My Utmost for His Highest

Great devotional for youth

Excellent!!! 10 stars!

Oswald Chambers, where have you been all my life? I bought this book with fear and trepidation because I would usually be nervous about a book titled "My Utmost for His Highest." It sounds like a Christianity based on pulling oneself up by ones bootstraps. But I bought it anyway because I found some really great quotes in it. And I found it to be immensely helpful. Living the Christian life isn't necessarily easy, and Oswald Chambers makes it painfully obvious and says we have to rely on God. My friend Ree said "Let the beatings begin" when I bought it... but it was encouraging. And a bucket of cold water in the face when I've needed it. It's been really good and really helpful, because though God loves us unconditionally, it's easy to forget that and think that we have to do Christianity all by ourselves. Oswald Chambers knows that's not true, and he reminds me of it every time I crack his book. It's actually a devotional written by his wife, who wrote down all of his sermons in shorthand while he was preaching them and then put sections of those sermons into devotionals. And he's one of my favorite kinds of preacher. When he writes something, I can either confirm it in scripture or in my own experience. And that's awesome. Like this quote from yesterday's devotional: "We are not taken up into conscious agreement with God's purpos, we are taken up into God's purpose without any consciousness at all. We have no conception of what God is aiming at, and as we go on it gets more and more vague." When I read it I laughed because even though it disagreed with what had made sense to me, I knew it in my heart to be true. And that's typical Chambers. He says stuff that sounds wrong, but you know it in your heart to be right. Well, most of the time. But that's anything. As Rob Bell says in Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith , "God has spoken, and the rest is just commentary."

Absolutely beautiful book, in great condition. Good read

Impossible to beat this book

"My Utmost for His Highest", a book of devotional readings for each day of the year, is a perennial Christian classic with three recurring themes encompassing a triune God: Abandoning all to God, our Father and Creator; looking always to Jesus, our Saviour and brother, and becoming broken bread and poured out wine to nourish others through the work of the Holy Spirit. Although accessible to all readers and not overly academic, the daily scripture verses are cross-referenced with other embedded verses and important Christian concepts, revealing the comprehensive depth of Chambers' biblical knowledge. Throughout this collection, Chambers addresses one of the most challenging perplexities of a Christian journey: What will be God's part, given as grace, and what will be our part, as earnest striving, in living out our faith. The July 7th entry in particular addresses this balance. There is material for fruitful meditation and discursive prayer on each page; one of my favorite pages is the entry for May 19th, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" A favorite quote from the book for me would be the conclusion of March 18th:"Be serious with God and leave the rest gaily alone. Put God first literally." In my life as a Lay Carmelite I have found that advice works well: There is freedom and joy in taking all of life lightly, except for the one thing necessary-- an ever increasing love for God that fuels a deep desire to be constantly in His presence.

This daily reading is excellent. I didn't rate it as a "5" only because I know I like the updated version even better. Oswald Chambers has unique insight to the scriptures. His exposition is thought provoking and enlightening. This version is a good quality paper back that feels good when you hold it. Very affordable so makes an excellent gift several on your list.

This is simply the greatest Devotional ever written; this update makes it even more readable than ever. I carry mine with me everywhere I go and have been reading it for years. I bought this little vest pocket edition as a gift for someone else in the hopes that it would help them on their daily journey with God as it has helped me. It is amazing that Oswald Chambers writings are so timelessly strong and clear; now nearly 100 years since they were first placed in a book form by his wife nearly a century ago. It is no wonder this is the best selling Devotional in history. Two other wonderful Devotionals you should consider are "Streams in the Desert" by L.B. Cowman (edited by Jim Reimann), Zondervan. Interestingly, this Devotional is almost exactly as old at Chambers book. It is also very strong and meaningful, being a collection of great messages by a number of pastors and writers, and then edited together (along with some poetry) by Cowman. This, incidentally, it the second best seller in Devotionals (for good reason). A third recommendation is the new "The Message: Solo New Testament" by Eugene H. Peterson. I believe this devotional will become another great classic. It is wonderfully easy to read with powerful, thought-provoking ideas and suggestions following each day' short passage from the Bible (taken from the "The Message" Bible).