My Utmost for His Highest - April 30th - The Spontaneity of Love

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. - I Corinthians 13:4-8

    Love is not premeditated, it is spontaneous, i.e., it bursts up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of mathematical certainty in Paul's category of love. We cannot say--"Now I am going to think no evil; I am going to believe all things." The characteristic of love is spontaneity. We do not set the statements of Jesus in front of us as a standard; but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without knowing it, and on looking back we are amazed at the disinterestedness of a particular emotion, which is the evidence that the spontaneity of real love was there. In everything to do with the life of God in us, its nature is only discerned when it is past.

    [The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally, it is only there when "it has been shed abroad 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 do not love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, it comes naturally. In looking back we cannot tell why we did certain things, we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God manifests itself in this spontaneous way because the springs of love are in the Holy Ghost.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition.

My thoughts

This lesson is near yesterday's. The idea I think is basically that I cannot manufacture my love for God for Love is spontaneous and since He is in me, my love to Him comes about in spontaneity. It is not forced or predetermined. It happens according to His ways and timing.  

My Utmost for His Highest - April 29th - The Graciousness of Uncertainty

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. - I John 3:2

    Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life. The nature of spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty, consequently we do not make our nests anywhere. Common sense says--"Well, supposing I were in that condition. . . ." We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in.

    Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness, it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. Immediately we abandon to God, and do the duty that lies nearest. He packs our life with surprises all the time. [When we become advocates of a creed, something dies; we do not believe God, we only believe our belief about Him.] Jesus said, "Except ye . . . become as little children. (Matthew 18:3)" Spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next. If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and serve and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.

 
    "Believe also in Me, (John 14:1)" said Jesus, not--"Believe certain things about Me." Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come. Remain loyal to Him.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition.

My thoughts

There can be grace in not knowing what happens next. I like certainty. I like a plan. I like a schedule. I like routine. Those are all certainties. But is there room in my life for uncertainty? Also, in my life and the way I define doctrine and truth and thinking I know who God is, I think I almost be careful. I don't want to be a person that says I have it all figured out. I want to remain surprised by Him and what He is teaching me each step of the way. 

Romans 3:21-22a - Faithful Through The Ages

Romans 3:21-22a - But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.

Message: Faithful Through The Ages

Time: The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, just three years after the 16 year old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. Persecution of Christians wouldn't begin until AD 64. The church was experiencing times of relative peace. From where he wrote, Corinth, was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idol worship.

What the Lord is Saying:

As the title of this devotion declares, God has been faithful through the ages. The idea here is that throughout history God has called people to Himself and throughout history there has been one people called. As RC Sproul spoke about in his first message, My Faithful God from the series Living By Faith, we do not come to faith in God like we are leaping into something with no evidence. I have always been marveled at how the Mormons when they have shared with me focused so much on a feeling and they shared this verse from Moroni 10:3-4 telling me to ask God if it is not true and if you are sincere, then you will told it is true. But God shows us that our faith is not based on a feeling or no evidence (in fact, most of the evidence for LDS belief is very questionable). 

We have evidences in the natural world. One of my favorite passages is Romans 1:18-32 which shows how the world in which we live, the creation is constantly testifying of God. We can't look at all of this beauty without wondering how it came about. 

And we have a God in history that has shown mercy continually to His people. In my study of Genesis this past year with Bible Study Fellowship I have seen this. I have seen continually how God interceded on behalf of his people, giving them promises of blessing their descendants and it coming to pass. He shows His divine favor continually. He has shown me mercy. I shared at BSF about the hopelessness I felt early on in our marriage and finding little worth in my life for providing for my family and yet, He was with me and has carried me through this to where I am today.

We have evidences in the Bible of a chosen people. Throughout scripture He chooses the people of Israel, and then gives them many reminders of this through the Law and Commandments. We can see God's faithfulness in this and Paul reminds us of this continually in his letters that we are chosen by God. There are differences in people obviously throughout history, but it is clear that God has chosen people, not everyone. But, He has chosen certain ones. Often it is not by the way of the birth order but simply out of His great grace. God is faithful forevermore. 

And in today's passage is another example of how God chose us apart from our works. What a comfort to know that God isn't waiting for my righteousness. This is the way of the world. We do good continually to receive rewards, but with God, He chooses us and His righteousness is manifested apart from our doing of His Law.  But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested ...through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. I can became righteous by faith. If my obedience merits Him, I get some or all of the glory, but if the righteousness of God is given to me simply by faith, then God is glorified. 

God did something new in the New Testament through Jesus. And yet God has been faithful in every age to His people: through a new Prophet (Deut. 18:15), a new Priest (Isa. 53), or a new King (Ezek. 37:24). It is actually easy to know Him and His purposes. He is faithful through the ages. 

Promise: God is faithful and this is why I study His Word, to understand His promises and what He has done, can do in my life and will do. I abandon my life to Him, not to receive gifts, but to receive Him and the prize of eternal life with Him. 

Prayer: O God, you are faithful. I praise you and glorify you for saving me. You showed me faith clearly. Thank you for not staring at my achievements and waiting for my faithfulness. In Christ as I abandon and surrender my life to You, You show yourself to me and to others. Thank you for the evidence of You and the presence of You in life. You have affected me and provided for me. You have given me a peace that surpasses all understanding. Thank you for choosing me. 

Question: What sort of evidence do you see in your life of God providing or rescuing you? 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 28th - What Will You Get

But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,’ declares the Lord, ‘but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.’ - Jeremiah 45:5

    This is the unshakeable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him--"I will give thee thy life." What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. "Thy life for a prey" means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life, nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in the shows of things, not in the way of property and possessions, but of blessings. All these have to go; but there is something grander that never can go--the life that is "hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)"

    Are you prepared to let God take you into union with Himself, and pay no more attention to what you call the great things? Are you prepared to abandon entirely and let go? The test of abandonment is in refusing to say--"Well, what about this?" Beware of suppositions. Immediately you allow--What about this?--it means you have not abandoned, you do not really trust God. Immediately you do abandon, you think no more about what God is going to do. Abandon means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you abandon entirely to God, He says at once, "Thy life will I give thee for a prey." The reason people are tired of life is because God has not given them anything, they have not got their life as a prey. The way to get out of that state is to abandon to God. When you do get through to abandonment to God, you will be the most surprised and delighted creature on earth; God has got you absolutely and has given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience or a refusal to be simple enough.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition.

My Thoughts

The classic edition mentions "prey", while the current edition says, "prize." The danger in life is to focus on what has been given to me rather than focus on the one who has given it and being in union with Him. To surrender or abandon my life is to do it completely, without expecting anything in return. It is not "surrender" and then I look to God for a prize. The prize I will receive in abandonment or surrender is God given life.  

My Utmost for His Highest - April 27th - What Do You Want?

But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? - Jeremiah 45:5

    Are you seeking great things for yourself? Not seeking to be a great one, but seeking great things from God for yourself. God wants you in a closer relationship to Himself than receiving His gifts, He wants you to get to know Him. A great thing is accidental, it comes and goes. God never gives us anything accidental. There is nothing easier than getting into a right relationship with God except when it is not God Whom you want but only what He gives.

    If you have only come the length of asking God for things, you have never come to the first strand of abandonment, you have become a Christian from a standpoint of your own. "I did ask God for the Holy Spirit, but He did not give me thee rest and the peace I expected." Instantly God puts His finger on the reason--you are not seeking the Lord at all, you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus says--"Ask, and it shall be given you. (Matthew 7:7)" Ask God for what you want, and you cannot ask if you are not asking for a right thing. When you draw near to God, you cease from asking for things. "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him. (Matthew 6:8)" Then why ask? That you may get to know Him.

    Are you seeking great things for yourself? "O Lord, baptize me with the Holy Ghost." If God does not, it is because you are not abandoned enough to Him, there is something you will not do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores the present perfection for the ultimate perfection. He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy just now; He is working out His ultimate perfection all the time--"That they may be one even as We are. (John 17:22)"

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 26th - The Supreme Climb

He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” - Genesis 22:2

    Character determines how a man interprets God's will (cf. Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God's command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this tradition behind by 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 traditions that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs to be got rid of, e.g., that God removes a child because the mother loves him too much--a devil's lie! and a travesty of the true nature of God. If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of wrong traditions about God, he will do so; but if we keep true to God, God will take us through an ordeal which will bring us out into a better knowledge of Himself.

 
    The great point of Abraham's faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter to what belief he went contrary. Abraham was not a devotee of his convictions, or he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you straight through every barrier into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself; but there is always this point of giving up convictions and traditional beliefs. Don't ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did --"I will do anything, I will go to death with Thee. (Luke 22:33)" Abraham did not make any such declaration, he remained true to God, and God purified his faith.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 25th - Instant In Season

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. - 2 Timothy 4:2

    Many of us suffer from the morbid tendency to be instant "out of season." The season does not refer to time, but to us--"Be instant in season, out of season," whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would do nothing for ever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain, spiritually decrepit people, who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

    One of the great snares of the Christian worker is to make a fetish of his rare moments. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration, and insight, you say--"Now I will always be like this for God." No, you will not, God will take care you are not. Those times are the gift of God entirely. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best, you become an intolerable drag on God; you will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously inspired. If you make a god of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life and never come back until you do the duty that lies nearest, and have learned not to make a fetish of your rare moments.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

Mom's thoughts

Never lose your sense of urgency

My Utmost for His Highest - April 24th - The Warning Against Wantoning

Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. - Luke 10:20

    As Christian workers, worldliness is not our snare, sin is not our snare, but spiritual wantoning is, viz.: taking the pattern and print of the religious age we live in, making eyes at spiritual success. Never court anything other than the approval of God, go "without the camp, bearing His reproach. (Hebrews 13:13)" Jesus told the disciples in Luke 10:20 not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have the commercial view--so many souls saved and sanctified, that God, now it is all right. Our work, begins where God's grace has laid the foundation; we are not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God's sovereign grace; our work as His disciples is to disciple lives until they are wholly yielded to God. One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God than one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and that will be God's witness to us as workers. God brings us to a standard of life by His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that standard in others.

    Unless the worker lives a life hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator, instead of an indwelling disciple. Many of us are dictators, we dictate to people and to meetings. Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced it with an "IF," never with an emphatic assertion--"You must." Discipleship carries an option with it.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My thoughts

Wantoning - Gross negligence, without motive, though he defines it as spiritual success. 

"Go without the camp" - Go with Jesus as Calvary was outside Jerusalem, thus outside, in this context outside the Jewish church. 

This is a reminder that our focus always needs to only be on God and His approval, not focusing on results of souls saved or program success. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 23rd - The Worship of the Work

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. - I Corinthians 3:9

    Beware of any work for God which enables you to evade concentration on Him. A great many Christians workers worship their work. The one concern of a worker should be concentration on God, and this will mean that all the other margins of life, mental, moral and spiritual, are free with the freedom of a child, a worshipping child, not a wayward child. A worker without this solemn dominant not of concentration on God is apt to get his work on his neck; there is no margin of body, mind or spirit free, consequently he becomes spent out and crushed. There is no freedom, no delight in life; nerves, mind and heart are so crushingly burdened that God's blessing cannot rest. But the other side is just as true--when once the concentration is on God, all the margins of life are free and under the dominance of God alone. There is no responsibility on you for the work; the only responsibility you have is to keep in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your co-operation with Him. The freedom after sanctification is the freedom of a child, the things that used to keep the life pinned down are gone. But be careful to remember that you are freed for one thing only--to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker.

    We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)"

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 22nd - The Light that Fails

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

    A servant of God must stand so much alone that he never knows he is alone. In the first phases of Christian life disheartenments come, people who used to be lights flicker out, and those who used to stand with us pass away. We have to get so used to it that we never know we are standing alone. "All men forsook me . . . notwithstanding the Lord stood with me" (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith, not on the fading light, but on the light that never fails. When "big" men go we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, the one thing that remains is looking in the face of God for ourselves.

    Allow nothing to keep you from looking God sternly in the face about yourself and about your doctrine, and every time you preach see that you look God in the face about things first, then the glory will remain all through. A Christian worker is one who perpetually looks in the face of God and then goes forth to talk to people. The characteristic of the ministry of Christ is that of unconscious glory that abides. "Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him."

    We are never called on to parade our doubts or to express the hidden ecstasies of our life with God. The secret of the worker's life is that he keeps in tune with God all the time.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

Genesis 15:1-21 - Our Faithful God

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 
“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”
Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” He said, “O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”

It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
“To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” - Genesis 15:1-21

Message: Our Faithful God

Time:  Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.

What the Lord is Saying: 

This month's devotional series is now switching to focus on faith for a bit following a teaching series that RC Sproul did called Living By Faith. Thus far, this study has looked at the idea that we as believers in Christ, we are declared righteous in Him by faith alone (sola fide). Our righteousness is based on the perfect obedience of Christ. We access it by faith and faith alone. And this faith continues to manifest itself daily as we walk and He sanctifies us in Him, moving me toward living Holy as Jesus lived. 

I listened to the first message RC Sproul did for this series. He mentioned this is his favorite chapter in the Bible for it is where faith is declared or salvation is declared and it is where God reveals Himself. And it starts with the phrase "Do not fear" which he believes is a key for all scripture that is repeated to us continually. He begins the message by talking about faith and reason and the idea from some that faith in God is a sort of blind faith. But blind faith is believing though there is no evidence for belief. And with God in our lives, there is evidence of how He has cared for us and demonstrated His kindness toward us. God does not call us to a blind faith. Throughout scripture we have reasons everywhere of why we believe in Him. The true definition of faith is trust. I trust God no matter what. 

In this passage today is one such example of God's trustworthiness. Abraham believed God and wss justified. His belief in God merited Abraham's righteousness. But then Abraham asks God for evidence of His promise and the Lord provides it. In that moment, God comes and passes between the pieces and made a covenant with Abraham that His descendants would be numerous. God must keep His promises. He is God. He cannot die. The curse of death cannot fall upon Him. God will be true. 

Promise: We have a trustworthy God. We can trust God because His very nature prevents Him from breaking His promises. 

Prayer: O God, you are Lord and King. And you have allowed me to experience your peace, your grace, your faithfulness in my life. You grant me a peace that surpasses understanding. This world preaches an opposite message to peace, but one of fear always and seeking solutions that are not in You. Help me to cling to You always, to trust in You no matter and to always treat others the way they want to be treated. I don't want to Fear. I want to be a person of faith. Show me the way. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of June is about justification; May was about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God.

Mankind's Condition - The Sins of the Gentiles - Though born with God being evident, Gentiles do not honor God or give thanks, look to their selves for truth, and God gives them over to their sin, and in the process God's wrath is sin which will culminate on the Day of the Lord. The Sins of the Jews - Jews thought their status meant only Gentiles were true sinners. Romans 2 and 3 explains that Jews are just as guilty before God. 

The Law Speaks - The Law and Accountability - the Law reminds us we are sinners and doing good will not outweigh this bad; I am condemned. Righteousness According to the Law - The Law can make one righteous if obedient to all, but we are sinners. Human Inability - man cannot make himself righteous because he is a sinner. 

Only Justified through Christ (God) - The Obedience of One - with Jesus all obedience was completed in Him which resulted in Him taking on all sin; we trust only in His words, not ours. God's Initiative In Justification - God initiates the act of justification through the work of Christ alone; he saves us out of His kindness. Faith and Justification - no one is continually righteous; only through Jesus one will be made righteous; to be made righteous one must believe in God, ask for His mercy. 

Saved by Faith - Faith and Righteousness - Faith is what God uses in us to build the bridge to being accepted by God and restored to a right relationship with Him. Justification and Sin - Nothing changes the fact that we are sinners, but our status before God changes by Christ's obedience as this declares us to be righteous. Not by any of our works - Justification is by faith alone. By adding any work, we must add all works. Why Faith - Faith is the instrument [or what we do] to usher in to our life the finished act of righteousness. 

Faith Works - What is Saving Faith - Saving faith is not simply understanding truth, it is believing the truth is true and then living by that truth. Justification and Our Good Works - Once God declares us righteous by the righteousness of Christ, we cannot help but do what is right. Keeping Grace Gracious - if being restored to God's plan is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Don't mix the two. Keep them separate. But keep them both extremely valuable. Faith and Sanctification - I am declared holy by faith, but daily I choose holiness. I am living my entire life by faith.

My Utmost for His Highest - April 21st - Now Don't Hurt the Lord!

Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? - John 14:9

    Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us--astounded at how un-simple we are. It is opinions of our own which make us stupid, when we are simple we are never stupid, we discern all the time. Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the One Who he knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be, it is now; we look for it presently, in some cataclysmic event. We have no reluctance in obeying Jesus, but it is probable that we are hurting Him by the questions we ask. "Lord, show us the Father. (John 14:8)" His answer comes straight back--"There He is, always here or nowhere." We look for God to manifest Himself to His children; God only manifests Himself in His children. Other people see the manifestation, the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God; we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and remain sane. If we are asking God to give us experiences, or if conscious experience is in the road, 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 (John 14:1, 27)"--then am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe the character of Jesus, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to perturb my heart, any morbid questions to come in? I have to get to the implicit relationship that takes everything as it comes from Him. God never guides presently, but always now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the emancipation is immediate. 

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Underlines and Highlights are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 20th - Can A Saint Slander God?

For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. - 2 Corinthians 1:20

    Jesus told the parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 as a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacity. This parable has not to do with natural gifts, but with the Pentecostal gift of the Holy Ghost. We must not measure our spiritual capacity by education or by intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured by the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, before long we will slander Him as the servant slandered his master: "You expect more than You give me power to do; You demand too much of me, I cannot stand true to You where I am placed." When it is a question of God's Almighty Spirit, never say "I can't." Never let the limitation of natural ability come in. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in us.

 
    The servant justified himself in everything he did and condemned his lord on every point--"Your demand is out of all proportion to what you give." Have we been slandering God by daring to worry when He has said: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33)? Worrying means exactly what this servant implied--"I know You mean to leave me in the lurch." the person who is lazy naturally is always captious--"I haven't had a decent chance," and the one who is lazy spiritually is captious* with God. Lazy people always strike out on an independent line.

    Never forget that our capacity in spiritual matters is measured by the promises of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether we have received the Holy Spirit.

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

* Captious - fond of taking exception or raising objection

My Utmost for His Highest - April 19th - Is It Not in the Least Likely?

Now the news came to Joab, for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he had not followed Absalom. And Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. - I Kings 2:28

    Joab stood the big test, he remained absolutely loyal and true to David and did not turn after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom, but yet towards the end of his life he turned after the craven Adonijah. Always remain alert of he fact that where one man has gone back is exactly where anyone may go back (see 1 Cor. 10:11-13). You have gone through the big crisis, now be alert over the least things; take in calculation the "retired sphere of the leasts."

    We are apt to say--"It is not in the least likely that having been through the supreme crisis, I shall turn now to the things of the world." Do not forecast where the temptation will come, it is the least likely thing that is the peril. In the aftermath of a great spiritual transaction the "retired sphere of the leasts" begins to tell; it is not dominant, but remember it is there, and if you are not warned, it will trip you up. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials, now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be morbidly introspective, looking forward with dread, but keep alert; keep your member bright before God. Unguarded strength is double weakness because that is where the "retired sphere of the leasts" saps. The Bible characters fell on their strong points, never on their weak ones.

    "Kept by the power of God (I Peter 1:5)"--that is the only safety.

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My thoughts

He talked of being ready always to hear His voice -- in the previous devotional, and now today we need to be alert to temptation. Temptations often hit us in the little areas, and then they become big. Beware. Yet, do not examine yourself, as if you are looking for it. Be careful examining the sin too much. I've seen this. At times it leads me into allowing the sin into my life. 

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My Utmost for His Highest - April 18th - Readiness

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” - Exodus 3:4

    When God speaks, many of us are like men in a fog, we give no answer. Moses' reply revealed that he was somewhere. Readiness means a right relationship to God and a knowledge to God and a knowledge of where we are at present. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. The man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who carries off the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea of some great opportunity, something sensational, and when it comes we are quick to cry--"Here am I." Whenever Jesus Christ is in the ascendant, we are there, but we are not ready for an obscure duty.

 
    Readiness for God means that we are ready to do the tiniest little thing or the great big thing, it makes no difference. We have no choice in what we want to do, whatever God's programme may be we are there, ready. When any duty presents itself we hear God's voice as our Lord heard His Father's voice, and we are ready for it with all the alertness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us as His Father did with Him. He can put us where He likes, in pleasant duties or in mean duties, because the union is that of the Father and Himself. "That they may be one, even as We are one. (John 17:22)"

 
    Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready when God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the ready soul, it is ablaze with the presence of God.

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My Thoughts

Today is similar to yesterday. When God calls, answer Him. It is that simple. He may call me to do something small or big, but when He calls, answer. Be ready. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 17th - Neck or Nothing

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved *said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. - John 21:7

    Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately and emphatically and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of will. You may come up to it many times externally, but it amounts to nothing. The real deep crisis of abandonment is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of external things may be an indication of being in total bondage.

 
    Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of will, not of emotion; the emotion is simply the gilt-edge of the transaction. If you allow emotion first, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make it in regard to the thing you do see, either in the shallow or the profound place.

    If you have heard Jesus Christ's voice on the billows, let your convictions go to the winds, let your consistency go to the winds, but maintain your relationship to Him.

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My thoughts

The context of this verse from John is some of the disciples in a boat fishing. Jesus stood on the beach, the shore. Peter sees Jesus on the shore and hears his command to them to throw their net on the other side of the boat as they were not catching any fish. Upon seeing Jesus, Peter jumps from the boat to get to Jesus. 

Thus, in this passage is Jesus calling Peter, but Jesus also is calling me often. Do I run to Him because it is Him or do I wait for an emotion that will incite me to go towards Him? Do I do what He calls or do I wait for an explanation or to be properly equipped or educated? I must approach Him out of a transaction of my will. Hear Jesus calling and go to Him, without delay. My relationship is with Him. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 16th - Can You Come Down?

While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light. - John 12:36

    We all have moments when we feel better than our best, and we say--"I feel fit for anything; If only I could be like this always!" We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for this workaday world when there is no high hour. We must bring our commonplace life up to the standard revealed in the high hour.

 
    Never allow a feeling which was stirred in you in the high hour to evaporate. Don't put your mental feet on the mantelpiece and say--"What a marvelous state of mind to be in!" Act immediately, do something, if only because you would rather not do it. If in a prayer meeting God has shown you something to do, don't say--"I'll do it"; do it! Take yourself by the scruff of the neck and shake off your incarnate laziness. Laziness is always seen in cravings for the high hour; we talk about working up to a time on the mount. We have to learn to live in the grey day according to what we saw on the mount.

    Don't cave in because you have been baffled once, get at it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by your own act. never revise your decisions, but see that you make your decisions in the light of the high hour.

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

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My Utmost for His Highest - April 15th - The Relapse of Concentration

But the high places were not removed from Israel; nevertheless Asa’s heart was blameless all his days. - 2 Chronicles 15:17 

    Asa was incomplete in his external obedience, he was right in the main but not entirely right. Beware of the thing of which you say--"Oh, that does not matter much" (The fact that it does not matter much to you may mean that it matters a very great deal to God.) Nothing is a light matter with a child of God. How much longer are some of us going to keep God trying to teach us one thing? He never loses patience. You say--"I know I am right with God"; but still the "high places" remain, there is something over which you have not obeyed. Are you protesting that your heart is right with God, and yet is there something in your life about which He has caused you to doubt? Whenever there is doubt, quit immediately, no matter what it is. Nothing is a mere detail.

    Are there some things in connection with your bodily life, your intellectual life, upon which you are not concentrating at all? You are all right in the main but you are slipshod; there is a relapse on the line of concentration. You no more need a holiday from spiritual concentration than your heart needs a holiday from beating. You cannot have a moral holiday and remain moral, nor can you have a spiritual holiday and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and this means that you have to watch to keep yourself fit. It takes a tremendous amount of time. Some of us expect to "clear the numberless ascensions" in about two minutes.

From Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

My Utmost for His Highest - April 14th - Inspired Invincibility

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. - Matthew 11:29

    "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. (Hebrews 12:6)" How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us into the place where we can have communion with Him, and we groan and say--"O Lord, let me be like other people!" Jesus is asking us to take one end of the yoke--"My yoke is easy, get alongside Me and we will pull together. (Matthew 11:30)" Are you identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God for the pressure of His hand.
    "To them that have no might He increaseth strength. (Isaiah 40:29)" God comes and takes us out of our sentimentality, and our complaining turns into a paean of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and learn of Him.
    "The joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)" Where do the saints get their joy from? If we did not know some saints, we would say--"Oh, he, or she, and nothing to bear." Lift the veil. The fact that the peace and the light and the joy of God are there is proof that the burden is there too. The burden God places squeezes the grapes and out comes the wine; most of us see the wine only. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God in a human spirit, it is an inner unconquerableness.
    If you have the whine in you, kick it out ruthlessly. It is a positive crime to be weak in God's strength.

From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

- Highlights and Underlines courtesy of Mom from her print edition. 

Acts 26:12-18 - Faith and Sanctification

 Acts 26:12-18

12 “While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

Message: Faith and Sanctification

Time: Clearly written by Luke, this book follows the lives of Peter and then Paul after Jesus' ascension into heaven. The book was completed about 62 AD as Paul sat in prison. It provides an account of the growth of the Church and spread from Jerusalem, from a small group of frightened believers in Jerusalem transformed into an empire-wide movement of people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ, and it should help us to be bold and have zeal in our walks with God.

What the Lord is Saying: 

The thing that has already amazed me about this teaching and truth about the fact that good works are separate from saving faith, though clearly testifying to others of the faith we have, is the notion that those good works are being done without an expectation of receiving something. Thus, they are truly good. They are a response of our commitment not in order to earn favor with God. And therefore the motive or reason we do them is pure. It is untainted. 

I am not sure there is really much in my life that is done where I am not hoping to get something in return for it. I work hard but a paycheck is always at the end of two weeks. Granted, I often work beyond my 40 hours and so maybe this shows my commitment to the work, but still I am getting paid. Volunteer work I think shows our true desire to serve and give of ourselves. 

Sanctification is the inward transformation we experience from the point of our conversion. It is the state or process of being set apart as holy. At the point of conversion, God accepts us not on the basis of who we are and what we have done, but on the basis of Jesus Christ and who He is and what He has done.  And this is by faith. Yet, after conversion is the process of sanctification or being made holy in the life of the believer. It is the process whereby we move the needle to actually look like Jesus. This is also by faith.  

According to Tabletalk, there are 2 ways scripture speaks of sanctification: 

1. Positional or Declarative Sanctification -- At the moment of trusting in Christ alone for salvation I am set apart as God's holy person. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." - I Peter 2:9-10 Thus, in God's sight I am holy. I am a "new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

2. Progressive Sanctification - Until I am glorified, I am unholy in practice. Thus, I engage with the Lord in the process of sanctification. Daily I die to self and live unto Christ, seeking to obey Him in all things. Here I am becoming in my experience what I am already in God's sight. "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." - I Peter 2:11-12. And this process is work. It is faith in God to work this out in me, but it is also work by me choosing behavior that will glorify God. Romans 8:13 - "for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." As Paul records so clearly in Philippians 2:12-13 -- "work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

Wow, this is an amazing truth. I am declared holy by faith, but daily I choose holiness. Acts 26:18 - "receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me." Thus, I am living my entire life by faith. Faith that God has declared me accepted and faith that He continues in me to be holy. 

Promise: As Tabletalk records --- we are justified by faith, but even the sanctification and good works that follow our justification are based on faith. 

Prayer: O God, you are glorious and it is a wonder to understand You and Your words of truth. Thank you for this message that I needed to hear this day. That I am a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy person, possessed by You. You have declared me accepted and in Christ. I am a new creation. And yet each day I live, I make choices to be united with You or not united with You. I pray that daily I would dies to self and live unto Christ. I want to be united with your Spirit and live in a manner that is glorifying to You. Thank you for giving me this strength each day and working in me, giving me the will and the work so that I will glorify You. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of June is about justification; May was about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God.

Mankind's Condition - The Sins of the Gentiles - Though born with God being evident, Gentiles do not honor God or give thanks, look to their selves for truth, and God gives them over to their sin, and in the process God's wrath is sin which will culminate on the Day of the Lord. The Sins of the Jews - Jews thought their status meant only Gentiles were true sinners. Romans 2 and 3 explains that Jews are just as guilty before God. 

The Law Speaks - The Law and Accountability - the Law reminds us we are sinners and doing good will not outweigh this bad; I am condemned. Righteousness According to the Law - The Law can make one righteous if obedient to all, but we are sinners. Human Inability - man cannot make himself righteous because he is a sinner. 

Only Justified through Christ (God) - The Obedience of One - with Jesus all obedience was completed in Him which resulted in Him taking on all sin; we trust only in His words, not ours. God's Initiative In Justification - God initiates the act of justification through the work of Christ alone; he saves us out of His kindness. Faith and Justification - no one is continually righteous; only through Jesus one will be made righteous; to be made righteous one must believe in God, ask for His mercy. 

Saved by Faith - Faith and Righteousness - Faith is what God uses in us to build the bridge to being accepted by God and restored to a right relationship with Him. Justification and Sin - Nothing changes the fact that we are sinners, but our status before God changes by Christ's obedience as this declares us to be righteous. Not by any of our works - Justification is by faith alone. By adding any work, we must add all works. Why Faith - Faith is the instrument [or what we do] to usher in to our life the finished act of righteousness. 

Faith Works - What is Saving Faith - Saving faith is not simply understanding truth, it is believing the truth is true and then living by that truth. Justification and Our Good Works - Once God declares us righteous by the righteousness of Christ, we cannot help but do what is right. Keeping Grace Gracious - if being restored to God's plan is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Don't mix the two. Keep them separate. But keep them both extremely valuable.