April 19

Beware of the Least Likely Temptation

“Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom” (1 Kings 2:28).

Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11–13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-95/

Read More

April 18      

         Readiness

“God called to him … . And he said, ‘Here I am’ ” (Exodus 3:4).

When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses’ reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, “Here I am.” Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-94/

Read More

    April 17

All or Nothing?

“When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment … and plunged into the sea” (John 21:7).

Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-93/

Read More

                              April 16

Morning

“The precious blood of Christ.”

– 1 Peter 1:19

Standing at the foot of the cross, we see hands, and feet, and side, all distilling crimson streams of precious blood. It is “precious” because of its redeeming and atoning efficacy. By it the sins of Christ’s people are atoned for; they are redeemed from under the law; they are reconciled to God, made one with him. Christ’s blood is also “precious” in its cleansing power; it “cleanse from all sin.” “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Through Jesus’ blood there is not a spot left upon any believer, no wrinkle nor any such thing remains. O precious blood, which makes us clean, removing the stains of abundant iniquity, and permitting us to stand accepted in the Beloved, notwithstanding the many ways in which we have rebelled against our God.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-92/

Read More

                  April 15

                          A Savior of Grace

The cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side. (John 20:7)

You could read the passage a thousand times and never catch it. You could meditate on John’s account of Jesus’ resurrection for hours and still not come away with this particular thought. It’s so subtle that you might never find it. In fact, I’m convinced I would have never seen it had my wife not pointed it out to me. We were sitting in church while the passage was read, and she reached over and put her finger on my Bible, bringing a phrase to my attention. “I’ve never noticed that before,” I told her. Neither had she. See if you can find the words she pointed out.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/he-is-risen/

Read More

          April 14

                                             Inner Invincibility

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me …” (Matthew 11:29).

Whom the Lord loves He chastens …” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-91/

Read More

                         April 13

What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming

“Cast your burden on the Lord …” (Psalm 55:22).

We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wrong. We should never bear the burdens of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intend to lift off. God wants us to roll them back on Him—to literally “cast your burden,” which He has given you, “on the Lord … .” If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com/daily-devotion-90/

Read More

April 12

Complete and Effective Dominion

“Death no longer has dominion over Him … the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God …” (Romans 6:9–11).

Co-Eternal Life. Eternal life is the life which Jesus Christ exhibited on the human level. And it is this same life, not simply a copy of it, which is made evident in our mortal flesh when we are born again. Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God. The energy and the power which was so very evident in Jesus will be exhibited in us by an act of the absolute sovereign grace of God, once we have made that complete and effective decision about sin.

https://fromtimetoeternity.com//daily-devotional-89/

Read More

April 11

Complete and Effective Divinity

“If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection …” (Romans 6:5).

Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness.

The idea all through the apostle Paul’s writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God—His complete and effective divinity—to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house—He invades all of it. And once I decide that my “old man” (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me. Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to “reckon” that I am actually “dead indeed to sin,” because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness—the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order.

“Death no longer has dominion over Him … the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Copyrights and Permissions

My Utmost for His Highest

Copyright © 1992 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. Original edition copyright © 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 Publishers, which is affiliated with RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512.

Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc., all rights reserved

April 10, 2017

Complete and Effective Decision About Sin

“… our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6:6).

Co-Crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sin—that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you—not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified—just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.

Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, “Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.

This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life—to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin—that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God.

Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me …” (Galatians 2:20).

Copyrights and Permissions

My Utmost for His Highest

Copyright © 1992 by Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd. Original edition copyright © 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 Publishers, which is affiliated with RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512.

Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc., all rights reserved.