Monday, June 21, 2010

Oswald Chambers Inspiration...


This morning my roommate shared some profound thoughts for me from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.

"By what right do we have to become a royal priesthood? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Jesus Christ. We must launch out in reckless unrestrained belief that our redemption is complete. Then we don't need to worry about ourselves anymore, but walk in faith, a life poured out for others."

"A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish desire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am "trying" to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ. We cannot make ourselves right with God. We cannot make our lives perfect. I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and all my demands, and cease from every self effort. I must leave myself completely IN HIS HANDS."

[Profound huh?? But so true! And I have been all too guilty of this type of thinking!! Ugh!]

A few more profound thoughts from the pen of Oswald Chambers...

"The unchanging law of judgement - This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give will be the very way you are judged. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus said that the basis of life is retribution - "with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you." If you have been shrewd in finding the shortcomings of others, remember that will be exactly how you are measured. The way you pay is the way life will pay you back. This eternal law works from God's throne down to us. (See Psalms 18:25-26)

Romans 2:1 applies it in even a more definite way by saying that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act itself, but also at the possibility of committing it, which He sees by looking at our hearts. To begin with, we do not believe the statements of the Bible. For instance, do we really believe the statement that says we criticize in others the very things we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy, deceit, and a lack of genuiness in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, "Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would be exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge!" Jesus said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Who of us would dare stand before God and say, "My God, judge me the way I have judged others!" God judges us not as sinners, but as we are on the miraculous atonement of the Cross of Christ. Can not we see our brothers and sisters in this light as well??

[What can I say again, but profound! And OUCH!!! Lord forgive me for the times I've judged others, or spent an over-amount of time reflecting on my own short-comings...as if I would ever get to the bottom of them all!]

1 comment:

Sari said...

Melody,

Thank you for posting all these Ellerslie blogs! I've sooo enjoyed reading them. I especially hear the words of this blog. It is very true. The Lord has been pounding me (in a great way of course!) into a better image of Himself in regards to forgiveness and all the things that accompany that.. like judgement, humility...

So, I very much loved this post!

:) Sari