My Utmost for His Highest And now, saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be His servant. – Isaiah 49:5 The first thing that happens after we have realized our election to God in Christ Jesus is the destruction of our prejudices and our parochial notions and our patriotisms; we are turned [...]

My Utmost for His Highest Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. – Matthew 5:48 Our Lord’s exhortation in these verses is to be generous in our behaviour to all men. In the spiritual life beware of walking according to natural affinities. Everyone has natural affinities; some people we like [...]

My Utmost for His Highest There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. – 1 Corinthians 10:13 The word “”temptation’ has come down in the world; we are apt to use it wrongly: Temptation is not sin, it is the thing we are bound to meet if we are men. [...]

My Utmost for His Highest But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret. – Matthew 6:6 The main idea in the region of religion is – Your eyes upon God, not on men. Do not have as your motive [...]

My Utmost for His Highest But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. – 2 Corinthians 4:2 Have you “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty”-the things that your sense of honour will not allow to come to the light? You can easily hide them. Is there a thought in your heart about anyone which you [...]

My Utmost for His Highest The simplicity that is in Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:3 Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly. A saint does not think clearly for a long while, but a saint ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear, you have to obey it [...]

After surrender-what? I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. – John 17:4 Surrender is not the surrender of the external life, but of the Will; when that is done, all is done. There are very few crises in life; the great crisis is the surrender of the will. God never crushes [...]

Missionary Munitions When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. – John 1:48 We imagine we would be all right if a big crisis arose; but the big crisis will only reveal the stuff we are made of, it will not put anything into us. “If God gives the call, of course I [...]

Do it yourself Determinedly Discipline other Things. Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. – 2Corinthians 10:5 This is another aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul says-”I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ.” (Moffatt.) How much Christian work there is to-day which has never been disciplined, but [...]

Do It Yourself Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. – 2 Corinthians 10:5 Deliverance from sin is not deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, which the saint has to destroy by neglect; and other things which have to be [...]