Tag Archives: oswald chambers

My argument with Ozzie

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I was hanging out with Ozzie (Oswald Chambers) yesterday, and he said to me, “No matter where God places us or what the inner desolations are, we can praise God that all is well.  That is faith being worked out in actualities.”  Well, Ozzie and I debated for a little bit.  I came right back…

“Ozzie, you have no idea what kind of things I’ve been through.  Moreover, you have no idea what sorts of things other people have gone through.  How could you say to just have faith in situations that you know nothing about?”

“PC, you’re an idiot.  I wrote one of the most timeless devotionals ever written.  I have thought on these things for a long long time.”

“You’re side-stepping my question, Ozzie.”

“Fine!  Are you prepared to let God do as He likes with [you]–prepared to be separated from conscious blessings?”

I began getting a bit frustrated with Ozzie.  I asked whether he actually wanted me to believe that God would give me times of desolation and darkness–on purpose.  He said, “Yes!” as though I were an idiot for asking.  He said, “PC, it is not that we choose it, but that God engineers our circumstances so that we are brought there.  Until we have been through that experience, our faith is bolstered up by feelings and by blessings.”

Of course I did not completely understand.  “What’s wrong with feelings and blessings?”

“Pay attention, PC!  I just said ‘bolstered up by’ feelings and blessings.  Is your faith based only on blessings and feelings?  Do you still have faith when neither of those are present?  If not, then you don’t have a very solid faith at all.”

“Alright Ozzie!   Let me get this straight.  You’re saying that God gives me times of desolation and difficult circumstances…my God of love does this to me, and I need to be PREPARED for these things so that I can still trust that all is well even when it doesn’t FEEL like it is?  I have to have faith that is not DEPENDANT on good feelings and blessings, and in fact remains if I have neither one of them?”

“YES!  That’s exactly what I am saying!”

“ALRIGHT!  You don’t have to yell at me.”

Ozzie’s always yelling at me.

The strength of uncertainty

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“Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.” – Ozzie (Oswald Chambers)

We are certain of God: we are uncertain of what will happen next. There is much to be said of faith and the spiritual life as it applies to certainty.

We are so obsessed with certainty. Is it really all that necessary? Well, its not if you are living a life of faith…the spiritual life. The spiritual life is not one of certainty. The moments I am so uncertain of what would happen next are the moments my faith is stretched and made stronger.

When you stretch your muscles they grow. They do not necessarily grow stronger and bigger, but they do grow more flexible, which allows them the ability to grow stronger in time.

So here I am a man in need of flexibility. I am a man in need of faith…because I am certainly uncertain. These are now the times of becoming more flexible, and that flexibility makes strength more available. That ability ultimately leads to strength.

Why God is wrecking you

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“The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to be hurt or offended. Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God….If the spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.” - Ozzie Chambers

There are times I have certainly sensed God offending me with the things He brings my way. There have been times He speaks loud and clear through a devotional, through actions or words that have hurt me and offended me. A lot of those times, I have resulted to the, what I thought was, the faithful response of, “Well God is in control, and He knows best.”

Of course that is very true, but I have rarely gone the next step when God has offended me. I have rarely taken a look at myself and tried to figure out, “Well then what is God telling me here? What is He getting at by offending me? What needs to die within my life? What is getting in the way of my serving God completely?”

If God is going to continue offending me until there is nothing left to hurt or offend, how long will I go without killing all those things left in my life to be offended and hurt? I do not want my service or relationship to God to be ruined by anything.

You and your selfish mountaintop experience

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“Spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mount.” – Ozzie Chambers

Many of us are dependant on the mountain top experiences, and we get frustrated and disappointed when we go back down. We go to a camp or a retreat to get pumped up, and we want to stay there because everything is so good there. Our walk with God seems so amazing and we want to stay there. But as Ozzie points out, its such a selfish way to use the mountain. The mountaintop is intended for inspiration for the descent back into the valley. Life is intended to be lived in the valley; not on the mountaintop.

There are many people in the valley who need inspiration and rescue from the brokenness, but they will never be reached if we remain on the mountaintop.

Does that mean we should not have mountaintop experiences? Are we selfish because we are on the mountaintop? No! We are only selfish when our desire is to stay on the mountain.

The mountain experiences are necessary. We need those times for inspiration and rejuvenation, but we cannot be so dependant upon them that we want to stay there. We should be excited and ready to descend the mountain back down into the valley where life is intended to be lived. We have to take with us renewal and inspiration back down the mountain into our daily lives with our daily interactions with different people. Otherwise we are some of the most selfish people around.

We are told to go out into the world and spread the gospel unto all nations. When we go to the mountain, we experience the gospel once again. We take it in once again; allowing ourselves to be saturated in the relentless love of God. We grow closer to the heart of God with very minimal interruption, but we cannot stay there. We cannot live in this moment. We are not intended or called to live that way.

The mountain is intended to be inspirational, but we are intended to bring that inspiration and live in the valley.

Soaking vs Snapping

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Ozzie Chambers says, “It is the innermost of the innermost that reveals the power of life.” Our spiritual power and purpose is only found within. This means that the majority of our time should be spent in the private life with God. How much time do I dedicate to my private life with God?

Where does our strength come from? Do I have any strength at all? When I spend enough private time with God in my innermost being, I find what Ozzie says:

“strength lies in the fact that here you are put into SOAK WITH GOD.”

I love that phrase; that image. Have I been soaking with God? Only when I take the time and space to soak before God will I ever have the inner strength that comes from it. I have to find the private time with God on a regular basis where I can sit and SOAK BEFORE GOD. This is the only way to go about life, and this is the way faith and Christianity is meant to be lived out.

“if you waste your time in over-active energies instead of getting into SOAK on the great fundamental truths of God’s Redemption, you will SNAP when the strain comes.”

I look back and realize how true Ozzie is here. I can look back to see the most straining times brought two reactions from me depending upon whether I had been having my private time with God regularly or not. Had I been soaking with God during those times? Well it can be determined based on whether I snapped in those moments or not. Had I completely broken down when life kicked me where it counts? Had I nearly given up?

OR did I go through it faithfully and with trust?

When life kicks you where it counts, I hope you have been SOAKING BEFORE GOD so you do not SNAP.

The measure of a disciple

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“It is possible to know all about doctrine and yet not know Jesus. The soul is in danger when knowledge of doctrine outsteps intimate touch with Jesus.” – Ozzie Chambers

I wonder how connected I am to the heart of Jesus lately. The true measure of a disciple is his intimacy with Jesus; not how much they know. Now this is not to say that knowledge and study are characteristics of people who are not disciples. That knowledge can and should always bring us toward intimacy with the Father. But the primary question remains, “Do I have an intimate connection with the heart of Jesus?” Because THAT is the knowledge of Jesus that I desire.

There is a great story to be remembered here. There was a small church that had had a new pastor come to lead them. The church leaders came together to discuss the transition. One leader said, “Well what’s the difference between the pastors?”

Another answered, “Well the old pastor preached that we are all sinners in need of grace, and Jesus came to die that we may be saved.”

“Well what does the new pastor preach?”

“He preaches that we are all sinners in need of grace, and Jesus came to die that we may be saved.”

“I fail to se a difference in that.”

“Our pastor, now, preaches it with tears in his eyes.”

Intimate quotes of connection

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“So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be ALERT, and self-controlled.” -1 Thessalonians 5:6

“Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray…” -Luke 22:46

“The basic human problem is that all men are bored.” – Kierkegaard

“When we MEDITATE, our eyes are taken off ourselves…our eyes are FIXED on Jesus.” – Brennan Manning

“The one sign of discipleship is INTIMATE CONNECTION with Him, a knowledge OF [not 'about'] Jesus Christ which nothing can shake.” – Ozzie Chambers

Jesus is wrecking everything

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Ozzie Chambers writes, “Have you ever heard the Master say a  hard word?  If you have not, I question whether you have heard Him say anything.”

I am reminded today of how destructive and abrasive the words of Jesus should be to our lives.  Most of Jesus’ words and commands should be wrecking our lives.  We are to obey a drastic call to be counter-cultural.

We in America are rich young rulers (Luke 18), and we are being called to many things that are going to be very hard for us to obey.  They are difficult because these are not things we are used to and comfortable with.  Many of the pursuits…MOST of the pursuits of our culture are not as Jesus has called us to live.  Jesus intends to wreck our lives…as they are.

Most of the time, I am a rich young ruler, and I walk away sorrowful because I cannot bring myself to fully follow Jesus.  Jesus never comes running after me begging and pleading.  Another day my desire will bring me back to Jesus; he will challenge me to something that will require a sacrifice on my part, and I will be faced with a difficult decision as to whether or not to do it.

Some days I follow Jesus; other days I walk away from Him and His command on my life with my head hung low because, once again, I am unable (unwilling) to fully obey and follow.

Jesus has not quite wrecked my life, but He’s always trying.

Blameless; not faultless

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Consistently thorughout scripture is reference to people being blameless before God. A few years ago I read an Oswald Chambers footnote that changed the way I read that word from then on. It simply said “blameless; not faultless”.

This is humbling on one hand and encouraging on the other.

It is humbling to know that you are still not without fault. It is humbling to remember that you still live on earth short of perfection. It is good to have this humble reminder once you have been called ‘blameless’.

It is encouraging to know because of Jesus and as you consistently walk with God, you are blameless before Christ even though your life is still not without faults.

It is encouraging to know even though your life is bent toward destructive choices (faults) you can still be seen as blameless if you will be entangled with Christ and walk with God.

May I learn to live blameless though not always faultless.

Don’t Focus On Spiritual Growth

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There is something in each of us, which wants to ‘grow’ and ‘mature’ and ‘develop’ spiritually. We think all the methods and practices will make us reach the goal. We get focused.

But we focus in the wrong direction.

Growing in our spiritual lives does not happen by focusing directly on it.

Spiritual growth and maturity happens from concentrating on and entangling with the Father.