowing yourself, is knowing the enemy within ourselves and controlling the old man, .....not to enter and set up camp in our souls.

[nChrist]

Hello Linssue55,

I think that one of the big problems today is long distance Salvation by television or some other media and nobody taking the babe in Christ under their wing for encouragement and additional study. We should expect that there are many things that the new Christian simply doesn't know. Our quick, one-stop, and instant world is another problem. Many people are programmed to think that everything can be and should be easy with little effort required on our part.

Every mature Christian knows that real strength in JESUS takes many years of prayer and study. In fact, none of us live long enough to receive all of the things that GOD wants to give to us. The spiritual riches in Christ are beyond the imagination of man, and we must want them to receive them. I think it's pretty discouraging for many new Christians who don't get the proper help. They at least need some hints about studying the Bible and reasons for studying the Bible. A new Christian is well on their way when it's a matter of joy and interest to study the Bible. We all know there are several other categories of Christians who don't grow to maturity because of their own lack of effort and interest. I think this last category is the main topic of Oswald Chambers message. Maybe they had every advantage in terms of teaching and encouragement, but it was just too much effort. And the worst case: the things of the world were given more importance.

I'm thinking back and giving thanks for the sweet Christians I know who seem almost tireless when it comes to helping the babes in Christ. In simple terms, they are willing to bottle-feed the "milk of the WORD" and spoon-feed the "soft food  of the WORD", but there does come a time when every Christian must put out their own effort. One or two hours on Sunday isn't enough.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Philippians 1:9-11 NASB  And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;  having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

[linssue55]

Hello Linssue55,

I think that one of the big problems today is long distance Salvation by television or some other media and nobody taking the babe in Christ under their wing for encouragement and additional study. We should expect that there are many things that the new Christian simply doesn't know. Our quick, one-stop, and instant world is another problem. Many people are programmed to think that everything can be and should be easy with little effort required on our part.

Every mature Christian knows that real strength in JESUS takes many years of prayer and study. In fact, none of us live long enough to receive all of the things that GOD wants to give to us. The spiritual riches in Christ are beyond the imagination of man, and we must want them to receive them. I think it's pretty discouraging for many new Christians who don't get the proper help. They at least need some hints about studying the Bible and reasons for studying the Bible. A new Christian is well on their way when it's a matter of joy and interest to study the Bible. We all know there are several other categories of Christians who don't grow to maturity because of their own lack of effort and interest. I think this last category is the main topic of Oswald Chambers message. Maybe they had every advantage in terms of teaching and encouragement, but it was just too much effort. And the worst case: the things of the world were given more importance.

I'm thinking back and giving thanks for the sweet Christians I know who seem almost tireless when it comes to helping the babes in Christ. In simple terms, they are willing to bottle-feed the "milk of the WORD" and spoon-feed the "soft food  of the WORD", but there does come a time when every Christian must put out their own effort. One or two hours on Sunday isn't enough.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Philippians 1:9-11 NASB  And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;  having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

You are right. The new babe in Christ must take  on the role themselves after salvation for the studying of God's word.  You can only feed them to a certain extent, then after, their frree will must take over. No one ever had to feed me, since I was very little, I have had a passion for the word and went every where in trying to fill this void that I had for learnig the word.  It wasn't untill years later when I STOPPED looking (from church to church) that the Lord presented me with the truth, and I have been following that same truth ever since.  The MOST sad thing about the babes in Christ, is that many get involved in works of the flesh and when this happens it is very hard to try and tell them the REAL truth after that, that they will beleive.  As the word say's about the church age, "Few will be called".  We live today in a Great apostacy system, the devil's know his time is short.  It still comes down to one thing with all christians, it is "Free Will" to follow the word after salvation? (OSAS), or Not to follow it?  People are VERY lazy today, if there isn't "immediate" satisfaction in something, they move on until they find the Thrill they think they need. 

[nChrist]

June 22

The Unchanging Law of Judgment
Matthew  7:2 (Mat_7:2)

This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution --- "with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you will be measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God's throne down to us (Psa_18:25-26).

(Rom_2:1) applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, "Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge."

Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Mat_7:1). He went on to say, in effect, "If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way." Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, "My God, judge me as I have judged others"? We have judged others as sinners --- if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 23

"Acquainted With Grief"
Isaiah  53:3 (Isa_53:3)

We are not "acquainted with grief" in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it. We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin. We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin --- and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue --- if sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine --- that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 24

Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin
Luke  22:53 (Luk_22:53)

Not being reconciled to the fact of sin --- not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it --- produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this "hour, and the power of darkness" into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, "Yes, I see what this sin would mean." The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship --- it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious, because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 25

Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow
John  12:27-28 (Joh_12:27-28)

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow removes a great deal of a person's shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 26

Drawing on the Grace of God --- Now
2 Corinthians  6:1 (2Co_6:1)

The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. ". . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses" --- that is where our patience is tested (2Co_6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, "Oh well, I won't count this time"? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you --- it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don't say, "I will endure this until I can get away and pray." Pray now--- draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God's grace through prayer.

". . . in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors . . ." (2Co_6:5) --- in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.

". . . having nothing . . . ." Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. ". . . and yet possessing all things" --- this is poverty triumphant (2Co_6:10).

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 27

The Overshadowing of God's Personal Deliverance
Jeremiah  1:8 (Jer_1:8)

God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally --- ". . . your life shall be as a prize to you . . ." (Jer_39:18). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God's personal deliverance.

The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, "Don't worry about whether or not you are being treated justly." Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, "Why should I be treated like this?" If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, "Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance." Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard --- we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God's name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (Pro_3:5-6).

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 28

Held by the Grip of God
Philippians 3:12 (Phi_3:12)

Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you "turn aside to the right hand or to the left" (Deu_5:32). We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has "laid hold of" us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought, "Well, I’m really not suited for this." What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you --- your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?

Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness. There must be unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are --- you are not some special being created in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do. . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phi_3:13-14)

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 29

The Strictest Discipline
Matthew  5:30 (Mat_5:30)

Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand, but that "if your right hand causes you to sin" in your walk with Him, then it is better to "cut it off." There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then "cut it off." The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.

When God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth, your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed. There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do --- things that would be sin for you, and would be recognized as sin by those who really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, "What's so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!" There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God's sight than to appear lovely to man's eyes but lame to God's. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don't use your restrictions to criticize someone else.

The Christian life is a maimed life initially, but in (Mat_5:48) Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life --- "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________

[nChrist]

June 30

Do It Now!
Matthew  5:25 (Mat_5:25)

In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, "Do what you know you must do --- now. Do it quickly. If you don't, an inevitable process will begin to work 'till you have paid the last penny' (Mat_5:26) in pain, agony, and distress." God's laws are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to the heart of our being.

Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing. But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him. From our Lord's standpoint it doesn't matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don't cheat someone else. Am I insisting on having my own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ's standpoint?

Do it quickly --- bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don't, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience. The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience. No wonder the Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (Joh_3:19-21).

"Agree with your adversary quickly . . . ." Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly --- make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person --- do it now!

___________________________________
My Utmost For His Highest
by Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917)
___________________________________