The Dearest Friend...

[Brad Fox]

One of my favorite books, apart from the Bible, is Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest.  It is a small handbook of daily devotional readings taken from his lifelong sermons which were transcribed and collated by his wife, Biddy, after his untimely death at age 42.  It took her 30 years!

 

Oswald has a way of taking Bible scripture and explaining it in very human terms, getting inside my head and heart with his examples and explanations.  He is convicting in the extreme!  Just when I think I have a Bible verse figured out, Oswald explains it in ever deeper, more meaningful ways.  HIs writings are surprisingly modern in their application to life.  His insight into the human spirit and motivations are uncanny, much like C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. 

 

His biography, aptly entitled Abandoned to God, sums up a life that was totally "sold out" to Jesus Christ.  As I read "My Utmost..." year after year, I am continually challenged way out of my comfort zone.  Oswald truly inspires me to become modeled after the person of Jesus Christ.

 

Here I offer some of his quotes as a quick overview of what his thinking was like:

 

            Quotes of Oswald Chambers

“The dearest friend on earth is a mere shadow compared to Jesus Christ.”

“We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered  foe, so he is, but only to God, not to us.”

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”

"Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.”

“It is impossible to get exhausted in work for God. We get exhausted because we try to do God’s work in our own way.”

“When it is a question of God's almighty Spirit, never say, 'I can't.'”

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”

"(Eagerness) is not by any means everything; it is very often a subtle form of (self-righteous) pride because it is obsessed with the method and not with the Master.”

"Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man.”

 ”Certain things can only be dealt with by ignoring them; if you face them you increase their power. It is absurd to say, Pray about them; when once a thing is seen to be wrong, don't pray about it, it fixes the mind on it; never for a second brood on it, destroy it by neglect.”

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."

 

"Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God."

"We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.”

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading."

"Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is."

 

Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of 'good time' is seldom in sync with ours."

"The 'show business', which is so incorporated into our view of Christian work today, has caused us to drift far from Our Lord's conception of discipleship. It is instilled in us to think that we have to do exceptional things for God; we have not. We have to be exceptional in ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, surrounded by sordid sinners. That is not learned in five minutes."

"If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not "a little bit of love," but major surgery. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. "

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."

 

"Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God."

"We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.”

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." 

Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of 'good time' is seldom in sync with ours."

"The "show business," which is so incorporated into our view of Christian work today, has caused us to drift far from Our Lord's conception of discipleship. It is instilled in us to think that we have to do exceptional things for God; we have not. We have to be exceptional in ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, surrounded by sordid sinners. That is not learned in five minutes."

"If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not "a little bit of love," but major surgery. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. "

"We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle."

"The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the
relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities
produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention
to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack."

"If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart."

"The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else."

"The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience."

 

"The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not--Do your duty, but--Do what is not your duty. It is not your duty to go the second mile, to turn the other cheek, but Jesus says if we are His disciples we shall always do these things. There will be no spirit of--"Oh, well, I cannot do any more, I have been so misrepresented and misunderstood". . . Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself. We are always looking for justice; the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is--Never look for justice, but never cease to live it."

"We imagine that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord, "I *delight* to do Thy will, O My God."

"God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede."

"Faith is not intelligent understanding, faith is deliberate commitment to a Person where I see no way."

"True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. People describe intercession by saying, "It is putting yourself in someone else’s place." That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective."

"Some of us are like the Dead Sea, always taking in but never giving out, because we are not rightly related to the Lord Jesus."

"The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould"

"God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, ". . . who will go for Us?" The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude."

"Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him."

"he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence"

"No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one purpose left--I am here for God to send me where He will."

"When your obedience in increasing, He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist you with all His Almighty power."

"The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best."

"We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle."

"The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the
relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities
produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention
to, and it is the one thing that is continually under

"If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart."

"The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else."

"The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience."

 

"The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not--Do your duty, but--Do what is not your duty. It is not your duty to go the second mile, to turn the other cheek, but Jesus says if we are His disciples we shall always do these things. There will be no spirit of--"Oh, well, I cannot do any more, I have been so misrepresented and misunderstood". . . Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself. We are always looking for justice; the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is--Never look for justice, but never cease to give it."

"We imagine that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord, "I 'delight' to do Thy will, O My God."

"God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede."

"Faith is not intelligent understanding, faith is deliberate commitment to a Person where I see no way."

"True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. People describe intercession by saying, "It is putting yourself in someone else’s place." That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective."

"Some of us are like the Dead Sea, always taking in but never giving out, because we are not rightly related to the Lord Jesus."

"The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould"

"God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying, ". . . who will go for Us?" The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude."

"Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him."

"he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it.  Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence."

"No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one purpose left--I am here for God to send me where He will."

"When your obedience in increasing, He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist you with all His Almighty power."

"The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best."

"Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. This will mean that all the other boundaries of life, whether they are mental, moral, or spiritual limits, are completely free with the freedom God gives His child; that is, a worshiping child, not a wayward one. A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him."