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