Showing posts with label Oswald Chambers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oswald Chambers. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2016
Earth's Crammed with Heaven
Earth's crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberriess.
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more from the first similitude!
Love Abiding
...We abide
Not on this earth, but for a little space
We pass upon it; and while so we pass,
God through the dark hath set the Light of Life
With witness for Himself, the Word of God,
To be among us Man, with human heart,
And human language, thus interpreting
The One great Will incomprehensible
only so far as we in human life
And able to receive it.
(taken from The complete Works of Oswald Chambers)
Friday, July 31, 2015
Short and Simple Prayers of Oswald Chambers that reflects His devotional life
1. O Lord, enchain me to Thyself with great bonds of adoring love; en-wheel me around with Thy Providence for Thy Purposes; enlarge me until I am more and more capable of being of use to Thee.
2. O Lord, grant that in sweet and gracious likeness to Thyself I
might delight Thy heart this day, perfect my own life, and be an unalloyed
blessing to all around me.
3 O Lord, how excellent it is to commune with Thee in the early morning hours. Enable me by patience to reproduce these exalted moments of calm into the activities of the day.
4. O Lord, this day put Thou Thy touch, great and ennobling and inspiring upon us all. Save completely our minds from panic and our spirits from undue haste.
5.
O Lord, in simple dependence on Thy Holy Spirit indwelling in me and uniting
me with Thy nature, I look to Thee; cause me to be all Thou wouldst have
me be.
6 Lord, breathe on me until my frame is knit to Thy thought. Lift me until I see Thy face and trust Thine Almightiness without fear or insidious unbelief.
7 O Lord, how I need infilling and invigorating by Thy presence. Give me that buoyant quiet confidence in Thee which is the witness of the Spirit.
8. O Lord, I would crave more and more to put on love like a garment, that in my contract with men that is what they will most lastingly recognize.
9 I praise Thee that all I am is Thine. Oh, that I could delight Thee as the lily does, or the tree, or even the sparrows, just living the life Thou has granted.
10 Lord, when I remember all Thy goodness, thy wonders and Thy grace, I alternate between praise and apprehension. O Lord, that all Thou seekest in me should be carried out in experimental life is my prayer.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Discerning the Fake
"Never allow anything to fuss your relationship to Jesus Christ,neither Christian work, nor Christian blessing, nor Christian anything. Jesus Christ first,second and third; and God Himself by the great indwelling power of the Spirit within will meet the strenuous effort on your part and slowly and surely you will form the mind of Christ and become one with Him as He was one with the Father. The practical test is- "Is Jesus Christ being manifested in my bodily life?"- Oswald Chambers
" My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,but with a demonstration of the Spiritual power so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."-1 Corintians 2:4
"The man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to Him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2: 14-15.
Today the pulpits and Christian television programs are bombarding with so many messages in the name of Christ, but mostly honed towards a self-promoting, prosperous and successful living. I don't know how many preachers of today can be counted to give such messages as Paul the apostle or Oswald Chambers. Surely there are now many who preach with power and energy to the extent they jump, shout and sweat. No doubt these preachers get auditoriums filled audience who are sincere in seeking God and hungry to be inspired and ministered .How do these people discern the ones who are preaching under the influence of indwelling Holy Spirit from the ones who are fake?
Recently I watched the 'Kumare' documentary on NetFlix where the man faking as the spiritual guru was able get mass followers so quickly because people are ever seeking for love, acceptance and guidance. When they see someone elevated as a spiritual leader providing what they seek, they fall prey to him. Strangely when Kumare revealed himself to his followerd who he really was- a young man from New Jersey donned in Jeans and T-shirt conning them in religious garb and wisdom for a while, his followers didn't run away. They were thankful that Kumare gave them something to hold onto and make them a better person. All human beings want to be loved and to live a decent life. No one wants to become a bad or wicked person.
Unfortunately, circumstances make them to do what they do and who they become. They don't like what they do nor they want to continue to live the mediocre and miserable life they do. So, they seek out remedy. They become vulnerable to false teachers and spiritual gurus who prey on them. We, Christians are in no way better. We smile, we hug, we pray and we counsel for gospel sake. But, when we are pushed to a corner, our masks tend to fall out. When we are called out to the challenge of being real, we hit the floor. We are found to be fake too if we don't manifest Christ in our daily lives. The world is watching us. Unless our relationship with Christ is like the Vine and the branches, we cannot demonstrate spiritual power to impact lives.
"The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of personal relationship with God and has nothing to do with possessions. A sense of possessions is sufficient to render us spiritually dense because what we possess often possess us.....When we no longer seek God for His blessings,we have time to seek Him for Himself." Oswald Chambers.***
" My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,but with a demonstration of the Spiritual power so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."-1 Corintians 2:4
"The man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to Him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2: 14-15.
Today the pulpits and Christian television programs are bombarding with so many messages in the name of Christ, but mostly honed towards a self-promoting, prosperous and successful living. I don't know how many preachers of today can be counted to give such messages as Paul the apostle or Oswald Chambers. Surely there are now many who preach with power and energy to the extent they jump, shout and sweat. No doubt these preachers get auditoriums filled audience who are sincere in seeking God and hungry to be inspired and ministered .How do these people discern the ones who are preaching under the influence of indwelling Holy Spirit from the ones who are fake?
Recently I watched the 'Kumare' documentary on NetFlix where the man faking as the spiritual guru was able get mass followers so quickly because people are ever seeking for love, acceptance and guidance. When they see someone elevated as a spiritual leader providing what they seek, they fall prey to him. Strangely when Kumare revealed himself to his followerd who he really was- a young man from New Jersey donned in Jeans and T-shirt conning them in religious garb and wisdom for a while, his followers didn't run away. They were thankful that Kumare gave them something to hold onto and make them a better person. All human beings want to be loved and to live a decent life. No one wants to become a bad or wicked person.
Unfortunately, circumstances make them to do what they do and who they become. They don't like what they do nor they want to continue to live the mediocre and miserable life they do. So, they seek out remedy. They become vulnerable to false teachers and spiritual gurus who prey on them. We, Christians are in no way better. We smile, we hug, we pray and we counsel for gospel sake. But, when we are pushed to a corner, our masks tend to fall out. When we are called out to the challenge of being real, we hit the floor. We are found to be fake too if we don't manifest Christ in our daily lives. The world is watching us. Unless our relationship with Christ is like the Vine and the branches, we cannot demonstrate spiritual power to impact lives.
"The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of personal relationship with God and has nothing to do with possessions. A sense of possessions is sufficient to render us spiritually dense because what we possess often possess us.....When we no longer seek God for His blessings,we have time to seek Him for Himself." Oswald Chambers.***
Monday, September 16, 2013
The Unseen Universe
The Unseen Universe-yes, that's the title of the chapter on the story of Job I'm reading today. The writer is none other than my favorite teacher Oswald Chambers.
As we all know by experience, how much the book of Job bring consolation when we go through great trouble and sadness. For long we have been bought into the belief that as long as we trust in God and live according to His ways, nothing could go wrong. If a person suffers, then there must be a good reason for it- either the person had done something wrong to bring down such a punishment or the person is somehow getting perfected by going through such suffering.
However, Job's story contradicts all such thinking. According to the Bible, Job was perfect in every way before suffering touched his life. God, Himself had given the highest rapport about him-" Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (Job 1:8) Job didn't do any harm to get punished nor he deserved to go through pain and suffering to get perfected. Yet, Job underwent severe physical suffering, mental agony, the death of sons and daughters and the loss of his property and herds. And God chose to keep out of sight during all this time.
It is easy for us to get mad at God when troubles come our way. Most of us who live in the western world somehow think that we are entitled to have a trouble free life. And that's why we begin to grumble, groan and complain no sooner any kind of pain or sorrow come our way. Even a sprinkle of rain and cloudy sky for a day or two in Southern California where I live could make people grumpy and mournful.
" The man who knows that there are problems and difficulties in life is not easily moved. Most of us get touchy with God and desert Him when He does not back up our creed." writes Chambers in this chapter. He further goes on to write," There are things in our heavenly Father's dealings with us which have no immediate explanation.There are inexplicable providence which test us to the limit, and prove that rationalism is a mere mental pose."
In the first chapter of the Book of Job, we come upon a scene where God and Satan make a challenge over Job's faithfulness. Job had no clue of what's going on up in heaven. Suddenly, without any warning or permission asked, he was pushed into an arena to encounter suffering after suffering. Being unable to watch him suffer in pain from head to foot, his wife asked him to give up on God and die cursing Him. His three friends on whom Job relied for support and comfort further added to his agony by their reasoning and judgement. Any other person would have turned his back on God, but not Job. Instead of cursing as his wife suggested, Job uttered amidst his pain," Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." That is faith sounding its bells for Almighty to beam with pride and rejoice over His servant's faithfulness.
We have no clue why bad things happen to good people or how bad people get away unpunished? We are incapable of detecting what's happening in the unseen universe either. Like Job, if we could persevere the tough times in steadfast faith, we could also make our Maker beam with pride.***
As we all know by experience, how much the book of Job bring consolation when we go through great trouble and sadness. For long we have been bought into the belief that as long as we trust in God and live according to His ways, nothing could go wrong. If a person suffers, then there must be a good reason for it- either the person had done something wrong to bring down such a punishment or the person is somehow getting perfected by going through such suffering.
However, Job's story contradicts all such thinking. According to the Bible, Job was perfect in every way before suffering touched his life. God, Himself had given the highest rapport about him-" Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (Job 1:8) Job didn't do any harm to get punished nor he deserved to go through pain and suffering to get perfected. Yet, Job underwent severe physical suffering, mental agony, the death of sons and daughters and the loss of his property and herds. And God chose to keep out of sight during all this time.
It is easy for us to get mad at God when troubles come our way. Most of us who live in the western world somehow think that we are entitled to have a trouble free life. And that's why we begin to grumble, groan and complain no sooner any kind of pain or sorrow come our way. Even a sprinkle of rain and cloudy sky for a day or two in Southern California where I live could make people grumpy and mournful.
" The man who knows that there are problems and difficulties in life is not easily moved. Most of us get touchy with God and desert Him when He does not back up our creed." writes Chambers in this chapter. He further goes on to write," There are things in our heavenly Father's dealings with us which have no immediate explanation.There are inexplicable providence which test us to the limit, and prove that rationalism is a mere mental pose."
In the first chapter of the Book of Job, we come upon a scene where God and Satan make a challenge over Job's faithfulness. Job had no clue of what's going on up in heaven. Suddenly, without any warning or permission asked, he was pushed into an arena to encounter suffering after suffering. Being unable to watch him suffer in pain from head to foot, his wife asked him to give up on God and die cursing Him. His three friends on whom Job relied for support and comfort further added to his agony by their reasoning and judgement. Any other person would have turned his back on God, but not Job. Instead of cursing as his wife suggested, Job uttered amidst his pain," Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." That is faith sounding its bells for Almighty to beam with pride and rejoice over His servant's faithfulness.
We have no clue why bad things happen to good people or how bad people get away unpunished? We are incapable of detecting what's happening in the unseen universe either. Like Job, if we could persevere the tough times in steadfast faith, we could also make our Maker beam with pride.***
Friday, November 25, 2011
When God Seems Silent
When God seems silent, was the topic Pastor Bob chose to preach this morning. A great subject to teach I thought because who in the world hadn't experienced God's silence from time to time to their pleas and petitions. We may have raised so many Why?s looking up at the ceiling and weeping, when our requsts seemed bouncing back instead of getting through to the Throne room.
I'd like to share what Oswald Chamber has written about God's silence in his devotional book My Utmost for His Highest.
"If God has given you silence, then praise Him- He is bringing yu into the mainstream of His purpose... His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself.
A wonderful thing about God's silence is that His stillness is contagious-it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, " I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. ... If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy-Silence."
Wow! What a lover of God Oswald Chamber must had been to come to that level of trust in God. In comparison, I stand in faith like a Liliputian in faith. We all want our prayers answered promptly, mostly with a big Yes. A "No," or a delay make us anxious, downhearted, and even to give up praying and quit on God.
If I could summarize last Sunday's sermon into a few paragraphs, it would read like the following:
"Persist on your prayers!" Jesus' stories of persistant widow who went to the judge and the man who put up his friend at night to get some loaves of bread to feed the stranger who came to his house. In otherwords, we're required to persist in our asking until we get a clear 'No ' from God. Tha't something new to me for I usually stop asking the same thing after a few times thinking that it may not be God's will.
Deal with your sin before you expect to hear an answer from heaven. Confess, repent and wait patiently for God to answer you.
Our falling world and satan's demonic power in the world are real and because of that we face with problems, disasters and attacks along with the rest of the world and those times we may see God as silent and distant. A perfect example is what happened on 9/11. Believers as well as non believers died on that day when the plane hit the twin towers. Many would have prayed before they left for work at the Towers on that day, and many of the family members must have prayed for their loved ones protection on that morning. It did seem God to be silent and far away to many of the prayers that was raised later that day. Yes, we live in a rotten world where evil exists and people chose to kill and destroy innocent people for their own reason and justification.
Sometimes God's silence remind us who God is. Otherwise, it's easy for us to fall into pride and arrogance if we get our way all the time. God's silence sometimes mean that the miracle is just a day or two away, but have we got the faith to believe that God could turn around anything for good at His timing.
God is silent at times in order to save us from ourselves. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it's true. Looking back on our lives, how many of are so thankful that God say "No" to some of our desperate prayer requsts. How many disasters and distreses were avoided because God kept silent to our wants.
God chooses to be silent to train us for His ministry. His silence teaches us to trust Him completely. He doesn't want us to see Him as a Genie who grant all our wishes to appease us. Instead He wants us to see Him as a loving Father who know what and when to give His children what they ask. He doesn't want to grow up like bratty kids who shouts " I hate you!" when the parents refuses to give or allow them to do what they want. Instead, He wants us to be loving and understanding children who trust the Father's unconditional love rather than loving Him for His gifts and yeses.
I pray that you and I will grow to have the faith like Oswald Chambers who saw love, faithfulness, and intimacy in God's silence
I'd like to share what Oswald Chamber has written about God's silence in his devotional book My Utmost for His Highest.
"If God has given you silence, then praise Him- He is bringing yu into the mainstream of His purpose... His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself.
A wonderful thing about God's silence is that His stillness is contagious-it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, " I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. ... If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy-Silence."
Wow! What a lover of God Oswald Chamber must had been to come to that level of trust in God. In comparison, I stand in faith like a Liliputian in faith. We all want our prayers answered promptly, mostly with a big Yes. A "No," or a delay make us anxious, downhearted, and even to give up praying and quit on God.
If I could summarize last Sunday's sermon into a few paragraphs, it would read like the following:
"Persist on your prayers!" Jesus' stories of persistant widow who went to the judge and the man who put up his friend at night to get some loaves of bread to feed the stranger who came to his house. In otherwords, we're required to persist in our asking until we get a clear 'No ' from God. Tha't something new to me for I usually stop asking the same thing after a few times thinking that it may not be God's will.
Deal with your sin before you expect to hear an answer from heaven. Confess, repent and wait patiently for God to answer you.
Our falling world and satan's demonic power in the world are real and because of that we face with problems, disasters and attacks along with the rest of the world and those times we may see God as silent and distant. A perfect example is what happened on 9/11. Believers as well as non believers died on that day when the plane hit the twin towers. Many would have prayed before they left for work at the Towers on that day, and many of the family members must have prayed for their loved ones protection on that morning. It did seem God to be silent and far away to many of the prayers that was raised later that day. Yes, we live in a rotten world where evil exists and people chose to kill and destroy innocent people for their own reason and justification.
Sometimes God's silence remind us who God is. Otherwise, it's easy for us to fall into pride and arrogance if we get our way all the time. God's silence sometimes mean that the miracle is just a day or two away, but have we got the faith to believe that God could turn around anything for good at His timing.
God is silent at times in order to save us from ourselves. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it's true. Looking back on our lives, how many of are so thankful that God say "No" to some of our desperate prayer requsts. How many disasters and distreses were avoided because God kept silent to our wants.
God chooses to be silent to train us for His ministry. His silence teaches us to trust Him completely. He doesn't want us to see Him as a Genie who grant all our wishes to appease us. Instead He wants us to see Him as a loving Father who know what and when to give His children what they ask. He doesn't want to grow up like bratty kids who shouts " I hate you!" when the parents refuses to give or allow them to do what they want. Instead, He wants us to be loving and understanding children who trust the Father's unconditional love rather than loving Him for His gifts and yeses.
I pray that you and I will grow to have the faith like Oswald Chambers who saw love, faithfulness, and intimacy in God's silence
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