Oswald Chambers Daily Devotional – Utmost for His Highest 9 July 2024 Topic: The Great Examination

The Great Examination

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. . . . He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.” —Joshua 24:19

Do you have the slightest reliance on anything other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural virtue, any set of circumstances? When it comes to the new dilemma God has put before you, are you relying on yourself in any way?

This is the kind of rigorous self-examination God expects. When you say to yourself, “I can’t live a holy life,” you let yourself off the hook too easily. It’s true that you can’t make yourself holy, but you can always decide to let Jesus make you holy. Perhaps, like the Israelites in Joshua 24:19, you “are not able to serve the Lord” because your sinfulness and rebellion are too great. Yet it is always possible for God’s almighty power to work through you. You simply have to put yourself in the proper place—the place where you are right with him. Are you sufficiently right with God to expect him to manifest his wonderful life through you?

“The people said to Joshua, ‘No! We will serve the Lord’” (v. 21). The decision to serve isn’t an impulse but a deliberate commitment. You say, “God can’t possibly have called me to this. I’m too unworthy. He can’t mean me.” He does mean you. The weaker you are, the better. The person who has something besides God to trust in doesn’t come anywhere close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.”

We say, “If only I could truly believe.” The point is “If only I will believe.” No wonder Jesus Christ puts so much emphasis on the sin of unbelief: “He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (Matthew 13:58). If we really believed that God meant what he said, what would we be like? Do I dare let God be to me all he says he will?

Job 38-40; Acts 16:1-21

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Awe is the condition of a man’s spirit realizing Who God is and what He has done for him personally. Our Lord emphasizes the attitude of a child; no attitude can express such solemn awe and familiarity as that of a child.

ALSO READ: CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW US ON TWITTER ⊗ OPEN HEAVEN ⊗ JOEL OSTEEN DEVOTIONAL⊗ ABOVE ONLY ⊗ OUR DAILY BREAD ⊗ SEEDS OF DESTINY ⊗ JOYCE MEYER DEVOTIONAL ⊗ RHAPSODY OF REALITIES ⊗ JOHN HAGEE ⊗ MFM DAILY DEVOTIONALUTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST⊗DCLM DAILY MANNA ⊗ JOHN PIPER DEVOTIONAL ⊗