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Devotions for a Deeper Life
By Oswald Chambers Zondervan
Copyright © 1986 God's Bible School, Cincinnati, Ohio
All right reserved. ISBN: 0-310-60710-8
Chapter One
JANUARY 1 SUGGESTED READING: ISAIAH 26:3-4
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).
What is peace? You have seen a water puddle in the road, I'm sure. It is peaceful. There is not the slightest stirring in it. The water is smooth and unruffled. The colors of nature are reflected in it. That is not peace, but stagnant death!
Have you ever seen a child spinning a top? When the top is going its fastest, it is at perfect rest. The peace of God is perfection of energy; it is a healthy vigor of the soul.
The peace of God is not the peace of stoicism or passivity. It is the most intense activity. Some people say that they are tired of life; they mean to say that they are tired of dying. They are tired of the spiritual death that stops activity. They are tired of life getting so sluggish.
What does Jesus say? "I have come that ye might have life and that ye might have it more abundantly; but ye will not come to me that ye might have it." Everything in this natural world is pitted against you, and unlessyou have His life you will never have real peace.
May the Lord have a NEW YEAR in you!
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, thank You for inner peace in the midst of a troubled world.
JANUARY 2 SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 1:6-14
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world to do the work of a social reformer, a political administrator, a judge, or simply a ruler in the affairs of men and women. Jesus came as the Light of the World, to perform a work of grace in the hearts of individuals that will impart a new disposition of righteousness. This heartfelt transformation will make God real in our lives.
Jesus Christ is a Savior who saves, not by the impressions we derive from a study of His character, but through the work He did by the shedding of His blood on the cross. Jesus Christ is a Sanctifier who sanctifies, not by our sympathetic imitation of Him, but by the fact of what He works in us.
Our Lord was not only without sin, but He also provides a work of grace whereby you and I might be without sin. Our Lord not only obeyed the good and perfect will of God perfectly, but He also makes it possible for us to fully obey God's perfect will. Our Lord Jesus Christ was our personal substitute on the cross, and our participation in His salvation depends on our acknowledgment of this glorious deed in our behalf.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Father, I acknowledge my salvation through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross.
JANUARY 3 SUGGESTED READING: ISAIAH 53
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows (Isa. 53:4a).
Beware of any teaching that makes repentance the ransom that persuades God to forgive sin. Repentance is only the avenue whereby God enables us to see that our sinful condition is hopeless unless God does a remarkable work of grace and redemption in our lives.
Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Isaiah reminds us that Jesus was "wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with His stripes we are healed" (53:5). This is the only scriptural understanding of how sin can be forgiven. It is the only way that God's character is clearly vindicated and His unutterable love exhibited: by making His only-begotten Son the scapegoat for every man, woman, and child.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord of mercy, I bow humbly, confessing my personal need of Your grace and redemption.
JANUARY 4 SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 15:11-32
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee (Luke 15:18).
The word repentance is often misunderstood. This word, as we know it in the English language, does not fully convey the idea that God wants us to understand.
Repentance does not simply mean sorrow for sin. No! The prodigal son had remorse and sorrow while he fed pigs. In despair, he said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!" (Luke 15:17). But was that repentance? Obviously not. The prodigal left the pigs and husks, and went back to his father. He said, "I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants" (Luke 15:18 - 19). Almost before he realized it, two strong arms of love embraced him, and the father clasped him to his bosom. That is repentance! The New Testament meaning of repentance is "going back."
Have you gone back? Have you returned to your heavenly Father? Remorse is not complete repentance. Returning to God is repentance!
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank You, heavenly Father, for outstretched arms of mercy as You receive us in forgiveness.
JANUARY 5 SUGGESTED READING: ROMANS 5:6-21
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).
When a person is convicted of sin, he cries out, "Against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned!" From the biblical point of view, sin is ignoring God's claims and maintaining one's right to oneself. Sin is sometimes esteemed among human beings, but it is an abomination in the sight of God.
Sin is not an abstraction; it is a terrible and personal reality. Any person who has heard that Jesus Christ saves from sin, and continues in sin, is a damned soul already.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Devotions for a Deeper Life by Oswald Chambers Copyright © 1986 by God's Bible School, Cincinnati, Ohio. Excerpted by permission.
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