Daily Reflections with Oswald Chambers [June 15, 2014]

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 (2 Peter 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— we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as 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, not 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.

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was born July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland. Converted in his teen years under the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he studied art and archaeology at the University of Edinburgh before answering a call from God to the Christian ministry. He then studied theology at Dunoon College. From 1906-1910 he conducted an itinerant Bible-teaching ministry in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
In 1910, Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen.
In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to troops from Australia and New Zealand as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.
Although Oswald Chambers wrote only one book, Baffled to Fight Better, more than thirty titles bear his name. With this one exception, published works were compiled by Mrs. Chambers, a court stenographer, from her verbatim shorthand notes of his messages taken during their seven years of marriage. For half a century following her husband's death she labored to give his words to the world.
My Utmost For His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic.

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My, how God does work!

My daughter gave me “My Utmost ...” years ago as a Mother’s Day gift. It’s pretty ragged and worn at this point. I almost always read the “Utmost” devotional on FR, and it’s strange. So very, very strange that it is almost always, precisely, exactly, to a “T”, what my soul needed to read.

In pain last night so much so that I got out of bed for the fourth or fifth final time around midnight to just stay up until I fell out because sleep was not going to come with the pain so bad. At 2:00 a.m. I was in prayer and in tears. Not because of physical pain, but because of soul pain.

“Lord, I don’t feel that You are close to me anymore because there’s nothing that I’m doing for You. Have You taken Your Spirit from me?” Weak, I know. That’s how weak I really am.

Once again, the Lord seems to have answered my prayer with this particular devotional.

Y’all have a blessed day.

What is awesome about the way God works, is that even though it is the same thing each day of the year, year after year, different parts of it can speak to us in the different circumstances we are facing.

It's awesome how indeed all things can work together for good for those who love God.

He's the ultimate micromanager.

I'll be praying for you. Is it that face pain again?

Ahhh! How do I thank you properly for your prayers? They are sincerely appreciated and I thank you from my heart, Metmom. The very best I can do is pray for you and yours in return. And I will.

Not the face this time. (Oddly enough, it was the only thing that didn’t hurt.) Just pain in the back from the bad back surgery that seems to cover the entire torso and legs, and bad pain in the almost-healed-completely paralyzed leg. Aaand pain in the hip and knee joints which I was supposed to have replaced a long time ago, but just can’t bring myself to do yet because of the other problems. Thought for certain that I was looking at an ER visit last night. I’m losing muscles in my leg again, and I don’t know if it’s the “death” of them that’s causing that pain or what. I can still walk, though, so I’m good. And since you asked, lol, pain in the left shoulder and arm that’s been there for almost a year now and is ever aggravated by picking up the young ones in my life. I can’t refuse. Just too many injuries to name, Metmom. It’ll be fine by tomorrow or the next day or whenever. It’s just a temporary thang.

I invested in a new mattress topper the other day to hopefully alleviate some of it so that I can sleep some. It’s nice. Since I live in deep South, I have to remove our regular topper about March or so because it gets so hot. This new really does what it’s advertised to do: comfort and coolness. I love it, and hope to actually sleep on it tonight. We shall see.

Right now, I’m running into the walls and burning food. I should have had my dessert in the oven a few hours ago and here I sit posting on FR. Husband says not to worry about the food, but his daughter and her family are coming for Father’s Day and I would very much like to not look like the completely incompetent fool that I am.

But, they know me and love me anyway. ;-) I am truly blessed. My granddaughter (3-1/2) will come again today, so I will have a lot of fun playing dollhouse and so forth. She’s my “step” by others’ opinion, but she’s MINE - just like my “step” daughter - in my book; there’s no “step” anyone in this family. She has my heart wrapped around her little, precious finger.

I got her some new dollhouse cookware this morning and the fake food that came with it looks pretty good compared to what I’ve got to put on the table at this point.

Thank you so much for your prayers, Metmom. You are a Sister, indeed, and I have always appreciated YOU.

I smell something burning ...

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