Oswald Nails It

Don't know if you've ever read "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers before or not. It's a great devotional. Recently I discovered that someone has put up a site hosting all the days of the book. They even have an RSS feed.

Today's entry is: Sacred Service.

The line that jumps out and grabs me is:

"If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen."

What a rebuke to the arrogant parts of my life that want to point out how great my life is, and how people should follow Jesus so they can be like me. Equally this is a warning to me, not to preach a 'self-help' religion where I hear that people are suffering and I offer them the Savior as a solution to that suffering. Of course, I'm not saying that Jesus doesn't help in our time of need. But what I am saying is that He came and died for so much more. He came to save us from the wrath of the Father that we had earned. And besides, He may not think it's best to remove some affliction from us in a particular season.

Instead I should focus on the supremacy of Christ. His matchless splendor. His amazing grace. His unending kindness. And let that kindness lead to repentance.

Jesus is more than a teacher

I recently discovered that someone has put up a site with daily updated "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers devotionals. This is one of my all time favorite devotionals, as Oswald constantly calls me back to humility in Christ. When I submitted myself to the full Lordship of Christ in college, this devotional was one of the key growing things that the Lord put in my life to teach me about Him.

Today's devotional was called: The Doorway to the Kingdom.

Basically the devo says that if we look at Jesus, merely as a teacher, then He commands too high of a standard for us to follow. Without submitting to His will and taking on the Spirit to help us, we cannot achieve what He requires and will be hopelessly frustrated. He ends the devo beautifully by pointing out the gospel and our need to believe that we are wretched, hopeless sinners in need of the free grace offered in Christ's wrath-averting sacrifice for our sins.

As a teacher of the Lord I need to be always aware and careful not to put burdens on my students. I need to not add box cars to their train without providing the engine of the gospel for them to rely on for pulling the demands of holiness. As Oswald says:

"He came to make me what He teaches I should be"