Particularly Face to Face by Kenneth Boa and My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. Both have made a substantial impact on my walk with God. Let me tell you why. : )
Chambers is simply wonderful at taking what was once a seemingly short and simple verse and stretching it out to a page long. He encourages me, convicts me, challenges me, and just makes me think about some really important stuff in life. What may surprise you is that I love the Old English style of writing because I have to read over each sentence more than once in order to really comprehend what he is trying to say. Not only do I feel more intelligent, but I feel like I'm able to store those profound thoughts a little deeper through repetition. :-) I highly recommend My Utmost to anyone who has an extra 5 minutes in their day that they're looking to devote to growing in their walk with God.
My friend, Arlene, who I recently told you about, gave me the book Face to Face this past July. The subtitle of this book is "Praying the Scriptures for Intimate Worship" and that's exactly what it is. The author took many verses and changed the format to be more a form of prayer. So take Proverbs 3:5-6 for instance:
Originally: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Now becomes: "I will trust in You, Lord, with all my heart, and not lean on my own understanding. In all my ways I will acknowledge You, and You will make my paths straight."
Pretty neat, huh? : ) Definitely helps with "Intimate Worship" I like it. A lot. Also highly recommended.
And I'm especially thankful for them because God used a verse mentioned in each of these devotionals on back-to-back days to point something out to me. I could go into detail, but the main thing is that I've been struggling with my thoughts being consumed with things other than Jesus Christ, and every day I'd been trying to find a different way to overcome this struggle. I've tried "abandoning reason" or asking for more "self-control of the Spirit" or acting in "wisdom". But none of those were doing the "trick"--I still found myself setting my mind on earthly things where moth and rust destroy.
But then this verse came along...and twice I might add...so I figured God was trying to tell me something. And that He did. Basically, I realized that the reason I wanted to end this struggle was for completely selfish reasons:
1. So that I would look good to others.
2. So that I would feel better about myself.
3. So that I would stop feeling guilty.
What about making Jesus Christ look good? What about making my Abba be proud of me? What about remembering that Christ took away my guilt once and for all?
I wasn't even taking into account the relationship I had with God--the fact that I love Him with all that I am.
So what might that verse be, you ask?
"If you love Me, keep My commandments." -John 14:15
Going off that, things have changed: I am no longer trying to keep Christ's commandments because I have abandoned all reason. I am no longer trying to keep Christ's commandments because I have asked for more of the Spirit's self-control. I am no longer trying to keep Christ's commandments because I have wisdom.
I am keeping Christ's commandments because I love Him.
What other reason do I need?
So when any temptation arises, that is what I focus on. I am resisting temptation because I love Jesus. I know that Jesus gave me these commandments to follow because He loved me first. I also know that I can trust Him completely that following these commandments is always part of God's best intention for our lives. Which just makes me love Him all the more.
The even greater thing is that the more I focus on my love for God, the more my selfish motivations fall to the wayside. I don't care about feeling good about myself, looking good to others, or whether or not I feel guilty. I only care about my relationship with Jesus and the love that stems from that.
Yes. I am very thankful. : ) And that's not all, folks--stay tuned!
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