Oswald Chambers

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The Spiritual Index
      'Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?' Matthew 7:9 The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing. We talk about prayer as if God heard us irrespective of the fact of our relationship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:45). Never say it is not God's wil ...read

The Spiritual Saint
      That I may know Him. (Philippians 3:10) The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There ...read

The Spiritual Saint
      'That I may know Him.' Philippians 3:10 The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing the knowledge of Jesus Chri ...read

The Spiritual Sluggard
      Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. (Hebrews 10:24-25) We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking on ...read

The Spiritual Sluggard
      'Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.' Hebrews 10:24-25 We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of pro ...read

The Spiritual Society
      Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13) Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemption. The Church ceases to be a spiritual society when it is on the look-out for the development o ...read

The Spiritual Society
      'Till we all come . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.' Ephesians 4:13 Rehabilitation means the putting back of the whole human race into the relationship God designed it to be in, and this is what Jesus Christ did in Redemption. The Church ceases to be a spiritual society when it is on the look-out for the deve ...read

The Spontaneity Of Love
      'Love suffereth long, and is kind ...' 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is not premeditated, it is spontaneous, i.e., it bursts up in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of mathematical certainty in Paul's category of love. We cannot say - "Now I am going to think no evil; I am going to believe all things." The characteristic of love is spon ...read

The Staggering Question
      'Son of man, can these bones live?' Ezekiel 37:3 Can that sinner be turned into a saint? Can that twisted life be put right? There is only one answer: "0 Lord, Thou knowest, I don't." Never trample in with religious common sense and say - "Oh, yes, with a little more Bible reading and devotion and prayer, I see how it can be done." ...read

The Supreme Climb
      'Take now thy son . . and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.' Genesis 22:2 Character determines how a man interprets God's will (cf. Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God's command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this tradition behind by the pain of ...read

The Supreme Climb
      'Take now thy son .' Genesis 22:2 God's command is - Take now, not presently. It is extraordinary how we debate! We know a thing is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it at once. To climb to the height God shows can never be done presently, it must be done now. The sacrifice is gone through in will before it is performed a ...read

The Temple Of The Holy Ghost
      'Only in the throne will I be greater than thou.' Genesis 41:40 I have to account to God for the way in which I rule my body under His domination. Paul said he did not "frustrate the grace of God" - make it of no effect. The grace of God is absolute, the salvation of Jesus is perfect, it is done for ever. I am not being saved, I am sa ...read

The Test Of Loyalty
      'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.' Romans 8:28 It is only the loyal soul who believes that God engineers circumstances. We take such liberty with our circumstances, we do not believe God engineers them, although we say we do; we treat the things that happen as if they were engineered by men. To b ...read

The Test Of Self-Interest
      "If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Genesis 13:9 As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will ...read

The Test Of Self-Interest
      'If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.' Genesis 13:9 As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you ...read

The Theology Of Rest
      'Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?' Matthew 8:26 When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust ...read

The Time Of Relapse
      'Will ye also go away?' John 6:67 A penetrating question. Our Lord's words come home most when He talks in the most simple way. We know Who Jesus is, but in spite of that He says - "Will ye also go away?" We have to maintain a venturing attitude toward Him all the time. "From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked ...read

The Transfigured Life
      'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.' 2 Corinthians 5:17 What idea have you of the salvation of your soul? The experience of salvation means that in your actual life things are really altered, you no longer look at things as you used to; your desires are new, old ...read

The Unblameable Attitude
      'If . . thou rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee... .' Matthew 5:23 If when you come to the altar, there you remember that your brother has anything against you, not - If you rake up something by a morbid sensitiveness, but - "If thou rememberest," that is, if it is brought to your conscious mind by the Spirit of God: \ ...read