"In HIS Grip" So what's up with that?

Hey All,
As I read Oswald Chambers this morning it made me think about my email signature “In HIS Grip”. First of all, some may be wondering, (and some may not care) how I came up with “In HIS Grip”, well I’d like to say it came to me in a dream one night, or that I heard a voice whisper it in my ear, the truth is, I actually stole it from another brother. Now! I’m not even sure that he came up with it on his own; and I only say that to make myself feel better.

So what does it mean? Is it mystery, or some kind of coded message? Is it like from that movie “City Slickers” where Curly says he has the “secret to life”, while holding up his index finger with confidence, oh, and with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he says “It’s one thing!” Billy Crystal’s character spends the rest of the movie wondering what that “one thing” is, because of course Curly dies before he can tell Billy what it is, that is of course after he sings that famous rendition of “Tumblin Tumble Weed”. Anyhoo, I digress!

Something struck me about this email signature; I’ve seen other great signatures over time (which I’ve also pilfered). I think of one that was kinda cool, “ODC” which actually was the name of a guys band I know, “One Day Closer”. Another was “Perhaps Today!” But I really like “In HIS Grip”, I remember when I first saw it I thought; “Wow! What an awesome picture of our dependency on Christ, what a picture of Him abiding in us and us abiding in Him. It’s the picture of not only Him hanging on to us as we go through life, but us also choosing to hang on to Him, it’s a mutual thing. I want to live life that way (In HIS Grip), I also want to live a life where there is “more of Christ and less of me”, I want to but I’m not always successful.

There are times when my signature may say “In HIS Grip and barely hanging on!” Or as another brother said one time; “Also in His grip, and hanging on for dear life.” Does that mean that God is letting go of me? No! It means I’m choosing to loosen my grip on Him, but why would anyone do that? In my flesh, I want to do it my way, or I’m not sure that God has my back in this one, or I could even be in a state of sin at the time, but ultimately, isn’t that what sin really is anyway, me wanting to do it my way, and not His? We have to remember, He will never let go of you, He will never “leave you, nor forsake you”.

Below, Oswald Chambers quotes part of John 15:16; “I chose you”, the whole verse says; “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” When we said “Yes!” to Jesus, He immediately grabbed hold of us, and promised (through His Holy Spirit) to guide us, watch over us, and comfort us till He comes back for us, and all we have to do is “submit to God’s purpose” which is the title of Oswald’s devotional today.

I love where he says that; “God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, "This is My man, and this is My woman." We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.”

Enjoy the devotional, and ask God to keep you in “HIS Grip!”


Submitting to God’s Purpose

"I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" —1 Corinthians 9:22

A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, "If only I were somewhere else!" All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God.

We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— ". . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ).

"I chose you . . ." ( John 15:16 ). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, "This is My man, and this is My woman." We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.
Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you "turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . ." ( Deuteronomy 28:14 ). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way."

In HIS Grip
Tony

Hey All!
Today’s Oswald Chambers uses words like “captive”, and “captivity”, now before you run away, we need to ask ourselves; what is it that captivates or fascinates us? What is it that we hang on to most in this life? Is it the things of this earth that makes us happy, or that make us rich, or content? Wouldn’t you agree that we are all hanging on to something that makes us a captive to it or that captivates us? For those of us who are children of God, we are to hang on only to Him, for we know that the “things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”. But is it possible for us to hang on to the “train of His robe” with one hand, while holding on to the things of this world with the other? Sadly the answer is “yes”, and even sadder still is that most of us do!

How about those who are children on this world, those who think they belong to this world, and therefore feel that they deserve happiness from it? They see and know that there are two sides. The one side being the “train of God’s robe”, or the “procession of a conqueror” as Oswald puts it, and the other side being the things of this world and what it has to offer. Some hang on completely, and with both hands to this world. Sadly, these are the ones that say, “I don’t need to believe in God, I don’t want anything to do with that whole Christian thing. Why would I waste my time on something I can’t see, or on something that I can’t touch or hear? I only have so long to live and I’m gonna make the best of it!” These are the ones who hear the words “captives, marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs”, and run away because of their shallow understanding of what that truly means.

There are also those who maybe hang on to the world with one hand, and with the other, they hang on to nothing, keeping it free for when the time is right. They wait until they’re ready to grab hold of Christ. This hand they call freedom, just kinda flails in the wind, not really grasping for anything, just kinda there, but what they have to realize is that Jesus’ hand is only inches away, waiting for them to grab hold of the truth, so He can show them true freedom in Him.
In the case of us, those who are children of God, we hang on to the world out of disobedience, pride, ego, and selfishness. If we’ve been walking with the Lord for awhile, we know that He provides our every need, and we know He does want us to enjoy the things He has created for us, but it’s too easy to get out of balance. We need to ask Him to keep us on track with Him, we need to make sure our relationship with Him is first, then these other things become clearer, focused, and pleasurable not only to us, but also to Him.

In the other two cases, those that say they don’t need God, and those who say “not right now”, they are men (and women) of fear. Fear? What is there to be afraid of?

They fear surrendering to the captivity of the Lord because of their understanding of what captivity means to them, in this life, in this world, and in this time. They try to compare their finite mind, and finite logic, with an infinite God. They don’t know what captivity means to the creator of this life, this world, and this time. They question the step of surrender, “What will my family think? Will they accept me anymore?” Compare your families acceptance to the love of God who created you, and loves you without bounds! “Will I have to stop the things I’m doing? Will my life have to change? Can I ask you to look at your life; aren’t there some things that need changing? “You say I have to be a captive, a prisoner, what does that mean? Will I ever experience freedom again?” I’m telling you, there is freedom in the captivity!

God’s Words to us say:
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:30-32 NKJV

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36

“…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:24

And this verse sums it all up:

“For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.” 1 Corinthians 7:22

October 24, 2006 Oswald Chambers (My Utmost For HIS Highest)

The Proper Perspective

Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.

The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the "captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ" (

2 Corinthians 10:5 ).

How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, "I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus," or, "I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him." But Paul said, in essence, "I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph."

Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and "we are more than conquerors through Him . . ." ( Romans 8:37 ).

"We are to God the fragrance of Christ . . ." ( 2 Corinthians 2:15 ). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.

How Will I Know?
October 10, 2006

Hey All!
Here is yet another Oswald Chamber’s that has gotten me excited to share with you, hope it excites you too. Again, his words are in BOLD.

Jesus answered and said, ’I thank You, Father . . . that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes’ —Matthew 11:25

We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not.
It’s kinda like either we are (do) or we aren’t (do not)! For example, when we make a commitment to be married, and then actually get married, we are married. You see, God doesn’t invent certain hoops that we need to jump through to gain a “spiritual relationship” with Him. There are some religions that say; before you deserve to get to heaven you need to do this and that first, it’s like God is saying; “You need to show Me that you are worthy to spend eternity with Me” that’s called “works”. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you know what it is we deserve! You’ll see as you read further down that no matter how much we read or do, it doesn’t change our position in Christ one bit.

God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— "But if we walk in the light," we are cleansed "from all sin" ( 1 John 1:7 ).

Oswald tells us that if we obey, then we do have a relationship with The Lord.

It is a matter of obedience, and once we obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again.
Wow! Does that mean “if we turn away from obedience for even one second” that we will lose our salvation, or that we will shortly (if not instantly) die? What I believe it means for us who are children of God, and especially in my own life, is that when I “turn away” in disobedience, and because God is Holy, He also “turns away”. My relationship with Him is temporarily severed until I turn back to Him in obedience, and repentance. He turned His back on Jesus just for a moment as Jesus took the filth of the world upon Himself and became sin in the place of us. If you can imagine the worst thing you’ve ever done, or the worst thing you’ve ever seen or heard of someone doing, all that was placed on Jesus at the cross, and at that moment He was alone!

It’s “darkness and death” to the saved as well as the unsaved, they both are void of relationship with the Father, in that they both have said, “I don’t need You right now! I don’t want You right now! I can do it myself! or I deserve this because I’m a good person!” that’s sin! The Bible says “the wages of sin is death!”

Regarding this separation (which equates to darkness and death) in the case of the saved person, it has to do with separation in relationship and communion with God, which could be for as little as a moment’s time. Whereas in the other case, it means separation for eternity.

All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. Some have a real problem with this, they feel or think that there has to be more to it than just the simple Gospel. Even though the answer is right there, they think maybe if I read this book that just came out, or maybe if I chant these words, or maybe it’s not in this part of the country at all, I’ll find the truth!.

It makes me think of the Greeks of ancient days and how they put much credence into their philosophers and their great thinking men, they considered themselves very wise in their thinking and would sit for long stretches of time trying to figure out the answers, or what is their purpose here on this earth?

Check out what happened when the Apostle Paul was with these great philosophers and thinkers in Acts 17; “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. (Acts 17:22-25). And then in verses 30 and 31 Paul continues; “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

The point I’m making is this, the Gospel is meant to be simple to understand through faith, why add to it, or make it seem more complex?

But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Oswald is right in saying that once we obey God, His “sealed truths” will be opened to us. Will ALL of His truths be opened to us? Oswald points that out a little further down. I know that God promises us through His Word in James that “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

And even in the Old Testament when King Solomon asked for wisdom above everything else he could have asked God, he was given it and blessed more than any other king before him:
“Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.” 2 Chronicles 1:10-12

Let God’s truth work into you by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know the truth of God is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. If you obey God in the first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. You could read volumes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when five minutes of total, uncompromising obedience would make things as clear as sunlight. It’s up to us; do we read read read, study study study, or just simply obey? We need to immerse ourselves into His truths, but where do we find those truths? Are we sure to get them from our pastors or from the T.V. evangelist? Maybe! Are we sure to get them from the latest book that just hit the rack? Probably not! The only true way to know we are getting the truths of God is in His Word.
If your pastor is teaching more from the bible than from the latest book or latest trend, then you’re probably hearing and learning God’s truths, but again the ONLY way to know for sure is to see it and read it for yourselves.

Don’t say, "I suppose I will understand these things someday!" You can understand them now. And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. Even the smallest bit of obedience opens heaven, and the deepest truths of God immediately become yours. How can I add to that!

This is very important to understand; Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the "wise and prudent." "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . ." (John 7:17 ). The whole verse says; “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority (from man)” It can be too easy to believe what we hear from a man for several reasons; maybe because we think of him as being more knowledgeable, or maybe because he’s funny and has a great sense of humor, maybe we like the way the man shares stories, or seems to know what is right for me as a Christian (or even as an unsaved person), and how I should live in this world in this day and age. Even with me, you shouldn’t necessarily believe what I’m telling you just because you know me, or because maybe I sound like I know what I’m talking about.

There is ONLY one way to know for sure what your pastor, your T.V. evangelist, or even what your friends are saying is true when it comes to spiritual matters, and that is for you to see for yourselves in God’s word! How can I rely on something that was written thousands of years ago, how can it be relevant to this day? Because His Word tells me; “For the word of God is living and powerful, (the NIV says “living and active”) and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

Hope this encourages you today!

In HIS Grip
Tony

Hey All!
Oswald Chambers is so powerful today; I had to send it out!

October 5, 2006 “My Utmost For His Highest” Oswald Chamber’s Devotional

The Nature of Degeneration

"Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . ." —Romans 5:12

The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin, but that the nature of sin, namely, my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race through one man. But it also says that another Man took upon Himself the sin of the human race and put it away— an infinitely more profound revelation ("He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26 ).

The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, "I am my own god."

"Self-realization" Hmmm? Just for kicks I looked up “realize” and found that one of the definitions says “apprehend, grasp significance” so if we’re talking about “self-realization” we’re talking about a “grasp of significance” of who we are. So what is our significance? There’s a book and study guide titled “Search for Significance”, I haven’t read it, but I know that if I want to know what my significance is, I need to look in THE book for it, it’s in there. I remembered that the first time the word “realized” is used in the Bible is when Adam and Eve realized (what they thought was) their significance, and because of their choices, it condemned all of human race.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" NIV Genesis 3:7-8)

How many of you are still hiding from the Lord? How many are not willing to give up the things of this world, come into the light, and just see what God has for you? How many see that your significance, your importance, is more important than to listen to what God says you are, and how He wants to love you and bless you? How many are still hearing His voice calling to you “Where are you?” and you ignore it, or say “not now God”? Hopefully by the end of this, you’ll see that Oswald is saying that we are nothing without the Lord, in fact he says (as does the bible) that if “I refuse to let Him do so. (to deliver me from the heredity of sin) From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation.” Does that sound serious to you? Does is sound like something made up? Do you really want to take the chance?

This nature may exhibit itself in proper morality or in improper immorality, but it always has a common basis— my claim to my right to myself. When our Lord faced either people with all the forces of evil in them, or people who were clean-living, moral, and upright, He paid no attention to the moral degradation of one, nor any attention to the moral attainment of the other. He looked at something we do not see, namely, the nature of man ("and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." John 2:25 ).

Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption. It is through the Cross of Christ that God redeemed the entire human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a person responsible for having the heredity of sin, and does not condemn anyone because of it. Condemnation comes when I realize that Jesus Christ came to deliver me from this heredity of sin, and yet I refuse to let Him do so. From that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. "This is the condemnation [and the critical moment], that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light . . . " ( John 3:19 ).

Let me ask you, how much more clear could this be? We are not contemned to "damnation" because of the sins we commit from the day we were born, but because of Adam’s sin, from the day we were born we were already condemned, BUT, Jesus came and hung on a cross for that sin, for ALL of us, and now it's up to us to recognize or to realize that truth, and to ask Him to come into our hearts and be our savior and redeemer. I asked you above if this sounded serious to you? And if it sounded like something made up? And if you really want to take the chance? My heart for those of you who are receiving this who haven’t turned your life over to the Lord, which rightfully is His anyway, breaks as I think of what you will face when all is said and done. Am I sure that you as an individual will certainly face eternity in heaven or hell? I know what me bible tells me, but I also know that God is the only one that looks on your heart. As the verse in John 2 says up above; “…He knew (and knows) what was (and is) in man!”

If you haven’t asked Jesus into you heart and life yet, will you do it today? Don’t wait too long! Look around you, the world is dark and getting darker by the day, step out of the dark and into His light, stop hiding from God, He doesn’t want to thump you, He wants to love you and welcome you as a new adopted child for eternity.

If you have questions, please email/leave a comment.

In HIS Grip
Tony