April devotions from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers

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April 1

Helpful or Heartless Toward Others?
By Oswald Chambers

It is Christwho also makes intercession for us.the Spiritmakes intercession for the saints Romans 8:34, 27


Do we need any more arguments than these to become intercessors that Christ "always lives to make intercession" (Hebrews 7:25), and that the Holy Spirit "makes intercession for the saints"?

Are we living in such a relationship with others that we do the work of intercession as a result of being the children of God who are taught by His Spirit?

We should take a look at our current circumstances. Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country, or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us?

Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship? If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works His miracles.

Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will.
We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don't worship God, and we fail to intercede.

If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness toward God and despair in our own souls.

God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless toward them.

We give them a quick verse of Scripture, like jabbing them with a spear, or leave them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord.

Are our lives in the proper place so that we may participate in the intercession of our Lord and the Holy Spirit?


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord's teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. Disciples Indeed, 395 L

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April 2

The Glory That's Unsurpassed
By Oswald Chambers

the Lord Jesushas sent me that you may receive your sight Acts 9:17


When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ.
His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ.

We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ.

The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purposes of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God's own heart (see Acts 13:22).

Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true 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 enchained my spirit's vision,
Gazing on the Crucified.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Biblical Ethics, 111 L

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April 3

"If You Had Known!"
By Oswald Chambers

If you had knownin this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:42


Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to its very foundations, but a strange god was there the pride of the Pharisees.
It was a god that seemed religious and upright, but Jesus compared it to "whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27).

What is it that blinds you to the peace of God "in this your day"?
Do you have a strange god not a disgusting monster but perhaps an unholy nature that controls your life?

More than once God has brought me face to face with a strange god in my life, and I knew that I should have given it up, but I didn't do it.
I got through the crisis "by the skin of my teeth," only to find myself still under the control of that strange god.

I am blind to the very things that make for my own peace. It is a shocking thing that we can be in the exact place where the Spirit of God should be having His completely unhindered way with us, and yet we only make matters worse, increasing our blame in God's eyes.

"If you had known." God's words here cut directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind them.
These words imply responsibility for our own faults.

God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. And "now they are hidden from your eyes" because you have never completely yielded your nature to Him.

Oh, the deep, unending sadness for what might have been! God never again opens the doors that have been closed.
He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut doors which had no need to be shut. Never be afraid when God brings back your past.

Let your memory have its way with you. It is a minister of God bringing its rebuke and sorrow to you. God will turn what might have been into a wonderful lesson of growth for the future.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says "Sit," and He says "Go," go! When the body says "Eat," and He says "Fast," fast! When the body says "Yawn," and He says "Pray," pray! Biblical Ethics, 107 R

Canada2017
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Peace be with you Preacher .
Pale Rider
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Canada2017 said:

Peace be with you Preacher .
Thank you sir. And with you.
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April 4

The Way to Permanent Faith
By Oswald Chambers

Indeed the hour is coming that you will be scattered John 16:32


Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage.

Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ.

After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of everyday life.
We will be scattered, not into service but into the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God's blessings means. Are we prepared for this?

It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings.
But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life.

"youwill leave Me alone." Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us?

Do we not see God at work in our circumstances?
Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us?
Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God?

Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve.

Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God's blessings is fundamental.

"be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
So Send I You

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April 5

His Agony and Our Access
By Oswald Chambers

Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples."Stay here and watch with Me." Matthew 26:36, 38


We can never fully comprehend Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don't have to misunderstand it.
It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience.

Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique they are the gateway into life for us.
It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane.

In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man.
He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God Satan could not touch Him there.

But Satan's assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man.
If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15).

Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation "the devildeparted from Him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13).

In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan's final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.

The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God.

His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man.

It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. Disciples Indeed, 387 R

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April 6

The Collision of God and Sin
By Oswald Chambers

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree 1 Peter 2:24


The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God's judgment on sin.

Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell.
There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God.
He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.

The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming.
He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).

The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating "God was manifested in the flesh" from "He made Himto be sin for us" (1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience.

The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.

The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much.
The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decaythe decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them. The Place of Help, 1032 L

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April 7

Why We Lack Understanding
By Oswald Chambers

He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Mark 9:9


As the disciples were commanded, you should also say nothing until the Son of Man has risen in you until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you truly understand what He taught while here on earth.

When you grow and develop the right condition inwardly, the words Jesus spoke become so clear that you are amazed you did not grasp them before. In fact, you were not able to understand them before because you had not yet developed the proper spiritual condition to deal with them.

Our Lord doesn't hide these things from us, but we are not prepared to receive them until we are in the right condition in our spiritual life. Jesus said, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (John 16:12).

We must have a oneness with His risen life before we are prepared to bear any particular truth from Him. Do we really know anything about the indwelling of the risen life of Jesus?

The evidence that we do is that His Word is becoming understandable to us.
God cannot reveal anything to us if we don't have His Spirit. And our own unyielding and headstrong opinions will effectively prevent God from revealing anything to us. But our insensible thinking will end immediately once His resurrection life has its way with us.

"tell no one." But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live.

Their lives don't add up because the Son of Man has not yet risen in them. How long will it be before His resurrection life is formed and evident in you and in me?


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R

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April 8

His Resurrection Destiny
By Oswald Chambers

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? Luke 24:26


Our Lord's Cross is the gateway into His life. His resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to me. When I was born again, I received the very life of the risen Lord from Jesus Himself.

Christ's resurrection destiny His foreordained purpose was to bring "many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10).

The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God.
We never have exactly the same relationship to God that the Son of God has, but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship.

When our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life a life He had never lived before He was God Incarnate.
He rose to a life that had never been before. And what His resurrection means for us is that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life.

One day we will have a body like His glorious body, but we can know here and now the power and effectiveness of His resurrection and can "walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).
Paul's determined purpose was to "know Him and the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10).

Jesus prayed, "as You have given Him authority over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him" (John 17:2).

The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives.

Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Biblical Ethics, 111 L

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April 9

Have You Seen Jesus?
By Oswald Chambers

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them Mark 16:12


Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God's grace.
But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.

You should always recognize the difference between what you see Jesus to be and what He has done for you. If you see only what He has done for you, your God is not big enough.

But if you have had a vision, seeing Jesus as He really is, experiences can come and go, yet you will endure "as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).

The man who was blind from birth did not know who Jesus was until Christ appeared and revealed Himself to him (see John 9).
Jesus appears to those for whom He has done something, but we cannot order or predict when He will come. He may appear suddenly, at any turn. Then you can exclaim, "Now I see Him!" (see John 9:25).

Jesus must appear to you and to your friend individually; no one can see Jesus with your eyes.
And division takes place when one has seen Him and the other has not.

You cannot bring your friend to the point of seeing; God must do it. Have you seen Jesus? If so, you will want others to see Him too.

"And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either" (Mark 16:13). When you see Him, you must tell, even if they don't believe.

O could I tell, you surely would believe it!
O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can you receive it,
How, till He bringeth you where I have been?


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The great point of Abraham's faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. Not Knowing Whither, 903 R

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April 10

Complete and Effective Decision About Sin
By Oswald Chambers

our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Romans 6:6


Co-Crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sinthat it must be completely killed in you?

It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin.
It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world.

No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.

Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, "Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me." Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.

This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life.

Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life to see the very things that struggle against God's Spirit in you?

If so, will you then agree with God's verdict on the nature of sin that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin" (Romans 6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God.

Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

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April 11

Complete and Effective Divinity
By Oswald Chambers

If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection Romans 6:5


Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him.
The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God.
The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life.

I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.
The idea all through the apostle Paul's writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature.

It takes the omnipotence of God His complete and effective divinity to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh.
The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house He invades all of it.

And once I decide that my "old man" (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me.
He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me.

Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to "reckon" that I am actually "dead indeed to sin," because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11).

Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me.

God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

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April 12

Complete and Effective Dominion
By Oswald Chambers

Death no longer has dominion over Him.the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God Romans 6:9-11


Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life is the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human level.

And it is this same life, not simply a copy of it, which is made evident in our mortal flesh when we are born again. Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God.

The energy and the power which was so very evident in Jesus will be exhibited in us by an act of the absolute sovereign grace of God, once we have made that complete and effective decision about sin.

"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8) not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit, not something that He gives us.

The life that was in Jesus becomes ours because of His Cross, once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we refuse to make this moral decision about sin.

But once we do decide, the full life of God comes in immediately. Jesus came to give us an endless supply of life "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

Eternal life has nothing to do with time. It is the life which Jesus lived when He was down here, and the only Source of life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to "let go." But any effort to "hang on" to the least bit of our own power will only diminish the life of Jesus in us.

We have to keep letting go, and slowly, but surely, the great full life of God will invade us, penetrating every part. Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of GodThe Making of a Christian, 680 R

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April 13

What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming
By Oswald Chambers

Cast your burden on the Lord Psalm 55:22


We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong.

We should never bear the burdens of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off.

God wants us to roll them back on Him to literally "cast your burden," which He has given you, "on the Lord."
If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating.

But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence.

Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives.
But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated.

They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say, "What a sad end to something that had such a great beginning!"

"Cast your burden on the Lord." You have been bearing it all, but you need to deliberately place one end on God's shoulder. "the government will be upon His shoulder" (Isaiah 9:6).

Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don't just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it.

You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R

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April 14

Inner Invincibility
By Oswald Chambers

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me Matthew 11:29


"Whom the Lord loves He chastens" (Hebrews 12:6).

How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, "Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!" Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together.

That's why Jesus says to us, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

"to those who have no might He increases strength" (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.

"the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy?

If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes.

The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden.

No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.

If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God's strength.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We all have the trick of sayingIf only I were not where I am!If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L

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April 15

The Failure To Pay Close Attention
By Oswald Chambers

The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. 2 Chronicles 15:17


Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life.
He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right.

Beware of ever thinking, "Oh, that thing in my life doesn't matter much."
The fact that it doesn't matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God.
Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God.

How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing?
But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience.
You say, "I know I am right with God" yet the "high places" still remain in your life.

There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt?

Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.

Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly.

You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual.

God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes' effort.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

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April 16

Can You Come Down From the Mountain?
By Oswald Chambers

While you have the light, believe in the light John 12:36


We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, "I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!" We are not meant to be.

Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop.

Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate.

Don't place yourself on the shelf by thinking, "How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!"
Act immediately do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not.

If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you something to do, don't say, "I'll do it" just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness.

Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary "gray" day according to what we saw on the mountain.

Don't give up because you have been blocked and confused once go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will.

Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage

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April 17

All or Nothing?
By Oswald Chambers

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garmentand plunged into the sea. John 21:7


Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything?
It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing.

The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally.
The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ?

It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction.

If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction.

Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally.

If you have heard Jesus Christ's voice on the waves of the sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. The Place of Help, 1051 L

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April 18

Readiness
By Oswald Chambers

God called to him.And he said, "Here I am." Exodus 3:4


When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer.

Moses' reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready.
Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are.
We are so busy telling God where we would like to go.

Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes.
We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, "Here I am."

Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing it makes no difference.
It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God's plans may be, we are there and ready.

Whenever any duty presents itself, we hear God's voice as our Lord heard His Father's voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him.

Jesus Christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. "that they may be one just as We are one" (John 17:22).

Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready he is ready.

Think of the time we waste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We must keep ourselves in touch, not with theories, but with people, and never get out of touch with human beings, if we are going to use the word of God skilfully amongst them. Workmen of God, 1341 L

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April 19

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation
By Oswald Chambers

Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. 1 Kings 2:28


Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom.

Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah.
Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13).

You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

We are apt to say, "It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world."

Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect.

They may not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you.
You have remained true to God under great and intense trials now beware of the undercurrent.

Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God.

Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength.

The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.
"kept by the power of God" that is the only safety. (1 Peter 1:5).


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of GodThe Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

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April 20

Can a Saint Falsely Accuse God?
By Oswald Chambers

All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen 2 Corinthians 1:20


Jesus' parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities.

This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentecost.

We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God.
If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, "You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do.

You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me." When it is a question of God's Almighty Spirit, never say, "I can't."

Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us.

The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, "Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me."

Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you"? (Matthew 6:33).

Worrying means exactly what this servant implied "I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable."
A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, "I haven't had a decent chance," and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God.
Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way.

Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises?

Our answer depends on whether or not we have received the Holy Spirit.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The fiery furnaces are there by God's direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of GodThe Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R

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"He is Risen!"

April 21

Don't Hurt the Lord
By Oswald Chambers

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? John 14:9


Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us astounded at how "un-simple" we are.

It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time.

Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew.

The mystery of God is not in what is going to be it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event.

We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask "Lord, show us the Father" (John 14:8).

His response immediately comes back to us as He says, "Can't you see Him? He is always right here or He is nowhere to be found."

We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not.

We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him.

If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord.

The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child.
"Let not your heart be troubled" (14:1, 27).

Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled?
If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief?
Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced?

I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him.

God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6). The Highest GoodThy Great Redemption, 565 L

slimecap
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Happy Easter, Brother Pale Rider !
Pale Rider
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slimecap said:

Happy Easter, Brother Pale Rider !

Thank you. And I pray you and your family had a most blessed day dear sis.
Pale Rider
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April 22

The Light That Never Fails
By Oswald Chambers

We all, with unveiled face, beholdingthe glory of the Lord 2 Corinthians 3:18


A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone.

In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away.
We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone.

Paul said, "no one stood with me, but all forsook me.But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me" (2 Timothy 4:16-17).
We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails.

When "important" individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine.
And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it.

A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others.

The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware "Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him" (Exodus 34:29).

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant's life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

We are not fundamentally free; external circumstances are not in our hands, they are in God's hands, the one thing in which we are free is in our personal relationship to God. We are not responsible for the circumstances we are in, but we are responsible for the way we allow those circumstances to affect us; we can either allow them to get on top of us, or we can allow them to transform us into what God wants us to be. Conformed to His Image, 354 L

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April 23

Do You Worship The Work?
By Oswald Chambers

We are God's fellow workers 1 Corinthians 3:9


Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him.

A great number of Christian workers worship their work.
The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God.
This will mean that all the other boundaries of life, whether they are mental, moral, or spiritual limits, are completely free with the freedom God gives His child; that is, a worshiping child, not a wayward one.

A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work.
He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit.
Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God's blessing cannot rest on him.

But the opposite case is equally true once our concentration is on God, all the limits of our life are free and under the control and mastery of God alone.
There is no longer any responsibility on you for the work.

The only responsibility you have is to stay in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him.
The freedom that comes after sanctification is the freedom of a child, and the things that used to hold your life down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been freed for only one thing to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

We have no right to decide where we should be placed, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do.

God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might" (Ecclesiastes 9:10).


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Biblical Ethics, 111 L

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April 24

The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success
By Oswald Chambers

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you Luke 10:20


Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin.

The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live.

Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go "outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Hebrews 13:13).

In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice.

We have a commercialized view we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right.
Yet our work only begins where God's grace has laid the foundation.

Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them.
Salvation and sanctification are the work of God's sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others' lives until they are totally yielded to God.

One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God's testimony to us as His workers.

God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others.

Unless the worker lives a life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple.

Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way.

Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an "if," never with the forceful or dogmatic statement "You must." Discipleship carries with it an option.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Awe is the condition of a man's spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child. Not Knowing Whither, 882 L

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April 25

"Ready in Season"
By Oswald Chambers

Be ready in season and out of season. 2 Timothy 4:2


Many of us suffer from the unbalanced tendency to "be ready" only "out of season."

The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, "Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season."
In other words, we should "be ready" whether we feel like it or not.
If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything.

There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration.

When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, "Now that I've experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God."
No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God.

You cannot give them to yourself when you choose.
If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him.

You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times.

If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

"When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R

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April 26

The Supreme Climb
By Oswald Chambers

Take now your sonand offer himas a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Genesis 22:2


A person's character determines how he interprets God's will (see Psalm 18:25-26).

Abraham interpreted God's command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way.

If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him.
There are many such beliefs which must be removed for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much.

That is the devil's lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so.

But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.

The great lesson to be learned from Abraham's faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God.

He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience.
Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil.

That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself.

But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don't ask God to test you.

Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even "to go both to prison and to death" (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, "We must keep this thing going." If we are in God's order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won't. Conformed to His Image, 357 R

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April 27

What Do You Want?
By Oswald Chambers

Do you seek great things for yourself? Jeremiah 45:5


Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person?

God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts He wants you to get to know Him.
Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental.
There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.

If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means.

You have become a Christian based on your own terms.
You protest, saying, "I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn't give me the rest and the peace I expected." And instantly God puts His finger on the reason you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself.

Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you" (Matthew 7:7).
Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether.
"Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8).

Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.

Are you seeking great things for yourself?
Have you said, "Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit"?
If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do.

Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it?
God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness.

He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He's continually working out His ultimate perfection for you "that they may be one just as We are one" (John 17:22).


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

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April 28

What You Will Get
By Oswald Chambers

I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go. Jeremiah 45:5


This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him "I will give your life to you."

What more does a man want than his life?
It is the essential thing. "your lifeas a prize" means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it.

So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go the life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life?

Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, "Well, what about this?"

Beware of your own ideas and speculations.
The moment you allow yourself to think, "What about this?" you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God.

But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do.

Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, "I will give your life to you as a prize."

The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything they have not been given their life "as a prize."

The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth.

God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R

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April 29

Gracious Uncertainty
By Oswald Chambers

it has not yet been revealed what we shall be 1 John 3:2


Our natural inclination is to be so precise trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing.

We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty.
Consequently, we do not put down roots.
Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?"
We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.
To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring.
This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation.

We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.
When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies.
That is not believing God it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, "unless youbecome as little children" (Matthew 18:3).

The spiritual life is the life of a child.
We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next.
If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled.

But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, "believe also in Me" (John 14:1), not, "Believe certain things about Me".

Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought"I am of no use where I am," because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray. So Send I You, 1325 L

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April 30

Spontaneous Love
By Oswald Chambers

Love suffers long and is kind 1 Corinthians 13:4


Love is not premeditated it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways.

There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul's description of love.
We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, "Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe."

No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity.
We don't deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it.

And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there.
The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.

The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature.
His love is there only because it "has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5).

If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don't love Him.
The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us.

And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us.

The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit.


Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly. Disciples Indeed, 393 R

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