The most beloved devotional of all time. by Oswald Chambers LEARN MORE for Sunday, 4 November 2018 "The Authority of Truth" by Oswald Chambers

The most beloved devotional of all time. by Oswald Chambers LEARN MORE for Sunday, 4 November 2018 "The Authority of Truth" by Oswald Chambers
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)
It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.
When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me…” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R)
Through The Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 32-33; Hebrews 1 are Scripture Readings for Today.
Jeremiah 32:1 This is the word that came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai in the tenth year of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, which was the eighteenth year of N’vukhadretzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Bavel was besieging Yerushalayim; and Yirmeyahu the prophet was imprisoned in the guards’ quarters attached to the king of Y’hudah’s palace, 3 where Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah had imprisoned him after demanding, “How dare you prophesy that Adonai says, ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Bavel, and he will capture it; 4 Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah will not escape from the Kasdim but will certainly be handed over to the king of Bavel, who will address him face to face, with their eyes meeting; 5 and he will lead Tzidkiyahu to Bavel, where he will stay until I remember him,’ says Adonai, ‘and even if you fight the Kasdim, you will fail’?”
6 Yirmeyahu said, “This word of Adonai came to me: 7 ‘Hanam’el, the son of your uncle Shalum, will approach you and say, “Buy my field at ‘Anatot; you have next-of-kin’s right to redeem it; so buy it.”’” 8 As Adonai had said, my cousin Hanam’el came to me in the guards’ quarters and said, “Please buy my field at ‘Anatot, in the territory of Binyamin; because you will inherit it, and you have next-of-kin’s right to redeem it, so buy it for yourself.” Then I was certain that this was Adonai’s word.
9 So I bought the field at ‘Anatot which belonged to my cousin Hanam’el and weighed out the money for him, seven ounces of silver shekels. 10 I signed on the purchase contract, sealed it, called witnesses and weighed out the money for him on a balance scale. 11 I took the purchase contract, both the sealed copy with the terms and conditions, and the unsealed copy, 12 and gave the purchase contract to Barukh the son of Neriyah, the son of Machseyah, in the presence of my cousin Hanam’el, the witnesses who had signed the purchase contract and the people from Y’hudah sitting by the guards’ quarters. 13 In their presence I instructed Barukh as follows: 14 “Here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Take these contracts, both the sealed and unsealed copies, and place them in a clay jar, so that they can be preserved for a long time.’ 15 For Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says that one day homes, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”
16 After giving the purchase contract to Barukh son of Neriyah, I prayed to Adonai: 17 “Adonai, God! You made heaven and earth by your great power and outstretched arm; nothing is too hard for you. 18 You display your grace to thousands but also repay the guilt of the fathers into the lap of their children who follow them. Great, powerful God, whose name is Adonai-Tzva’ot, 19 great in counsel, mighty in deed! Your eyes are open to all the ways of human beings in order to repay each one according to his ways, according to the consequences of what he does. 20 You gave signs and performed miracles in the land of Egypt which continue to this day, also in Isra’el and among other people; thus you made yourself the reputation you have today. 21 You brought your people of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt with signs and miracles, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22 Then you gave them this land, which you had sworn to their ancestors that you would give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They entered and took possession of it; but they did not pay attention to your voice, did not live according to your Torah, and did nothing of all you ordered them to do. Therefore you made this complete disaster befall them — 24 the siege-works are already there; they have come to the city to capture it; and the city, by means of sword, famine and plague, is being handed over to the Kasdim fighting against it. What you foretold is being fulfilled; here, you see it, yourself. 25 Yet you, Adonai, God, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for money, and call witnesses; even as the city is being turned over to the Kasdim!’”
26 Then this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu: 27 “Look, I am Adonai, the God of every living creature; is there anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, here is what Adonai says: ‘I will hand this city over to the Kasdim and to N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel; and he will capture it. 29 The Kasdim who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire; they will burn it down, including its houses, on whose roofs they offered to Ba‘al and poured out drink offerings to other gods, in order to make me angry. 30 For from their youth, the people of Isra’el and the people of Y’hudah have done only what is evil from my perspective; the people of Isra’el have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands make,’ says Adonai. 31 ‘This city has so provoked my anger and fury from the day they built it to this day that I ought to remove it from my presence, 32 because of all the evil that the people of Isra’el and the people of Y’hudah have done in order to make me angry — they, their kings, their leaders, their cohanim, their prophets, the men of Y’hudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. 33 They have turned their backs on me, not their faces; and although I taught them, taught them frequently, they have not listened so as to receive instruction. 34 Instead they put their detestable idols in the house that bears my name, to defile it; 35 and they built the high places for Ba‘al which are in the Ben-Hinnom Valley, to burn alive their sons and daughters to Molekh — something I did not order them to do, it never even entered my mind that they would do such an abominable thing — and thus they caused Y’hudah to sin.’
36 “Therefore, thus says Adonai the God of Isra’el concerning this city, of which you say that it is handed over to the king of Bavel by sword, famine and plague: 37 ‘I will gather them out of all the countries where I drove them in my anger, fury and great wrath; and I will bring them back to this place and have them live here in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and singleness of purpose, so that they will fear me forever — this will be for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant not to turn away from them, but to do them good; I will put fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not leave me. 41 I will take joy in them, so as to do them good. I will plant them in this land truly, with my whole heart and being.’ 42 For here is what Adonai says: ‘Just as I have brought this complete disaster on this people, so likewise I will bring on them all the good I have promised them. 43 Fields will be bought in this land, even though you say about it that it is desolate, devoid of human beings or animals, and given over to the Kasdim. 44 Yes, people will buy fields for money, sign the purchase contracts, seal them and call witnesses, in the territory of Binyamin, in the areas around Yerushalayim, in the cities of Y’hudah, in the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the Sh’felah and in the cities of the Negev. For I will cause their exiles to return,’ says Adonai.”
33:1 The word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu a second time while he was still imprisoned in the guards’ quarters:
2 “Thus says Adonai the maker,
Adonai who formed [the universe]
so as to keep directing it —
Adonai is his name:
3 ‘Call out to me,
and I will answer you —
I will tell you great things,
hidden things of which you are unaware.’”
4 For here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says concerning the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Y’hudah which are about to be destroyed and used as siege-works and ramparts, 5 where they will come to fight the Kasdim: “These places will eventually be filled with the corpses of people whom I am striking down in my anger and fury, everyone whose wickedness has caused me to hide my face from this city. 6 However, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them peace and truth in plenty. 7 I will cause the captives of Y’hudah and the captives of Isra’el to return; and I will build them up as I did at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all their sins, through which they offended me; and I will pardon all their sins, through which they offended and rebelled against me. 9 Then the name of this city will bring me joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth that hear about all the good I am doing for them; they will be overcome with fear and trembling at all the good and peace I am securing for it.”
10 Here is what Adonai says: “You say that this place is a wasteland, with neither people nor animals in the cities of Y’hudah, and that the streets of Yerushalayim are desolate, without people or animals — no inhabitants. Yet there will again be heard here 11 the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of bridegroom and bride, the voices of those who sing, ‘Give thanks to Adonai-Tzva’ot, for Adonai is good, for his grace continues forever,’ as they bring offerings of thanksgiving into the house of Adonai. For I will cause those captured from the land to return, as before,” says Adonai.
12 Adonai-Tzva’ot says, “In this place, which is a wasteland without people or animals, and in all its cities, there will once again be pasture-lands where shepherds can let their flocks rest. 13 In the cities of the hill-country, in the cities of the Sh’felah, in the cities of the Negev, in the territory of Binyamin, in the areas around Yerushalayim and in the cities of Y’hudah flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them,” says Adonai.
14 “Here, the days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will fulfill this good promise which I have proclaimed for the house of Isra’el and the house of Y’hudah.
15 When those days come, at that time,
I will cause to spring up for David
a Branch of Righteousness.
He will do what is just and right in the land.
16 When those days come, Y’hudah will be saved,
Yerushalayim will live in safety,
and the name given to her will be
Adonai Tzidkenu [Adonai our Righteousness].”
17 For this is what Adonai says: “There will never be cut off from David a man to occupy the throne of the house of Isra’el. 18 Nor will there ever be cut off from the cohanim who are L’vi’im a man before me to offer burnt offerings, burn grain offerings and offer sacrifices every day.”
19 This word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu: 20 “Here is what Adonai says:
‘If you can break my covenant with the day
and my covenant with the night,
so that daytime and nighttime no longer come
when they are supposed to,
21 then my covenant with my servant David
also can be broken,
so that he will not have a descendant
to reign from his throne
or L’vi’im who are cohanim
to minister to me.
22 To the degree that the armies of heaven are past counting
and the sand by the sea past measuring,
I will increase the descendants of my servant David
and the L’vi’im ministering to me.’”
23 This word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu: 24 “Haven’t you noticed that these people are saying, ‘Adonai has rejected the two families he chose’? Hence they despise my people and no longer look at them as a nation. 25 Here is what Adonai says: ‘If I have not established my covenant with day and night and fixed the laws for sky and earth, 26 then I will also reject the descendants of Ya‘akov and of my servant David, not choosing from his descendants people to rule over the descendants of Avraham, Yis’chak and Ya‘akov. For I will cause their captives to come back, and I will show them compassion.’”
Hebrews 1:1 In days gone by, God spoke in many and varied ways to the Fathers through the prophets. 2 But now, in the acharit-hayamim, he has spoken to us through his Son, to whom he has given ownership of everything and through whom he created the universe. 3 This Son is the radiance of the Sh’khinah, the very expression of God’s essence, upholding all that exists by his powerful word; and after he had, through himself, made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of HaG’dulah BaM’romim.[Hebrews 1:3 Psalm 110:1]
4 So he has become much better than angels, and the name God has given him is superior to theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”?[Hebrews 1:5 Psalm 2:7]
Also, God never said of any angel,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son.”[Hebrews 1:5 2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 17:13]
6 And again, when God brings his Firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”[Hebrews 1:6 Psalm 97:7]
7 Indeed, when speaking of angels, he says,
“. . . who makes his angels winds
and his servants fiery flames”;[Hebrews 1:7 Psalm 104:4]
8 but to the Son, he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever;
you rule your Kingdom with a scepter of equity;
9 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you
with the oil of joy in preference to your companions”;[Hebrews 1:9 Psalm 45:7–8(6–7)]
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth;
heaven is the work of your hands.
11 They will vanish, but you will remain;
like clothing, they will all grow old;
12 and you will fold them up like a coat.
Yes, they will be changed like clothing,
but you remain the same,
your years will never end.”[Hebrews 1:12 Psalm 102:26–28(25–27)]
13 Moreover, to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?[Hebrews 1:13 Psalm 110:1]
14 Aren’t they all merely spirits who serve, sent out to help those whom God will deliver?
(Complete Jewish Bible).
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