Chastening

My Utmost For His Highest - Oswald Chambers
August 14th.

CHASTENING

"Despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him." Hebrews 12:5

It is very easy to quench the Spirit; we do it by despising the chastening of the Lord, by fainting when we are rebuked by Him. If we have only a shallow experience of sanctification, we mistake the shadow for the reality, and when the Spirit of God begins to check, we say - oh, that must be the devil.

Never quench the Spirit, and do not despise Him when He says to you - "Don't be blind on this point any more; you are not where you thought you were. Up to the present I have not been able to reveal it to you, but I reveal it now." When the Lord chastens you like that, let Him have His way. Let Him relate you rightly to God.

"Nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him." We get into sulks with God and say - "Oh, well, I can't help it; I did pray and things did not turn out right, and I am going to give it all up." Think what would happen if we talked like this in any other domain of life!

Am I prepared to let God grip me by His power and do a work in me that is worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me, and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I will let Him sanctify me wholly.

The Cross In Prayer

"Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him." Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get huffed with God. The answers come every time, but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with Our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God's grace.

Excerpt from: Aug 6, My Utmost For His Highest

I Want

I want to want what God wants.

I want my heart to break over the things that break God's heart.

Whatever You Do

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, nor for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24

What's Important

You make time for what's important.

The Generous Man

The generous man will be prosperous,
And he who waters will himself be watered.
He who withholds grain,
The people will cures him,
But blessing will be upon the head of him who sells it.
He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,
But he who searches after evil, it will come to him.
He who trusts in his riches will fall,
But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.
He who troubles his own house will inherit wind,
And the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise wins souls."
Proverbs 11:25-30

A Choice

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." Joshua 24:15