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The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers is a large book—over 1,400 pages—and it contains all of Chambers’ published writings and many of the messages he delivered during his life. The collection was compiled after his death by his wife, who had taken careful notes on almost everything he taught. Because of her work, we can read his words today.
Oswald Chambers was born in 1874 in Aberdeen, Scotland, the youngest son of a Baptist minister. When he was a teenager, his family moved to London, and he soon publicly professed his faith in Christ and joined Rye Lane Baptist Church. Over the years, he served as a pastor, a traveling speaker, and a representative of the League of Prayer. Later, he became the principal and main teacher at the Bible Training College in Clapham, London.
During his lifetime, he published only three books. He died in 1917 at the age of forty‑three and was not well known at the time. But after his death, his wife gathered the notes she had taken during their seven years of marriage and shaped them into many books. From those notes came My Utmost for His Highest, a devotional that has been translated into more than twenty‑five languages.
My Utmost for His Highest is a book of 365 daily readings. Many of the entries come from his lectures at the Bible Training College. Sometimes a single sentence can sound sharp or surprising when read alone, but when the rest of the paragraph or work is read, its meaning becomes clear.
For this blog, one sentence from each month of the devotional will be shared. These small pieces are simply what stood out along the way. They are offered to anyone curious about Oswald Chambers, his life, or the heart behind his teaching.
January: “[God] expounds things to use as we can understand them.”
February: “We show how little we love God by preferring to listen… to personal testimonies, but we do not desire that God should speak to us.”
March: “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading.”
April: “Character determines how a man interprets God’s will.”
May: “The purpose of God is not to answer our prayers, but by our prayers, we come to discern the mind of God.”
June: “If you are recognizing your Lord, you have no business with where he engineers your circumstances.”
July: “The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience.”
August: “It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him.”
September: “God does not ask us to do the things that are easy to us naturally. He only asked us to do things we are perfectly fitted to do by His grace, and the cross will come along that line always.”
October: “It is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify; is it my will?”
November: “God never gives us discernment in order that we may [criticize], but that we may intercede.”
December: “We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful discourses.”
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Bible Verse: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” — Psalm 119:105
Source: Chambers, Oswald. The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers. Grand Rapids: Our Daily Bread, 2000. 738, 749, 761, 774, 783, 792, 805, 817, 827, 835, 848, 857.
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