My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom “The Great Life” by Oswald Chambers for Wednesday, 14 December 2016

My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom “The Great Life” by Oswald Chambers for Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled…[John 14:27]
Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve two masters, ourselves and God, there will be difficulties combined with doubt and confusion. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.
God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, “as the world gives,” but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. If you are acting on your own impulse, or out of a sense of the heroic, to be seen by others, the peace of Jesus will not exhibit itself. This shows no unity with God or confidence in Him. The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.
My questions arise whenever I cease to obey. When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.[Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R]
Bible in One Year: Joel 1-3; Revelation 5 Joel 1:1 The word of Adonai that came to Yo’el the son of P’tu’el:

2 “Hear this, you leaders!

Listen, all who live in the land!

Has anything like this ever happened in your days,

or in your ancestors’ days?

3 Tell your children about it,

and have them tell it to theirs,

and have them tell the next generation.

4 What the cutter-worms left, the locusts ate;

what the locusts left, the grasshoppers ate;

what the grasshoppers left, the shearer-worms ate.

5 Wake up, drunkards, and weep!

wail, all you who drink wine,

because the juice of the grape

will be withheld from your mouth.

6 For a mighty and numberless nation

has invaded my land.

His teeth are lion’s teeth;

his fangs are those of a lioness.

7 He has reduced my vines to waste,

my fig trees to splinters —

he plucked them bare, stripped their bark

and left their branches white.”

8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth

for the husband of her youth!

9 Grain offering and drink offering are cut off

from the house of Adonai.

The cohanim are mourning,

those who are serving Adonai.

10 The fields are ruined, the ground is grieving;

for the grain is ruined, the new wine dried up,

and the olive oil is wretched.

11 Despair, you farmers; lament, vinedressers,

over the wheat and the barley —

the harvest from the fields is lost.

12 The vines have withered, the fig trees wilted,

also the pomegranate, date-palm and apple tree —

all the trees in the fields have withered,

and the people’s joy has withered away.

13 Cohanim, put on sackcloth, and weep!

Wail, you who serve at the altar!

Come, lie in sackcloth all night long,

you who serve my God!

For the grain offering and drink offering are withheld

from the house of your God.

14 Proclaim a holy fast,

call for a solemn assembly,

gather the leaders

and all who live in the land

to the house of Adonai your God,

and cry out to Adonai,

15 “Oh no! The Day!

The Day of Adonai is upon us!

As destruction from Shaddai

it is coming!

16 The food is cut off before our very eyes,

also joy and gladness from the house of our God.

17 The seed-grain is rotting in its furrows;

the granaries are deserted, the barns in ruins;

because the grain has withered.

18 How the animals groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed,

because they have no pasture.

The flocks of sheep bear the punishment, too.

19 Adonai, I cry out to you!

For the fire has consumed the pastures in the desert,

and the flame set ablaze all the trees in the fields.

20 Even the wild animals

come to you, panting,

because the streambeds have dried up,

and fire has consumed the pastures in the desert.”

2:1 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!

Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”

Let all living in the land tremble,

for the Day of Adonai is coming! It’s upon us! —

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick fog;

a great and mighty horde is spreading

like blackness over the mountains.

There has never been anything like it,

nor will there ever be again,

not even after the years

of many generations.

3 Ahead of them a fire devours,

behind them a flame consumes;

ahead the land is like Gan-‘Eden,

behind them a desert waste.

From them there is no escape.

4 They look like horses,

and like cavalry they charge.

5 With a rumble like that of chariots

they leap over the mountaintops,

like crackling flames devouring stubble,

like a mighty horde in battle array.

6 At their presence the peoples writhe in anguish,

every face is drained of color.

7 Like warriors they charge,

they scale the wall like soldiers.

Each one keeps to his own course,

without getting in the other’s way.

8 They don’t jostle each other,

but stay on their own paths;

they burst through defenses unharmed,

without even breaking rank.

9 They rush into the city,

they run along the wall,

they climb up into the houses,

entering like a thief through the windows.

10 At their advance the earth quakes,

and the sky shakes,

the sun and moon turn black,

and the stars stop shining.

11 Adonai shouts orders to his forces —

his army is immense, mighty,

and it does what he says.

For great is the Day of Adonai, fearsome,

terrifying! Who can endure it?

12 “Yet even now,” says Adonai,

“turn to me with all your heart,

with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”

13 Tear your heart, not your garments;

and turn to Adonai your God.

For he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger, rich in grace,

and willing to change his mind about disaster.

14 Who knows? He may turn, change his mind

and leave a blessing behind him,

[enough for] grain offerings and drink offerings

to present to Adonai your God.

15 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!

Proclaim a holy fast,

call for a solemn assembly.”

16 Gather the people; consecrate the congregation;

assemble the leaders; gather the children,

even infants sucking at the breast;

let the bridegroom leave his room

and the bride the bridal chamber.

17 Let the cohanim, who serve Adonai,

stand weeping between the vestibule and the altar.

Let them say, “Spare your people, Adonai!

Don’t expose your heritage to mockery,

or make them a byward among the Goyim.

Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

18 Then Adonai will become jealous for his land

and have pity on his people.

19 Here is how Adonai will answer his people:

“I will send you grain, wine and olive oil,

enough to satisfy you;

and no longer will I make you

a mockery among the Goyim.

20 No, I will take the northerner away,

far away from you,

and drive him to a land

that is waste and barren;

with his vanguard toward the eastern sea

and his rearguard toward the western sea,

his stench and his rottenness will rise,

because he has done great things.”

21 Don’t fear, O soil; be glad! rejoice!

for Adonai has done great things.

22 Don’t be afraid, wild animals;

for the desert pastures are green,

the trees are putting out their fruit,

the fig tree and vine are giving full yield.

23 Be glad, people of Tziyon!

rejoice in Adonai your God!

For he is giving you

the right amount of rain in the fall,

he makes the rain come down for you,

the fall and spring rains — this is what he does first.

24 Then the floors will be full of grain

and the vats overflow with wine and olive oil.

25 “I will restore to you the years that the locusts ate,

the grasshoppers, shearer-worms and cutter-worms,

my great army that I sent against you.

26 You will eat until you are satisfied

and will praise the name of Adonai your God,

who has done with you such wonders.

Then my people will never again be shamed.

27 You will know that I am with Isra’el

and that I am Adonai your God,

and that there is no other.

Then my people will never again be shamed.

3:1 (2:28) “After this, I will pour out

my Spirit on all humanity.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions;

2 (2:29) and also on male and female slaves

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

3 (2:30) I will show wonders in the sky and on earth —

blood, fire and columns of smoke.

4 (2:31) The sun will be turned into darkness

and the moon into blood

before the coming of the great

and terrible Day of Adonai.”

5 (2:32) At that time, whoever calls

on the name of Adonai will be saved.

For in Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim

there will be those who escape,

as Adonai has promised;

among the survivors will be those

whom Adonai has called.

Revelation 5:1 Next I saw in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals; 2 and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 But no one in heaven, on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. 4 I cried and cried, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. 5 One of the elders said to me, “Don’t cry. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Y’hudah, the Root of David, has won the right to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 Then I saw standing there with the throne and the four living beings, in the circle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. 8 When he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each one held a harp and gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people; 9 and they sang a new song,

“You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals;

    because you were slaughtered;

at the cost of blood you ransomed for God

    persons from every tribe, language, people and nation.

10 You made them into a kingdom for God to rule,

    cohanim to serve him;

and they will rule over the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard the sound of a vast number of angels — thousands and thousands, millions and millions! They were all around the throne, the living beings and the elders; 12 and they shouted out,

“Worthy is the slaughtered Lamb to receive

power, riches, wisdom, strength,

honor, glory and praise!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea — yes, everything in them — saying,

“To the One sitting on the throne

and to the Lamb

belong praise, honor, glory and power

forever and ever!”

14 The four living beings said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

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My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom “Intercessory Prayer” by Oswald Chambers for Tuesday, 13 December 2016

…men always ought to pray and not lose heart.[Luke 18:1]
You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to “fill up…[with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Colossians 1:24), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, “It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.” That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.
As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.
Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.
What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply “patched up.” We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them.[The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R]
Bible in One Year: Hosea 12-14; Revelation 4
Hosea 12:1 (11:12) “Efrayim surrounds me with lies

and the house of Isra’el with deceit.

Y’hudah still rules with God

and is faithful with holy ones.

2 (1) Efrayim is chasing the wind,

pursuing the wind from the east.

All day he piles up lies and desolation —

they make a covenant with Ashur,

while sending olive oil to Egypt.

3 (2) Adonai also has a grievance against Y’hudah;

he will punish Ya‘akov according to his ways

and pay him back for his misdeeds.

4 (3) In the womb he took his brother by the heel;

in the strength of his manhood he fought with God.

5 (4) Yes, he fought with an angel and won;

he wept and pleaded with him.

Then at Beit-El he found him,

and there he would [later] speak with us —

6 (5) Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot;

Adonai is his name!

7 (6) So you, return to your God;

hold fast to grace and justice;

and always put your hope in your God.

8 (7) “A huckster keeps false scales,

and he loves to cheat.

9 (8) Efrayim says, ‘I have gotten so rich!

I have made me a fortune!

And in all my profits no one will find

anything wrong or sinful.’

10 (9) “But I am Adonai your God,

from the land of Egypt.

Again I will make you live in tents,

as in the days of the established festival.

11 (10) I have spoken to the prophets;

it was I who gave vision after vision;

through the prophets I gave examples

to show what it would all be like.

12 (11) Is Gil‘ad given to iniquity?

Yes, they have become worthless.

In Gilgal they sacrifice to bulls;

therefore their altars are like piles of stones

in a plowed field.”

13 (12) Ya‘akov fled to the land of Aram.

There Isra’el slaved to win a wife;

for a wife he tended sheep.

14 (13) By a prophet Adonai brought Isra’el up from Egypt,

and by a prophet he was protected.

15 (14) Efrayim has given bitter provocation,

so the penalty for his bloodshed will be thrown down on him,

and his Lord will repay him for his insult.

13:1 “When Efrayim spoke, there was trembling;

he was a power in Isra’el.

But when he incurred guilt through Ba‘al,

he died.

2 So now they keep adding sin to sin,

casting images from their silver;

idols they invent for themselves,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

‘Sacrifice to them,’ they say.

Men give kisses to calves!

3 Therefore they will be like a morning cloud,

like the dew that disappears early,

like chaff blown by wind from the threshing-floor,

or like smoke that goes out the window.

4 Still, I am Adonai your God,

from the land of Egypt;

and you don’t know any God but me

or, other than me, any Savior.

5 I knew you in the desert,

in a land of terrible drought.

6 When they were fed, they were satisfied;

when satisfied, they became proud.

Therefore they forgot me.

7 So now I have become like a lion to them;

like a leopard I will lurk by the road;

8 I will meet them like a bear

whose cubs have been taken away.

I will tear their hearts from their bodies.

I will devour them there like a lion,

like a wild animal ripping them up.

9 It is your destruction, Isra’el,

although your help is in me.

10 So now, where is your king,

to save you in all your cities?

Where are your judges, of whom you said,

‘Give me a king and leaders’?

11 I gave you a king in my anger;

and in my fury I took him away.

12 “Efrayim’s guilt has been wrapped up,

his sin is stored away.

13 The pain of being born will come to him;

but he is an unwise son.

The time has come; and he shouldn’t delay,

there at the mouth of the womb.

14 Should I ransom them from the power of Sh’ol?

Should I redeem them from death?

Where are your plagues, death;

where is your destruction, Sh’ol?

My eyes are closed to compassion.

15 For though he flourishes among the reeds,

an east wind will come, a wind from Adonai,

blowing up from the desert.

Then his water source will dry up,

then his spring will fail —

it will plunder his treasury,

removing every precious thing.”

14:1 (13:16) Shomron will bear her guilt,

for she has rebelled against her God.

They will fall by the sword,

their little ones will be dashed to pieces

and their pregnant women ripped open.

2 (1) Return, Isra’el, to Adonai your God,

for your guilt has made you stumble.

3 (2) Take words with you, and return to Adonai;

say to him, “Forgive all guilt,

and accept what is good;

we will pay instead of bulls

[the offerings of] our lips.

4 (3) Ashur will not save us,

we will not ride on horses,

and we will no longer call

what we made with our hands our gods.

For it is only in you

that the fatherless can find mercy.”

5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty,

I will love them freely;

for my anger has turned from him.

6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el;

he will blossom like a lily

and strike roots like the L’vanon.

7 (6) His branches will spread out,

his beauty be like an olive tree

and his fragrance like the L’vanon.

8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;

they will blossom like a vine,

and its aroma will be

like the wine of the L’vanon.

9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I

to do any more with idols?’

And I, I answer and affirm him;

I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;

your fruitfulness comes from me.”

10 (9) Let the wise understand these things,

and let the discerning know them.

For the ways of Adonai are straight,

And the righteous walk in them,

but in them sinners stumble.

Revelation 4:1 After these things, I looked; and there before me was a door standing open in heaven; and the voice like a trumpet which I had heard speaking with me before said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Instantly I was in the Spirit, and there before me in heaven stood a throne, and on the throne Someone was sitting. 3 The One sitting there gleamed like diamonds and rubies, and a rainbow shining like emerald encircled the throne.

4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing and wearing gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came forth lightnings, voices and thunderings; and before the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6 In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living beings covered with eyes in front and behind. 7 The first living being was like a lion, the second living being was like an ox, the third living being had a face that looked human, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle.[Revelation 4:7 Ezekiel 1:5–10] 8 Each of the four living beings had six wings[Revelation 4:8 Isaiah 6:2] and was covered with eyes inside and out; and day and night they never stop saying,

“Holy, holy, holy is Adonai, God of heaven’s armies[Revelation 4:8 Isaiah 6:3; Amos 3:13; 4:13]

the One who was, who is and who is coming!”

9 And whenever the living beings give glory, honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne, to the One who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the One sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, and worship him. They throw their crowns in front of the throne and say,

11 “You are worthy, Adonai Eloheinu,

to have glory, honor and power,

because you created all things —

yes, because of your will they were created

and came into being!”

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My Utmost for His Highest in Crewe, England [Great Britain], United Kingdom “Personality” by Oswald Chambers for Monday, 12 December 2016

…that they may be one just as We are one…[John 17:22]
Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.
Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— “…that they may be one just as We are one….” Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.[Not Knowing Whither, 903 R]
Bible in One Year: Hosea 9-11; Revelation 3
Hosea 9:1 Don’t rejoice, Isra’el!

Don’t enjoy yourselves as other peoples do;

for you have gone whoring away from your God,

you love being hired as a whore on every grain-floor.

2 Threshing-floor and winepress won’t feed them,

and new wine will disappoint her.

3 They won’t remain in the land of Adonai;

instead, Efrayim will return to Egypt,

and they will eat unclean food in Ashur.

4 They will not pour out wine offerings to Adonai;

they will not be pleasing to him.

Their sacrifices will be for them like mourners’ food —

everyone eating it will be polluted.

For their food will be merely to satisfy their appetite;

it will not come into the house of Adonai.

5 What will you do at a designated time,

on a day which is a festival for Adonai?

6 For suppose they escape the destruction —

Egypt will round them up,

Memphis will bury them.

And their precious treasures of silver?

Nettles will possess them,

thorns will be in their tents.

7 The days of punishment have come,

the days of retribution are here,

and Isra’el knows it.

[Yet they cry,] “The prophet is a fool,

the man of the spirit has gone crazy!”

Because your iniquity is so great,

the hostility [against you] is great.

8 The watchman of Efrayim is with my God,

but a prophet has a fowler’s snare set on all his paths

and hostility even in the house of his God.

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves,

as in the days of Giv‘ah.

He will remember their guilt,

and he will punish their sins.

10 “When I found Isra’el, it was like finding

grapes in the desert;

when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing

a fig tree’s first figs in its first season.

But as soon as they came to Ba‘al-P‘or,

they dedicated themselves to something shameful;

they became as loathsome

as the thing they loved.

11 The glory of Efrayim will fly away like a bird —

no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.

12 Even if they raise their children,

I will destroy them till none is left —

and woe to them when I leave them, too!”

13 Efrayim, as I see it, is like Tzor,

planted in a pleasant place;

but Efrayim will bring out his children

to the slaughterer.

14 Adonai, give them — what will you give?

Give them wombs that miscarry and dried-up breasts!

15 “All their wickedness was already there in Gilgal;

that’s where I came to hate them.

Because of the wickedness of their deeds

I will expel them from my house,

I will love them no more;

all their leaders are rebels.

16 Efrayim has been struck down,

their root has been dried up,

they will bear no fruit.

Even if they do give birth,

I will kill their cherished offspring.”

17 My God will cast them aside,

because they wouldn’t listen to him,

and they will become wanderers

among the Goyim.

10:1 Isra’el was a luxuriant vine,

freely putting forth fruit.

As his fruit increased,

he increased his altars;

as his land got better,

he improved his standing-stones.

2 Their heart is divided;

now they will bear their guilt.

He will break down their altars

and destroy their standing-stones.

3 For now they will say,

“We have no king,

because we didn’t fear Adonai —

and what could a king do for us, anyway?”

4 They mouth words,

swearing falsely, making treaties.

Thus judgment spreads like poisonous weeds

in the furrows of a field.

5 The inhabitants of Shomron are frightened

of the calf-gods of Beit-Aven.

Its people mourn over it;

its priests tremble over it,

over its glory, which has left it.

6 It will be carried to Ashur

as a present for a warring king.

Efrayim will be put to shame,

and Isra’el be ashamed of his own advice.

7 Shomron’s king will perish

like foam on the surface of the water.

8 Destruction will come to the high places of Aven,

that is, to the sin of Isra’el.

Thorns and thistles will grow over their altars;

and they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

9 “Since the days of Giv‘ah you have sinned, Isra’el.

There they took their stand.

For these arrogant people at Giv‘ah,

war was insufficient punishment.

10 When I wish to, I will discipline them;

and the peoples will be gathered against them

to discipline them for their two crimes.”

11 Efrayim is a well-taught cow —

it loves to tread the grain,

and I have spared her fair neck.

But I will put Efrayim in harness,

Y’hudah will have to plow,

Ya‘akov will harrow his own land.

12 If you sow righteousness for yourselves,

you will reap according to grace.

Break up unused ground for yourselves,

because it is time to seek Adonai,

till he comes and rains down

righteousness upon you.

13 You have plowed wickedness, reaped iniquity

and eaten the fruit of lies.

Because you trusted in your own way,

in your large numbers of warriors,

14 turmoil will erupt among your peoples,

and all your fortresses will be destroyed;

just as Shalman destroyed Beit-Arbel

on the day of battle,

when mothers were dashed to pieces

right along with their children.

15 Thus will be done to you, Beit-El,

because of your great wickedness;

at dawn the king of Isra’el

will be completely cut off.

11:1 “When Isra’el was a child, I loved him;

and out of Egypt I called my son.

2 But the more [the prophets] called them,

the farther they went from them.

They sacrificed to the ba‘alim

and offered incense to idols.

3 “Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk;

I took them by their arms.

But they did not know that it was I

who was healing them,

4 who was guiding them on through human means

with reins made of love.

With them I was like someone removing

the yoke from their jaws,

and I bent down to feed them.

5 He will not return to the land of Egypt,

but Ashur will be his king,

because they refused to repent.

6 The sword will fall on his cities,

destroying the bars of his gates,

because they follow their own advice.

7 My people are hanging in suspense

about returning to me;

and though they call them upwards,

nobody makes a move.

8 Efrayim, how can I give you up,

or surrender you, Isra’el?

How could I treat you like Admah

or make you like Tzvoyim?

My heart recoils at the idea,

as compassion warms within me.

9 I will not give vent to the fierceness of my rage,

I will not return to destroy Efrayim;

for I am God, not a human being,

the Holy One among you;

so I will not come in fury.

10 They will go after Adonai,

who will roar like a lion;

for he will roar, and the children will come

trembling from the west.

11 They will tremble like a bird as they come from Egypt,

like a dove as they come from the land of Ashur;

and I will resettle them in their own houses,

says Adonai.

Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the Messianic Community in Sardis, write: ‘Here is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know what you are doing — you have a reputation for being alive, but in fact you are dead! 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains, before it dies too! For I have found what you are doing incomplete in the sight of my God. 3 So remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and turn from your sin! For if you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief; and you don’t know at what moment I will come upon you. 4 Nevertheless, you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; and they will walk with me, clothed in white, because they are worthy. 5 He who wins the victory will, like them, be dressed in white clothing; and I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life; in fact, I will acknowledge him individually before my Father and before his angels. 6 Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.”’

7 “To the angel of the Messianic Community in Philadelphia, write: ‘Here is the message of HaKadosh, the True One, the one who has the key of David, who, if he opens something, no one else can shut it, and if he closes something, no one else can open it.[Revelation 3:7 Isaiah 22:22] 8 “I know what you are doing. Look, I have put in front of you an open door, and no one can shut it. I know that you have but little power, yet you have obeyed my message and have not disowned me. 9 Here, I will give you some from the synagogue of the Adversary, those who call themselves Jews but aren’t — on the contrary, they are lying — see, I will cause them to come and prostrate themselves at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. 10 Because you did obey my message about persevering, I will keep you from the time of trial coming upon the whole world to put the people living on earth to the test. 11 I am coming soon; hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 I will make him who wins the victory a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he will never leave it. Also I will write on him the name of my God and the name of my God’s city, the new Yerushalayim coming down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. 13 Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.”’

14 “To the angel of the Messianic Community in Laodicea, write: ‘Here is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Ruler of God’s creation: 15 “I know what you are doing: you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth! 17 For you keep saying, ‘I am rich, I have gotten rich,[Revelation 3:17 Hosea 12:9(8)] I don’t need a thing!’ You don’t know that you are the one who is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked! 18 My advice to you is to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be dressed and not have to be ashamed of your nakedness; and eyesalve to rub on your eyes, so that you may see. 19 As for me, I rebuke and discipline everyone I love; so exert yourselves, and turn from your sins! 20 Here, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. 21 I will let him who wins the victory sit with me on my throne, just as I myself also won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.”’”

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My Utmost for His Highest © 1927 in the U.K. by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. © 1935 by Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. All rights reserved. United States publication rights are held by Discovery House, which is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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