Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)

I'm nowhere near finished with this book, having started on only January 1 as a new devotional (even though, as a reviewer stated, it apparently wasn't written as a devotional); but I don't expect my opinion of it or my substantive comments to change, so I thought I might as well get my review out of the way.

I am delighted by this book, as well as feeling challenged. Much better than my last devotional, which offered more pastoral care (which I didn't need much of at that time) than show more teaching. These lessons are challenging enough that I am feeling the need to go back and re-read some. show less

I used to really think this was a great book. There are some entries that I still think are great, however, I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated with Chambers being somewhat heavy-handed with works-based doctrine. Unnervingly, he seems heavily rooted in Christian-perfectionism at times, and I find that downright depressing. Worse, Chambers overuses ellipses in his daily scripture quotations to the point at which he frequently has more to say about a verse than what quoted sentence show more fragment actually supports - context is important, and it is lost in this form of exegesis. show less

There have been so many days this year that Chambers was speaking directly to me! Admittedly, there have been days where the message was a little hard to follow or where we were crossways with our theology, but by and large, Chambers just had this gift for cutting through the worldly noise and getting to the heart of who God is and what He desires for us. Personally, his August writings were very impactful for me.

Oswald Chambers, a Scotsman who converted to Christianity in his teens under the ministry of Charles Spurgeon, has been affecting Christians with his devotional words since My Utmost for His Highest was first published in 1935. This acknowledged classic contains 365 daily readings that take heady doctrine and make it practical, realistic, and intensely personal. With humor and humility, Chambers speaks plainly to the common man struggling with devotion to Christ in daily living. Worldly show more cares and self-serving desires begin to lose their appeal as Chambers aides the reader in transforming his mind by viewing life through the instruction of God's Word. Richard Halverson, a former chaplain of the United States Senate, attests to this: "no book except the Bible has influenced my walk with Christ at such deep maturing levels." This is Chambers's chief desire, directing the reader to "shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only--My Utmost for His Highest... determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone." --Jill Heatherly show less