"Apprehended By God" by Oswald Chambers
If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended. (PHILIPPIANS 3:12)Never choose to be a worker; but when once God has put His call on you, woe be to you if you turn to the right hand or to the left. We are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has apprehended us. There is never any thought of — “Oh, well, I am not fitted for this.” What you are to preach is determined by God, not by your own natural inclinations. Keep your soul steadfastly related to God, and remember that you are called not to bear testimony only, but to preach the gospel. Every Christian must testify, but when it comes to the call to preach, there must be the agonizing grip of God’s hand on you, your life is in the grip of God for that one thing. How many of us are held like that?
Never water down the word of God, preach it in its undiluted sternness; there must be unflinching loyalty to the word of God; but when you come to personal dealing with your fellow men, remember who you are — not a special being made up in heaven, but a sinner saved by grace.
“I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do.…” (From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition)
Bible in One Year: Job 11-13; Acts 9:1-21Job 11:1 Next Tzofar the Na‘amati spoke up:
2 “Shouldn’t this torrent of words be answered?
Does talking a lot make a person right?
3 Is your babble supposed to put others to silence?
When you mock, is no one to make you ashamed?
4 “You claim that your teaching is pure;
you tell [God], ‘I am clean in your sight.’
5 I wish that God would speak,
would open his mouth to answer you,
6 would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
which is worth twice as much as common sense.
Understand that God is demanding of you
less than your guilt deserves.
7 “Can you penetrate God’s depths?
Can you find out Shaddai’s limits?
8 They’re as high as heaven; what can you do?
They’re deeper than Sh’ol; what can you know?
9 Their extent is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If he passes through, puts in prison
and assembles [for judgment], who can prevent him?
11 For he knows when people are worthless;
so if he sees iniquity, won’t he look into it?
12 “An empty man can gain understanding,
even if he was born like a wild donkey.
13 If you will set your heart right,
if you will spread out your hands toward him,
14 if you will put your iniquity at a distance
and not let unrighteousness remain in your tents,
15 then when you lift up your face, there will be no defect;
you will be firm and free from fear.
16 “For you will forget your misery;
you’ll remember it like a flood that passed through long ago;
17 your life will be brighter than noon;
even its darkness will be like morning.
18 You will be confident, because there is hope;
you will look around you and lie down secure;
19 you will rest, and no one will make you afraid.
Many will seek your favor;
20 but the eyes of the wicked will fail [to find comfort].
They will find no way to escape,
and their hope will turn to complete disappointment.”
12:1 Iyov responded:
2 “No doubt you are [the only] people [that matter];
and when you die, so will wisdom.
3 But I too have a brain, as much as you,
In no way am I inferior to you.
Besides, who doesn’t know things like these?
4 “Anyone who calls on God,
and he answers him,
becomes a laughingstock to his friends —
they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,
for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
[the homes of] those who anger God are secure,
those who carry their gods in their hands.
7 “But ask the animals — they will teach you —
and the birds in the air — they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth — it will teach you —
and the fish in the sea will inform you:
9 every one of them knows
that the hand of Adonai has done this!
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the spirit of every human being.
11 Shouldn’t the ear test words,
just as the palate tastes food?
12 Is wisdom [only] with aged men?
discernment [only] with long life?
13 “With God are wisdom and power;
he has [good] counsel and understanding.
14 When he breaks something down, it can’t be rebuilt;
when he imprisons someone, he can’t be released.
15 When he holds back water, there is drought;
when he sends it out, it overruns the land.
16 With him are strength and common sense;
both the misled and those who mislead are his.
17 He leads counselors away captive,
he makes fools of judges.
18 He removes authority from kings,
then binds them up [as prisoners].
19 He leads cohanim away captive
and overthrows those long in power.
20 Those who are trusted he deprives of speech,
and he removes the discernment of the aged.
21 He pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He discloses the deepest recesses of darkness
and brings light into shadows dark as death.
23 He makes nations great and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
24 He removes understanding from a country’s leaders
and makes them wander in trackless deserts.
25 They grope in unlit darkness;
he makes them stagger like drunks.
13:1 “All this I have seen with my own eyes;
with my own ears I have heard and understood it.
2 Whatever you know, I know too;
I am not inferior to you.
3 However, it’s Shaddai I want to speak with;
I want to prove my case to God.
4 But you, what you do is whitewash with lies;
you are all witch doctors!
5 I wish you would just stay silent;
for you, that would be wisdom!
6 “Now listen to my reasoning,
pay attention to how I present my dispute.
7 Is it for God’s sake that you speak so wickedly?
for him that you talk deceitfully?
8 Do you need to take his side
and plead God’s case for him?
9 If he examines you, will all go well?
Can you deceive him, as one man deceives another?
10 If you are secretly flattering [him],
he will surely rebuke you.
11 Doesn’t God’s majesty terrify you?
Aren’t you overcome with dread of him?
12 Your maxims are garbage-proverbs;
your answers crumble like clay.
13 “So be quiet! Let me be! I’ll do the talking,
come on me what may!
14 Why am I taking my flesh in my teeth,
taking my life in my hands?
15 Look, he will kill me — I don’t expect more,
but I will still defend my ways to his face.
16 And this is what will save me —
that a hypocrite cannot appear before him.
17 “Listen closely, then, to my words;
pay attention to what I am saying.
18 Here, now, I have prepared my case;
I know I am in the right.
19 If anyone can contend with me,
I will be quiet and die!
20 “Only grant two things to me, God;
then I won’t hide myself from your face —
21 take your hand away from me,
and don’t let fear of you frighten me.
22 Then, if you call, I will answer.
Or let me speak, and you, answer me!
23 How many crimes and sins have I committed?
Make me know my transgression and sin.
24 Why do you hide your face
and think of me as your enemy?
25 Do you want to harass a wind-driven leaf?
do you want to pursue a dry straw?
26 Is this why you draw up bitter charges against me
and punish me for the faults of my youth?
27 You put my feet in the stocks,
you watch me closely wherever I go,
you trace out each footprint of mine —
28 though [my body] decays like something rotten
or like a moth-eaten garment.
Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” and bring them back to Yerushalayim.
3 He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?” 5 “Sir, who are you?” he asked. “I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me. 6 But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.”
7 The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 They helped Sha’ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek. 9 For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
10 There was a talmid in Dammesek, Hananyah by name; and in a vision the Lord said to him, “Hananyah!” He said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to Straight Street, to Y’hudah’s house; and ask for a man from Tarsus named Sha’ul; for he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Hananyah coming in and placing his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 But Hananyah answered, “Lord, many have told me about this man, how much harm he has done to your people in Yerushalayim; 14 and here he has a warrant from the head cohanim to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra’el as well. 16 For I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer on account of my name.”
17 So Hananyah left and went into the house. Placing his hands on him, he said, “Brother Sha’ul, the Lord — Yeshua, the one who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh.” 18 In that moment, something like scales fell away from Sha’ul’s eyes; and he could see again. He got up and was immersed; 19 then he ate some food and regained his strength.
Sha’ul spent some days with the talmidim in Dammesek, 20 and immediately he began proclaiming in the synagogues that Yeshua is the Son of God. 21 All who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Isn’t he the man who in Yerushalayim was trying to destroy the people who call on this name? In fact, isn’t that why he came here, to arrest them and bring them back to the head cohanim?” (Complete Jewish Bible).
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WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from.
(from The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R)
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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