Devotional for the day

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers
 
   
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
 
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . -Galatians 6:14

When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul's consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.

State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. ". . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . ." (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23).


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Where Have You Pitched Your Tent?

Genesis 13:12 (KJV) says,

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Notice that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.  Every day his attention was placed on that city.  Here is what the Bible says about those that lived there.

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly (Genesis 13:13, KJV).

What we focus our attention on will influence us.  It will try to draw us in like a magnet.  The next time we read about Lot he is living in Sodom.

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed (Genesis 14:12, KJV).

Next we find him even further entrenched among the people of Sodom.  Genesis 19:1 declares that Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.

In Eastern cities, the "gate" was a place devoted to business transactions, the administration of justice, and the enjoyment of social discourse and amusement.  Lot was right "in the thick of things"-but it happened by degrees.  It was a process.

What you view and listen to, and the company you keep, will influence you-sometimes in very subtle ways-and will play a role in shaping your values and character.

So be careful where you pitch your tent!
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Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time?

(John 11, Psalms 9)

How do you know when God is ready to break through your rock and a hard place situation? You know because He will invade your ordinary with something extraordinary. He will come to your normal with something abnormal. He will create a scenario that doesn't make sense.

When God creates a scenario that doesn't make sense, it is not supposed to make sense. Don't ignore God showing up in a way that you can't explain. The reason you can't explain it is because it is God showing up in it. The Bible is replete with examples of when God was getting ready to move in a rock and a hard place situation and the thing that He did was show up in a way that human understanding couldn't explain.

My best advice to you is that if you are in a wilderness, or if you are between a rock and a hard place and can't find a good way out of what seems like a never-ending situation, look for God to show up in a way that you can't explain. His ways are not your ways. His thoughts are not your thoughts. God is not like you or me. If God were living in the era of Soul Music, his favorite song would be, "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time?" Didn't I show up in a way that you couldn't explain?

That's what God does. Look for Him.

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers
 
   
The Focal Point of Spiritual Power
 
. . . except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . -Galatians 6:14

If you want to know the power of God (that is, the resurrection life of Jesus) in your human flesh, you must dwell on the tragedy of God. Break away from your personal concern over your own spiritual condition, and with a completely open spirit consider the tragedy of God. Instantly the power of God will be in you. "Look to Me. . ." (Isaiah 45:22). Pay attention to the external Source and the internal power will be there. We lose power because we don't focus on the right thing. The effect of the Cross is salvation, sanctification, healing, etc., but we are not to preach any of these. We are to preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). The proclaiming of Jesus will do its own work. Concentrate on God's focal point in your preaching, and even if your listeners seem to pay it no attention, they will never be the same again. If I share my own words, they are of no more importance than your words are to me. But if we share the truth of God with one another, we will encounter it again and again. We have to focus on the great point of spiritual power- the Cross. If we stay in contact with that center of power, its energy is released in our lives. In holiness movements and spiritual experience meetings, the focus tends to be put not on the Cross of Christ but on the effects of the Cross.

The feebleness of the church is being criticized today, and the criticism is justified. One reason for the feebleness is that there has not been this focus on the true center of spiritual power. We have not dwelt enough on the tragedy of Calvary or on the meaning of redemption

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Better Than Life

In Psalms 63, the psalmist makes an incredible statement,

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.  Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.  Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

What does the psalmist mean when he says that God's lovingkindness is better than life?  Let me try and explain.

First, lovingkindness literally means merciful love.  It is God's unfailing, merciful love.

And this is the love the psalmist says is "better than life." This merciful and unfailing love of God is better than life at its best without that love.

When I think of my life without Christ, I can remember many high times, laughter I shared with people, and great relationships.  But the least of God's mercies far outweighs the best of those times.

My life before coming to know Christ was chasing shadows.  It was doing the best with a counterfeit because I had never experienced the reality.  It was eating freeze-dried food when the Master Chef had prepared this sumptuous feast with the finest ingredients.

His lovingkindness is indeed better than the best of life without it.  The natural response to such merciful love, to such an abundant life, is praise.  Which means that every day, until your dying day, should be a thanksgiving day.
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Following Jesus Into the Storm

(Mark 6, Psalms 10)

In the book of Mark, chapter six, we read that the disciples got into a boat, at night, and took out across the sea. In their obedience to Jesus, the disciples ran directly into a storm. Their obedience literally took them into the nucleus of a disaster.

I wish I could tell you that following Jesus means you will never have to face any storms. I wish I could tell you that following Jesus means that the waters of life will always be calm. I wish I could tell you that following Jesus means life will be rosy and all of your days sweet. But I can't.

These disciples were following Jesus, and they ran right into rough-seas. The disciples discovered, as many of us have also discovered, that you can be both in the center of God's will, and still in a storm.

There is a lot of preaching today as well as many Christian books that tell you that if you follow Jesus, than you will never have to face any challenges in life. That wasn't true for Jesus, or for anyone else I know who has followed Him. Following Jesus doesn't offer immunity from troubles. What it does give is the opportunity to experience Him in the midst of the trouble.

Life comes with troubles, regardless of whether or not you follow Jesus. You get to choose if you want Him to join you in your troubles, or if you'd rather go through them alone.

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers
 
   
The Consecration of Spiritual Power
 
. . . by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world -Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness- I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ's interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.

It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives- no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it- to be separated internally, not externally (seeJohn 17:16).

We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power. Consecration (being dedicated to God's service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God's part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, "Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?"

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A Picture of God's Lovingkindness

Yesterday we learned about God's merciful and unfailing love.  2 Samuel 9:3-7 provides us with a picture of that love,

Then the king said, "Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?"  And Ziba said to the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet."  So the king said to him, "Where is he?"  And Ziba said to the king, "Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar."  Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.  Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself.  Then David said, "Mephibosheth?"  And he answered, "Here is your servant!"  So David said to him, "Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually."

David made a blood covenant with Jonathan to show Jonathan's offspring the lovingkindness of God.  After Jonathan died, Mephibosheth was the only offspring who remained, and he hid in the wilderness in fear of David.  But David found him and elevated him to be one of his own sons, set him at his table, and restored everything he lost.

This is such a beautiful picture of the covenant God made with His Son Jesus, a covenant sealed by the blood of Christ.  Because of what Jesus did, God shows us His lovingkindness, elevating us to the position of sons or daughters, and inviting us to break bread with Him at His own table.

That is the lovingkindness of God!


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When God is Silent, He is Not Still

(Acts 17:24-31, Psalms 11)

We all know what it feels like to experience hopelessness to varying degrees. In fact, many people define hope as looking forward to something that they know that they will never get. Hopelessness is when you look out in front of you and you can't see any possibility for improvement or change. Many of us today are drowning in a sea of hopelessness surrounded by a land of emptiness where there seems to be no way out.

That reminds me of a story. In the summer of 2000, a Russian Oscar II Class Submarine, the Kursk, sank in the Barents Sea due to an internal explosion. Divers made several attempts to go down and assess the situation to determine if anyone had survived. When they were finally successful, they discovered a group of twenty-three men who had survived the explosion. These men had gone back as far as they could to the end of the submarine, and had gathered together in the last remaining pocket of air.

But the rescue team hadn't made it to them in time. All twenty-three men had died. On the inside wall of the submarine, they found this note that had been etched there by the Captain-lieutenant Dmitri Kolesnikova. It said, "It's dark here to write, but I'll try by feel. It seems like there are no chances..."

The hopelessness we hear in Dmitri's words has been shared by many of us. We've all faced similar feelings at some time or another where there seems "like there are no chances." Hopelessness in the middle of life's storms is a human experience that is common to most of us.

It's one thing to be in the middle of a trial that has been brought on by yourself through a bad choice or action. But it's an entirely different thing to set your heart on serving God only to discover that it seems He has abandoned you in the middle of a storm. In times like those, remember that although God may be silent, He is not still. Wait on Him. He may just come walking to you on top of your storm.

[Judy Harder]

December 2, 2013
 
Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers
 
Christian Perfection
 
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect . . . -Philippians 3:12
   
It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do- God's purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life's determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, "It could never be God's will for me to be sick"? If it was God's will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn't He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary- that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God's standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God's purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.

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No Regrets

In yesterday's devotional, we saw from Philippians 1:21-23 how it is far better to depart from this life and be with the Lord.  Today I want to follow up with this question:  Are you unable to abide thoughts of death?

If you answered "yes" to that question, chances are you are not ready to meet our Lord.  But you need to be ready because everyone here is going to die.  There are only two exceptions in all of history:  Enoch and Elijah, and it is not likely you are going to be the third exception.

Death visits both kings and commoners.  Its approach is sure.  The Bible says in Psalm 89:48,

What man can live and not see death?  Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?  Selah.

That Hebrew word selah means to pause and calmly think about that, and that is the problem with some.  They never think on it.  They push every thought of their own mortality from their mind.  But how can you prepare for eternity if you never think about it?

When the time comes and we have finished our course for God, let us face death like men.  Let us look it in the eye.  Let us not rebel against the cutting of the cords that loose us from the mooring of these earthly shores; but, rather, unfurl the sails and take that blessed journey to a better country!

As we read yesterday, To live is Christ; and to die is gain.  To depart and be with Christ is far better.

Until then, squeeze every drop of life you can out of every single day.  Live with all of your heart and all of your strength for God, and leave no regrets behind.  Because life is a short day even at its longest.  And when its sun has gone down, it leaves us in eternity.

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GOD, WHO RAISES THE DEAD

God won't bless us if He can't change us. We can't stay the same. Some of us may be wondering why we haven't had a spiritual breakthrough. One reason could be that we've not yet been broken. God makes it very clear that He only relates to those who are humble and contrite in heart. Isaiah 57:15 says, "Thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy., 'I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" The Most High God hangs out with the lowly and the humble. He cares for those who acknowledge their need for Him. God has to grind away at our pride until we realize we are not self-sufficient.

If you are facing tough circumstances right now, you are a prime candidate for a breakthrough because God is at work through your trials. Paul said, 'We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life." (2 Corinthians 1:80. Paul was burdened beyond his strength to bear it - it was such a deep, piercing, and exhausting struggle. But we know that even if we are in a bad place, it is a wonderful place for God to do an amazing work in our lives.

"Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope." (verses 9-10). When you are beyond all earthly help, you are better able to trust in God - the God who raises the dead and saves us from death. God lets us get so low that we understand that He is our only real option.

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers
 
"Not by Might nor by Power"
 
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power . . . -1 Corinthians 2:4
If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality. Take care to see while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, that you yourself are rooted and grounded by faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your presentation, but as you give your explanation make sure that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God's redemptive power, and He will create His own life in people.

Once you are rooted in reality, nothing can shake you. If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith. But nothing can ever change God or the reality of redemption. Base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God Himself. Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never be moved again. That is the meaning of sanctification. God disapproves of our human efforts to cling to the concept that sanctification is merely an experience, while forgetting that even our sanctification must also be sanctified (see John 17:19). I must deliberately give my sanctified life to God for His service, so that He can use me as His hands and His feet.


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The Best Safeguard Against Adultery

It grieves my heart, as I look across the country, at the number of Christian marriages being destroyed by adultery.  It should not be that way!

In 1 Corinthians 7:1-5, the apostle Paul gives us a safeguard against adultery.  He says,

Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:  It is good for a man not to touch a woman.  Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.  Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.  The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.  And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.  Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Now, if these verses are saying anything, they are telling us that married couples should enjoy sexual intimacy.  In fact, the more they enjoy it, the better safeguard it is against immorality.

Notice Paul even goes so far as to say the wife does not have authority over her own body; and the husband does not have authority over his body.  As husband and wife, you belong to one another.  It says do not deprive one another unless you are going to be fasting and praying, and then only with consent.

I want to challenge you to make sexual intimacy a priority in your marriage.  Don't consider it as unimportant, or leave it to your spouse.  Take the responsibility to light the fire of sexual intimacy, and close the door to Satan's temptation.

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The Blessing of Brokenness

We've all seen restored furniture. Restoring furniture involves stripping away old varnish or paint with strong chemicals. This reveals all the nooks, crannies and original spots on the piece. The sanding takes place next - the wood is rubbed with coarse sandpaper in order to level out its imperfections. Then the furniture is ready to receive a new stain or paint color - it's ready for a new look. New glory can be given to old furniture. And God can do the same thing with us. He can put new glory inside an old life, but He must first strip away our old nature and sand away our sinful strongholds.

We shouldn't run from being broken. It's not pleasant or happy, but it will produce a better life. Brokenness is a blessing because it puts us on the road to a breakthrough. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3) Those who are spiritually broken will be blessed because they will see God and experience His reality flowing through their lives.

Scripture promises that God remains with those who are broken and makes them stronger than before. Psalm 34:18 says, "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Isaiah 61:3 teaches that God would give those who mourn and are broken "a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

[Judy Harder]

Daily Devotionals By Oswald Chambers
 
The Law of Opposition
 
To him who overcomes . . . -Revelation 2:7
Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.

Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.

Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.

And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation . . ." (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, ". . . but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.

Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.
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Single?

In yesterday's devotional, we looked at 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 and a word to married couples on the importance of sexual intimacy.  Today I want to continue in that passage with verses 7-9 and speak to singles,

For I wish that all men were even as I myself.  But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.  But I say to the unmarried and to the widows:  It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry.  For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

If you are single, and you long for physical intimacy, and you sometimes struggle with your sexuality, and you want to be married, it is God's will for you to be married.  In fact, I can tell you that you do not have the gift to be single that Paul talks about.

On the other hand, you may be single and completely content, with no desire to be married.  You need to know that does not mean there is something wrong with you.  You just may be operating with a gift God has given you.  In fact, Paul says it is better.  You can serve the Lord undistracted that way.

If you do not have that gift, I believe it is God's plan for you to get married.  If you are tortured with unsatisfied desire, it is better to marry.

That does not mean to go out and marry the first person you would like to have sex with.  You have to take this into the context of all of God's counsel.  You need to realize marriage should be the highest form of agreement between two people.  No marriage should be entered into lightly or just based on physical attraction.

But if you are single and desiring to be married, I believe God does have someone for you.
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TWO WAYS FOR A SPIRITUAL BREAKTHROUGH

If we are in search of a spiritual breakthrough, we have two options. First, we can choose to be broken. We can say, "Lord, I want a blessing and a breakthrough. Please break me - strip me of my sinfulness and destructive independence. I'm scared, but I trust that You love me enough to know what I can handle."

The second option is that God will break us without our permission. This option takes a lot longer, and it usually hurts a lot deeper. This delays the blessing and the breakthrough, and it will ultimately be more painful. God did not redeem us to leave us alone and let us miss all of His blessings. He loves us too much for that. There is a new, wonderful life He placed inside of us - and He wants to sanctify us and make us more like His Son so that we may experience it to the fullest.

Many of us want to simply audit the Christian life - like a college course that a person sits in on but is not required to do work and is never graded. We don't want to do all the hard work that it requires. But if Christ is truly Lord of our lives, there will be work to show that we are serving Him. There will be evidence that we are taking the course He is teaching, and it's making an impact on our life. Brokennness is one of the lessons we must go through in order to gain greater spiritual maturity and in order for Christ to be made known in our lives.

It's important to remember that the God who breaks us is also our Father. He is our Lord. He loves us. There are a million ways He can teach us what we need to know. There are different ways that He will break us down and strip us of our pride in order to teach us that we can trust Him. God is God, and He has the right to strip us of everything in us that is not like Him so that He can transform us into His image. He wants to give us blessings, but He wants to change us in the process.