As I Read 5/20/14

"In his book, The Magnificent Defeat, Frederick Buechner writes: 'For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness is the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going, but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-to-day lives who may not be writing messages about himself in the stars but in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around down here knee-deep in the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world. It is not objective proof of God's existence that we want but the experience of God's presence. That is the miracle we are really after, and it is also, I think, the miracle that we really get.'"

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From "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning 

Judas, Lent, and a provocative thought

Many moons ago I purchased "The Orthodox Heretic" by Peter Rollins. It is a series of parables and commentaries put together by Pete which seeps through the lack of historical background most of us need to understand te parables Jesus shared in the Bible. Pete works in a good bit of philosophy and explains his ideas as best he can in the commentary. 

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Last night I read the parable about Judas. It's truly a wonderful possibility that he is not who he's been painted to us. Living so long after these events took place, it's easy for commentary from well-renown people to tak the place of learning to interpret and question for ourselves. That's why so much of "Poor Richard's Almanac" is considered biblical text. 

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Therefore, go, I urge you to acquire said book (got mine on Kindle for iPhone) and begin to question the things you think you know. Whether they are right or not, they're probably just someone else's opinion or view. Trash it. Go fight yourself. Get your own interpretation. Then, and only then, consider hearing what others have to say on the matter.

4/12 Moral Domination

Moral Domination

April 12

"Death hath no more dominion over Him...in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God."

Romans 6:9-11

Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life was the life which Jeus Christ exhibited on the human plane, and it is the sam elife, not a copy of it, which is manifested in our mortal flesh when we are born of God. Eternal life is not a gift from God, eternal life is the gift of god. The energy and the power which was manifested in Jesus will be manifested in us by the sheer sovereign grace of God when once we have made the moral decision about sin. 

"Ye shall receive the power of the "Holy Ghost"--not power as a gift from the Holy Ghost; the power is the Holy Ghost, not something which He imparts. The life that was in Jesus is made ours by means of His Cross when once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we will not decide definitely about sin. Immediately we do decide, the full life of God comes in. Jesus came to give us endless supplies of life: "that ye might be filled with all fullness of God." Eternal life has nothing to do with TIme, it is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here. The only source of Life is The Lord Jesus Christ.

The weakest saint can experience the power of Deity of the Son of God if once he is willing to "let go." Any strand of our own energy will blur the life of Jesus. We have to keep letting go and slowly and surely the great full life of God will invade us in every part, and men will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus. 

"My Utmost for His Highest"

Oswald Chambers

4/2 The Glory That Excels

 The Glory That Excels

April 2

"The Lord...hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight."

Acts 9:17

When Paul received his sight, he received spiritually an insight into the Person of Jesus Christ, and the whole of his subsequent life and preaching was nothing but Jesus Christ-- "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." No attraction was ever allowed to hold the mind and soul of Paul save the face of Jesus Christ. 

We have to learn to maintain an unimpaired state of character up to the last notch revealed in the vision of Jesus Christ. 

The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of the life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a man after God's own heart. 

Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. 

Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, 

I've lost sight of all beside, 

So enchanted by spirit's vision,

Gazing on the Crucified.

"My Utmost for His Highest"

by 

Oswald Chambers

4/1 Heartiness vs. Heartlessness Towards Others

Heartiness vs. Heartlessness Towards Others

April 1

"It is Christ...who also maketh intercession for us."

"The Spirit...maketh intercession for the saints."

Romans 8:34, 27

Do we need any more argument than this to become intercessors-- that Christ "ever liveth to make intercession"; that the Holy Spirit "maketh intercession for the saints?" Are we living in such a vital relationship to our fellow men that we do the work of intercession as the Spirit-taught children of God? Begin with the circumstances we are in-- our homes, our business, our country, the present crisis as it touches us and others-- are these things crushing us? Are they badgering us out of the presence of God and leaving us no time to worship? Then let us call a halt, and get into such living relationship with God that our relationship to others may be maintained on the line of intercession whereby God works His marvels. 

Beware of outstripping God by your very longing to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, consequently we get so burdened with persons and with difficulties that we do not worship God, we do not intercede. If once the burden and the pressure come upon us and we are not in the worshipping attitude, it will produce not only hardness toward God but despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people for whom we have no affinity, and unless we are worshipping God, the most natural thing to do is to treat them heartlessly, to give them a text like the jab of a spear, or leave them with a rapped-out counsel of God and go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord. 

Are we in the direct line of the intercession of Our Lord and of the Holy Spirit?

"My Utmost for His Highest"

by

Oswald Chambers

3/31 Heedfulness vs. Hypocrisy in Ourselves

Heedfulness vs. Hypocrisy in Ourselves

March 31

"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them that sin not unto death."

1 John 5:16

If we are not heedful of the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other folks are failing, and we turn our discernment into the gibe of criticism instead of into intercession on their behalf. The relation is made to us not through the acuteness of our minds, but by the direct penetration of the Spirit of God, and if we are not heedful of the source of the revelation, we will become criticizing centers and forget that God says-- "...he shall ask, and He shall give him life for them that sin not unto death." Take care lest you play the hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right before you worship God yourself. 

One of our subtlest burdens God ever puts on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning other souls. He reveals things so that we may take the burden of these souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them, as we intercede on His line, God says He will give us "life for them that sin not unto death." It is not that we bring God into touch with our minds, but that rouse ourselves until God is able to convey His mind to us about the one for whom we intercede. 

Is Jesus Christ seeing the travail of His soul in us? He cannot unless we are so identified with Himself that we are roused up to get His view about the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be satisfied with us as intercessors. 

"My Utmost for His Highest"

by 

Oswald Chambers

3/30 Holiness vs. Hardness Toward God

Holiness vs. Hardness Toward God

March 30

"And He...wondered that there was no intercessor."

Isaiah 59.16

The reason many of us leave off praying and become hard towards God is because we have only a sentimental interest in prayer. It sounds right to say that we pray; we read books on prayer which tell us that prayer is beneficial, that our minds are quieted and our souls uplifted when we pray; but Isaiah implies that God is amazed at such thoughts of prayer. 

Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray. Too often instead of worshipping God, we construct statements as to how prayer works. Are we worshipping or are we in dispute with God-- "I don't see how You are doing it." This is a sure sign that we are not worshipping. When we lose sight of God we become hard and dogmatic. We hurl our own petitions at God's throne and dictate to Him what we wish Him to do. We do not worship God, not do we seek to form the mind of Christ. 

Are we so worshipping God that we rouse ourselves up to lay hold on Him so that we may be brought into contact with His mind about the ones for whom we pray? Are we living in a holy relationship to God, or are we hard and dogmatic?

"But there is no one interceding properly"-- the be that one yourself, be the one who worships God and who lives in holy relationship to Him. Get into the real work of intercession, and remember it is a work that taxes every power; but a work which has no snare. Preaching the gospel has a snare; intercessory prayer has none. 

"My Utmost for His Highest"

by

Oswald Chambers

3/29 Our Lord's Surprise Visits

Our Lord's Surprise Visits

March 29

"Be ye therefore ready also."

Luke 12:40

The great need for the Christian worker is to be ready to face Jesus Christ at any and every turn. This is not easy, no matter what our experience is. The battle is not against sin or difficulties or circumstances, but against being so absorbed in work that we are not ready to face Jesus Christ at every turn. That is the one great need, not the facing of our belief, or our creed, or the question whether we are of any use, but to face Him. 

Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical connections. The only way a worker can keep true to God is by being ready for the Lord's surprise visits. It is not service that matters, but intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus at every turn. This will give our life the attitude of child-wonder which He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious (that is, using religion as a higher kind of culture) and be spiritually real. 

If you are "looking off unto Jesus," avoiding the call of the religious age you live in, and setting your heart on what He wants, thinking on His line-- you will be called unpractical and dreamy; but when He appears in the burden and heat of the day, you will be the only one who is ready. Trust no one, not even the finest saint who ever walked this earth, ignore him, if he hinders your sight of Jesus Christ. 

"My Utmost for His Highest"

by

Oswald Chambers

3/28 Isn't There Some Misunderstanding?

Isn't There Some Misunderstanding?

March 28

"Let us go into Judea...His disciples say to Him...Goest thou thither again?"
John 11:7-8

I may not understand what Jesus Christ says, but it's dangerous to say that therefore He was mistaken in what He said. It is never right to think that my obedience to a word of God will bring dishonour to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonour is not obeying Him. To put my view of His honour in place of what He is plainly impelling me to do is never right, although it may arise from a real desire to prevent Him being put to open shame. I know when the proposition comes from God because of its quiet persistence: When I have to weigh the pros and cons, and doubt and debate come in, I am bringing in an element that is not of God, and I come to the conclusion that the suggestion was not a right one. Many of us are loyal to our notions of Jesus Christ, but how many of us are loyal to Him? Loyalty to Jesus means I have to step out where I do not see anything (cf. Matt. 14:29); loyalty to my notions means that I clear the ground first of my intelligence. Faith is not intelligent understanding, faith is deliberate commitment to a Person where I see no way. 

Are you debating whether to take a step in faith in Jesus or to wait until you can see how to do the thing yourself? Obey Him with glad reckless joy. When He says something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a conception of His honour which is not His honour. Are you loyal to Jesus or loyal to your notion of Him? Are you loyal to what He says, or are you trying to compromise with conceptions which never came from Him? "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it."

"My Utmost for His Highest"
by 
Oswald Chambers

3/25 The Most Delicate Mission on Earth

The Most Delicate Mission on Earth

March 25

"The friend of the Bridegroom"
John 3:29

Goodness and purity ought never to attract attention to themselves, they ought simply to be magnets to draw to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing towards Him, it is not holiness of the right order, but an influence that will awaken inordinate affection and lead souls away into side eddies. A beautiful saint may be a hindrance if he does not present Jesus Christ but only what Christ has done for him. He will leave the impression-- "What a fine character that man is!" That is not being a true friend of the Bridegroom; I am increasing all the time, He is not.

In order to maintain this friendship and loyalty to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful of our moral and vital relationship to Him than of any other thing, even of obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey, the only thing to do is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, to see that nothing interferes with that. Only occasionally do we have to obey. When a crisis arises we have to find out what God's will is, but the greater part of the life is not conscious obedience but the maintenance of this relationship-- the friend of the Bridegroom. Christian work may be a means of evading the soul's concentration on Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, we may become amateur providences, and may work against Him whilst we use His weapons.

Oswald Chambers
"My Utmost For His Highest"

3/27 Vision by Personal Character

Vision by Personal Character

March 27

"Come up hither, and I will shew thee things."
Revelation 4:1

An elevated mood can only come out of an elevated habit of personal character. If in the externals of your life you live up to the highest you know, God will continually say-- "Friend, go up higher." The golden rule in temptation is-- Go higher. When you get higher up, you face other temptations and characteristics. Satan uses the strategy of elevation in temptation, and God does the same, but the effect is different. When the devil puts you into an elevated place, he makes you screw your idea of holiness beyond what flesh and blood could ever bear, it is a spiritual acrobatic performance, you are just poised and dare not move; but when God elevates you by His grace into the heavenly places, instead of finding a pinnacle to cling to, you find a greater tableland where it is easy to move.

Compare this week in your spiritual history with the same week last year and see how God has called you up higher. We have all been brought to see from a higher standpoint. Never let God give you one point of truth which you do not instantly live up to. Always work it out, keep in the light of it.

Growth in grace is measured not by the fact that you have not gone back, but that you have an insight of your character.

"Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" God has to hide from us what He does until by personal character we get to the place where He can reveal it.

"My Utmost for His Highest"
by
Oswald Chambers

3/26 Vision by Personal Purity

Vision by Personal Purity

March 26

"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."
Matthew 5:8

Purity is not innocence, it is much more. Purity is the outcome of sustained spiritual sympathy with God. We have to grow in purity. The life with God may be right and the inner purity still remain unsullied, and yet every now and again the bloom on the outside may be sullied. God does not shield us from this possibility, because in this way we realize the necessity of maintaing the vision by personal purity. If the spiritual bloom of our life with God is getting impaired in the tiniest degree, we must leave off everything and get it put right. Remember that vision depends on character-- the pure in heart see God.

God makes us pure by His sovereign grace, but we have something to look after, this bodily life by which we come in contact with other people and with other points of view, it is these that are apt to sully. Not only must the inner sanctuary be kept right with God, but the outer courts as well are to be brought into perfect accord with the purity God gives us by His grace. The spiritual understanding is blurred immediately the outer court is sullied. If we are going to retain personal contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean there are some things we must scorn to do or to think, some legitimate things we must scorn to touch.

A practical way of keeping personal purity unsullied in relation to other people is to say to yourself-- That man, that woman, perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend, that relative, perfect in Christ Jesus!

Oswald Chambers
"My Utmost For His Highest"

March 24: Decreasing Into His Purpose

March 24
Decreasing Into His Purpose

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 3.30

If you become a necessity to a soul, you are out of God’s order. As a worker, your great responsibility is to be a friend of the Bridegroom. When once you see a soul in sight of the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been in the right direction, and instead of putting out a hand to prevent the throes, pray that they grow ten times stronger until there is no power on earth or in hell that can hold that soul away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again we become amateur provinces, we come in and prevent God; and say-- “This and that must not be.” Instead of proving friends of the Bridegroom, we put our sympathy in the way, and the soul will one day say -- “That one was a thief, he stole my affections from Jesus, and I lost my vision of Him.”

Beware of rejoicing with a soul in the wrong thing, but see that you do rejoice in the right thing. “The friend of the Bridegroom...rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” This is spoken with joy and not with sadness-- at last they are to see the Bridegroom! And John says this is his joy. It is the absolute effacement of the worker, he is never thought of again.

Watch for all you are worth until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another. Never mind what havoc it brings, what upsets, what crumblings of health, rejoice with divine hilarity when once His voice is heard. You may often see Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it. (cf. Matt. 10.34)

“My Utmost for His Highest”

Oswald Chambers