Morning Prayer: 04 November – 2 Timothy 4:2 ~ you are the message

30 Days with Oswald Chambers: “My Utmost for His Highest”

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

Listen for the voice of the Lord and enter into His peace.
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Morning Reading: 2 Timothy 4:2 NLT

Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
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'Head of Christ', Rembrandt — ‘Head of Christ’, Rembrandt

“My Utmost for His Highest” – 30 Day Reading Plan

Day 28: Being An Example Of His Message

We are not saved only to be instruments for God, but to be His sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us. The Son of God was His own message — “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of our message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and crushed into submission to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.

There is a difference between giving a testimony and preaching. A preacher is someone who has received the call of God and is determined to use all his energy to proclaim God’s truth. God takes us beyond our own aspirations and ideas for our lives, and molds and shapes us for His purpose, just as He worked in the disciples’ lives after Pentecost. The purpose of Pentecost was not to teach the disciples something, but to make them the incarnation of what they preached so that they would literally become God’s message in the flesh. “. . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8).

Allow God to have complete liberty in your life when you speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in you. Gather your material carefully, and then allow God to “set your words on fire” for His glory.
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Prayer: Lord God Omniscient, give me wisdom this day to worship and work aright and be well-pleasing to You. Lord, interpret Yourself to me more and more in Your fullness and beauty.
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“Be the Centre” – Michael Frye

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Canticle

Christ, as a light illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 03 November – John 6:67 ~ I press on

30 Days with Oswald Chambers: “My Utmost for His Highest”

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

Listen for the voice of the Lord and enter into His peace.
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Morning Reading: John 6:67 NLT

Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
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john-6v68

“My Utmost for His Highest” – 30 Day Reading Plan

Day 27: Turning Back Or Walking With Jesus

What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ…. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.

CostaRica_PuertoViejoCacaoTour_Everjean_CC-BY

Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him. In verse 70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”
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Prayer: Lord, hold me close to You – light my way, overshadow me with Your presence. Forgive my wandering heart and mind – my inattentiveness, my straying off on my own. Thank You for Your inexhaustible mercy and grace, And fill me with Your Spirit that I may joyfully embrace the work You have given me to do. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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“Press On” – Selah

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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 02.November – Galatians 2:20 ~ the crisis of surrender

30 Days with Oswald Chambers: “My Utmost for His Highest”

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

Listen for the voice of the Lord and enter into His peace.
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Morning Reading: Galatians 2:20 NLT

St Dismas - All that is known of Dismas is that he is the Good Thief crucified with Christ on Calvary. — St Dismas – All that is known of Dismas is that he is the Good Thief crucified with Christ on Calvary.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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“My Utmost for His Highest” – 30 Day Reading Plan

Day 26: The Surrendered Life

To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things.

Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.

Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?

We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.

If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.
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Prayer: Breath on me, Breath of God, until my mind and spirit are in suitable adjustment to You. Set me free from the tyranny of half-hearted surrender. And shed abroad liberty and purity and power among and in us all. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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“Lord I Offer My Life To You” – Hillsong

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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 31 October – Romans 8:37 ~ victory in Jesus

30 Days with Oswald Chambers: “My Utmost for His Highest”

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

Listen for the voice of the Lord and enter into His peace.
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Morning Reading: Romans 8:37 NLT

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
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“My Utmost for His Highest” – 30 Day Reading Plan

Day 25: The Source Of Abundant Joy

Paul was speaking here of the things that might seem likely to separate a saint from the love of God. But the remarkable thing is that nothing can come between the love of God and a saint. The things Paul mentioned in this passage can and do disrupt the close fellowship of our soul with God and separate our natural life from Him. But none of them is able to come between the love of God and the soul of a saint on the spiritual level. The underlying foundation of the Christian faith is the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God that was exhibited on the Cross of Calvary; a love that is not earned and can never be. Paul said this is the reason that “in all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are super-victors with a joy that comes from experiencing the very things which look as if they are going to overwhelm us.

Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them. Let’s apply that to our own circumstances. The things we try to avoid and fight against — tribulation, suffering, and persecution — are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. “We are more than conquerors through Him” “in all these things”; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. A saint doesn’t know the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it. Paul said, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).

The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to “separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39)
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Prayer: Lord, I praise You for the joy of my life here — for the love of wife and children, for friends in Christ, for the favors of the Holy Spirit. What a wonder of joy and radiant blessing this place has been! Thank You for Your all-encompassing love that impels me to victory today. Amen.
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“Victory in Jesus” – Blues Version – Selah

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Canticle

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 30 October – 2 Corinthians 6:4 ~ the witness of patient endurance

30 Days with Oswald Chambers: “My Utmost for His Highest”

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening sentence

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.

Listen for the voice of the Lord and enter into His peace.
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Morning Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:4 NLT

“In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.”
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“Patient endurance kills the despair that kills the soul; it teaches the soul to take comfort and not to grow listless in the face of its many battles and afflictions” + St. Peter of Damaskos, “Book II: Twenty-Four Discourses,” V Patient Endurance, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 3) — “Patient endurance kills the despair that kills the soul; it teaches the soul to take comfort and not to grow listless in the face of its many battles and afflictions”
+ St. Peter of Damaskos, “Book II: Twenty-Four Discourses,” V Patient Endurance, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 3)

“My Utmost for His Highest” – 30 Day Reading Plan

Day 24: Taking The Next Step

When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.

Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ in John 13:1–17.
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Prayer: O Lord, save me from the murmuring spirit, which is harmful, hurting the bloom of spiritual communion.
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“Tapestry” – Hillsong LIVE