A while back I bought the devotion My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers and finally started reading it; sheesh, I had no idea what I was getting into when I opened the cover of that tiny little book! Read on to see what this small but mighty book has been teaching me about my relationship and journey with the Lord.
This devotional is spiritually challenging me in ways that I have never experienced, and well to be honest, I’m reading three books at the same time – the devo, my bible and the dictionary – to fully understand good ol’ Ozzy. I am not even sure where to begin, or how to start discussing the depth of this book to you all. The original copyright of this book is from 1935, that in itself should give you a little insight on what’s between the covers of this particular devotional. Oswald Chambers is brutally honest yet beyond encouraging in his writings; he is straight to the point and very upfront with his readers. Follow me as I try and wrap my head around what I've been learning this past week through my devotional and quiet times with the Lord.
( ... 45 minutes goes by.)
So here’s what happened ... Trying to put my thoughts to words and properly illustrate what I’ve learned from this outstanding devotional has become much harder than I anticipated (maybe because it’s midnight?!) so what I have decided to do is leave you with a small quote or excerpt from each day with a brief statement about what the Lord put on my heart during that reading. And in conclusion, I have realized that I need to start blogging more than once every two weeks; too many rough drafts in my head to sort through. Keep me accountable, for real.
My prayer for this blog is that you would be encouraged, become more aware of your purpose and whole-heartedly pursue the Lord who loves you regardless of circumstances and has given you a second (and third, and fourth) chance.
October 12th – Getting into God’s Stride
What does it really mean to walk with the Lord? Not only when we need him most, like in the bigger moments of life, but in the boring-not-so-exciting moments too. It takes a long time to get into stride with God, to bind ourselves to Him and be in union with Him. Regardless of the challenge, do not give up. Walk with God, intentionally and with purpose! Welcome the trials, obstacles and discouragements. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom, and with freedom comes unending opportunities to follow the Lord’s lead wherever He may take us.
“Don’t give in because the pain is bad just now, get on with it, and before long you will find you have a new vision and a new purpose.”
“God’ Spirit alters the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and things begin to be possible which were never possible before.” … What is the Spirit trying to show you is possible after all?
October 13th – Individual Discouragement & Personal Enlargement
Man, on man did this reading all but jump outta the book and punch me square between the eyes. The reading was about Moses (who spent 40 years in the desert waiting on the Lord to fulfill His promises) and that by the time God finally came around Moses’ reply was, “Who am I, that I should go?”
If you have read my “Why Uganda” blog you know that I’ve been anticipating God’s plans for me in Uganda for two years, which is nothing compared to Moses’ time in the desert, but is still a good chunk of time. Sometimes I feel like Moses. I feel like I spent so long waiting and praying that I kind of stopped believing I would actually make it to Uganda someday; and now that the day has come my gut reaction is, “Me, Lord? You’re sure about this? I don’t think I’m ready.” (Basically modern day lingo for Moses saying, “Who am I, that I should go?”)
“We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say – “Oh, who am I?” (An unreal amount of truth to be gathered from this statement! Thank You Ozzy!)
We MUST understand that our wildest dreams and deepest passions are divine. Consider it great joy if you are in a period of waiting. Just don’t get lazy out there in the desert. Keep in stride with God and prepare yourself for the journey ahead.
October 14th & 15th – The Key to the Missionary Message
These two readings can be summed up by one simple statement made my Mister Chambers himself. “Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings.” God is limitless. Limitless. Nothing can contain Him. All we have to do is be present, be in Him and be obedient. Let Him do His job as an engineer.
It is not about where you are. It is about Who you are with. It is about the power of the Holy Spirit in your heart that is willing and able – limitless – to do anything in your life with a simple act of obedience.
October 16th & 17th – The Key to the Master’s Orders & Greater Works
Prayer. Sounds pretty easy right? Just send up a couple small requests to the Lord with a habitual, “We love you, thank you for everything,” at the end, right? Wrong. Chambers discusses the authenticity of our prayers and how it is the KEY to all works. He quotes, “The key to the missionary problem is not the key of common sense, nor the medical key, nor the key of civilization or education or even evangelization. The key is prayer.” It isn’t about what we’re doing. It never has been and it never should be, it is about Who we are doing it for. The foundation of our works should come from perfect communication with our Creator. You could be head of the best non-profit on the planet offering medical supplies, food, housing and education to under privileged people all over the world, but without the crucial key – prayer – you have nothing.
Sometimes we only pray when we are in need of something, or when something tragic or nerve-wracking comes along (…guilty as charged) and then when we try to pray we “don’t know how” because it has been such a long time since we have genuinely prayed for something. Chambers calls that the “intense-est form of spiritual selfishness.”
Think about this. “You labor at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.”
Now that’s a lot to take in, I know. And because of that I am going to be really intentional about blogging more. Really, I will try! Praying that as you read through this you felt the Lord pulling on your heart in more ways than one. The tugs on my heart came from the devotions on getting into God’s stride and comparing our waiting to the 40 years in the wilderness. Whether the tug at your heart was to dig into communication with our Creator, to stop complaining about where you are in life or just to be still and listen to the Lord, I pray that you obey His calling.
In His strong and mighty presence,
-V
Joshua 1:9
( ... 45 minutes goes by.)
So here’s what happened ... Trying to put my thoughts to words and properly illustrate what I’ve learned from this outstanding devotional has become much harder than I anticipated (maybe because it’s midnight?!) so what I have decided to do is leave you with a small quote or excerpt from each day with a brief statement about what the Lord put on my heart during that reading. And in conclusion, I have realized that I need to start blogging more than once every two weeks; too many rough drafts in my head to sort through. Keep me accountable, for real.
My prayer for this blog is that you would be encouraged, become more aware of your purpose and whole-heartedly pursue the Lord who loves you regardless of circumstances and has given you a second (and third, and fourth) chance.
October 12th – Getting into God’s Stride
What does it really mean to walk with the Lord? Not only when we need him most, like in the bigger moments of life, but in the boring-not-so-exciting moments too. It takes a long time to get into stride with God, to bind ourselves to Him and be in union with Him. Regardless of the challenge, do not give up. Walk with God, intentionally and with purpose! Welcome the trials, obstacles and discouragements. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom, and with freedom comes unending opportunities to follow the Lord’s lead wherever He may take us.
“Don’t give in because the pain is bad just now, get on with it, and before long you will find you have a new vision and a new purpose.”
“God’ Spirit alters the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and things begin to be possible which were never possible before.” … What is the Spirit trying to show you is possible after all?
October 13th – Individual Discouragement & Personal Enlargement
Man, on man did this reading all but jump outta the book and punch me square between the eyes. The reading was about Moses (who spent 40 years in the desert waiting on the Lord to fulfill His promises) and that by the time God finally came around Moses’ reply was, “Who am I, that I should go?”
If you have read my “Why Uganda” blog you know that I’ve been anticipating God’s plans for me in Uganda for two years, which is nothing compared to Moses’ time in the desert, but is still a good chunk of time. Sometimes I feel like Moses. I feel like I spent so long waiting and praying that I kind of stopped believing I would actually make it to Uganda someday; and now that the day has come my gut reaction is, “Me, Lord? You’re sure about this? I don’t think I’m ready.” (Basically modern day lingo for Moses saying, “Who am I, that I should go?”)
“We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say – “Oh, who am I?” (An unreal amount of truth to be gathered from this statement! Thank You Ozzy!)
We MUST understand that our wildest dreams and deepest passions are divine. Consider it great joy if you are in a period of waiting. Just don’t get lazy out there in the desert. Keep in stride with God and prepare yourself for the journey ahead.
October 14th & 15th – The Key to the Missionary Message
These two readings can be summed up by one simple statement made my Mister Chambers himself. “Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings.” God is limitless. Limitless. Nothing can contain Him. All we have to do is be present, be in Him and be obedient. Let Him do His job as an engineer.
It is not about where you are. It is about Who you are with. It is about the power of the Holy Spirit in your heart that is willing and able – limitless – to do anything in your life with a simple act of obedience.
October 16th & 17th – The Key to the Master’s Orders & Greater Works
Prayer. Sounds pretty easy right? Just send up a couple small requests to the Lord with a habitual, “We love you, thank you for everything,” at the end, right? Wrong. Chambers discusses the authenticity of our prayers and how it is the KEY to all works. He quotes, “The key to the missionary problem is not the key of common sense, nor the medical key, nor the key of civilization or education or even evangelization. The key is prayer.” It isn’t about what we’re doing. It never has been and it never should be, it is about Who we are doing it for. The foundation of our works should come from perfect communication with our Creator. You could be head of the best non-profit on the planet offering medical supplies, food, housing and education to under privileged people all over the world, but without the crucial key – prayer – you have nothing.
Sometimes we only pray when we are in need of something, or when something tragic or nerve-wracking comes along (…guilty as charged) and then when we try to pray we “don’t know how” because it has been such a long time since we have genuinely prayed for something. Chambers calls that the “intense-est form of spiritual selfishness.”
Think about this. “You labor at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.”
Now that’s a lot to take in, I know. And because of that I am going to be really intentional about blogging more. Really, I will try! Praying that as you read through this you felt the Lord pulling on your heart in more ways than one. The tugs on my heart came from the devotions on getting into God’s stride and comparing our waiting to the 40 years in the wilderness. Whether the tug at your heart was to dig into communication with our Creator, to stop complaining about where you are in life or just to be still and listen to the Lord, I pray that you obey His calling.
In His strong and mighty presence,
-V
Joshua 1:9