Do It Now!

"Agree with your adversary quickly..." (Matthew 5:25).


In this verse, Jesus Christ laid down a very important principle by saying, "Do what you know you must do- now. Do it quickly. If you don't, and inevitable process will begin to work 'till you have paid the last penny' (5:26) in pain, agony, and distress." God's law are unchangeable and there is no escape from them. The teachings of Jesus always penetrate right to 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. 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 own rights, or am I paying what I owe from Jesus Christ's standpoint?

Do it quickly- bring yourself to judgment now. In moral and spiritual matters, you must act immediately. If you don't, the inevitable, relentless process will begin to work. God is determined to have His child as pure, clean, and white as driven snow, and as long as there is disobedience in 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 so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the light! (see John 3:19-21).

"Agree with your adversary quickly...." Have you suddenly reached a certain place in your relationship with someone, only to find that you have anger in your heart? Confess it quickly- make it right before God. Be reconciled to that person- do it now!


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Strictest Discipline

"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." There are many things that are perfectly legitimate, but if you are going to concentrate on God you cannot do them. Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but Jesus says that if it hinders you in following His precepts, then "cut it off." The principle taught here is the strictest discipline or lesson that ever hit humankind.

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 really know you. But the unspiritual people around you will say, "What's so wrong with doing that? How absurd you are!" There has never yet been a saint who has not lived a maimed life initially. Yet it is better to enter into life maimed but lovely in God's sight than to appear lovely to man's eyes but lame to God's. At first, Jesus Christ through His Spirit has to restrain you from doing a great many things that may be perfectly right for everyone else but not right for you. Yet, see that you don't use your restrictions to criticize someone else.

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 Father in heaven is perfect."


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Held By The Grip Of God

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


Never choose to be a worker for God has placed His call on you, woe be to you if you "turn aside to the right hand or to the left" (Deuteronomy 5:32). 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 really not suited for this." What you are to preach is also determined by God, not by your own natural leanings or desires. 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 unflinching faithfulness to the Word of God, but when you come to personal dealings with others, remember who you are- you are not some special 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).


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Overshadowing Of God's Personal Deliverance

"'... I am with you to deliver you,' says the LORD" (Jeremiah 1:8).


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

That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our 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 personal 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 is actually a sign 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 to 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 it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, "Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you 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 own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Another sad day in U.S. history....

The Supreme Court today announced that the federal government cannot define marriage as the union of one man and one woman for its own policies and laws and must accept state's decision on it.
And the Supreme Court declared that the citizen group that sponsored the initiative, California's Proposition 8, did not have standing to defend the state constitutional amendment millions of Californians voted to pass.
It ignored the votes of large, bipartisan majorities in Congress in 1996 passed Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

We can almost imagine what lies ahead of us, now....

Let's wake up America! We really need to pray for this country and our children.

DRAWING ON THE GRACE OF GOD - NOW


"We ... plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1).


The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as 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 to yourself, "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 normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex on your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God's grace through prayer.

"... in stripes, in imprisonment, 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 to others that you are a miracle of His. 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. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally 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. "... and yet possessing all things"- this is poverty triumphant (6:10).


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Receiving Yourself In The Fires Of Sorrow

"... 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 toward 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, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fires of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest 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 a great deal of a person's shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And 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 in 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. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Reconciling Yourself To The Fact Of Sin

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


Not being reconciled to the fact of sin- not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it- produces all the disasters in life. 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 down right 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 which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will 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 simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact 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 innocent; 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.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

"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 endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it. 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 will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin- and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to 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 right down to this one issue- if sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in 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 why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Break free from sinful addiction by God's...

Teaching children about relationships (2)

Teaching children about relationships (1)

THE UNCHANGING LAW OF JUDGEMENT


"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).


This 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. 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 shortcoming of others, remember that will be exactly 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 even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticize another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at out hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe 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 own hearts. The greatest 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. 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 exactly the same way." Who of us 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 condemn to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Ministry of The Inner Life

"You are ... a royal priesthood..." (1 Peter 2:9).


By what right have we become "a royal priesthood"? 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 to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. 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 at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained 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."

How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Jesus Christ. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Have You Come to "When" Yet?

"The LORD restored Job's losses when he prayer 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 actually 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 right before You if You will 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 have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands, and then I can begin to pour my life out in the priestly work of intercession. There is a great deal of prayer that comes from actual disbelief in the atonement. Jesus is not just beginning to save us- He has already saved us completely. It is an accomplished fact, and it is an insult to Him for us to ask Him to do what He has already done.

If you are not now receiving the "hundredfold" which Jesus promised (see Matthew 19:29), and not getting insight into God's Word, then start praying for your friends- enter into the ministry of the inner life. "The LORD restored Job's losses when he prayer for his friends." As a saved soul, the real business of your life is in intercessory prayer. Whatever circumstances God may place you in, always pray immediately that His atonement may be recognized and as fully understood in the lives of others as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now, and pray for those with whom you come in contact now.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Keep Recognizing Jesus

"... 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 really was boisterous and the waves really were high, but Peter didn't see them at first. He didn't consider them at all; he simply recognized his Lord, stepped out in recognition of 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, as well as 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 are truly recognizing 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 even 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 start to say, "Well, I wonder if He really 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 your realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him. It is only through abandonment of yourself and your circumstances that you will recognize Him. You will only recognize His voice more clearly through recklessness- being willing to risk your all.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Matthew 3:1-10 Fruit of Repentance

Matthew 3:1-10

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

We are all familiar with this description of an event in John the Baptist’s life as he was witnessing about the coming of the Lord.
As we see this text it makes me see that in life, the things we do, the sequence of events that are tied together which in the end has a result.
Because yesterday was today is.
Because there is today, we think that there will be tomorrow.
Work or shall we say the working together of things can have a good result or also at times as we know bad results.
There are many ways to do good and have a good result as we desire to make some sort of gain.
When we look for gain it can be for the time now, or something that we look toward in the future.
You can work hard now, and though you do not see the results of your labor immediately, but because you are expecting a return at some point in the future you consider it good work.
A simple example is that our children study.
They may not like to do it now, but the one who studies well, and diligently seeks to attain knowledge will later, be found in a position to use their knowledge which is of value.
They will be found in a position and acknowledged by people.
This is done with wisdom.
In health it is the same.
If I am diligent in taking care of what I eat, drink, and finding rest and taking care of my health, then later in life I can be a healthy individual.
This is basic knowledge.
The younger children, if you did not exercise and all you did was eat and lay around, would you be healthy?
No.
We all know that you cannot.
But yet, when a little bit of laziness enters into us we do not exercise.
We say I will do it later or start tomorrow.
When we are told to control our eating, we say today we will eat as much as we want and tomorrow we will start.
Most of us think this way.
We do not think about the future and control ourselves today, but we live to satisfy our pleasure now and that is not a good life.
We are to see that the action which you are doing will end up harming you, but we do not think like this.
Leaving aside good or bad, whenever we do something there is a proper order in which to do things.
Is that not so?
When you go exercise, we are told to stretch, warm up, though we do these things daily, whenever you go exercise again another day you start off as a new beginning in order.
Whenever you are going to create something grand there is an order to the work.
If you follow the order to the work properly then it will be easy.
But if you go out of order you will make a mess and things will be difficult.
We all know this basic knowledge.
But there are many times when we do not want to do this.
It is said that you need to button your clothes in order to look nice.
If you start off wrong then you can never finish the work properly.
We know this to be true.
If we are doing something for the first time, there are times that we need the advice of an expert.
But do we listen to their advice?
At times we may.
We may know that person or someone we know may tell us if you do it this way it will be easier.
We should take the advice and do as they suggest but we do not because we have our own thoughts.
Many times we are stuck on our own ideas and want to do it the way we think is right.
That is why after having done a little of the work we see that it is a mess.
What should have been an easy fix has now become a disaster.
When we watch our dramas we see and know what is going to happen and what the writers were thinking as they wrote the script.
We all know that if that character would just speak and say that which is right the situation would be resolved, but because they did not say what was needed to be said bigger problems arise. There are also times when one should not speak but because they have spoken they also have made problems.
We see this happen.
We know that if we meet a con-artist that they are not going to present themselves as such. We know that we should have them sign a contract or something in writing for proof.
But we do not.
Yesterday, we went to go eat at a restaurant.
I learned two things yesterday.
The first thing, is that in order for the restaurant to not lose profit, they took a reservation deposit.
They did so because they do not want to run their business at a loss.
This is the mind of business.
It was an all you can eat restaurant.
You would think that you could stay as long as you wanted and eat however much you wanted, but it was not so.
You had two hours and after when your two hours was done, they turned off the lights at your table.
Though it is all you can eat you can eat as much as you want but you must do so in the time allotted.
It is different from our previous experiences but this is how they run their business to stay in business.
We are in the habit of thinking that we can freely make a reservation for a group of 30 or forty, and that they will have that space available. But what if you did not show up?
Who will suffer a loss?
They will.
They do not want to suffer loss, so they demand that you come, sign an agreement and leave a deposit.
This is how to run a business without suffering loss.
Though we are taught this, people refuse to listen.
Those who refuse to do what they are taught will only suffer a loss for themselves.
That is why when we hear stories of people’s circumstances we see that rather than listen to advice they did what they felt like doing and have suffered for it.
We see this happen in our lives.
We can take these examples and look at our spiritual lives.
You can look at me and think because I am a pastor that I am perfect.
Am I perfect?
No pastor is perfect.
I am not sure how you see me, but when I look at myself I see the mistakes that I make.
When we spend together there are times when I get angry, frustrated, and at times I may get greedy. I am like everyone else.
Do you think that I never get the desire to have something that someone may have?
I do not anguish over that desire but I too have them.
But because I know that it is not mine to have I am quick to let go of those things from my heart. That is the difference.
But if you ever see me make a mistake and think that the pastor is no better, I say to you again, we are not perfect.
I am not perfect, but because I preach to you to be so, I strive harder to be so. This is the difference.
When people talk to pastors we get the feeling as if we are not even allowed to breathe.
People put impossible expectations on the pastor.
This is not the way.
Though we at times may stumble and fall, the number of times we do so decreases and the time between the occurrences increases and we strive to continue to change at a rate that is maybe a little quicker than others.
This is our way of leading by example.
Does not the Apostle Paul tell us to follow him as he follows Jesus.
The life he says he lives is a life of suffering as recorded in the Bible.
Jesus did not come to live a life of pleasure but a life of suffering.
Paul lived his life in pursuit of living that life that Jesus lived.
Paul tells us to follow in this path is the life of a Christian.
But when we see what we are faced with and the result that is to follow we have no desire to do what is laid before us.
Whether you do or not is decided by the individual.
Can you know the struggle that takes within unless I tell you about it?
You do not know.
Although the struggle that takes place within, if it continues to build the accumulation will eventually be evident to others.
Like Pastor Lee preached on Friday and I have said many other times, though we share the message with you, I look at myself first.
Is there anything that is conflicting with the message in my heart, before I am able to share the Word with you?
Is there any fault within me?
The Word says to “repent and to live a life that bears the fruit of repentance,” but am I living this life as a pastor bearing the fruit and leading others by example.
These are things that I wrestle with in my heart.
Last night as I was contemplating what message God would have me share with you, I read a letter that was written to me.
I have expressed to you that there is something that I too am selfish for.
What is my biggest desire?
Food.
What else?
What do you think that I desire from what you see of me?
There are things that each person sees when they look at someone and thinks that person really likes whatever it may be.
The desire to win.
Just as you see me and think that I have these desires, I too look at myself and see that I have desires within me.
These things can be seen by others.
Though it may be evident, it would be fine if it did so in a good way but there are many times these desires are revealed that are not good.
Why? Because without realizing it the desires of my heart and the flesh reveal themselves because that is how we are made.
Though I use myself as an example I am letting you know that in your life when you have things that you are unable to let go of, they will be revealed in time through the life that you live.
You know this and I am using myself as an example.
When you see me, do I look like I want money?
Do I want status?
Do I want a big ministry?
I have no such desires for these things because I am trying to live the life that God has given me .
God has given me His promise, but if I look at myself and see if there is anything that I want more than anything is for God to fulfill His promise and touch my wife and allow her to once again walk on her own, but much time has gone by since that promise was given.
From the time I heard God give that promise until this day I have desired this.
I have told my sons that when they pick a wife to pick a woman who is like there mother.
Though spiritually she is well, she does lack something.
Do you know what that is?
She lacks health.
But since God promised to raise her up one day, from that day do you know what selfishness entered into my heart?
From that day I heard the promise I became greedy.
All last night as I struggled with myself and looked at myself and I saw that I became greedy for my wife to have the health of a healthy woman.
It would be nice if she was as healthy as that woman, or if she could run like that person, like that person....
Whenever I saw someone healthy I would ask myself when will my wife be able to walk like that?
When will she be like that?
When that day comes then I am free of my burden.
To put it nicely I desire that my wife be able to walk on her own, but to put it in a bad way, I want her to get up so I can start doing what I need to do.
This has become a habit.
I have even told my wife look at that person, how nice it would be if you could get up and walk like them.
Many years have gone by in this manner.
Many years have gone by and now when I see a healthy person or a young person I look.
I look and think that person walks in a certain manner and their health is lacking here and there.
When I see someone in a wheelchair and look at there face I think about their health.
Without realizing I was now judging people and looking at them in a different manner.
It was now a habit.
When I look at myself because it is a habit I stand here without fault, but when someone else looks at me, I was being seen as a sinner but I did not realize this.
That which started out as a desire to have my wife be healthy as others had now become something totally different within me but I did not know it.
Can you imagine the disappointment that I caused others?
I did not know.
If I did not have a time to reflect on myself, then I would continue to be doing that which I was already in the habit of doing.
But last night when I became aware that my behavior is causing the disappointment in others I decided that I will stop doing it.
Another way to see the matter is this. Though I may have been looking at someone and thinking that because of the way they walk they are not well in a certain area, but that too is shall we say a form of judging and pride had entered into my heart.
I fell further into a more terrible sin.
As we look at people and think thoughts about them we do not realize that as we judge them we are committing a great sin of pride.
I saw that I had bit my own tail and had fallen down in sin without even realizing where I stood.
There was also another thing.
Many of our church people have i-pads.
It was something that I did not desire to have because I do not like these things but it was given to me.
I have no idea of people’s email addresses, phone numbers, passwords.
When I am asked to give my id or password I have no idea what they are.
I have to go find it in my desk where I have it written down somewhere.
I do not memorize it nor do I care to.
I had no desire to have this device.
As I use this to prepare my sermons there are many good things in it as well as many temptations.
Especially where many of you like which is YouTube.
It has already been two years since having this.
When I first had You Tube I decided that this was not for me and removed it from my i-pad.
For many months I did not watch it, but my children always came and showed me fun and interesting videos.
I thought that there are many fun things to watch so I had my son put it back in.
But as I watch sports videos, and accidents and other things they are not the only things that show up.
As you continue to watch you see that there are many temptations that are there.
Because they are there you watch it.
I did not go in to watch it, but as I am watching the sports or bloopers of sports, I end up watching the other videos as well.
But I never thought that it was sin, because for me it was just entertainment.
This means that I have fallen into a trap and do not know it.
Without making a decision to do something about it, if someone else sees me then they will think that as a pastor I have a problem.
So last night, I made a decision and again erased You Tube.
Why?
Without doing so, not only am I not able to stand right, but when others sees me I will not be seen as a person of good character.
When I did not have the i-pad or You Tube did I not have anything to preach to you about?
No.
The i-pad only makes it easier to write out my sermons.
The things I watch when I have time or to calm down after I get angry or bored though it may start off as entertaining and as funny can lead to the wrong kind of funny and cause me to fall into temptation.
There are many temptations in today’s media age.
Though I know this and refuse to erase it and enjoy it once in a while is sin.
When I do not cut out sin from my life and then asked if am I living a life that bears the fruit of repentance, I will fail to pass.
If I fail to pass the test then when I go before the Lord I will not be rewarded.
If I do not share this with you about me can you ever know?
You do not.
You can if you went through all my things, but if I refused to admit my fault what would you think?
It does not change the truth.
When we lay out all things before us, we see that it is not the title that allows me to stand, or that you would hold me up in a place in your thoughts that allows me to be successful.
If I do not walk the path to God in the right way, I will be nothing more than a sinner who will continue to live in sin.
When God gave me the promise to restore my wife then I am only to look to God and wait for Him to fulfill it.
But as I looked at others and desiring my wife to have what they had, suddenly I was looking at them with my standards, and I was creating a habit of looking at other women.
I had changed.
Just like watching those videos for entertainment but then later I had fallen into sin without knowing it.
As I looked at myself and the sin I had fallen into, I realized that without making a decision, I will one day become a great sinner and fall away because of my sin, and when I am called to stand before the Lord and He tells me because I refused to decide to turn away from sin and to live a life that bears the fruit of repentance, then I will have nothing to say in response to Him, for I will be found convicted of my sin.
Why would I be a pastor to only end up like this?
I decided I cannot live a life like this.
When we have a desire we pray fervently to God.
I do not remember where I pulled this letter from, so I am unable to tell you the source.
But it is a poem.

I have one desire.

If I can only walk I will not desire any other blessing.

There is someone out there who is praying this way because they are unable to walk.

If I can only live I will not desire any other blessing.

This is a prayer of someone who is going to die soon.

If I can only hear, I will not desire any other blessing.

If I can only speak, I will not desire any other blessing.

When there is something that one is unable to do, to be able to do that there are many people who are fervent in their prayers seeking that one ability.

If I can only see, then I will not seek any other blessing.

For some as long as they can see they will be willing to live as a homeless person.
They would be satisfied as long as they could see.

All of you can speak, see, hear, walk and do everything.
But there are people out there who are praying earnestly for these things.
You have all these things but are you grateful?
Do you give thanks?
We do not.
We take for granted that which we have while others are desperately seeking to have what we have which we are ungrateful for.
We do not see that our lives are which others desire to have to be content but fail to be.
If this is the manner in which we live, then as we live out lives not bearing the fruit of repentance, how can we stand before God and what will we say to Him?
When I pray and ask God for the blessings for my wife from whose point of view am I asking?
It is from my point of view.
I am the one who desires that my wife be healed in a certain manner but that has lead me down a path where I have fallen into sin.
Had I not had something awaken me to see this, I would have continued on the path thinking that the path I was on was right.
Why?
It is because everything I do is from my point of view.
When I am the standard, I am the one to think that because God has promised to heal my wife I want her to be healed like that person.
Because I see from where I stand I see what I want and desire what I want, and because I know that God will heal her I want her to be healed the way I want.
But as I see what I want I do not see that I am changing because of the sin in my life.
It is because I see from my point of view.
This is the problem.
Because I see things from my point of view and fail to see my sin, the bigger problem is not knowing that I am a sinner.
If I make an excuse for myself and say to you “Am I really a sinner?”
Do you think of me as a sinner?
If I make an excuse and say God is the one who promised to heal her, and He is going to do so, then why can’t I ask for something better, bigger, and more?
If I see things from my point of view, my view becomes a reason that I validate for myself.
I am unable to confess that I am a sinner fallen in sin.
Without making the decision to let go of myself, I cannot repent and turn my life into the right path.
For example, when we eat, a person who likes to eat salty and spicy will continue to do so no matter how many people tell them the food is seasoned well, because the food will never be seasoned enough to their taste.
If they continue to eat this way, then in the future the accumulation of such eating habits will be evident in a form or disease to their body.
Depending on the choice I make today, the consequence for my choices will surely affect me later.
If I choose to eat better, though it may be difficult, stretch and exercise then I will be able to restore my health.
It is always one more bite that we eat which is the reason that we fall.
Likewise in our walk, it is always that one little thing that becomes a problem for us in our faith.
If you see nothing from where you stand, it does not mean that there is nothing there?
Yesterday, we fogged our home for the first time in many years because of cockroaches.
They were coming out during the day so we decided to fog the home.
Because you do not see cockroaches in your home, does it mean that there are none there?
When you spray the chemical during the day, you do not know how many roaches have died because they do not come out during the day.
But when you spray it at night, you can see in the morning how many have died because they come out during that time.
When I look at myself I do not look to judge myself if I am doing good or bad and think that all that I do is right.
When I have taken steps and spoken words to the point that they have become habits to which I am not able to admit as sin, then I have come to a point where I will not change.
You must change to live the proper life of a Christian.
But in order to change where must you point the direction of your life?
Is it to the pastor?
Where are you to take your life?
You are to take your life in the direction in which the Bible shows you.
No matter how well a pastor preaches he is still a man who is a sinner and makes mistakes.
No matter how righteous a pastor may seem they may also have dark soul.
The point is you are to read the Word and tend to the matters of your heart accordingly.
There is something that is happening in our garden that is unbelievable.
Have you seen it?
We have turned the soil and planted all the seeds on the same day.
But if you look at the new vegetables as they sprout and grow in one row you will see the vegetables all lined up from shortest to tallest as if we were at a grade school having lined up the children from shortest to tallest.
We have planted them all on the same day and given them the same amount of water at the same time.
If there were taller ones in between shorter ones it would be easier to understand.
There might be less water going to one, or a difference in the soil or the difference in the seeds.
But having planted them all in a line they have lined up in order from one inch to the tallest being over a foot or greater.
The same soil, same water, the same time.
It is not only in one line but the entire garden is this way.
I do not know if it has to do with the seed or the soil.
I have been pondering over this greatly.
If this is a problem with the soil then who must tend to it?
Today in your hearts you are all given the same message.
You are all reading, hearing, and receiving the same Word of God.
The seeds have been sown, but for those seeds to bear fruit of 30, 60 or 100 times in your heart is whose responsibility?
It is your responsibility.
Without tending to the field in your heart, it will be no use to spread good seeds into it, for it will not bear fruit.
Then what will you say to the Lord when you stand before Him having to give account for your life?
Your heart can only be tended by you.
As you tend to it, there are many problems that each of us may come across.
It is different to each person.
For me, I did not think it was a problem to look and think and ask God for the things of my heart, but ended up standing in the path of sin, which lead to pride and judging others.
When you are unable to see sin change you, you too may fall.
There are many difficulties in tending to your own heart.
Pride is one of them.
As it was for me, though it started with a promise that God gave me.
There are many writings on the issue of pride.
They say that pride is refusing to change according to God’s Word though you have heard it.
It is pride.
You question what is the need to live exactly the way it is written?
Do you have to do it that way?
To think that you do not have to live or do what is written in the Bible means you are ignoring God’s Word and putting yourself in the place of authority.
This is pride.
If you hear the Word of God and put it into your heart then there has to be a change, but to not do so and to be stubborn in your way is because of pride.
To say that you love God but hate a person is pride.
The Bible teaches us that you cannot do this.
You cannot love God who is unseen when you do not love a brother who is seen.
It is a lie.
We ignore this teaching and think that we are able because we are with pride.
To look at things from our point of view and dictate to God how we think things should be is because of pride.
Rather than trust God and put everything in His hands we decide what the result should be and judge the situation in our eyes.
To propose to God how things should be is pride.
When the Lord tells us to do something, or our parents tell us to do something and we reply we will do it later, what is that?
In faith it is because of pride.
You think you can do it the way you want.
Why do I have to do it that way?
Why do you think like this?
It is because you think you have more right which comes from pride.
When someone points out your mistakes and refuse to accept the rebuke to change that is pride.
The reason is you think that you did nothing wrong.
You think that you are good enough.
You look at things from your point of view which is pride.
When you are like this you are unable to tend to your heart and therefore unable to yield an abundant harvest.
God tells us to only preach on the first point but we go on to the second and the third.
This is pride.
We do not think of it as pride.
God says to only say one thing.
We should only say one thing but we go on and on.
When we describe something rather than be honest we exaggerate it.
When we do this it is because we put ourselves in God’s place and think that we are doing God’s work for Him, which is pride.
When we hurt others and leave them with emotional scars it is because of the pride that is in us.
Because we did not know these things it has been hard for us to tend to the field in our hearts and it has been difficult for you to reap an abundant harvest in your lives.
When I look at myself and reflect on the promises that God has given us and even pastor Lee has said many times before, God has promised us a revival many times, but if it has yet to come, then I say to myself that it is my fault, and though I know it is my fault, because I did not know what the seed of my fault was, I have come all this way thinking that I was good enough where suddenly last night this problem was brought to my attention.
If I do not bear the fruit of repentance in my life, if I do not change, not only will I not be respected by my own congregation, but I will also not be able to be respected by my own children.
If this is the case, what will I be able to say in response to God when I stand before Him?
I will be able to say nothing.
I will be cast out into darkness.
I will be judged a sinner, a false pastor.
I decided that I must not live this life.
I am declaring this to you.
I decided this and again erased You Tube.
I have also changed the way I think.
If God wants to heal my wife this way or that way, in any way that He decides in His will, but I will lay down all my cares unto Him.
No matter how tempting the things of this world may be, I am not filled with joy because of them.
I have been well without it until now and it is not from which I find my joy.
I will tend to my heart according to the Word.
I have decided to live this way and sharing what I have decided to do with you.
If there is anything in which I stumble according to the Word, do not hide it from me, and come and tell me.
When you come and tell me, though I am unable to see the sin in my life when I look from my view, but as you tell me from where you stand and tell me what is wrong I will change it.
Because I need to tend to my heart so that I too may have an abundant harvest, and please the Lord with the fruit of my actions as His servant.
Not only for me, but may this also apply to your life as well, so that you may reap an abundant harvest in which the Lord has called you for and as you answer His call to His will may you richly be blessed through His Word.
May you live a life that bears the abundant fruit of repentance.

Sermon by Pastor Howard Park
Translation by Miguel Park

Beware of Criticizing Others

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


Jesus' instructions with regard to judging others is very simply put; He say, "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 the dividing up of the strengths of the one being criticized. The Holy Spirit is the one in the proper position to criticize, and He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is important to enter into fellowship with God when you are in a critical mood. Criticism serves to make you harsh, vindictive, and cruel, and leaves you with the soothing and flattering idea that you are somebody 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 a span of 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 I see the little speck in your eye, it means that I have a plank of timber in my own (see 7:3-5). 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, which we know nothing about, in every person's situation. The first thing God does is to give us a thorough spiritual cleaning. 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.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

"Will You Lay Down Your Life?"

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. ...I have called you friends..." (John 15:13,15) .


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 sense 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 the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them 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 love for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). 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 cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fill him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, "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.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Get Moving!

"Also... add to your faith..." (2 Peter 1:5).


In the matter of 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 (1:4-5). We are to "add" to our lives all that character means . No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits on the basis of the new life God's perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen 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 actually God's way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don't always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.

It is difficult for us to do the "adding" that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and 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 will do my duty, nor for duty's sake but 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.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Get Moving!

"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 capacity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). "Abide in Me"- 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 that it will only serve to 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 my 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 own circumstances, but was meek, submitting to His Father's plans and directions for Him. 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).

Think of the things that take 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 as soon as this week is over. It will be all right, Lord. I will abide then." Get moving- begin to abide now. In the initial stage it will be a continual effort to abide, but as you continue, it will become so much a part of your life that you will abide in Him without any conscious effort. Make the determination to abide in Jesus wherever you are now or wherever you may be placed in the future.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Getting There

"... come, follow Me" (Luke 18:22).


Where our individual desire dies and sanctified surrender lives. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of our own individual temperament. We make our temperament and our natural desires barriers to coming to Jesus. Yet the first thing we realize when we do come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatsoever to our natural desires. We have the idea that we can dedicate our gifts to God. However, you cannot dedicate what is not yours. There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself (see Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself- and His experiments always succeed. The one true mark of a saint of God is the inner creativity that flows from being totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this 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 it is God who 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.

If you abandon everything to Jesus, and come when He says, "Come," then 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 I come to Him? Will I come now?


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Getting There

"Come to Me..." (Matthew 11:28).


Where sin and sorrow stops, and the song of the saint starts. Do I really 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 will simply come to Jesus, my real life will be brought into harmony with my desires. I will actually 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 rather do anything than this one simple childlike thing- "Come to Me." If you must really want to experience ceasing from sin, you must come to

Jesus.

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 the whisper of the Lord- "Come to Me," and you are immediately drawn to Him. Personal contact with Jesus changes everything. Be "foolish" enough to come and commit yourself to what He say. The attitude necessary for you to come to Him is one where your will has made the determination to let go of everything and deliberately commit it all to 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 condition of being half dead while you are still alive. I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by the perfection of vital activity." 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?


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

And After That What's Next To Do?

"seek, and you will find..." (Luke11 ask :9).


Seek if you have not found. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss..." (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, "you ask amiss"; that is, you ask out of desire for self-fulfillment. The more you fulfill yourself the less you will seek God. "...seek, and you will find...." Get to work- narrow your focus and interest to this one thing. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you simply given Him a feeble cry after some emotionally painful experience? "... seek, [focus,] and you will find...."

"Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come 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 have a desire for it.

"... Knock, and it will be opened to you" (Luke 11:9). "Draw near to God..." (James 4:8). Know- the door is closed, and your heartbeat races as you knock. "Cleanse your hands..." (4:8). Knock a bit louder- you begin to find that you are dirty. "... purify your hearts..." (4:8). It is becoming even more personal- you are desperate and serious now- you will do anything. "Lament..." (4:9). Have you ever lamented, 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 amazement which comes from seeing what kind of person you really are. "Humble yourselves..." (4:10). It is a humbling experience to knock at God's door- you have to knock with the crucified thief. "... to him who knocks it will be opened" (Luke 11:10).


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

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 yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to 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 to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depth of God, and begin to know things for yourself- begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you 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 did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. 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 your own 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 fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice..." (1 Samuel 15:22). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know..." (John 7:17).


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Greatest Source of Power

"Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do..." (John 14:13).


Am I fulfilling this ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? There is no trap nor any danger at all of being deceived or of showing pride on true intercession. It is a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit which the Father is glorified. Am I allowing my spiritual life to waste away, or am I focused, bringing everything to one central point- the atonement of my Lord? Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my life? In the central point, or the most powerful influence, or my life is the atonement of the Lord, then every aspect of my life will bear fruit for Him.

However, I must take the time to realize what this central point of power is. Am I willing to give one minute out of every hour to concentrate on it? "If you abide in Me..."- that is, if you continue to act, and think, and work from that central point- "you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7). Am I abiding? Am I taking the time to abide? What is the greatest source of power in my life? Is it my work, service, and sacrifice for others, or is it my striving to work for God? It should be none of these- what ought to exert the greatest power in my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us. We must make a determination to limit and concentrate our desires and interests on the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

"Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do...." The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are actually God's foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth it is to a saint of God.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

"Work Out" What God "Works In" You

"... work out your own salvation... for it is God who works in you..." (Philippians 2:12-13).


Your 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 is in agreement with God." Look to Jesus and you will find that your will and your conscience are in agreement with Him every time. 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 are never in agreement 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 which entered 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 great care, you have to "work out" what God "works in" you- not work to accomplish or earn "your own salvation," but work it out so you will exhibit the evidence of a life based with determined, unshakable faith on 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 choice 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? God not only expects me to do His will, but He is in me to do it.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

God's Assurance

"He Himself has said.... So we may boldly say..." (Hebrews 13:5-6).


My 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. This does not mean that 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. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God's assurance- they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God's assurance to us.

What are you fearing? Whatever it may be you are not a coward about it- you are determined to face it, yet 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 then 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 Himself 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. But remember God's assurance to us- "I will never... 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?


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

My Story! (testimony)

Be Man of God!!!

The Never-Forsaking God

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


What line of thinking do my thoughts take? Do I turn to what God says or to my own fears? Am I simply repeating what God says, or am I learning to truly hear Him and then to respond after I have heard what He says? "For He Himself 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?'" (13:5-6).

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

really let God say to me that He will never leave me? If I have not truly 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 major 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 is going to 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.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

"The Secret of The LORD"

"The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him..." (Psalm 25:14).


What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us? 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-"Your 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 to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us-He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

"Him shall He teach in the way He chooses" (Psalms 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 the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us. 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 need. 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 actually guides our common sense. And when we yield to His teachings and guidance, we no longer hinder His Spirit by continually asking, "Now, Lord, what is your will?"


[From "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers]

Are You Obsessed By Something?

"Who is the man that fears the LORD?" (Psalm 25:12).


Are you obsessed by something? You will probably say, "No, by nothing," but all of us are obsessed by 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 by 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 absolutely obsessed by 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 that 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 in relation to Him, because our abiding awareness of Him continually pushes itself to the forefront of our lives.

If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives- not concerns, nor tribulation, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.

"He himself shall dwell in prosperity..." (Psalm 25:13). God will cause us to "dwell in prosperity," keeping us at ease, even in the midst of tribulation, misunderstanding, and slander, if our "life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). We rob ourselves of the miraculous, revealed truth of this abiding companionship with God. "God is our refuge..." (Psalm 46:1). Nothing can break through His shelter of protection.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Staggering Question

"He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'" (Ezekiel 37:3).


Can a sinner be turned into 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 little more Bible reading, devotional times, and prayer, I see how it can be done."

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 really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God's power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.

"Behold, O My poeple, I will open your graves..." (37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like seperated from Himself, He shows 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 yourself 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.


[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]