My Utmost for His Highest: 365 Daily Devotional

Rating:
Summary: Give us this day our daily bread...
Review: "My Utmost for His Highest" is daily bread, hot and fresh from heavenly ovens!

This was the first devotional I read after I was saved and have rediscovered its relevance, convicting power, and probing insights.

I gave a copy to my best friend in June. He told me that he started reading it from January 1st, 5 days at a time, because he didn't want to miss anything God had for him in the previous months!

That's the it is with Utmost - every day brings the Word of God in an interesting, very personal and amazingly relevant way to the reader. This is a precious gem for the believer.

Rating:
Summary: A Pearl of Great Price
Review: First, I must admit that I am not a big fan of devotionals. The few I have used before picking up "My Utmost for His Highest" have been rather shallow, and almost had a hallmark quality to them (easy verse, followed by flowery discussion, ending with God loves you). So, I was hesitant to spend a year going through Oswald Chambers book when it was recommended to me by a friend.

I am certainly glad that I did because it far exceeeded my expectations. Over the last year, Oswald Chambers has challenged me to pick up my cross daily, and follow Christ with reckless abandon. Chambers does not pull any punches, and he speaks plainly about the sacrifice that is required when we make the daily decision to follow Christ, no matter what the consequences.

At times you may question the intensity of the faith Chambers is describing - does God really expect "My utmost for His highest" on a daily basis? But, in the end I think you will become convinced God is always looking for our obedience, and willingness to fight the good fight for His kingdom.

If you spend a year going through this book, I think that you will be blessed, and more importantly, challenged to take your faith to a higher level. Therefore, I recommend this devotional for any Christian looking for a resource which can make a daily impact on your Christian perspective, and outlook on life. I now understand why this book is consider a classic devotional by many in the Christian community.

Rating:
Summary: profound insights and guidance
Review: I find there is no better way to start the day than with the wisdom in this magnificent devotional; these profound thoughts were given by Oswald Chambers while at the Bible Training College in England, during the years of 1911 through 1914, and after his death in 1917 (while serving in Egypt during World War I) were edited by his wife, and later updated into modern English by James Reimann, who says in his introduction that the book is the "culmination of approximately 1800 hours of research and editing", and the end result are words that flow and feed and sometimes pierce the soul with remarkable accuracy, to remind one of the way Jesus intended us to live. This book, in conjunction with the Bible (Reimann recommends one to read this with one hand and the Bible in the other) are guideposts for a meaningful life.

Not a "God loves you and all is well" type of book, there are many passages of tough love, that keep one on the right track, and I often have the experience of it answering a question that is on my mind. Each day under the header, is a relevant Bible quote, and underneath Chambers' teaching on the subject, in the 250 word range in length. There are various editions to chose from, and mine is a small leather-bound volume using the NKJV for its Bible quotes, with a foreword by Charles Stanley, who as Reimann's pastor, was the one who recommended the original Chambers work to him.
The back of the book has two useful sections, a Subject Index, and a Scripture Index.
As the end of the year approaches, I'm looking forward to reading this on a daily basis for the second time, and every year thereafter; its teachings are invaluable, and I believe this is a truly inspired work, that will guide and nurture all who read its truth.


Rating:
Summary: Essential companion to Bible
Review: I had heard of this book so many times that I felt the Lord leading me to get a copy. Oh how He has blessed me through the daily readings. The somewhat archaic language and deep concepts forced me to truly meditate on the truths and dig deeper into the Bible to begin to comprehend. I am reading it for the third time and seeing things that I missed in the first two readings. God really uses the book in my daily quiet time to reach into my heart.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Wait Till the New Year to Get This
Review: I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know anything about Oswald Chambers until I came across this book at a reduced price and bought two copies, one for a sick friend and one for myself. What a blessing it turned out to be for both of us!

The one-page essays, one for each day of the year (even February 29!), are deeply thought provoking and can be the basis for a daily meditation session. Be warned that the essays can be challenging. For example, Chambers pressures readers to consider whether we are trying to "perfect" ourselves as some kind of model Christian that God can display on a trophy shelf we imagine He has, rather than truly trying to perceive and submit to His will? Or are we interfering with God's will by trying to be an "amateur providence" who helps people through their difficulties by telling them what we think they should do rather than leading them toward Christ so He can tell them what they should to do?

For those who don't want to follow the day-by-day format there are two indexes referring to the relevant essays: one by subject or key word and the other by Scripture verse. The Scripture verses are from the New King James Version translation.

I HIGHLY recommend My Utmost for His Highest to Christians of all persuasions as an aid for contemplation, encouragement and spiritual growth. This is a rare devotional book that you'll want to keep and refer to or reread frequently.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Wait Till the New Year to Buy This
Review: I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know anything about Oswald Chambers until I came across this book at a reduced price and bought two copies, one for a sick friend and one for myself. What a blessing it turned out to be for both of us!

The one-page essays, one for each day of the year (even February 29!), are deeply thought provoking and can be the basis for a daily meditation session. Be warned that the essays can be challenging. For example, Chambers pressures readers to consider whether we are trying to "perfect" ourselves as some kind of model Christian that God can display on a trophy shelf we imagine He has, rather than truly trying to perceive and submit to His will? Or are we interfering with God's will by trying to be an "amateur providence" who helps people through their difficulties by telling them what we think they should do rather than leading them toward Christ so He can tell them what they should to do?

The Scripture verses are from the New King James Version translation.

I HIGHLY recommend My Utmost for His Highest to Christians of all persuasions as an aid for contemplation, encouragement and spiritual growth. This is a rare devotional book that you'll want to keep and refer to or reread frequently.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Wait Till the New Year to Buy This
Review: I?m embarrassed to say I didn?t know anything about Oswald Chambers until I came across this book at a reduced price and bought two copies, one for a sick friend and one for myself. What a blessing it turned out to be for both of us!

The one-page essays, one for each day of the year (even February 29!), are deeply thought provoking and can be the basis for a daily meditation session. Be warned that the essays can be challenging. For example, Chambers pressures readers to consider whether we are trying to ?perfect? ourselves as some kind of model Christian that God can display on a trophy shelf we imagine He has, rather than truly trying to perceive and submit to His will? Or are we interfering with God?s will by trying to be an ?amateur providence? who helps people through their difficulties by telling them what we think they should do rather than leading them toward Christ so He can tell them what they should to do?

The Scripture verses are from the New King James Version translation.

I HIGHLY recommend My Utmost for His Highest to Christians of all persuasions as an aid for contemplation, encouragement and spiritual growth. This is a rare devotional book that you?ll want to keep and refer to or reread frequently.

Rating:
Summary: INTERCESSION
Review: The copy I have, I received as a gift from my church, and actually I had been wanting one of my own. I used it religiously every day for a couple of years, day by day, along with my daily bible readings. This devotional certainly helps keep one focussed on things that really matter to God, things spiritual, eternal. The entry that really spoke to me the most was the one of March 31, a day significant to me in that it was the day my great grandmother Molly Hamilton Summers died. She was, to me, the epitome of true christian virtues. No one can even think of anything bad to say about her. She never cursed, never said bad things about anyone, never manipulated, never deceived. She is still a legend in our family which is a little strange because she didn't really do anything spectacular or significant in worldy terms. She died a decade and a half before I was born. I actually bought that copy from the christian bookstore that I was browsing in so moved by what I'd read.

Funny how the Spirit works, I guess at the time I was feeling judged, incompetent in my prayer life, and in my day to day walk with Christ. That entry has the heading Heedfulness vs. Hypocrisy in Ourselves, the verse from the bible, I John 5:16. Oswald Chambers writes "If we are not heedful of the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites...He reveals things so that we may take the burden of these souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them...It is...that we rouse ourselves until God is able to convey His mind to us about the one for whom we intercede." Important stuff, because if we cannot do that we're not really reflecting the crucified Christ who died for all sin and for all time, and maybe one is not born of the Spirit of God if we cannot pray that way.

Oswald Chambers died of appendicitis in 1917 in Egypt serving Australian and New Zealand troops during WWI. And as his widow notes in a short foreword in my copy, these entries were compiled from various lectures and talks he gave several years before he died.

Rating:
Summary: My Utmost for His Highest
Review: This is a book that will never become obsolete. Each day Mr. Chambers gives you another great thought! In the back of the book many topics are listed with pages referencing where the topic is addressed. This is very helpful. We live in a day & age when many families are abandoned by either a father or a mother. He writes several devotionals on abandonment. Jeanetta Bearden Pollard author of "Mrs. Claus Shares Stories from the Heart."

Rating:
Summary: An Essential for Every Library
Review: This short tome is an essential in every library.

For those who adhere to the Christian faith it shows the depths of the author's devotion and serves to make one think of their own situation.

For those of other faiths it is still a valuable work and provides insight into the thinking of many Christians.

And finally, for those without a faith, it gives insight into the meaning a committment to a higher power can make in one's life.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone. Whether a friend, acquaitance, or foe of faith, you will benefit from reading this book.