Grace in Hardships...

"In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings"
2 Corinthians 6:5

 These verses are Paul's spiritual diary; they describe the outward hardships which proved the hotbed for the graces of the Spirit -- the working together of outward hardships and inward grace.  Imprisonments, tumults, labors -- these are all things in the external life.  "In tumults" -- watch a boiling pot and you will know what tumult means; in that condition draw on the grace of God now.  Don't say, "I will endure it till I can get away and pray"; draw now; it is the most practical thing on earth. 

Whenever you are going through any tribulation that tears, don't pray about it, but draw on the grace of God now.  The exercise of prayer is the work of drawing now.  (The Quotable Oswald Chambers)

FAITH IS DELIBERATE CONFIDENCE IN THE CHARACTER OF GOD...

"Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." (1 Peter 3:15)

Peter does not say "give an explanation," but a reason of the hope that is in you" -- be ready to say what you base your hope on.  Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God Whose ways you cannot understand at the time.  "I don't know why God allows what He does, but I will stick to my faith in His character no matter how contradictory things look."  Faith is not a conscious thing; it springs from a personal relationship and is the unconscious result of believing someone.

The Quotable Oswald Chambers

EXPERIENCE IS NEVER YOUR GUIDE...

The servant of God has to go through the experience of things before he is allowed to go through the study of them.  When you have had the experience God will give you the line for study; the experience first, and then the explanation of the experience by the Spirit of God.  Each one of us is an isolated person with God, and He will put us through experiences that are not meant for us at all, but meant to make us able to feed others.

Experience is never your guide; experience is the doorway for you to know the Author of the experience.  Get at the knowledge of God for yourself, be a continuous learner, and the truth will open on the right hand and on the left until you find there is not a problem in human life that Jesus Christ cannot deal with.

The Quotable Oswald Chambers

MODERN EVANGELISM...Oswald Chambers

Modern evangelism has gone wildly off the track in that it has made salvation a bag of tricks whereby if I believe a certain slogan or formula, I am tricked out of hell and made right for heaven--a travesty of the most tremendous revelation of the Redemption of the human race by Jesus Christ.  The New Testament's teaching about Christianity is that the Son of God is formed in me on the basis of His marvellous regeneration until, as Paul says, "the life which I now live in the flesh"--not the life I am going to live when I get to heaven, but the life I now live in this flesh, the life that all see and know--"I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me."

Modern evangelism makes the mistake of thinking that a worker must plough his field, sow the seed, and reap the harvest in half-an-hour.  Our Lord was never in a hurry with the disciples; He kept on sowing the seed and paid no attention to whether they understood Him or not.  He spoke the truth of God, and by His own life produced the right atmosphere for it to grow and then left it alone, because H knew well that the seed had in it all the germinating power of God and would bring forth fruit after its kind once it was put in the right soil.  We are never the same after listening to the truth; we may forget it, but we will meet it a gain.

EVANGELISM

One of the dangers in modern evangelism is that it lays the emphasis on making a decision for Christ instead of on surrender to Jesus Christ.  That to me is a grave blunder.  When a man decides for Christ he usually puts his confidence in his own honor, not in Christ at all...Oswald Chambers