My Utmost for His Highest for Monday, 4 December 2017 "The Law Of Antagonism" by Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest for Monday, 4 December 2017 "The Law Of Antagonism" by Oswald Chambers

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To him that overcometh… (REVELATION 2:7)

Life without war is impossible either in nature or in grace. The basis of physical, mental, moral, and spiritual life is antagonism. This is the open fact of life.
Health is the balance between physical life and external nature, and it is maintained only by sufficient vitality on the inside against things on the outside. Everything outside my physical life is designed to put me to death. Things which keep me going when I am alive, disintegrate me when I am dead. If I have enough fighting power, I produce the balance of health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a vigorous mental life, I have to fight, and in that way the mental balance called thought is produced.
Morally it is the same. Everything that does not partake of the nature of virtue is the enemy of virtue in me, and it depends on what moral calibre I have whether I overcome and produce virtue. Immediately I fight, I am moral in that particular. No man is virtuous because he cannot help it; virtue is acquired.
And spiritually it is the same. Jesus said — “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” i.e., everything that is not spiritual makes for my undoing, but — “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I have to learn to score off the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness; then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.
Holiness is the balance between my disposition and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 3
Ezekiel 47:1 Then he brought me back to the entrance of the house, and I saw water flowing eastward from under the threshold of the house, for the house faced east. The water flowed down from under the right side of the house, south of the altar. 2 Next he led me out through the north gate and took me around outside to the outer gate, by way of the east gate, where I saw water trickling from the south side. 3 With a line in his hand the man went out toward the east and measured a thousand cubits [one-third of a mile] and had me wade across the stream; the water came up to my ankles. 4 He measured another thousand and had me wade through the water, which reached my knees. He measured another thousand and had me wade through water up to my waist. 5 Finally he measured a thousand, and it was a river I couldn’t cross on foot, because the water was so deep one would have to swim across; it was a river that could not be waded through. 6 He asked me, “Human being, have you seen this?” Then, guiding me, he got me back to the riverbank. 7 After being returned, I saw on the bank of the river a great number of trees on the one side and on the other. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and continues down to the ‘Aravah. When it enters the sea, the sea of stagnant water, [the Dead Sea,] its water will become fresh. 9 When this happens, swarms of all kinds of living creatures will be able to live in it wherever the streams flow; so that there will be a vast number of fish; for this water is flowing there, so that, wherever the river goes, everything will be restored and able to live. 10 Then fishermen will stand on its shores spreading their nets all the way from ‘Ein-Gedi to ‘Ein-‘Eglayim. There will be as many kinds of fish there as in the Great Sea, [the Mediterranean,] a great variety. 11 However, its mud flats and marshes will not become fresh but will remain salty. 12 On both riverbanks will grow all kinds of trees for food; their leaves will not dry up, nor will their fruit fail. There will be a different kind of fruit each month, because the water flows from the sanctuary, so that this fruit will be edible, and the leaves will have healing properties.”

13 “Adonai Elohim says this: ‘These are the borders of the land you are to distribute for inheritance by the twelve tribes of Isra’el, with Yosef receiving two portions. 14 For inheritance you will each have equal shares. I swore to your ancestors that I would give them this land, and now it falls to you to inherit it.

15 “‘The borders of the land will be as follows: on the north, from the Great Sea through Hetlon to the entrance of Tz’dad, 16 Hamat, Berotah, Sibrayim (which is between the border of Dammesek and the border of Hamat), Hatzer-Hatikhon (which is toward the border of Havran). 17 The border from the sea will be Hatzar-‘Einon (at the border of Dammesek); while on the north, northward, is the border of Hamat. This is the north side.

18 “‘On the east side, measure between Havran and Dammesek, Gil‘ad and the land of Isra’el by the Yarden, from the border to the eastern sea. This is the east side.

19 “‘On the side of the Negev toward the south it will be from Tamar as far as the waters of M’rivot-Kadesh, then to the Vadi [of Egypt] and on to the Great Sea. This is the south side toward the Negev.

20 “‘The west side will be the Great Sea, as far as across from the entrance to Hamat. This is the west side.

21 “‘This is the territory you are to divide among the tribes of Isra’el. 22 You are to divide it by lot as an inheritance both to you and to the foreigners living among you who give birth to children living among you; for you they are to be no different from the native-born among the people of Isra’el — they are to have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Isra’el. 23 You are to give the foreigner an inheritance in the territory of the tribe with whom he is living,’ says Adonai Elohim.

48:1 “‘Following is the list of tribes:

“‘This is Dan’s territory: from the north end, through Hetlon to the entrance of Hamat, Hatzar-‘Einan (at the border of Dammesek), northward, next to Hamat; and they will have their sides east and west.

2 “‘Asher’s territory will run alongside the territory of Dan from east to west.

3 “‘Naftali’s territory will run alongside the territory of Asher from east to west.

4 “‘M’nasheh’s territory will run alongside the territory of Naftali from east to west.

5 “‘Efrayim’s territory will run alongside the territory of M’nasheh from east to west.

6 “‘Re’uven’s territory will run alongside the territory of Efrayim from east to west.

7 “‘Y’hudah’s territory will run alongside the territory of Re’uven from east to west.

8 “‘Alongside the territory of Y’hudah, from east to west, will be the offering you are to set aside, 25,000 [cubits] wide [eight miles], and in length equal to distance between the east and west boundaries of one of the portions, with the sanctuary inside it. 9 The offering you are to set aside for Adonai is to be eight [miles] long and three wide. 10 This holy offering will be for the cohanim; it will be eight [miles] in length along its north and south sides and three in width along its west and east sides; Adonai’s sanctuary will be inside it. 11 The portion set aside as holy will be for the cohanim who are descendants of Tzadok that remained faithful to my commission and did not go astray when the people of Isra’el and the L’vi’im went astray. 12 It is to be an especially holy portion set apart for them and taken from the offering of the land, next to the border of the L’vi’im.

13 “ ‘Alongside the territory for the cohanim, the L’vi’im are to have a portion eight [miles] long and three wide — its total length will be eight and its width three. 14 They may not sell, exchange or alienate any of this choice land; because it is holy, for Adonai.

15 “‘The 5,000 [cubits, that is, the one-and-a-half miles] that are left of the width is to be for the common use of the city, for housing and for open fields. The city will be inside it. 16 and will measure 4,500 cubits [just under one-and-a-half miles] along each of its sides — north, south, east and west. 17 The city is to have outside it a border of land 440 feet wide on each side — north, south, east and west. 18 A strip next to the holy offering extending three [miles] to the east and three to the west is to be left. This area by the holy offering is to be used to grow food for those serving the city. 19 The people from all the tribes of Isra’el who serve in the city will farm it. 20 The entire offering will be eight [miles] square, including the section for the city.

21 “‘What remains will be for the prince — the land on the two sides of the holy offering and section for the city, that is, the portion eastward from the eight [miles] of the offering’s eastern border to the land’s eastern border and the portion westward from the eight [miles] of the offering’s western border to the land’s western border — this land adjacent to the [tribal] portions will be for the prince, with the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house inside it. 22 Thus the land belonging to the L’vi’im and the section for the city will be inside that which belongs to the prince.

“‘The territory belonging to the prince will be between the territory of Y’hudah and the territory of Binyamin — 23 which brings us to the rest of the tribes:

“‘Binyamin’s territory will run from east to west.

24 “‘Shim‘on’s territory will run alongside the territory of Binyamin from east to west.

25 “‘Yissakhar’s territory will run alongside the territory of Shim‘on from east to west.

26 “‘Z’vulun’s territory will run alongside the territory of Yissakhar from east to west.

27 “‘Gad’s territory will run alongside the territory of Z’vulun from east to west.

28 “‘Alongside the territory of Gad, from the Negev southward, the border will run from Tamar to the water at M’rivat-Kadesh, then to the Vadi [of Egypt], and on to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land you are to distribute by lot to the tribes of Isra’el for inheritance, and these are their portions,’ says Adonai Elohim.

30-34 “‘These are the city exits; they are to be named after the tribes of Isra’el, three gates on each of the four sides; the four sides each measure just under one-and-a-half [miles]: on the north, gates named after Re’uven, Y’hudah and Levi; on the east, gates named after Yosef, Binyamin and Dan; on the south, gates named after Shim‘on, Yissakhar and Z’vulun; and on the west, gates named after Gad, Asher and Naftali.

35 “‘The perimeter of [the city] will be just under six [miles] long. And from that day on the name of the city will be Adonai Shamah [Adonai is there].’”

1 John 3:1 See what love the Father has lavished on us in letting us be called God’s children! For that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it has not known him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now; and it has not yet been made clear what we will become. We do know that when he appears, we will be like him; because we will see him as he really is.

3 And everyone who has this hope in him continues purifying himself, since God is pure. 4 Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and that there is no sin in him. 6 So no one who remains united with him continues sinning; everyone who does continue sinning has neither seen him nor known him.

7 Children, don’t let anyone deceive you — it is the person that keeps on doing what is right who is righteous, just as God is righteous. 8 The person who keeps on sinning is from the Adversary, because from the very beginning the Adversary has kept on sinning. It was for this very reason that the Son of God appeared, to destroy these doings of the Adversary. 9 No one who has God as his Father keeps on sinning, because the seed planted by God remains in him. That is, he cannot continue sinning, because he has God as his Father. 10 Here is how one can distinguish clearly between God’s children and those of the Adversary: everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God.

Likewise, anyone who fails to keep loving his brother is not from God. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning: that we should love each other 12 and not be like Kayin, who was from the Evil One and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Don’t be amazed, brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We, for our part, know that we have passed from death to life because we keep loving the brothers. The person who fails to keep on loving is still under the power of death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

16 The way that we have come to know love is through his having laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers! 17 If someone has worldly possessions and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how can he be loving God? 18 Children, let us love not with words and talk, but with actions and in reality!

19 Here is how we will know that we are from the truth and will set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 if our hearts know something against us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts know nothing against us, we have confidence in approaching God; 22 then, whatever we ask for, we receive from him; because we are obeying his commands and doing the things that please him.

23 This is his command: that we are to trust in the person and power of his Son Yeshua the Messiah and to keep loving one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands remain united with him and he with them.

Here is how we know that he remains united with us: by the Spirit whom he gave us.

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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. (from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount)

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"Not By Might Nor By Power" for Sunday, 3 December 2017

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. (1 CORINTHIANS 2:4)

If in preaching the Gospel you substitute your clear knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the Gospel, you hinder people getting to Reality. You have to see that while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, you yourself are rooted and grounded in faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your exposition, but as you give your exposition see that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in souls.
When once you are rooted in Reality, nothing can shake you. If your faith is in experiences, any thing that happens is likely to upset that faith; but nothing can ever upset God or the almighty Reality of Redemption; base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God. When once you get into personal contact with Jesus Christ, you will never be moved again. That is the meaning of sanctification. God puts His disapproval on human experience when we begin to adhere to the conception that sanctification is merely an experience, and forget that sanctification itself has to be sanctified (see John 17:19). I have deliberately to give my sanctified life to God for His service, so that He can use me as His hands and His feet. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 45-46; 1 John 2
Ezekiel 45:1 “‘When you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you are to set aside an offering for Adonai, a holy portion of the land. Its length is to be 25,000 [cubits, that is, eight miles] and its width 10,000 [three miles]; this entire region is to be holy. 2 Of this there is to be reserved for the holy place an area 875 [feet] square, with eighty-seven-and-a-half feet for open land around it. 3 Alongside this region you are to measure a length of eight [miles] and a width of three [miles]; in it is to be the sanctuary, which will be especially holy. 4 It is a holy portion of the land; it is for the cohanim who serve in the sanctuary, who approach to minister to Adonai; there will be a place for their houses and a place set aside for the sanctuary. 5 A portion eight by three [miles] will be owned by the L’vi’im who serve in the house; it will also have twenty [gatekeepers’] rooms. 6 You are to give the city possession of an area, alongside the offering of the holy portion, one-and-a-half by eight [miles]; it will be for the whole house of Isra’el.

7 “‘The prince is to have the territory on both sides of the holy offering and the city’s holding; it will extend westward to the western border of the land and eastward to its eastern border; and the length [from the far side of one] of its two parts [to the far side of the other] will be the same as the length of one of the [tribal] portions. 8 His possession in Isra’el will be limited to this, and henceforth my princes will not wrong my people but will give the land to the house of Isra’el according to their tribes.’ 9 Adonai Elohim says this: ‘Princes of Isra’el, that should be enough for you! Get rid of violence and looting, do what is right and just, and stop evicting my people from their land!’ says Adonai Elohim.

10 “‘You are to have honest balance-scales, an honest eifah [a one-bushel dry-measure] and an honest bat [a five-gallon liquid-measure]. 11 The eifah and the bat are to contain the same volume — the bat is to contain one-tenth of a homer, and the eifah is to contain one-tenth of a homer; the homer is to set the standard for measurement. 12 Also the shekel is to be twenty gerahs; your maneh will be the sum of a twenty-shekel piece, a twenty-five-shekel piece and a fifteen-shekel piece.

13 “‘This is the offering you are to make: one-sixth of a bushel from every ten bushels of wheat, and you are to give one-sixth of a bushel from every ten bushels of barley. 14 The law for olive oil is to be half a gallon from every fifty gallons, which is the same as ten bats or one homer, since ten bats equal a homer. 15 From the flock, take one sheep from every two hundred being pastured in Isra’el; [all these are to be used] for grain offerings, burnt offerings and peace offerings, to make atonement for them,’ says Adonai Elohim. 16 ‘All the people in the land are to present this offering to the prince in Isra’el. 17 The prince’s obligation will be to present the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the feasts, on Rosh-Hodesh, and on Shabbat — at all the designated times of the house of Isra’el. He is to prepare the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings and peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Isra’el.’

18 “Adonai Elohim says this: ‘On the first day of the first month you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary. 19 The cohen will take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door-frames of the house, on the four corners of the altar’s ledge and on the supports of the gate of the inner courtyard. 20 You are also to do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who has sinned inadvertently or through ignorance. Thus you will make atonement for the house.

21 “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month you are to have the Pesach, a feast seven days long; matzah will be eaten. 22 On that day the prince will provide, for himself and for all the people of the land, a young bull as a sin offering. 23 On the seven days of the feast he is to provide a burnt offering for Adonai, seven young bulls and seven rams without defect daily for the seven days, and a male goat daily as a sin offering. 24 He is to provide as a grain offering a bushel [of grain] for a young bull and a bushel for a ram, and for each bushel [of grain] a gallon of olive oil.

25 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, during the feast [of Sukkot] he is to do the same thing for those seven days in regard to the sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and olive oil.’

46:1 “This is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘The east gate of the inner courtyard is to be shut on the six working days, but on Shabbat it is to be opened, and on Rosh-Hodesh it is to be opened. 2 The prince is to enter by way of the outer vestibule of the gate and stand by the support of the gate. The cohanim are to prepare his burnt offering and peace offerings. Then he is to prostrate himself in worship at the threshold of the gate, after which he is to leave; but the gate is not to be shut until evening. 3 The people of the land are also to prostrate themselves in worship before Adonai at the entrance to that gate on Shabbat and on Rosh-Hodesh.

4 “‘The burnt offering the prince is to offer Adonai on Shabbat is to consist of six lambs without defect and a ram without defect. 5 The grain offering is to be a bushel for the ram, while for the lambs it can be as much as he wants to give; with a gallon of olive oil per eifah. 6 On Rosh-Hodesh it is to be a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect. 7 He is to prepare a grain offering consisting of a bushel for the bull, a bushel for the ram, and for the lambs as his means allow; with a gallon of olive oil per bushel.

8 “‘When the prince enters, he is to go in by way of the vestibule of the gate, and he is to leave the same way. 9 But when the people of the land come before Adonai at the designated times, whoever comes in to worship by way of the north gate is to leave by way of the south gate, and whoever comes in by way of the south gate is to leave by way of the north gate; he is not to go back out through the gate by which he entered but is to exit straight ahead of him. 10 [On these occasions,] the prince is to be among them when they enter; and when they leave, they are to leave together.

11 “‘At the festivals and at designated times, the grain offering is to be a bushel for a young bull and a bushel for a ram, while for the lambs it can be as much as he wants to give, with a gallon of olive oil per bushel.

12 “‘When the prince provides a voluntary offering, whether it is a burnt offering or peace offerings that he offers voluntarily to Adonai, someone is to open the east gate for him; and he is to provide his burnt offering and peace offerings as he does on Shabbat. Then he will leave; and after he leaves, the gate is to be shut.

13 “‘You are to provide a lamb in its first year that has no defect for a daily burnt offering to Adonai; do this each morning. 14 Also each morning, provide with it a grain offering, one-sixth of a bushel, and one-third of a gallon of olive oil to moisten the fine flour; this is the ongoing grain offering for Adonai, by a permanent regulation. 15 Thus they will offer a lamb, a grain offering and oil each morning as the ongoing burnt offering.’

16 “Adonai Elohim says this: ‘If the prince turns over part of his hereditary property to one of his sons, it is his inheritance; it will belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17 But if he gives part of his hereditary property to one of his slaves, it will be his until the year of freedom, at which time it will revert to the prince, so that the prince’s heritage will go to his sons. 18 The prince is not to take over any of the people’s inheritance, thereby evicting them wrongfully from their property; he is to give his sons an inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people will be driven off their property.’”

19 Next, he brought me through the entry at the side of the gate into the holy rooms facing north that were for the cohanim. At their far west end I saw a place 20 about which he said to me, “This is the place where the cohanim will boil the guilt offerings and sin offerings and bake the grain offerings. In this way they won’t have to bring them into the outer courtyard and risk transmitting holiness to the people.” 21 He took me into the outer courtyard and had me pass by the four corners of the courtyard, and there in each corner of the courtyard was another courtyard — 22 in the four corners of the courtyard were enclosed courtyards seventy feet long and fifty-two-and-a-half feet; the four courtyards in the corners were the same size. 23 There was a wall around each of the four, with open stoves all around the bases of the walls. 24 He said to me, “These are the stoves where those serving in the house will boil the people’s sacrifices.”

1 John 2:1 My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father. 2 Also, he is the kapparah for our sins — and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

3 The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying his commands. 4 Anyone who says, “I know him,” but isn’t obeying his commands is a liar — the truth is not in him. 5 But if someone keeps doing what he says, then truly love for God has been brought to its goal in him. This is how we are sure that we are united with him. 6 A person who claims to be continuing in union with him ought to conduct his life the way he did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command. On the contrary, it is an old command, which you have had from the beginning; the old command is the message which you have heard before. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command, and its reality is seen both in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Anyone who claims to be in this light while hating his brother is still in the dark. 10 The person who keeps loving his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him that could make him trip. 11 But the person who hates his brother is in the dark — yes, he is walking in the dark, and he doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 You children, I am writing you

    because your sins have been forgiven for his sake.

13 You fathers, I am writing you

    because you have known him who has existed from the beginning.

You young people, I am writing you

    because you have overcome the Evil One.

14 You children, I have written you

    because you have known the Father.

You fathers, I have written you

    because you have known him who has existed from the beginning.

You young people, I have written you

    because you are strong —

    the Word of God remains in you,

    and you have overcome the Evil One.

15 Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him; 16 because all the things of the world — the desires of the old nature, the desires of the eyes, and the pretensions of life — are not from the Father but from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, along with its desires. But whoever does God’s will remains forever.

18 Children, this is the Last Hour. You have heard that an Anti-Messiah is coming; and in fact, many anti-Messiahs have arisen now — which is how we know that this is the Last Hour. 19 They went out from us, but they weren’t part of us; for had they been part of us, they would have remained with us.

20 But you have received the Messiah’s anointing from HaKadosh, and you know all this. 21 It is not because you don’t know the truth that I have written to you, but because you do know it, and because no lie has its origin in the truth. 22 Who is a liar at all, if not the person who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah? Such a person is an anti-Messiah — he is denying the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son is also without the Father, but the person who acknowledges the Son has the Father as well. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you will also remain in union with both the Son and the Father. 25 And this is what he has promised us: eternal life.

26 I have written you these things about the people who are trying to deceive you. 27 As for you, the Messianic anointing you received from the Father remains in you, so that you have no need for anyone to teach you. On the contrary, as his Messianic anointing continues to teach you about all things, and is true, not a counterfeit, so, just as he taught you, remain united with him.

28 And now, children, remain united with him; so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink back from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you should also know that he is the Father of everyone who does what is right.

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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. (from The Place of Help, 1005 R)

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"Christian Perfection" for Saturday, 2 December 2017

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect…(PHILIPPIANS 3:12)

It is a snare to imagine that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do; God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements is apt to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you go off on this idea of personal holiness, the dead-set of your life will not be for God, but for what you call the manifestation of God in your life. “It can never be God’s will that I should be sick,” you say. If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son, why should He not bruise you? The thing that tells for God is not your relevant consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your real vital relation to Jesus Christ, and your abandonment to Him whether you are well or ill.
Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship to God which shows itself amid the irrelevancies of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that strikes you is the irrelevancy of the things you have to do, and the next thing that strikes you is the fact that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives are apt to leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary, by human effort and devotion we can reach the standard God wants. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in perfect relation to God so that my life produces a longing after God in other lives, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God is not after perfecting me to be a specimen in His show-room; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He likes. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1
Ezekiel 42:1 Then he led me into the outer courtyard — the route went north — and brought me to the [block of] rooms opposite the separated yard and opposite the building to the north. 2 The length of the front was 175 feet on the north side, where the door was; the width was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet. 3 It was located between the inner courtyard, which was thirty-five feet wide, and the flooring of the outer courtyard. It had galleries, one above the other, on three floors. 4 In front of the [block of] rooms was a walkway seventeen-and-a-half feet wide and a path twenty-one inches [wide]; their doors faced north.

5 The upper rooms were shorter, because the galleries took up some of their space, more than from the [rooms on the] lower and middle [floors] of the building. 6 For the rooms were on three floors, and they didn’t have columns like those in the courtyards; therefore space was taken away from the [rooms on the] lower and middle [floors], in comparison with the ground. 7 The length of the wall outside, next to the rooms, toward the outer courtyard in front of the rooms, was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet. 8 For the length of the rooms toward the outer courtyard was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet, whereas [the length of] the side facing the sanctuary was 175 feet. 9 Under these rooms was the entrance to the east side, leading in from the outer courtyard.

10 In the width of the courtyard wall on the east, facing the separated yard and facing the building, there were rooms, 11 with a passageway in front of them, similar to the rooms on the north. They were the same length and width and had similarly made exits and entrances.

12 By the entrances of the rooms on the south there was an entrance at the end of the passage, the passageway right in front of the wall, toward the eastern entrances.

13 Then he said to me, “The north and south [blocks of] rooms in front of the separated yard are the holy rooms where the cohanim who approach Adonai will eat the especially holy things. This is where they will put the especially holy things — the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings; for the place is holy. 14 When the cohanim come, they will not go out of the [Especially] Holy Place into the outer courtyard; rather, they will leave [in these rooms] the clothes they use when ministering, because they are holy. They will put on other clothes and only then approach the areas permitted to the people.”

15 After he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by way of the gate facing east and measured the whole area. 16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was 875 feet by the measuring rod. 17 He measured the north side; it was 875 feet by the measuring rod. 18 He measured the south side; it was 875 feet by the measuring rod. 19 He turned to the west side and measured 875 feet with the measuring rod. 20 He measured its four sides; it had a wall around it; and it was 875 [feet] long and 875 [feet] wide. Thus a division was made between what was holy and what was common.

43:1 After this, he brought me to the gate facing east. 2 There I saw the glory of the God of Isra’el approaching from the east. His voice was like the sound of rushing water, and the earth shone with his glory. 3 The vision seemed like the vision I had seen when I came to destroy the city; also the visions were like the vision I had seen by the K’var River; and I fell on my face. 4 Adonai’s glory entered the house through the gate facing east.

5 Next, a spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and I saw Adonai’s glory fill the house. 6 I heard someone speaking to me from the house, and a man was standing by me. 7 He said, “Human being, this is the place for my throne, the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live among the people of Isra’el forever. The house of Isra’el, both they and their kings, will never again defile my holy name by their prostitution, by [burying] the corpses of their kings [on] their high places, 8 or by placing their threshold next to my threshold and their door-frames next to my door-frames, with only a common wall between me and them. Yes, they defiled my holy name by the disgusting practices they committed; which is why I destroyed them in my anger. 9 So now, they should put their prostitution at a distance and the corpses of their kings far away from me; then I will live among them forever.

10 “You, human being, describe this house to the house of Isra’el, so that they will be ashamed of their crimes. And let them measure accurately. 11 If they become ashamed of all they have done, show them the elevation and plan of the house, its exits and entrances, all its details and decorations, and all its specifications, its design and its Torah. Sketch it for them to see, so that they can observe the entire design with its specifications, and carry them out. 12 This is Torah for the house: the whole surrounding area on the mountaintop will be especially holy. This is Torah for the house.”

13 These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (a cubit here is defined as a normal cubit [eighteen inches] plus a handbreadth [three inches]): the base, one cubit [twenty-one inches] deep and one cubit wide; with the molding surrounding it at its rim about a hand-span [nine inches] in width. The height of the altar is thus: 14 from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, three-and-a-half feet, with the width twenty-one inches; from the lower ledge to the upper ledge, seven feet, with the width again twenty-one inches. 15 The hearth measures seven feet [high], with four horns on top of the hearth. 16 The hearth is a square twenty-one feet on each of its four sides. 17 The ledge measures a square twenty-four-and-a-half feet on each of its four sides; the molding around it ten-and-a-half inches [across]; and its base twenty-one inches [larger than the rest, all the way] around. Its steps face east.

18 He said to me, “Human being, Adonai Elohim says, ‘These are the regulations for the altar when the time comes to construct it, offer burnt offerings on it and splash the blood against it: 19 you are to give to the cohanim, who are L’vi’im descended from Tzadok and who approach to serve me,’ says Adonai Elohim, ‘a young bull as a sin offering. 20 You are to take its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge and on the molding all the way around; this is how you will purify it and make atonement for it. 21 You are also to take the bull which is the sin offering and have it burned up at the designated place [on the grounds] of the house, outside the sanctuary. 22 On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect as a sin offering, and they are to purify the altar as they purified it with the bull. 23 When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull without defect and a ram from the flock without defect. 24 You are to present them before Adonai, and the cohanim will throw salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to Adonai. 25 Every day, for seven days, you are to prepare a goat as a sin offering; they are also to prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock without defect. 26 For seven days, they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; in this way they are to consecrate it. 27 When these days are over, then, on the eighth day and afterwards, the cohanim will present your burnt offerings on the altar and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ says Adonai Elohim.”

44:1 Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing east; and it was shut. 2 Adonai said to me, “This gate will remain shut; it will not be opened, and no one will go through it; because Adonai, the God of Isra’el, has gone through it. Therefore, it is to be kept shut. 3 Only the prince, since he is a prince, is to sit there to eat his meal before Adonai; he is to enter through the vestibule of the gate and leave the same way.”

4 Then he brought me through the north gate to the front of the house. I looked, saw Adonai’s glory filling the house of Adonai, and fell on my face. 5 Adonai said to me, “Human being, pay attention; see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything I tell you about all the regulations of Adonai’s house and about all its Torah; pay attention to who can enter the house and who must be excluded from the sanctuary. 6 You are to tell the rebels, the house of Isra’el, that this is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘House of Isra’el, enough of all your disgusting practices! 7 You brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in both heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary and profane it — yes, my house — when you offered my food, the fat and the blood; thus in addition to all your disgusting practices, they broke my covenant. 8 Instead of taking care of my holy things yourselves, you have put these people in charge of my sanctuary.’ 9 Here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘No foreigner, uncircumcised in both heart and flesh, is to enter my sanctuary — no foreigner living among the people of Isra’el.

10 “‘Rather, the L’vi’im, who went far away from me when Isra’el went astray, going astray after their idols — they will bear the consequences of their guilt, 11 but they are to serve in my sanctuary. They will have charge of the gates of the house and of serving in the house; they will slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people; and they will attend and serve them. 12 Because they served them in the presence of their idols and became an occasion of sin for the house of Isra’el, I am raising my hand against them,’ says Adonai Elohim, ‘and they will bear the consequences of their guilt. 13 They will not approach me to serve me in the office of cohen or approach any of the holy things or the especially holy things; but they will bear their shame for the disgusting practices they committed. 14 Yet I will put them in charge of the house and all its maintenance and everything to be done in it.

15 “‘However, the cohanim, who are L’vi’im and descendants of Tzadok, who took care of my sanctuary when the people of Isra’el went astray from me — they are the ones who will approach me and serve me; it is they who will attend me and offer me the fat and the blood,’ says Adonai Elohim. 16 ‘They will enter my sanctuary, approach my table to minister to me and perform my service.

17 “‘Once they enter the gates of the inner courtyard, they are to wear linen clothing; they are not to wear any wool while serving at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside it. 18 They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes on their bodies, and they are not to wear anything that makes them sweat. 19 Before going out to the people in the outer courtyard, they are to remove the clothes in which they minister, lay them in the holy rooms, and put on other clothes; so that they won’t transmit holiness to the people by means of their clothing. 20 They are not to shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must keep their hair carefully trimmed. 21 No cohen is to drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. 22 They may not marry a widow or a divorcee but must marry virgins descended from the house of Isra’el or a widow whose deceased husband was a cohen.

23 “‘They are to teach my people the difference between holy and common and enable them to distinguish between clean and unclean. 24 They are to be judges in controversies, and they are to render decisions in keeping with my rulings. At all my designated festivals they are to keep my laws and regulations, and they are to keep my shabbats holy. 25 They are not to come to any dead person, because this would make them unclean; however, for father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister who has had no husband they may make themselves unclean. 26 After a cohen has been purified, he is to wait seven days. 27 Then, on the day he enters the sanctuary, when he goes into the inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he is to offer his sin offering,’ says Adonai Elohim.

28 “‘Their inheritance is to be this: I myself am their inheritance. You are not to grant them any possession in Isra’el — I myself am their possession. 29 They are to eat the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings; and everything in Isra’el devoted [to God] will be theirs. 30 The first of all the firstfruits of everything, and every voluntary contribution of everything, from all your offerings, will be for the cohanim. You are also to give the cohen the first of your dough, so that a blessing will rest on your house. 31 The cohanim are not to eat anything, bird or animal, that dies naturally or is torn to death.

1 John 1:1 The Word, which gives life!

    He existed from the beginning.

We have heard him,

    we have seen him with our eyes,

we have contemplated him,

    we have touched him with our hands!

2 The life appeared,

    and we have seen it.

We are testifying to it

    and announcing it to you —

eternal life!

He was with the Father,

    and he appeared to us.

3 What we have seen and heard,

    we are proclaiming to you;

so that you too

    may have fellowship with us.

Our fellowship is with the Father

    and with his Son, Yeshua the Messiah.

4 We are writing these things

        so that our joy may be complete.

5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him — none!

6 If we claim to have fellowship with him while we are walking in the darkness, we are lying and not living out the truth. 7 But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of his Son Yeshua purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we acknowledge our sins, then, since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing.

10 If we claim we have not been sinning, we are making him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us.

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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves. (from The Place of Help)

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"The Law And The Gospel" for Friday, 1 December 2017

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (JAMES 2:10)

The moral law does not consider us as weak human beings at all, it takes no account of our heredity and infirmities, it demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never alters, either for the noblest or for the weakest, it is eternally and abidingly the same. The moral law ordained by God does not make itself weak to the weak, it does not palliate our shortcomings, it remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we do not realize this, it is because we are less than alive; immediately we are alive, life becomes a tragedy. “I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” When we realize this, then the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a man gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Jesus Christ is a farce to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful binding sense of the law, it makes a man hopeless — “sold under sin.” I, a guilty sinner, can never get right with God, it is impossible. There is only one way in which I can get right with God, and that is by the Death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the lurking idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience — which of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only realize the power of the moral law when it comes with an “if.” God never coerces us. In one mood we wish He would make us do the thing, and in another mood we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in the ascendant, all compulsion is gone. When we choose deliberately to obey Him, then He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us. (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 40-41; 2 Peter 3
Ezekiel 40:1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month — this was the fourteenth year after the city [of Yerushalayim] was struck — it was on that very day that the hand of Adonai was on me, and he took me there. 2 In visions God brought me into the land of Isra’el and put me down on a very high mountain; on it, toward the south, it seemed that a city was being built. 3 That is where he took me, and there in front of me was a man whose appearance was like bronze. He had a flax cord and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. 4 The man said to me, “Human being, look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to all the things I am showing you; because the reason you were brought here is so that I could show them to you. Tell everything you see to the house of Isra’el.”
5 There was a wall surrounding the house. The man had in his hand a measuring rod six cubits long [ten-and-a-half feet], each cubit [twenty-one inches] being a normal cubit [eighteen inches] plus a handbreadth [three inches]. He measured the wall’s width at ten-and-a-half feet and its height ten-and-a-half feet. 6 He went to the east gate, climbed its steps and measured one of the gate’s doorposts at ten-and-a-half feet wide and the other one the same. 7 There were guardrooms, each ten-and-a-half feet square; the distance between the guardrooms was eight-and-three-quarters feet. The threshold of the gate adjoining the gate’s entranceway facing the house measured ten-and-a-half feet. 8 He measured the gate’s entranceway facing the house at ten-and-a-half feet. 9 Then he measured the gate’s entranceway itself, fourteen feet, and its supports, three-and-a-half feet; the gate’s entranceway was on the side facing the house. 10 There were three guardrooms on each side of the east gate, all the same size; and on each side the supports [between the guardrooms] were also all the same size. 11 He measured the width of the opening to the gateway at seventeen-and-a-half feet and the width of the passage through the gateway at twenty-two-and-three-quarters feet. 12 There was a partition in front of the guardrooms [on one side] twenty-one inches [wide] and a partition on the other side twenty-one inches [wide], with the guardrooms themselves being ten-and-a-half feet square. 13 He measured [inside] the gate from the back wall of one guardroom to the back wall of the other a distance of forty-three-and-three-quarters feet, the openings [to the guardrooms] being opposite each other. 14 He made the posts 105 feet, likewise the posts of the other gates around the courtyard. 15 The distance along the passage from the outer opening of the gateway to the far side of the entranceway at the inner end of the gateway was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet. 16 There were narrow windows to the guardrooms and to their supports facing inward all along the gate; also the vestibules had windows all around facing inward. On each side support were [carvings of] palm trees.
17 Then he brought me into the outer courtyard. There I saw rooms and paved mosaic flooring made for the courtyard all around its perimeter, and thirty rooms facing the flooring. 18 The flooring was alongside the gates and corresponded to the length of the gates [from outside to inside], this lower flooring. 19 He measured at 175 feet the distance from inside this lower gate that faced east to the outside of the inner courtyard, and he did the same for the gate that faced north.
20 Next he measured the length and width of the outer courtyard gate that faced north. 21 It had three guardrooms on each side, and its supports and vestibule were the same size as those at the first gate; its length was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet and its width forty-three-and-three-quarters feet. 22 Its windows, vestibule and palm trees were the same size as those at the east gate. Seven steps led up to it [from the outside], while its vestibule was toward the inside.
23 There were gates to the inner courtyard across from the gates to the north and east; he measured 175 feet from each outer gate to its corresponding inner gate.
24 He led me toward the south, and there I saw a gate that faced south. He measured its supports and vestibule; they were the same size as the others. 25 There were windows in it and all around its vestibule like the other windows; the length was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet and the width forty-three-and-three-quarters feet. 26 Seven steps led up to it [from the outside], while its vestibule was toward the inside. It had palm trees, one on each side, on its supports. 27 The inner courtyard had a gate on the south; he measured from gate to gate toward the south 175 feet.
28 He brought me to the inner courtyard through its south gate. He measured this south gate as being the same size; 29 its guardrooms, supports and vestibule were the same size; it had windows and a vestibule surrounding it; it was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet long and forty-three-and-three-quarters feet wide. 30 There was a vestibule around it forty-three-and-three-quarters feet long and eight-and-three-quarters feet wide; 31 this vestibule faced the outer courtyard, palm trees were on its supports, and it had eight steps leading up to it.
32 He brought me into the inner courtyard, went toward the east and measured that gate as being the same size; 33 its guardrooms, supports and vestibule were the same size; it had windows and a vestibule surrounding it; it was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet long and forty-three-and-three-quarters feet wide. 34 Its vestibule faced the outer courtyard, palm trees were on its supports, both on the one side and on the other; and it had eight steps leading up to it.
35 He brought me over to the north gate and measured it as being the same size; 36 it had guardrooms, supports and a vestibule with windows all around; the length was eighty-seven-and-a-half feet and the width forty-three-and-three-quarters feet. 37 Its supports faced the outer courtyard; palm trees were on its supports, both on the one side and on the other; and it had eight steps leading up to it.
38 There was a room with its entry by the supports at the gates where the burnt offerings were washed. 39 In the entranceway to the gate were two tables on the one side and two on the other, on which to slaughter the burnt offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. 40 On the outside, as one goes up to the entry of the north gate, were two tables; and on the other side of the entranceway to the gate were two tables. 41 So there were four tables on the one side and four on the other side, by the gate — eight tables on which to slaughter sacrifices. 42 There were four tables of cut stone for the burnt offering, thirty-one-and-a-half inches square and twenty-one inches high, on which to lay the instruments for slaughtering the burnt offerings and other sacrifices. 43 Hooks a handbreadth long were fastened all around the inside of the room; the flesh of the offerings was to be placed on the tables.
44 Outside the inner gate, in the inner courtyard, were rooms for the singers, one facing south alongside the north gate, and one facing north alongside the east gate. 45 He said to me, “This room facing south is for the cohanim in charge of the house; 46 while the room facing north is for the cohanim in charge of the altar; these are the descendants of Tzadok, who are the descendants of Levi designated to approach Adonai and serve him.”
47 Then he measured the courtyard at 175 feet long and 175 feet wide — it was square. The altar was in front of the house.
48 He brought me to the vestibule of the house and measured at eight-and-three-quarters feet the thickness of the walls on either side of its entrance. On each side, these walls extended five-and-a-quarter feet from the side-walls of the vestibule. 49 The length of the vestibule was thirty-five feet and the width nineteen-and-a-quarter feet; steps led up to it. There were columns on each side of the entrance.
41:1 He brought me to the sanctuary and measured at ten-and-a-half feet the thickness of the walls on either side of its entrance, which was [also] the thickness of [the walls surrounding] the “tent” [that is, the sanctuary together with the Especially Holy Place]. 2 The width of the entrance was seventeen-and-a-half feet. The sides of the entrance were eight-and-three-quarters feet on the one side and the same on the other. He measured its length at seventy feet and its width at thirty-five feet.
3 Next, he went farther in [to the entranceway leading to the Especially Holy Place] and measured at three-and-a-half feet [the thickness of] each entrance support. He measured at ten-and-a-half feet the total thickness of the walls on either side of the entrance; and he measured at twelve-and-a-quarter feet the width of the entrance. 4 [Continuing into the inner room,] he said to me, “This is the Especially Holy Place.” He measured its length at thirty-five feet and its width at thirty-five feet along the wall nearest the sanctuary.
5 [On his way out,] he measured the thickness of the wall of the house at ten-and-a-half feet [at ground level], and the width of all the side-rooms surrounding the house, seven feet [at ground level]. 6 There were three floors of side-rooms, thirty on each floor; and the wall around the house was terraced, so that the side-rooms rested on the terraces and were not supported on [the vertical parts of] the wall. 7 The higher side-rooms surrounding the house were wider than the lower ones, as were the passageways next to the side-rooms on each floor; thus the width of the side-rooms plus that of the passageways increased as one went up from floor to floor. The ascent from the lowest floor to the highest was [by a ramp] through the middle floor.
8 I saw that the house had a raised pavement all around it which extended outward a full rod of ten-and-a-half feet from where the foundations of the side-rooms joined it.
9 The outer wall of the side-rooms was eight-and-three-quarters feet thick [at ground level], likewise the empty space left [between] the structure containing the side-rooms [and the house itself also measured eight-and-three quarters feet wide]. 10 On all sides around the house itself was a space thirty-five feet wide between it and the [block of] rooms [for the cohanim]. 11 The doors of the side-rooms opened toward an empty space, one door facing north and the other facing south; the empty space was eight-and-three-quarters feet [wide] all around.
12 The building on the west facing the separated yard had a[n interior] width of 122 1/2 feet, a[n interior] length of 157 1/2 feet and exterior walls eight-and-three-quarters feet thick all the way around.
13 He measured the length of the house at 175 feet; then a distance that included [the width of] the separated yard, [the interior width of] the building and [the thickness of] its [front and back exterior] walls, at 175 feet. 14 The distance along the facade of the house on the east through the separated yard[s to the north and south] was 175 feet. 15 He measured the length of the building facing the separated yard behind [the house], together with its galleries on both sides, at 175 feet.
The sanctuary, the inner place and the vestibules [leading from the house] to the courtyard, 16 as well as the thresholds, narrow windows and galleries around these three, had wood panelling around them as far as the thresholds and from the ground up to the windows; and the windows were covered. 17 From the area above the entrance to the interior of the house, as well as outside, and on the entire wall all the way around, both inside and outside, was a pattern 18 consisting of k’ruvim and palm trees, with a palm tree between every two k’ruvim. Every keruv had two faces; 19 so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on its one side and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on its other side — this was the pattern all the way around the house. 20 The k’ruvim and palm trees ran from the ground to above the door, and likewise on the wall of the sanctuary. 21 As for the sanctuary, the door-frames were squared, and the appearance of the [Especially] Holy Place was like the appearance [I saw at the K’var River]. 22 The altar was of wood, five-and-a-quarter feet high and three-and-a-half feet long; its length and walls were also of wood. He said to me, “This is the table which is in the presence of Adonai.”
23 The sanctuary had two doors, and the [Especially] Holy Place 24 had two doors. The doors had two swinging leaves each — two leaves for the one door and two for the other. 25 On them, that is, on the doors of the sanctuary, were carved k’ruvim and palm trees like those on the walls; and on the exterior facade of the outside entrance were thick beams of wood. 26 There were narrow windows flanked by palm trees on both sides of the entrance; the side-rooms of the house and the thick beams also [had palm trees].
2 Peter 3:1 Dear friends, I am writing you now this second letter; and in both letters I am trying to arouse you to wholesome thinking by means of reminders; 2 so that you will keep in mind the predictions of the holy prophets and the command given by the Lord and Deliverer through your emissaries.
3 First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires 4 and asking, “Where is this promised ‘coming’ of his? For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by God’s Word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters, 6 and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed. 7 It is by that same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been preserved, are being kept for fire until the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
8 Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day[2 Peter 3:8 Psalm 90:4] 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins. 10 However, the Day of the Lord will come “like a thief.” On that Day the heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will melt and disintegrate, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up.
11 Since everything is going to be destroyed like this, what kind of people should you be? You should lead holy and godly lives, 12 as you wait for the Day of God and work to hasten its coming. That Day will bring on the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt from the heat; 13 but we, following along with his promise, wait for new heavens and a new earth,[2 Peter 3:13 Isaiah 65:17; 66:22] in which righteousness will be at home. 14 Therefore, dear friends, as you look for these things, do everything you can to be found by him without spot or defect and at peace. 15 And think of our Lord’s patience as deliverance, just as our dear brother Sha’ul also wrote you, following the wisdom God gave him. 16 Indeed, he speaks about these things in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17 But you, dear friends, since you know this in advance, guard yourselves; so that you will not be led away by the errors of the wicked and fall from your own secure position. 18 And keep growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory, both now and forever! Amen.
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. (from Studies in the Sermon on the Mount)

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My Utmost for His Highest © 1992 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. Original edition © 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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