Be Encouraged with my Utmost for His Highest (June 2024)

30 June 2024

Do it now!

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life have you suddenly reached a specific place in your relationship with someone only to find that you have anger in your heart?

Matthew 5:25 says, “Agree with your adversary and do it quickly.” This is a fundamental principle.

Be encouraged in this verse. Jesus Christ laid down a fundamental principle by saying. "Do what you know you must do – now. Do it quickly.

If you don't, an inevitable process will begin to work 'till you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:26) in pain, agony, and distress.”

For example, the older I get, the easier this gets. Yes, I know what I must do. It’s not always easy to agree when I disagree, especially when I know I am right. But I am learning to adopt the Sears motto, ”The customer is always right." ( I added a #mcneillism –?"no matter how technically wrong they are").

Therefore, adversaries or customers, family, and friends, I am learning to quickly agree as I look at the situation from a different point of view.

God’s laws are unchangeable, and there is no escape from them.

The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right into the heart of our being.

Wanting to make sure that my adversary gives me all my rights is a natural thing.

But Jesus says that it is a matter of inescapable and eternal importance to me that I pay my adversary what I owe him.

Be encouraged. From our Lord's standpoint, it doesn't matter whether I am cheated or not, but what does matter is that I don't cheat someone else.

Am I insisting on having my rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ's standpoint?

Does it quickly bring you to judgment now? In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately.

Be encouraged because if you don't, agree quickly the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure., clean, and white as the driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience at any point of His teaching, He will allow His Spirit to use whatever process it may take to bring us to obedience.

The fact that we insist on proving that we are right is almost always a clear indication that we have some point of disobedience.

No wonder the Spirit of God strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19 21).

Agree with your adversary quickly . . ." Have you suddenly reached a specific place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart?

Will you confess it quickly? Make it right before God? Will you be reconciled with that person? Please do it now.

Will you agree with your adversary quickly?

This is your question today.

29 June 2024

The strictest discipline

Today, in your business and life, did you know that some things are legitimate in the sight of man, but if you are going to concentrate on God, you can not do them?

“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell" – Matthew 5.30.

Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off his right hand. But that "if your right hand causes you to sin" in your walk with Him, then it is better to "cut it off."

Your right hand is one of your best things, but Jesus says that if it hinders you from following His precepts, "cut it off."

The principles taught here are the strictest discipline or lesson ever hitting humankind.

Be encouraged when God changes you through regeneration, giving you new life through spiritual rebirth. Your life initially has the characteristic of being maimed.

There are a hundred and one things that you dare not do, things that would be sin for you and would be recognized as sin by those who know you.

Be encouraged when the unspiritual people around you say, "What's so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!" There has never yet been a saint who has lived a maimed life initially.

Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God's sight than to appear attractive to man's eyes but lame to God.

At first, Jesus Christ, through His Spirit, restrains you from doing many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not suitable for you.

The Christian life is a maimed life initially. But in verse 48, Jesus gave us the picture of a perfectly well-rounded life. "You shall be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Did you know that some things are legitimate in the sight of man, but if you are going to concentrate on God, you can not do them?

This is your question today.

28 June 2024

Held by the grip of God

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, are you running from a call and the grip of God in business or life?

"I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me." Philippians 3:12

Are you willing to keep your soul steadfastly related to God and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel?

Be encouraged. Never choose to be a worker for God, but once God has placed His Call on you, woe be to you if you turn aside to the right or the left. (Deuteronomy 5:32) You are held by the grip of God.

For example, in 1990, this was my story as I ran from the grip of God.

He called me to start an organization that encourages and supports Black women and girls to enter the construction industry at all levels. That organization is called The National Association of Black Women In Construction .

We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so but because God has "laid hold of" us. And once He has done so, we never have this thought: "Well, I'm not suited for this".

What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your natural leanings or desires.

Be encouraged and keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not simply to convey your testimony but also to preach the gospel.

Every Christian must testify to the truth of God, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God's hand on you.

Your life is in the grip of God for that very purpose. How many of us are held like that?

Never water down the Word of God, but preach it in its undiluted sternness.

There must be steadfast faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are. You are not some unique being created in heaven but a sinner saved by grace.

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do ... I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

Are you running from a call and the grip of God in business or life?

This is your question today.

27 June 2024

The overshadowing of God's deliverance

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and your life, when you are on a mission, are you diverted or devoted as you look for justice from others? How often do you give justice to others?

Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.

“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. — Jeremiah?1:8

God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally- .. your life shall be a prize to you.” (Jeremiah 39:18).

That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives.

Be encouraged to know that your personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress.

Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God's deliverance.

The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves.

Jesus says, in effect, "Don't worry about whether or not you are being treated justly."

Looking for justice signifies that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it.

If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, "Why should I be treated like this?"

If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether just or unjust.

"Continue steadily with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, remove yourself from My deliverance."

Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard. We do not believe Him.

We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God's name to it. We do lean to our understanding instead of trusting God with all our hearts (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When you are on a mission, are you diverted or devoted as you look for justice from others? How often do you give justice to others?

This is your question today.

26 June 2024

Drawing on the Grace of God now

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, in stripes, in tribulations, in illnesses and pain, are you willing to draw on God's grace now?

As God’s co-workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. — 2?Corinthians?6:1

The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for you today.

Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it to draw upon whenever needed in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses." That is where our patience is tested (6:4).

Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying, "Oh well, I won't count this time"?

It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you; it is taking the grace of God now.

We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God.

Don't say, "I will endure this until I can get away and pray." Pray now draw on the grace of God in your moment of need.

Prayer is the most ordinary and valuable thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God.

We are very slow to learn to draw on God's grace through prayer.. . . in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors..." (6:5) - in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and others that you are a miracle of His.

Be encouraged and draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself.

Be encouraged as we learn that one of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.

“…having nothing . .” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have. And always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. All things" are poverty triumphant (6:10).

In stripes, in tribulations, in illnesses and pain, are you willing to draw on God's grace now?

This is your question today.

25 June 2024

Receiving yourself in the fires of sorrow

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, are you willing to receive yourself in the fire of sorrow and allow God to nourish you for others?

“… what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose, I came to this hour. 'Father, glorify Your name' (John 12:27-28).

As a saint of God, my attitude towards sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be despite all my fires of sorrow.

Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose amid the fire of sorrow.

Be encouraged to know that His love is constant, and He always has our best interest at heart, whether we can recognize that or not. “Faith says not, 'I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it,' but, 'God sent it, and so it must be good for me.'

He was saved not from the hour but out of the hour.

We say there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we must accept and receive ourselves In its fires, so be encouraged.

If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the most significant facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be.

Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow removes much of a person's shallowness but does not always make that person better.

Suffering either gives me to me or destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success because you lose your head over pride.

Be encouraged to learn you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial.

The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you.

But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away.

Suppose you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow. God will nourish you for other people.

“Worry never robs today of its sorrow; it only saps today of its joy.” – Leo Buscaglia.

Are you willing to receive yourself in the fire of sorrow and allow God to nourish you for others?

This is your question today.

24 June 2024

Reconciling yourself to the fact of sin

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, do you know that not being reconciled to sin nor recognizing it, and refusing to deal with it, produces all the disasters in life?

"This is your hour, and the power of darkness" (Luke 22:53).

Be encouraged as we learn that it does not matter how popular you are. If you are a leader or a volunteer, sin will come for you as it came for Jesus. Your hour will come with the darkness.

“Jesus was popular with the people because He healed the sick, taught them many things, told some good stories, and fed them with bread and fish - but His betrayal by one of the men that had accompanied Him throughout His ministry emboldened the Jewish leaders to arrest Him.

Nevertheless, they carried out their nefarious plan secretly and, at night, He was taken immediately to be tried by various illegal courts before morning dawned so that the unlawful sentences He received from each trial would be completed before the crowd realized what was happening.

Jesus did not resist arrest because He knew why He had entered the world. He came from heaven to be a willing sacrifice for the world's sin, but He exposed the cowardice and hypocrisy of his enemies and spoke the plain truth - that He was in the Temple every day, and they did not lay hands on Him.

Yet in the darkness of night, when no one was around, these cowards came with all sorts of weapons and reinforcements to seize Him and arrest Him and to falsely accuse and crucify Him. But Jesus continued to speak of His accusers with strong and sad prophetic words: "But this hour and the power of darkness are yours."

I am encouraged by learning Christ had come to?set up His kingdom, as foretold by the prophets, but He was mocked and crucified. He died, was buried, and on the third day, He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and was seated in the right hand of the Father.

Why would I think I am any different? This betrayal and sin come for us all as we learn to study and show ourselves approved.

Be encouraged. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have.

If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it.

Have you taken this "hour and the power of darkness" into account, or do you have a view of yourself that includes no recognition of sin?

In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin?

If not, just around the next comer, you will find yourself trapped, and you will compromise with it.

But if you reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say. "Yes, I see what this sin would mean.".

The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship. It establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of a sinful life is disastrous.

Always beware of any assessment of life that does not recognize that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature.

The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person.

The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be ignorant; God demands that they be pure and virtuous.

Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.

Have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin?

Do you know that not being reconciled to sin nor recognizing it and refusing to deal with it produces all the disasters in life. have you reconciled yourself to sin?

This is your question today.

23 June 2024

“Acquainted with grief”

Oswald Chambers

Today, in business and life, when it comes to grief, we endure it differently. Are you acquainted with grief?

"He is . .. a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).

We are not “acquainted with grief,” in the same way, our Lord was acquainted with it.

We are not acquainted with grief in the way our Lord was acquainted with grief. We endure it, we get through it, but we don’t become intimate with it.

The reason for this is that we don’t understand the cause of grief and sorrow in life.

Grief and sorrow are caused by sin— but many of us refuse to recognize the fact that sin exists.

At the beginning of our lives, we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin.

We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person controls his instincts and educates himself, he can produce energy that will slowly evolve into the life of God.

Be encouraged. But as we continue through life, we find the presence of something that we have not yet considered, namely, sin, which upsets all of our thinking and our plans.

Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We must recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming.

Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life.

The New Testament brings us to this issue: sin rules in me. God's life in me will be killed. If God rules in me, sin in me will be destroyed.

There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was confirmed in the history of God on earth will also be accurate in your history and mine. That is, sin will kill the life of God in us.

We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation for why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.

I am encouraged in prayer when I think of my sin and consider the enormous weight of my sin and all that was paid. I am amazed and in awe that God would love me so much that He gave His only begotten Son to bear all my grief and carry all my sorrow.

To Christ, I give all honor and glory in, through, and for all things as I continue to learn of the power of His grief. He didn’t have to do it, but He did.

Be encouraged as you realize that for you to be redeemed and returned into fellowship with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ was smitten with God and afflicted out of love for you.

When it comes to grief, we endure it differently. Are you acquainted with grief?

This is your question.

22 June 2024

The unchanging law of judgement

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, what right do you have to be judge and jury over others?

"With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Matthew 7:2).

Just imagine with what judgment you judge you will be judged.

The statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged.

Be encouraged as we continue to learn that there is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution, “with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

If you have been shrewd in finding out the shortcomings of others, remember that will be precisely how you will be measured.

The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God's throne down to us (see Psalm 18:25-26).

Romans 2:1 applies it in an even more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the same thing.

God looks not only at the act itself but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts.

To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we consider the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves?

The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuineness in others is that they are all in our hearts.

The most significant characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, "Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God.

Be encouraged. Therefore, I have no right to judge." Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1). He went on to say, in effect, "If you do judge, you will be judged in the same way.”

Who would dare to stand before God and say, "My God, judge me as I have judged others"? We have judged others as sinners. If God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell.

Yet God judges us based on the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.

What right do you have to be judge and jury over others?

This is your question today.

21 June 2024

The ministry of the inner life

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, how long will it take God to free you from the unhealthy habit of only thinking of yourself?

"You are . .. a royal priesthood.”

(1 Peter 2:9)

By what right have we become a “royal priesthood?”

Be encouraged It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and launch into the priestly work of prayer?

The continual inner-searching we do to see if we are what we ought to generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God.

Be encouraged. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our "hanging on by the skin of our teeth, although we say. "What a wonderful victory I have!"

Yet, there is nothing that indicates the miracle of redemption.

Launch out in the reckless, untrained belief that the redemption is complete.

Then don't worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, "Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men."

Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: "Oh, Lord, I have done my best: please hear me now."

We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves until there is no longer any surprise at anything God tells us about ourselves.

We cannot reach and understand the depths of our meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus.

Once there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in the ministry of the inner life.

Be encouraged as we—believers, the church—are also a chosen race. Unlike Israel, though, we are not a race in the sense of our family, ethnicity, skin color, or country of origin.

We are a spiritual race in the sense that, in Christ, we share a single spiritual Father. In that same meaning, we are a "holy nation," a specific group of people called out and set apart from all other nations.

The inner life can also refer to your private space of emotions, thoughts, values, practices, hopes, and reflection that nourishes your spirit and sense of well-being.?

I am encouraged that this is learning the ministry of my inner life.

How long will it take God to free you from the unhealthy habit of only thinking of yourself?

This is your question today.

20 June 2024

Have you come to "when" yet?

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, are you willing to pray for your friends if you are not receiving the one hundredfold that Jesus promised and getting insights into God’s Word?

"The Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10).

A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament.

The fact that I am trying to be right with God is a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

I pray, "Lord. I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer. I will walk rightly before You if You help me."

But I cannot make myself right with God; I cannot make my life perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift.

Am I humble enough to accept it? I must surrender all my rights and demands and cease every self-effort. I must leave myself entirely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession.

A great deal of prayer comes from actual disbelief in the atonement.

Be encouraged. Jesus is not just beginning to save us; He has already held us entirely. It is an established fact and an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.

Be encouraged. If you are not now receiving the "hundredfold" that Jesus promised (see Matthew 19:29) and not getting insight into God's Word, then start praying for your friends to enter into the ministry of the inner life.

"The Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends." As a saved soul, the real business of your life is intercessory prayer.

Let’s be encouraged. I am a living example and testimony of Job's story. The man, through no fault of his own, lost his children, home, health, and money – all in a brief period.

Yes, I have been there, yet through it all, Job stayed faithful to the Lord. He refused to compromise his character or devotion despite the hardships that had overtaken his life.

In the end, the Lord restored Job. I can relate.

For example, during a wilderness time in my life, after losing it all, I read the story of Job daily to be encouraged to pray for my friends despite being spitefully used by some of them.

God is faithful, and He is restoring my losses. Have you come to when yet?

Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact.

Like Job, whatever circumstances God may place you in, do you always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours?

These are your questions today.

19 June 2024

The service of passionate devotion

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, are you passionately devoted to Him or only to the church He created?

Be encouraged in answering the question from Jesus to Peter when He asked, “…do you love Me?.. Tend My sheep" (John 21:16).

Jesus did not say to make converts to your way of thinking, but He said to look after His sheep, to see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Him.

We consider what we do in the way of Christian work as service, yet Jesus Christ calls service to be what we are to Him, not what we do for Him.

Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following a particular belief or doctrine. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate ... he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

In this verse, there is no argument or pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He says, in effect, "If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to Me."

A person touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says. "Now I see who Jesus is!" that is the source of devotion.

Today, we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many people are devoted to causes, and so few are committed to Jesus Christ.

People do not want to be devoted to Jesus but only to the cause He started.

Jesus Christ is deeply offensive to the educated minds of today, to those who only want Him to be their Friend and who are unwilling to accept Him in any other way.

Be encouraged. Our Lord's primary obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of people. The saving of people was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father.

If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble.

But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a "doormat."

The secret of a disciple's life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of that life is its seeming insignificance and meekness. Yet it is like a grain of wheat that "falls into the ground and dies." It will spring up and change the entire landscape (John 12:24).

I am encouraged as I continue to learn that sheep do not exist for the sake of sheep but for the sake of the Shepherd.

Just imagine if you were the church. The community members, businesses, families, and churches do not exist for the church.

Consider that you are the only church some people may ever meet. Consider that you only exist to feed the members.

It is our task as the church to feed and nurture believers. There are both immature and mature believers. As the church, you must provide both. We can love people without loving the Lord, but we can hardly love the Lord without loving His people.

Are you passionately devoted to Him or only to the church He created?

This is your question today.

18 June 2024

Keep recognizing Jesus

Oswald Chambers

Today in your business and life, whenever the realization of God comes to you, even in the faintest way imaginable, would you determine to abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him recklessly?

Peter . . . walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid . . ." (Matthew 14:29-30).

The wind was boisterous, and the waves were high, but Peter didn't see them at first.

He didn't consider them; he recognized his Lord, stepped out to remember Him, and "walked on the water."

Then he began to take those things around him into account, and instantly, down he went.

Why couldn't our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves, on top of them?

He could have, yet neither could be done without Peter's continuing recognition of the Lord Jesus.

We step right out with recognition of God in some things, then self-consideration enters our lives, and down we go.

If you truly recognize your Lord, you have no business being concerned about how and where He engineers your circumstances.

The things surrounding you are real, but when you look at them, you are immediately overwhelmed and unable to recognize Jesus. Then comes His rebuke, " .. why did you doubt?" (14:31).

Let your actual circumstances be what they may, but keep recognizing Jesus, maintaining complete reliance upon Him.

If you debate for even one second when God has spoken, it is all over for you. Never say, "Well, I wonder if He did speak to me?"

Be reckless, immediately, totally unrestrained, and willing to risk everything by casting your all upon Him.

You do not know when His voice will come to you, but whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him recklessly.

Only through your abandonment and your circumstances will you recognize Him. You will recognize His voice more clearly through recklessness and willingness to risk your all.

Be encouraged as we see that doubt causes fear, but we also see a hint of how we can combat that fear and get it under control.

As long as Peter kept his focus on Christ, he could do the impossible, but once he began walking by sight, fear gripped him.

I am encouraged to learn that as long as I am controlled by fear, I can no longer do the impossible.

Whenever the realization of God comes to you, even in the faintest way imaginable, would you determine to abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him recklessly?

Even though fear is a natural human emotion, do we control it, or does it control us?

This is your question today.

17 June 2024

Beware of criticizing others

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, do you see the little speck in the eyes of others?

"Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1).

Jesus' instructions concerning judging others are put in place; He says, "Don't."

The average Christian is the most piercingly critical individual known. Criticism is one of the ordinary activities of people, but in the spiritual realm, nothing is accomplished by it.

The effect of criticism is dividing up the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the only one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone can show what is wrong without hurting and wounding.

It is impossible to fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism makes you harsh, vindictive, and cruel and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somehow superior to others.

Jesus says that as His disciple, you should cultivate a temperament that is never critical.

This will not happen quickly but must be developed over some time. You must constantly beware of anything that causes you to think of yourself as a superior person.

There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus: if see a speck of plank in your eye, if I see a speck in your eye, it means I have a plank of timber in my own eyes (see 7:3-5).

Be encouraged. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God finds in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-24).

Stop having a measuring stick for other people. There is always at least one more fact that we know nothing about every person's situation.

Yes, I am guilty here, and God is still working on me. Therefore, I am encouraged in my “Daily Date with Myself” in my Clarity Mastermind reciting Og Mandino’s Scroll 10 as I pray for guidance, "Guide me in my words that they may bear fruit, yet silence me from gossip that none be maligned.".

Yes, I am still a work in progress, so pray for me.

Be encouraged to learn. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleansing.

After that, there is no possibility of pride remaining in us. I have never met a person I could despair of or lose all hope for after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

Do you see the little spec in the eyes of others?

This is your question today.

16 June 2024

Will you lay down your life?

Oswald Chambers

Today in business and life, remember, “Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Therefore, be faithful to your friend.

Will you lay down your life?

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. — John?15:13

I am encouraged to learn Jesus does not ask me to die for Him but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said to the Lord, "I will lay down my life for Your sake," and he meant it (John 13:37).

He had a magnificent sense of the heroic. For us to be incapable of making this same statement Peter made would be a bad thing.

- our sense of duty is only fully realized through our understanding of heroism.

Has the Lord ever asked you,

"Will you lay down your life for My sake?" (John 13:38). It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of God's high calling.

Be encouraged. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in their light in our everyday ways.

There was only one bright, shining moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was there that He emptied Himself of His glory for the second time and then came down into the demon-possessed valley. (see Mark 9:1-29).

For thirty-three years, Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father. "By this, we know love because He laid down His life for us.

And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John3:16). Yet it is contrary to our human nature to do so:

If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is.

Salvation is easy for us because it costs God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is complicated. God saves a person. Fills him with the Holy Spirit.

Be encouraged. Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful." And Jesus says to us:

…I have called you friends..." Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.

To be faithful to your friend, will you lay down your life?

This is your question today.

15 June 2024

Get moving

Oswald Chambers

Today in your business and life, is the drudgery of doing your duty the greatest test of your character, or is it the hindrance of only looking for the next big thing to do?

Make every effort to add to your faith, goodness and to goodness, knowledge. — 2?Peter?1:5

"Also ... add to your faith ..." (2 Peter 1:5). in drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become "partakers of the divine nature" and that we should now be "giving all diligence," concentrating on forming godly habits (4-2).

Be encouraged to learn we are to "add" to all that character means. No one is born naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed.

Nor are we born with habits. We have to form Godly habits based on the new life God has placed within us.

Be encouraged. We are not meant to be seen as God's perfect, bright-shining examples but as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace.

Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do.

Yet, "Jesus . . . took a towel and . .. began to wash the disciples' feet...' (John 13:3-5).

We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks.

The routine of life is God's way of saving us between our times of great inspiration, which comes from Him.

Don't always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those ordinary times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.

It is difficult for us to do the "adding" Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, yet we act as if we do!

I must realize that my obedience, even in the smallest detail of life, has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it if I do my duty, not for duty's sake.

Still, because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience, all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.

Is the drudgery of doing your duty the greatest test of your character, or is it the hindrance of only looking for the next big thing to do?

This is your question today.

14 June 2024

Get moving

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, are you willing to get moving and bring every thought into captivity and abide in Him in intellectual matters, money matters, and every one of the matters that make your life what it is?

"Abide in Me ..." (John 15:4).

In the matter of determination, the Spirit of Jesus is put into me by way of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

I then have to build my thinking patiently to bring it into perfect harmony with my Lord.

God will not make me think like Jesus; I have to do it myself. I have to bring "every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). "Abide in Me."

For many of us, Christians are tempted to connect with God for a time. But as life gets busy, things come up. Other opportunities come. We disconnect and go our separate ways. I see this all the time. And the result? It’s never good in the long run.

Be encouraged. Like a vine that decides to disconnect from its source of life, a follower of Jesus who disconnects from God will stop producing fruit in our lives.

For a time, it might seem alright, but eventually, we will start to suffer the consequences of our decisions.

In intellectual matters, in money matters, in every one of the matters that make human life what it is. Our lives are not made up of only one neatly confined area.

Am I preventing God from doing things in my circumstances by saying it will only hinder my fellowship with Him?

How irrelevant and disrespectful that is! It does not matter what my circumstances are.

I can be as much assured of abiding in Jesus in any one of them as I am in any prayer meeting.

It is unnecessary to change and arrange my circumstances myself. Our Lord's inner abiding was pure and unblemished.

He was at home with God wherever His body was. He never chose His circumstances but was meek, submitting to His Father's plans and directions.

Just think of how amazingly relaxed our Lord's life was! But we tend to keep God at a fever pitch in our lives. We have none of the serenity of the life which is "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

Be encouraged as you think of what takes you out of the position of abiding in Christ. You say, "Yes, Lord, just a minute, I still have this to do. Yes, I will abide as soon as this is finished or this weekend.

It will be all right, Lord. I will abide then." Get moving to comply now. In the initial stages, it will be a continual effort to accept, but as you continue, it will become a part of your life that you will abide in Him without any conscious effort.

Are you willing to get moving and bring every thought into captivity and abide in Him in intellectual matters, money matters, and every one of the matters that make your life what it is?

This is your question today.

13 June 2024

Getting there

Oswald Chambers

In your business and life, did you know that getting there is where our desire dies and sanctified surrender lives?

Come, follow me. — Mark?1:17

One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we come to Jesus is that He pays no attention to our wild desires.

Be encouraged. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours.

There is only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1).

If you give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you, and His experiments always succeed.

The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from surrendering to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint, there is this an amazing Well, which is a continual Source of original life. The Spirit of God is a Well of water springing up perpetually fresh.

A saint realizes that God engineers his circumstances; consequently, there are no complaints, only unrestrained surrender to Jesus.

Never try to make your experience a principle for others, but allow God to be as creative and original with others as He is with you.

Be encouraged. If you abandon everything to Jesus and come when He says, “Come." He will continue to say, "'Come" through you. You will go out into the world reproducing the echo of Christ's Come."

That is the result in every soul who has abandoned all and come to Jesus.

Have you come? Will you come to Him?

Did you know that getting there is where our desire dies and sanctified surrender lives?

This is your question today.

12 June 2024

Getting there

Oswald Chambers

Today in your business and life, are you prideful like the Pharisee, tax collector, or the person who says, “Oh, I’m no saint?

They said, “Rabbi . . . where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went . . . and they spent that day with him. — John?1:38-39

Where our self-interest sleeps, and the genuine interest is awakened. "They…remained with Him that day.”

That is about all some of us ever do. We stay with Him for a short time, only to wake up to the realities of life. Our self-interest rises, and our abiding with Him is past. Yet there is no circumstance of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.

"You are Simon .... You shall be called Cephas" (1:42). God writes our new name only on those places in our lives where He has erased our pride and self-sufficiency. And self-interest.

Some of us have our new name written only in certain spots, like spiritual measles. And in those areas of our lives, we look all right. When we are in our best spiritual mood, you would think we are the highest quality saints.

But don't dare look at us when we are not in that mood. A true disciple has his new name written all over himself – interest, pride, and self-sufficiency have been completely erased.

Pride is the sin of making "self" our god. And some of us today do this, not like the Pharisee, but like the tax collector (see Luke 18:9-14).

For you to say, "Oh, I'm no saint," is acceptable by human standards of pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God.

You defy God to make you a saint as if to say. "I am too weak and hopeless and outside the reach of the atonement by the Cross of Christ."

Why aren't you a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint or that you do not believe that God can make you into one. You say it would be all right if God saved you and took you to heaven. That is exactly what He will do!

And not only do we make our home with Him, but Jesus said of His Father and Himself, …..” We will come to Him and make our home with Him" (John 14:23).

Be encouraged and put no conditions on your life--let Jesus be everything to you, and He will take you home with Him but for eternity.

Are you prideful like the Pharisee or the tax collector or the person who says, “Oh, I’m no saint?

This is your question today.

11 June 2024

Getting there

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, do you have the attitude necessary to be foolish enough to come and commit yourself to Him, where your will has determined to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him?

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. — Matthew?11:28

Where sin and sorrow stop, and the song of the saint starts. Do I want to get there? I can right now.

The questions that truly matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by these words-"Come to Me."

Our Lord's words are not, "Do this, or don't do that." but-"Come to me." If I come to Jesus, my real life will be harmonious with my natural desires. I will cease from sin and will find the song of the Lord beginning in my life.

Have you ever come to Jesus? Look at the stubbornness of your heart. You would instead do anything other than this one simple childlike thing.

"Come to Me." To experience ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus.

Be encouraged to learn. If you’re tired and struggling, He can give you rest. This also describes the path to God the Father, but it is not one of labor and hard work. Following Jesus frees us from carrying the burden of our sins because He has already done that work.

For example, for years, I thought I was alone on this journey with my life and business trials and tribulations while struggling.

Yes, I went to church. I read my Bible but had not surrendered to COME …(Matthew 11:28). But now, I have.

Be encouraged to come with your struggles and trials.

Jesus Christ makes Himself the test to determine your genuineness. Look how He used the word come. At the most unexpected moments in your life, there is this whisper of the Lord, "Come to Me," and you are immediately drawn to Him.

Personal contact with Jesus changes everything.

Be encouraged. Be "foolish" enough to commit to what He says. The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has determined to let go of everything and deliberately save it all for Him.

And I will give you rest," that is, "I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm."

He is not saying. “I will put you to bed, hold your hand, and sing you to sleep.” But, in essence. He is saying. "I will get you out of bed, out of your listlessness and exhaustion, and out of your half-dead condition while you are still alive.

I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and the perfection of vital activity will sustain you."

Yet we become so weak and pitiful and talk about suffering the will of the Lord! Where is the majestic vitality and the power of the Son of God in that?

Do you have the attitude necessary to be foolish enough to come and commit yourself to Him, where your will has determined to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to Him?

This is your question today.

10 June 2024

And after that, what's next?

Today in your business and life, have you ever sought God wholeheartedly, or have you given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience?

“Seek, and you will find ..." (Luke 11:9).

Be encouraged.

Seek if you have not found it. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss. " (James 4:3).

It does not say every person who asks a handful of times; the key here is persistence.

Ask, seek, and knock is not meant to be a one-time thing. It's intended to be backed by persistence, faith, and a burning desire for action.

I am encouraged to learn to persist, asking of God His will.

For example, for over 30 years, our MCO CONSTRUCTION Company pursued a project at Miami Airport until we finally won, yes, 30 years of asking and doing the next thing.

Persist until you succeed. If you ask for things from life instead of God, "you ask amiss." That is, you ask out of your desire for self-fulfillment.

The more you fulfill yourself, the less you seek God" …seek, and you will find.”

Get to work.

Be encouraged and narrow your focus and interests to this one thing. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience?

Everyone who thirsts comes to the waters. (Isaiah 55:1). Are you thirsty or complacent and indifferent, so satisfied with your own experience that you want nothing more of God?

Experience is a doorway, not a final goal. Beware of building your faith on experience, or your life will not ring true and will only sound the note of a critical spirit.

Remember that you can never give another person what you have found, but you can cause him to desire it.

“…knock, and it will be opened to you' (Luke 11:9), "Draw near to God. .. (James 4:8). Knock – the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock.

“Cleanse your hands ….”48). Knock a bit louder – you begin to find that you are dirty."

You are desperate and severe. You will do anything. Lament… (4:9). Have you ever lamented?

Are you expressing your sorrow before God for the condition of your inner life?

There is no thread of self-pity left, only the heart-rending difficulty and the amazement from seeing what kind of person you are.

"Humble yourselves 4:10. Knocking at God's door is a humbling experience. You have to knock with the crucified thief…. to him who knocks; it will be opened. (Luke 11:10)

Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience?

This is your question today.

9 June 2024

Then what to do next?

Oswald Chambers

Today in your business and life, have you ever asked out of the depths of your total sufficiency and poverty?

For everyone who asks receives. — Luke?11:10

Ask if you have not received it. There is nothing more complicated than asking.

We will have yearnings and desires for certain things and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask.

It is the sense of not being spiritually authentic that causes us to ask.

Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty?

"IF any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.' (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask.

You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually accurate, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke

11:13).

The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you honest in your life.

"Everyone who asks receives."

This does not mean that you will not get it if you do not ask, but it

means that until you come to the point of asking, you will not receive from God (see Matthew 5:45).

To be able to receive means that you have to come into the relationship of a child of God, and then you comprehend and appreciate mental, moral, and spiritual understanding that these things come from God.

"If any of you lacks wisdom ...." If you realize that you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality. Do not put the blinders of reason on again.

The word ask means "beg." Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty. And some of us are poor enough spiritually to show our interest.

Yet we will never receive if we ask with a particular result in mind because we are asking out of our lust, not our poverty.

A pauper does not ask for any reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg--blessed are the paupers in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).

Be encouraged to continue to ask what the next right thing to do is, always knowing, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:17).

For example, I am encouraged as I remember asking my mother about the next best thing to do. Her answer was to “read Matthew 7:7, ask, seek, knock, and to “pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

Then you will know where and how to serve.”

Now, in my later years, I have a better understanding as I continue to ask, seek, knock, and pray for guidance from God to use me in doing the next best thing.

Now, what about you? What’s your next best thing?

Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total sufficiency and poverty?

This is your question today.

8 June 2024

8 June 2024

What's next to do?

Oswald Chambers

Today in your business and life, are you willing to become something you have never been by continually learning and knowing more while surrounding yourself with others to help you understand what’s next to do?

"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:17).

Be determined to know more than others. If you do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and send you out to sea.

Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened.

If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock.

You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, begin to know things for yourself, and have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and do it, you immediately know more.

Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do.

You had the thoughts but took no action. Your thoughts must be directed consciously, systematically, and constructively toward an end.

You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and in a crisis, you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled.

Be encouraged to learn what the next best step is while understanding that everything is working out for your good. This comes with the understanding that there is no life without a spiritual life and a spiritual practice that helps us to know what’s next.

For example, I am learning to follow the spirit when I am led to make that call, to speak to the stranger next to me, to follow up on an appointment, and to volunteer to serve, not to be served. Only then do I learn more, which enables me to do more and more and more in the spirit of service.

Now, let's be honest. The opposite is also true when I do not follow the spirit and do not do the next thing.

Remember, you do not need to see the entire staircase; you only need to see the next step in the rung of the ladder. Take that one step.

Remember to practice gratitude while determining the next best thing to do at the moment, then do it.

Remember to pray for guidance like Scroll 10 of Og Mandino shares in his famous book The Greatest Salesman.

It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment.

It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2. It is much better to achieve the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than to perform great acts of self-sacrifice.

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice .. " (1 Samuel 15:22).

Beware of paying attention or returning to what you once were when God wants you to be something you have never been. *If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know….” (John 7:17).

Are you willing to become something you have never been by continually learning and knowing more while surrounding yourself with others to help you understand what’s next?

This is your question today

7 June 2024

The greatest source of power

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, did you know that the most significant source of power is to fulfill the ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of your life?

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." — John?15:7

Be encouraged to know and understand “whatever you ask in My name, that I will .." (John 14:13).

I am encouraged to learn over the years of praying “in the name of Jesus,” Christ promises He will do anything asked "in my name." That implies that the person is asking for something consistent with the will and nature of Christ. This, in turn, means such a request is consistent with the will and nature of God (John 14:10).

For example, when I was younger, I would go to my mom and ask her to pray for specific people and things I desired. Her response always was no. "I will pray for the will of God over that situation in the name of Jesus," she said.

Over time, I began to learn how and why this works; yes, it took me a while in those teenage years.

There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride in faithful intercession. This is the greatest source of power.

This hidden ministry brings forth fruit, through which the Father is glorified.

If the central point of your life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of your life will bring forth fruit.

It would be best if you took the time to realize what the central point of power is.

What is the most significant source of power in your life? Is it your work, service, and sacrifice for others, or your striving to work for God?

This is your question today.

6 June 2024

"Work out" what God "works in" you

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, did you know that your will agrees with God, but in your flesh, there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you ought to do?

Work out your own salvation. — Philippians?2:12

Our will agrees with God, but in your flesh, there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you know you ought to do.

When the Lord initially comes in contact with our conscience, the first thing our conscience does is awaken our will, and our will always agrees with God.

Yet you say, "But I don't know if my will agrees with God." Look to Jesus, and you will find that your will and conscience agree with Him every time.

Be encouraged to learn what causes you to say "I will not obey" is something less deep and penetrating than your will. It is perversity or stubbornness, and they never agree with God.

The most profound thing in a person is his will, not sin. The will is the essential element in God's creation of human beings. Sin is a perverse nature that enters into people.

In someone who has been born again, the source of the will is Almighty God. " for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

With focused attention and excellent care, you have to "work out" what God "works in." You do not work to accomplish or earn "your salvation," but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of life based on determined, unshakable faith in the complete and perfect redemption of the Lord.

As you do this, you do not bring an opposing will up against God's will. God's will is your will. Your natural choices will be in accordance with God's will, and living this life will be as natural as breathing.

Stubbornness is an unintelligent barrier, refusing enlightenment and blocking its flow. The only thing to do with this barrier of stubbornness is to blow it up with "dynamite," and the "dynamite" is obedience to the Holy Spirit.

Do I believe that Almighty God is the Source of my will? Do you believe that Almighty God is the source of your will?

One common fault in us as humans is that we do no not understand who we are based upon whose we are, therefore we tend to live well below our beliefs and potential because we do not believe.

Did you know that your will agrees with God, but in your flesh, there is a nature that renders you powerless to do what you ought to do?

This is your question today.

5 June 2024

God's assurance

Oswald Chambers

Today in your business and life, do you remember God says I will never leave or forsake you.?

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” — Hebrews?13:5-6

Be encouraged. Your assurance is to be built upon God's assurance to me. God says, “I will never leave you,” so that then I may boldly say, the Lord is my helper; I will not fear" (13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension.

God does not mean I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God's words of assurance.

I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him.

Many people's faith begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God's assurance. They fail to take a deep spiritual breath.

The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God's assurance.

What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it. You are determined to face it, but you still have a feeling of fear.

When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, "But 'The Lord is my helper' this very moment, even in my present circumstance."

Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and trying to make God's Word fit what you have said?

Take hold of the Father's assurance, and then say with strong courage, "I will not fear." It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way because He has said, "I will never leave you"!

Human frailty is another thing that gets between God's words of assurance and our own words and thoughts.

When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent.

Be encouraged and remember God's assurance to us-“I will not forsake you." Have we learned to sing after hearing God's keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, "The Lord is my helper," or are we yielding to fear?

During your daily duties, toil, and the struggle of it all, what line of thinking do your thoughts take? Do you hear and feel the assurance of God when He says, "I will never leave you or forsake you"?

These are your questions today.

4 June 2024

The never-forsaking God

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, in your daily duties, drudgery, and struggle of it all, what line of thinking do your thoughts take? Do you hear and feel the assurance of God when He says I will never leave you or forsake you?

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” — Hebrews?13:5

Be encouraged to know, "He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' " (Hebrews 13:5).

I am encouraged that the Lord will provide all we need for a faith-filled life.

Of course, plenty of faithful believers have experienced severe financial hardship. I have been a witness in my lifetime to situations of financial hardship. Over the years, I am still learning from Hebrews 13:5.

What line of thinking do my thoughts take?

Now ask yourself, do I turn to what God says or my fears?

Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and respond after listening to what He says?

"For He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

"I will never leave you. ..'"– not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness.

Have I let God tell me that He will never leave me? If I have not honestly heard this assurance of God, then let me listen again. "I will never forsake you."

Sometimes, it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me.

When there is no significant difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful, just the everyday activities of life, do I hear God's assurance even in these?

We have the idea that God will do some exceptional thing – that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future.

But as we grow in His grace, we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God's assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

Do you hear and feel the assurance of God when He says I will never leave you or forsake you?

This is your question today.

3 June 2024

The secret of the Lord

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and your life, what is the sign of a friend? Is it that he will tell you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his joys.

Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their joys with you.

Be encouraged. At the beginning of our Christian life, we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself to get us in touch with His purposes.

Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ's idea of prayer-"You will be done" (Matthew 6:10) -that we catch the secrets of God?

What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings but the tiny things because they show His extraordinary intimacy with us. He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

"Him shall He teach in the way He chooses" (Psalm 25:12). At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God.

But then, as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is because choosing another way will never occur.

If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices. And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed.

Be encouraged to learn in Psalm 25:12 that the Lord teaches those who reverence Him what His plan is for their lives.

I know that the more faithful I become and trust, the more I do not have to wonder what kind of life the Lord has carved out for me. I will admit that it is taking me a while to pay more attention to that sense of doubt when it comes. I must and will slow down long enough to listen to Him, especially every morning during “My Date With Myself”.

Be encouraged whenever there is doubt. Stop at once. Never try to reason it out, saying, "I wonder why I shouldn't do this?" God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He guides our common sense. This is the secret of the Lord.

And when we yield to His teachings and guidance. We no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking.

Now, Lord, what is Your will?

Have you ever let God tell you any of His joys, or are you continually telling God your secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to you?

This is your question today.

2 June 2024

Are you obsessed with something

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, are you obsessed with something?

You will probably say, "No, by nothing," but all of us are obsessed with something, usually by ourselves or, if we are Christians, by our own experience of the Christian life.

But the psalmist says that we are to be obsessed with God. The abiding awareness of the Christian life is to be God Himself, not just thoughts about Him.

The total being of our life inside and out is to be obsessed with the presence of God.

A child's awareness is so absorbed in his mother that although he is not consciously thinking of her when a problem arises, the abiding relationship is with the mother.

In that same way, we are to "live and move and have our being" in God (Acts 17:28), looking at everything concerning Him because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives.

If we are obsessed with God, nothing else can get into our lives- not concerns, tribulations, or worries.

And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we be so absolutely unbelieving when God surrounds us?

To be obsessed with God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.

"He shall dwell in prosperity .. " (Psalm 25:13). God will cause us to "dwell in prosperity," keeping us at ease, even in tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our "life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).

Be encouraged when we rob ourselves of the miraculous, revealed truth of this abiding companionship with God. "God is our refuge. Nothing can break through His shelter of protection.

I am encouraged by the words of Maya Angelou, “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” This quote reminds me that nothing can break through God’s shelter of protection over my life.

Be encouraged and obsessed with God.

How can you be so absolutely unbelieving when God surrounds you?

This is your question today.

1 June 2024

The staggering question

Oswald Chambers

Today, in your business and life, do you know that in your flesh, nothing good dwells? (Romans 7:18)

Son of man, can these bones live? — Ezekiel?37:3

Be encouraged when Paul clarifies his statement by saying he's talking about the flesh, the sinful nature, not his new nature in Christ. All the good in Paul's life comes from Christ living in him rather than originating in Paul.

I am encouraged to learn that God knows my intentions. This is where my internal work is.

Can a sinner become a saint?

Can a twisted life be made right?

There is only one appropriate answer: "O Lord GOD, You know" (37:3).

Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say. "Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer. I see how it can be done."

Be encouraged. It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration.

That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God.

We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I think that God will do in me what I cannot do?

I have a degree of hopelessness for others from never realizing that God has done anything for me.

Is my experience such an incredible realization of God's power and might that I can never feel hopeless for anyone else I see?

Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life equals my lack of personal spiritual experience.

Be encouraged. "Behold. O, My people, I will open your graves. (37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like, separating you from Himself, He offers it to you in yourself.

If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that, in reality, there is no criminal half as bad as you could be without His grace.

My "grave’ has been opened by God, and "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells" (Romans 7:18).

God's Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.

Do you know that in your flesh, nothing good dwells?

(Romans 7:18)

This is your question today.