Thursday, October 28, 2010

Chambers Rocks

So I bought this book, "My Utmost for His Highest" a while back. Like maybe 10 years ago.
I've picked it up multiple times throughout the years and have read some...but it is always too deep, too challenging...and I put it down.

Late this summer I picked it up again and WOW. I am LOVING it. It is incredible how deeply profound and surprisingly (and some frustratingly!) simple it is. Oswald Chambers ALWAYS comes back to Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Always.

Today I read this: "I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing." (Did you have to read it again? Don't worry--I think I read it 3 times before I finally got it.) That reiterates some things I've been learning and processing and wondering about...to be honest--I have no idea how to word most of it, and I usually butcher anything relatively deep that I try to write...so I'll spare you.

But it makes me think too, about these conversations Ollie and I keep having. He asks lots of questions about heaven. I am trying to answer as honestly as I can, while keeping it at a level he can understand. I try to always add that heaven is where people go who "know" Jesus. (Of course, I'm meaning that at an intellectual/experiential/knowing level...but how do you explain that to a 3-year old???)

These are some excerpts (It just took me 5 tries to type 'excerpts' correctly!) from the rest of the devotion:
(He says it all better than I can...so I'll let him.)

"I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing.
It is not repentance that saves me,
repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus.
The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause.
... I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died.
...Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures,
not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvelous work of God in Christ Jesus which is prior to all experience.
...The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God;
there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done--"It is finished."



2 comments:

Kara Janzen said...

I've had this book for a long time as well and never have gotten into it! You've inspired me to pull it back out in this phase of life and try to read it again! Thanks for the inspiration! And by the way, I LOVE when you have deep thoughts on your blog and I always think you speak them well, especially when you talk about what your children have taught you about God. I LOVE hearing those realizations so keep them coming!

Miss you!

Amy Warden said...

I too, have several copies of this devotional. I received them as high school graduation gifts! I've read thru the entire book - but it's been a long time. Perhaps I need to pull one out again. :) Great stuff, Kendall!