From the Wisdom of Oswald Chambers

Lately I have been reading from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest." This week has offered a lot of great thoughts and verses to motivate and inspire. Though Oswald Chambers died in 1917, his words carry an air of relevancy in the 21st century.

From "The Key to the Missionary's Devotion":
"Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, 'Do you love me?' (John 21:17). And then He said, 'Feed My sheep.' In effect, He said, 'Identify yourself with My interests in other people,' not, 'Identify Me with your interests in other people.' ... The key to the missionary's devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God."

From "The Unheeded Secret":
"In our Lord's life there was none of the pressure and the rushing of tremendous activity that we regard so highly today, and a disciple is to be like His Master. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others. ... You have no idea of where or how God is going to engineer your future circumstances, and no knowledge of what stress and strain is going to be placed on you either at home or abroad. And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God's redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come."

From "Is God's Will My Will?":
"Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me - is it my will? Am I willing to let god do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh?"

From "Impulsiveness or Discipleship?":
"Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different."