“If
anyone
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow Me."
Luke
9:23
"Our Lord
never insists upon obedience; He tells us very emphatically what we
ought to do, but He never takes means to make us do it. ... That is
why when Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an
IF....
"The Lord does not give me rules, He
makes His standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that
of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I
hesitate, it is because I love someone else in competition with Him,
viz., myself. ...
"When once God’s Redemption comes to the
point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey
Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other
lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of
Almighty God."
My
utmost for his highest, November 2
"...according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing
I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now
also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by
death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Philippians
1:20-21
"We shall
all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus on the point
He has asked us to yield to Him. Paul says—“My determination is to
be my utmost for His Highest.” To get there is a question of will,
not of debate nor of reasoning, but a surrender of will, an absolute
and irrevocable surrender on that point....
"When we
consider what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we
tell God He does not know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the
point; He does know. Shut out every other consideration and keep
yourself before God for this one thing only—“My Utmost for His
Highest.” I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and
for Him alone.
My
utmost for his highest, January 1
"They
laid hold upon one Simon, . . . and on him they laid the cross."
Luke 23:26
"If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it
costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in
love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a
delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If
we obey God it will mean that other people’s plans are upset,
and they will gibe us with it—‘You call this Christianity?’
"Our
human pride entrenches itself on this point, and we say— ‘I will
never accept anything from anyone.’ We shall have to, or disobey
God. We have no right to expect to be in any other relation than our
Lord Himself was in
(Luke
8:2-3)....
"We can disobey God if we
choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but
we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will
look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of
our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all
consequences with Him."
My utmost for his highest
, January 11
"I thank Thee, O Father... because Thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes."
Matthew 11:25
"...God does not cleanse us more and more from
sin, but when we are in the light, walking in the light, we are
cleansed from all sin. It is a question of obedience, and
instantly the relationship is perfected. Turn away for one second
out of obedience, and darkness and death are at work at once.
"All God’s revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by
obedience. You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking.
...
"The only way you can get to know is to stop trying to find out
and by being born again. Obey God in the thing He shows you, and
instantly the next thing is opened up.... The tiniest fragment of
obedience, and heaven opens and the profoundest truths of God are
yours straight away.”
My utmost for his highest
, October 10
"Moral
problems are only solved by obedience... Intellectually things can
be worked out, but morally the solution is only reached by
obedience. One step in obedience is worth years of study, and will
take us into the center of God's will for us."
The Shadow of an
Agony, 1934.
"No one can tell us where the
shadow of the Almighty is, we have to find it out for
ourselves. When by obedience we have discovered where it is, we must
abide there--'no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come
near your dwelling.' That is the life that is more than conquerors
because the joy of the Lord has become its strength, and that
soul is on the way to entering ultimately into the joy of the Lord."
Bringing Sons unto Glory, 1943.