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discerning the spirits, encouragement, experience, God's guidance, God's love, humanism, Oswald Chambers, preaching, spiritual growth, the cross, writing
His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. (Hab 3:4 ESV)
Photo by Susanne Schuberth
Lately as I read Oswald Chambers’ daily devotional, I was a bit bewildered at first. I read through it, wondering, still, and thought, “Okay, he seems to be right. But maybe, something is missing here…” Before telling you more, I want to show you the text I have been referring to.
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all people[s] to Myself. —John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified— to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
https://utmost.org/the-right-kind-of-help/
Almost two weeks later, I must still say Oswald Chambers appears to me being both right and wrong here. Maybe, it was only his misleading verbalization or that the context that explained his ideas more precisely was missing. If he meant that we need to affirm that there is no other way to eternal life than through the Cross of Christ (esp. in our own lives, too), then he would be right.
However, if his thoughts went into the direction of confronting ‘spiritually lost’ people always with the need of the Cross before showing them sympathy and understanding for their personal situation, then he would be wrong. Of course, Chambers thought about humanism which excludes God and thus is an enemy of the Cross of Christ. Having written myself just recently about the fact that we cannot always be nice, I agree with Chambers on many things, even here.
But what I sometimes miss in his writings is a loving kindness toward other believers and particularly toward people who do not know our Savior yet. When reading his devotionals, I often find myself feeling “accused” in one way or the other. Although I am convinced that this writer was indwelt by the Holy Spirit, I sometimes perceive a lack of (unconditional) love. Furthermore, I sometimes miss the emphasis of being Spirit-led regarding all our doing/speaking in his devotionals. I recall that he wrote about it at times, but I believe it can be easily taken wrongly if we read devotionals like this one I copied and pasted as you have seen above.
I do not mean to diminish Chambers’ achievements here in any way, but I want to encourage you to not take every word personal when you hear a preacher speaking or when you read (spiritual) writings, by Christian authors in particular. Most of the time they talk and write about their own experiences, whether they admit it or not. If they hate their current struggles, they sometimes “accuse” their audience and readers (by using an emphatic YOU) of that which has not yet been resolved in their own lives. In such cases, you might suddenly feel very small. Their questions might sound like “Is this YOUR problem?? Are YOU net yet through with this??” which makes you feel pretty uncomfortable, to say the least.
Having observed this saddening fact in my own writings, I know it is true. How often I reread an older article of mine and begin to edit it, that is, in order to soften the edges and to remove imperfections which I, though somehow perceived while writing at that time, thought was not that important. Well, I assume Chambers did not have the chance to correct these things later since he died at an early age (i.e. at the ago of 43 years only) and it is recorded that it was his wife who jotted down his speeches. So, I do hope you did not get me wrong here! I still read Oswald Chambers and appreciate him. Actually, I only wanted to share these thoughts with you which have been on my mind for many years now. Today I think we should not be easily offended through one another’s imperfections that lead us to say or write things that did not spring from the Spirit of God but from our old nature’s unresolved issues. Please, keep bearing with me, too, dear reader! 🙂
I just had an additional thought about the Scripture on which Oswald Chambers expounded here. This idea might sound a bit simple to some, but I dare to share in the form of a prayer, though.
“May we never forget that it is the Lord alone who is able to draw people to Himself; it is never about us, whatever we might think we do for Him or what we say. May we enable Him to always act through us as He sees fit. Amen.”
“May we never forget that it is the Lord alone who is able to draw people to Himself; it is never about us, whatever we might think we do for Him or what we say. May we enable Him to always act through us as He sees fit. Amen.”
Yes, Amen!
The whole point is to be led by the Spirit. Whether soft or rough, if the words spoken and actions taken are from God, they will accomplish His intended purpose. This, regardless of whether we are aware of the purpose or not. But if they are from what we have been taught by men and what we think, then even if they are “good” they will fail because God is not in them.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.
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You are right, Louise, it is all about being led by the Holy Spirit. If that was the case 24/7, we would have nothing to write about. 😉
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Yes I second the comment by Louise and your response Sue and may all of us be governed by Gods life for this year of 2017!
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Amen. Well put, Ken! ⭐
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I like the preachers that admit they are preaching to them selves as well as you. The sermon I listened to yesterday was that way. He admitted he has the problem as well and hopes that we all can stop having the issue. It was about procrastination. I prefer those semons.
I have also had the other side where they do not admit they have the problem and I do feel small or even at time embarised. I have actually been called an imature christain by a preacher. He might be right but it was said infront of a lot of people and was very embarising. He actually compared me to a young child who still pees the bed, It might be that he didn’t mean to and was just giving a comparision. This was from a question I had about the battle that is between the flesh and the spirit.
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Ouch! Only immature preachers act the way you described the last one, Fred. They somehow project their own deficiencies onto others instead of loving them, something which they cannot do as yet because they basically hate themselves as well. In pointing fingers their old self might feel better for some time, however, their conscience will keep reminding them of having judged wrongly (without love, that is). Jesus spoke about the logs in our eyes that need to be removed before we can see clearly and help others to remove the same thing which has been removed in/from us beforehand (see Mt 7:1-5 ESV).
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Wow, there is so much here that I can apply to my life at this moment, Susanne! Sometimes (most of the time) when God teaches us something, we hear it through His megaphone so loud (because we tend to be spiritually deaf) that we want to apply it to everyone and not just us. A partial truth, compared to the whole scope of Christ our Truth, can become our ALL for a season and we set about to speak and write from that new perspective before it has totally changed us within. Paul wrote,
Love never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1Cor 13:8-12, KJ2000)
There is sooooo much scope of meaning here in this passage in light of what you have been sharing, my dear sister!!! We tend to be like a child who got a new toy for Christmas that he really wanted. We climb on our “Hobby Horse” and ride it and ride it (showing my age here — some of you will have to do a Google search to find out what a Hobby Horse is) until we get the next thing that God has for us to grow into. Then a bicycle becomes our new all and so on.
We always prophesy in part and we know in part! BUT when His perfect love has found its home in our hearts, the edge that our flesh puts on our prophesy and on our “words of knowledge,” teaching and so on, wanting to force others to hear and receive what GOD HAS GIVEN US… THAT will be done away with. We will speak only what is motivated by His love for others. Will that always be warm and fuzzy? No, but it WILL be timely and the word of the Spirit for them in that moment. God will have prepared their hearts to receive it if not in that moment, He will haunt them with those words until they CAN receive it by His Spirit and not by the forcefulness of our flesh. We finally put away our childish ways as His personal words to us have sunk into our hearts and we quit playing with them in our minds, wanting to make them stick to everyone else BUT US! “Now I know in part, but THEN shall I know even as I am known,” by Him.
Father, please open the eyes of my heart to see the depth of what Susanne has shared with us in this blog today. Amen. ⭐ ❤ ⭐
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Isn’t it strange, Michael, before reading your response I commented on similar thoughts you expounded on above, esp. on LOVE (compare my reply to Fred if you like). I too believe that THIS is the very goal to be reached by our long process of sanctification. Divine perfection can only be found IN Christ and IN God’s perfect love. Outside of God there is always only the flesh with its spiritually destructive ways and misled thought life (not God’s thoughts, that is).
As for me trying to apply what God showed me to others, too, I do know that one, my dear brother. 🙂 But alas, God always nudges me to speak and write in order to put ME through His paces first while others often (seemingly?) fail to understand what I am talking about. That can be pretty frustrating at times…
“Love never fails…” What deep truth is THIS!!! ❤ ❤ ❤ With that not only in our minds, but fully developed and believed in our hearts, we will be able to easily drop the rest, don’t you think, my brother?
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Yes, dear heart, His love operating in us is the perfection of the Son in us as well. “The greatest of these is love” for God is love.
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Yup! Very well said, Michael! ☆☆☆
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I know what a hobby horse is, and I also know what a high horse which is what the Lord makes me come down off of now and then. 😉 What you said reminds me of my early conversion when I could “check” myself by reading a prayer from the Jewish Day of Atonement. If I could even read that prayer of repentance without my unhealthy conscience cringing, I knew the Holy Spirit was with me. I still recognize His presence in myself and others by our tendency to be focused on our own growth more than on other people’s failings. I think people in a stat of spiritual ruin are usually pointing fingers and crying out “Shame on you!” at other people. And even recognizing spiritual death in another person does me no good unless it leads me to prayer for them or repentance in my own walk. It’s kind of a catch-22.
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Susanne, thank you for the blog, and the posted comments.
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You are so very welcome, dear Pat. I have been thinking about you often and I hope and pray you might be in good health. ♡☆♡
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What wise advice, Susanne. Many Christians (often the most sincere) have been wounded by the self-righteousness and outright errors of their ministers. I am reminded of the countless women in abusive relationships counseled to remain in brutal and life-threatening situations.
I wrote a book on faith years ago which addressed a variety of topics including homosexuality. I researched the book, and prayed about it. Conveying both the difficult truth and the love of the Gospel was, however, enormously difficult. I’m still not sure I got the balance right.
In retrospect, I wish I had left the topic out. That didn’t seem possible at the time. The lesson for others is, however, that we ought at times to be silent.
A corollary might be that those of us who teach should pray for our readers/students/congregations. Both our understanding and our eloquence have limits. We must be humble enough to acknowledge that. And what we say w/ the best of intentions may, nonetheless, be misunderstood.
With love,
A. ❤
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Thank you so much for your encouraging words, dear Anna. ❤
Oh yes, those ‘Christian counselors’ who think it could be God’s will for a woman to remain in an abusive relationship! They never came to know the love of God nor did they ever hear something about discerning the spirits and about the necessity to draw healthy boundaries for our own sake. Sooo sad!! 😦
I do not like to write about sexuality, including homosexuality, either, Anna. It is extremely difficult to get the balance right. On the one hand I know that God does not want me to have a spiritual fellowship with a Christian brother or sister who lives in an adulterous or in a homosexual relationship without repentance. On the other hand I know such people personally and some of them are no Christians yet. So I pray, just like you said above. It is not my job to judge them, but to simply listen to His guidance in each and every single case. No rule book, no principle to be followed but to simply listen to His leading alone. He knows our hearts just as He knows the hearts of those who have no awareness of sin in their lives yet. It is for sinners that Jesus died, not for the righteous who seem to know everything about God as these ‘counselors’ who strongly remind me of the Pharisees in Jesus’ days on earth…
Much love to you, Anna. You have a great heart!! ❤ ❤ ❤
Susanne
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Very freeing, to understand how writers and preachers project their own conflicts on others! I recently read a book by a respected Orthodox writer and was shocked that he justified some past violent acts of Christians as perhaps necessary in order to defend doctrine. Now I can understand a little more of how such violence becomes accepted and spreads among Christians, one by one. Good for thought and for my own soul searching, too.
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What an appropriate example you gave us here, dear Nancy! We see that it is always the fear of man that causes us to submit to the wrong spirits. ‘Someone who is honored publicly cannot be wrong’, that is the way Satan whispers into the innocent ears of those he wants to deceive and capture afterwards. From my own experience I can say that it is always only the old nature of man that is violent, the new man in Christ, instead, is meek and lowly in heart. Christianity would become violent in history when uncrucified, natural men led people away from the living God and the Holy Spirit’s guidance that is freely available to everyone.
Glad you found the post helpful, my sister! ❤
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How I would love to completely be free of “fear of man”! Only to be guided by the Holy Spirit always. 🙂
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Amen, Nancy. May God set us free completely!
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Dear sis,
Reading the Chambers devotional, I had exactly the same concerns. The Lord has been impressing in my heart the need for Christians to stop pointing fingers, and how prevalent a sin it is. Who is the accuser of the brethren? When we condemn other people (believers or not) we are playing his game. Not that we shouldn’t discern sin. But final condemnation belongs to God.
He showed me Isaiah 58 regarding this. Also the passage in Micah 6 where God says we should LOVE mercy. Also in Exodus 34 where judgment of sin is present but mercy gets a greater stress. And many more passages.
Do we really believe that God doesn’t want anyone to perish? Most people in the western world already know that God judges sin. The religious right has been very vocal about it. Many of the unbelievers we encounter don’t need more judgmental voices. They need to hear there is forgiveness, redemption and deliverance in Christ.
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Amen, dear Carina. Very well said! ⭐
Happy New Year belatedly! 🙂
Your sister Susanne ❤
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