My Utmost for His Highest for Thursday, 23 November 2017 "Shallow And Profound" by Oswald Chambers
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 CORINTHIANS 10:31)
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Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained of God; they are as much of God as the profound. It is not your devotion to God that makes you refuse to be shallow, but your wish to impress other people with the fact that you are not shallow, which is a sure sign that you are a spiritual prig. Be careful of the production of contempt in yourself, it always comes along this line, and causes you to go about as a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than you are. Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a Baby.
To be shallow is not a sign of being wicked, nor is shallowness a sign that there are no deeps; the ocean has a shore. The shallow amenities of life, eating and drinking, walking and talking, are all ordained by God. These are the things in which Our Lord lived. He lived in them as the Son of God, and He said that “the disciple is not above his Master.”
Our safeguard is in the shallow things. We have to live the surface commonsense life in a commonsense way; when the deeper things come, God gives them to us apart from the shallow concerns. Never show the deeps to anyone but God. We are so abominably serious, so desperately interested in our own characters, that we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.
Determinedly take no one seriously but God, and the first person you find you have to leave severely alone as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 18-19; James 4Ezekiel 18:1 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “What does it mean, that you keep quoting this proverb in the land of Isra’el —
‘When parents eat sour grapes,
their children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As I live,” says Adonai Elohim, “I swear that you will never again quote this proverb in Isra’el. 4 Look, all lives belong to me — both the parent’s life and the child’s life are equally mine — so it is the person who sins, himself, who must die.
5 “Consider someone who is righteous, who does what is lawful and right. 6 He doesn’t eat on the mountains or raise his eyes toward the idols of the house of Isra’el; he doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife or touch a woman during her time of menstrual impurity; 7 he doesn’t wrong anyone; he returns any pledged property a debtor has given as collateral for a loan; he takes nothing by robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and clothing to those who need it; 8 he neither demands nor accepts interest on a loan; he refrains from what is evil; and he judges honestly between one person and another. 9 In short, he lives according to my laws and observes my rulings, so as to act faithfully. Such a person is righteous, and he will certainly live,” says Adonai Elohim.
10 “Now suppose he is the father of a son who is a robber, a murderer, or who does any of these things to a brother — 11 whereas the father himself does none of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 wrongs the poor and needy, takes by robbery, doesn’t restore pledged property, raises his eyes toward the idols, engages in disgusting practices, 13 demands and accepts interest. Should he live? He will not live, because he has engaged in all these disgusting practices — he must be put to death; his blood is on him.
14 “But now suppose he has a son who sees all the sins his father committed, thinks about them, and behaves differently. 15 He doesn’t eat on the mountains, raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Isra’el, defile his neighbor’s wife, 16 wrong others, keep pledged property or take by robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and clothing to those in need of it; 17 he refrains from oppressing the poor; and he neither demands nor accepts interest. He obeys my rulings and lives according to my laws. So he will not die for his father’s sins but will certainly live. 18 Yet his father, because he oppressed so cruelly, committed robbery against his brother and never did anything good among his people — he will die for his sins.
19 “You ask, ‘Why doesn’t the son bear his father’s guilt?’ When the son has done what is lawful and right, has kept all my laws and obeyed them, he will certainly live. 20 The person who sins is the one that will die — a son is not to bear his father’s guilt with him, nor is the father to bear his son’s guilt with him; but the righteousness of the righteous will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked will be his own.
21 “However, if the wicked person repents of all the sins he committed, keeps my laws and does what is lawful and right; then he will certainly live, he will not die. 22 None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done, he will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure at all in having the wicked person die?” asks Adonai Elohim. “Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?
24 “On the other hand, when the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness by acting in accordance with all the disgusting practices that the wicked person does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered; for the trespasses and sins he has committed, he will die.
25 “So now you say, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair.’ Listen, house of Isra’el! Is it my way that is unfair? or your ways that are unfair? 26 When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, he will die for it — for the wickedness he commits he will die. 27 And when the wicked person turns away from all the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he thinks it over and repents of all the transgressions he committed, he will certainly live, not die. 29 Yet the house of Isra’el says, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair.’ House of Isra’el, is it my ways that are unfair, or your ways that are unfair? 30 Therefore, house of Isra’el, I will judge each of you according to his ways,” says Adonai Elohim. “Repent, and turn yourselves away from all your transgressions, so that they will not be a stumblingblock that brings guilt upon you. 31 Throw far away from yourselves all your crimes that you committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why should you die, house of Isra’el? 32 I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” says Adonai Elohim, “so turn yourselves around, and live!
19:1 “Moreover, raise a lament for the leaders of Isra’el; 2 say:
‘What a mother you had —
a lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions
and reared her cubs.
3 One of her cubs she singled out:
he became a young lion,
he learned to seize his prey,
he became a man-eater.
4 The nations sounded an alarm against him;
and he was caught in their pit.
With hooks they dragged him off
to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that she had been thwarted,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made a young lion of him.
6 He prowled among the lions,
grew to be a young lion,
learned to seize his prey
and became a man-eater.
7 He raped their widows
and destroyed their cities;
the land and all in it were appalled
at the sound of his roaring.
8 The nations set a snare for him
from the provinces all around,
they spread their net over him,
and he was caught in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a cage
and brought him to the king of Bavel
to imprison him in a fortress,
so that his roar would be heard no more
on the mountains of Isra’el.
10 “‘Your mother was like a strong grapevine
planted by the water.
It was fruitful and luxuriant
because of the abundant water.
11 It had strong branches
to be used as scepters by rulers;
besides having thick foliage,
it grew taller and taller,
until its height was noticed,
with its mass of branches.
12 But it was torn up in fury
and flung on the ground.
An east wind withered her fruit,
her strong branches were broken off;
they dried up; and fire consumed the vine.
13 It has been transplanted to the desert,
to a dry, thirsty land.
14 Fire has gone out from its own branches,
burning up its fruit,
so that now it has no strong branch
to be a ruler’s scepter.’”
This lamentation became very well known.
James 4:1 What is causing all the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it your desires battling inside you? 2 You desire things and don’t have them. You kill, and you are jealous, and you still can’t get them. So you fight and quarrel. The reason you don’t have is that you don’t pray! 3 Or you pray and don’t receive, because you pray with the wrong motive, that of wanting to indulge your own desires.
4 You unfaithful wives! Don’t you know that loving the world is hating God? Whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy! 5 Or do you suppose the Scripture speaks in vain when it says that there is a spirit in us which longs to envy? 6 But the grace he gives is greater, which is why it says,
“God opposes the arrogant,
but to the humble he gives grace.”[James 4:6 Proverbs 3:34]
7 Therefore, submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded people! 9 Wail, mourn, sob! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom! 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers, stop speaking against each other! Whoever speaks against a brother or judges a brother is speaking against Torah and judging Torah. And if you judge Torah, you are not a doer of what Torah says, but a judge. 12 There is but one Giver of Torah; he is also the Judge, with the power to deliver and to destroy. Who do you think you are, judging your fellow human being?
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a city, stay there a year trading and make a profit”! 14 You don’t even know if you will be alive tomorrow! For all you are is a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If Adonai wants it to happen, we will live” to do this or that. 16 But as it is, in your arrogance you boast. All such boasting is evil. 17 So then, anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin.
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Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow concerns of life are not ordained of God; they are as much of God as the profound. It is not your devotion to God that makes you refuse to be shallow, but your wish to impress other people with the fact that you are not shallow, which is a sure sign that you are a spiritual prig. Be careful of the production of contempt in yourself, it always comes along this line, and causes you to go about as a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than you are. Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a Baby.
To be shallow is not a sign of being wicked, nor is shallowness a sign that there are no deeps; the ocean has a shore. The shallow amenities of life, eating and drinking, walking and talking, are all ordained by God. These are the things in which Our Lord lived. He lived in them as the Son of God, and He said that “the disciple is not above his Master.”
Our safeguard is in the shallow things. We have to live the surface commonsense life in a commonsense way; when the deeper things come, God gives them to us apart from the shallow concerns. Never show the deeps to anyone but God. We are so abominably serious, so desperately interested in our own characters, that we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.
Determinedly take no one seriously but God, and the first person you find you have to leave severely alone as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 18-19; James 4Ezekiel 18:1 The word of Adonai came to me: 2 “What does it mean, that you keep quoting this proverb in the land of Isra’el —
‘When parents eat sour grapes,
their children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As I live,” says Adonai Elohim, “I swear that you will never again quote this proverb in Isra’el. 4 Look, all lives belong to me — both the parent’s life and the child’s life are equally mine — so it is the person who sins, himself, who must die.
5 “Consider someone who is righteous, who does what is lawful and right. 6 He doesn’t eat on the mountains or raise his eyes toward the idols of the house of Isra’el; he doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife or touch a woman during her time of menstrual impurity; 7 he doesn’t wrong anyone; he returns any pledged property a debtor has given as collateral for a loan; he takes nothing by robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and clothing to those who need it; 8 he neither demands nor accepts interest on a loan; he refrains from what is evil; and he judges honestly between one person and another. 9 In short, he lives according to my laws and observes my rulings, so as to act faithfully. Such a person is righteous, and he will certainly live,” says Adonai Elohim.
10 “Now suppose he is the father of a son who is a robber, a murderer, or who does any of these things to a brother — 11 whereas the father himself does none of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, 12 wrongs the poor and needy, takes by robbery, doesn’t restore pledged property, raises his eyes toward the idols, engages in disgusting practices, 13 demands and accepts interest. Should he live? He will not live, because he has engaged in all these disgusting practices — he must be put to death; his blood is on him.
14 “But now suppose he has a son who sees all the sins his father committed, thinks about them, and behaves differently. 15 He doesn’t eat on the mountains, raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Isra’el, defile his neighbor’s wife, 16 wrong others, keep pledged property or take by robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and clothing to those in need of it; 17 he refrains from oppressing the poor; and he neither demands nor accepts interest. He obeys my rulings and lives according to my laws. So he will not die for his father’s sins but will certainly live. 18 Yet his father, because he oppressed so cruelly, committed robbery against his brother and never did anything good among his people — he will die for his sins.
19 “You ask, ‘Why doesn’t the son bear his father’s guilt?’ When the son has done what is lawful and right, has kept all my laws and obeyed them, he will certainly live. 20 The person who sins is the one that will die — a son is not to bear his father’s guilt with him, nor is the father to bear his son’s guilt with him; but the righteousness of the righteous will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked will be his own.
21 “However, if the wicked person repents of all the sins he committed, keeps my laws and does what is lawful and right; then he will certainly live, he will not die. 22 None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done, he will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure at all in having the wicked person die?” asks Adonai Elohim. “Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?
24 “On the other hand, when the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness by acting in accordance with all the disgusting practices that the wicked person does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered; for the trespasses and sins he has committed, he will die.
25 “So now you say, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair.’ Listen, house of Isra’el! Is it my way that is unfair? or your ways that are unfair? 26 When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, he will die for it — for the wickedness he commits he will die. 27 And when the wicked person turns away from all the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he thinks it over and repents of all the transgressions he committed, he will certainly live, not die. 29 Yet the house of Isra’el says, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair.’ House of Isra’el, is it my ways that are unfair, or your ways that are unfair? 30 Therefore, house of Isra’el, I will judge each of you according to his ways,” says Adonai Elohim. “Repent, and turn yourselves away from all your transgressions, so that they will not be a stumblingblock that brings guilt upon you. 31 Throw far away from yourselves all your crimes that you committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why should you die, house of Isra’el? 32 I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” says Adonai Elohim, “so turn yourselves around, and live!
19:1 “Moreover, raise a lament for the leaders of Isra’el; 2 say:
‘What a mother you had —
a lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions
and reared her cubs.
3 One of her cubs she singled out:
he became a young lion,
he learned to seize his prey,
he became a man-eater.
4 The nations sounded an alarm against him;
and he was caught in their pit.
With hooks they dragged him off
to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that she had been thwarted,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made a young lion of him.
6 He prowled among the lions,
grew to be a young lion,
learned to seize his prey
and became a man-eater.
7 He raped their widows
and destroyed their cities;
the land and all in it were appalled
at the sound of his roaring.
8 The nations set a snare for him
from the provinces all around,
they spread their net over him,
and he was caught in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a cage
and brought him to the king of Bavel
to imprison him in a fortress,
so that his roar would be heard no more
on the mountains of Isra’el.
10 “‘Your mother was like a strong grapevine
planted by the water.
It was fruitful and luxuriant
because of the abundant water.
11 It had strong branches
to be used as scepters by rulers;
besides having thick foliage,
it grew taller and taller,
until its height was noticed,
with its mass of branches.
12 But it was torn up in fury
and flung on the ground.
An east wind withered her fruit,
her strong branches were broken off;
they dried up; and fire consumed the vine.
13 It has been transplanted to the desert,
to a dry, thirsty land.
14 Fire has gone out from its own branches,
burning up its fruit,
so that now it has no strong branch
to be a ruler’s scepter.’”
This lamentation became very well known.
James 4:1 What is causing all the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it your desires battling inside you? 2 You desire things and don’t have them. You kill, and you are jealous, and you still can’t get them. So you fight and quarrel. The reason you don’t have is that you don’t pray! 3 Or you pray and don’t receive, because you pray with the wrong motive, that of wanting to indulge your own desires.
4 You unfaithful wives! Don’t you know that loving the world is hating God? Whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy! 5 Or do you suppose the Scripture speaks in vain when it says that there is a spirit in us which longs to envy? 6 But the grace he gives is greater, which is why it says,
“God opposes the arrogant,
but to the humble he gives grace.”[James 4:6 Proverbs 3:34]
7 Therefore, submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded people! 9 Wail, mourn, sob! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom! 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers, stop speaking against each other! Whoever speaks against a brother or judges a brother is speaking against Torah and judging Torah. And if you judge Torah, you are not a doer of what Torah says, but a judge. 12 There is but one Giver of Torah; he is also the Judge, with the power to deliver and to destroy. Who do you think you are, judging your fellow human being?
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a city, stay there a year trading and make a profit”! 14 You don’t even know if you will be alive tomorrow! For all you are is a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If Adonai wants it to happen, we will live” to do this or that. 16 But as it is, in your arrogance you boast. All such boasting is evil. 17 So then, anyone who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it is committing a sin.
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. (from Biblical Psychology)
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. (from Biblical Psychology)
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