The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections  
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Aug 15
Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest
John 3:7
"You must be born again"

When My Eyes Were Opened

What Does It Mean to Be Born Again?
To be born again means that Jesus Christ saves you, gives you His Spirit, and brings you into a new life that you could never produce on your own. It is real salvation — the moment you receive Him and He makes you His. 

But the evidence of that new birth appears when your spiritual eyes are opened, when you surrender your self‑life, and when the Holy Spirit begins forming the very life and nature of Christ within you. Being born again is receiving His life; living born again is letting Him rule your inner life so His life becomes visible in yours. It is called Surrender.

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After I was saved at the age of nine, my older sister and I were making beds. I don’t remember what I did, but she made the comment that I didn’t act like I was saved. I was newly saved and had no idea what she meant. I had no mentor. I was saved one night at a church camp, in a big group of others who came forward. And that was it. That was all I knew.

It was years before I understood what she was referring to. And until April of this year, I was still spiritually blind to most things pertaining to God. I read the Bible, I prayed, I attended revivals, Bible Study, Church, Sunday School, Bible School. I took online Bible courses, through‑the‑mail Bible courses. I sporadically kept a Bible journal. I listened to BBN radio for several years. I read Charles Stanley, Max Lucado, Billy Graham sermons. But I never found what I was looking for until April 8 of this year.

I read about surrender in My Utmost for His Highest — on January 1, and many other days — but the Lord did not open my spiritual eyes until April.

I have been there and done that: the sinning, the living without God at the center. It did not keep Him from keeping me, but I was not with Him. Yet He was with me. He protected me, nudged me, warned me, saved my life several times. But I still was not “with” Him. I was living my life, and He was pushed to the side. I had no true knowledge of what should be happening in my life.

My Christian life never taught me about surrender. No one talked about it. I never heard it preached. I never read it in any Bible study. I did not hear about it at all. So naturally, since I was spiritually blind, I was completely unaware—unable to understand or recognize the place surrender has in a Christian’s life.

Until April of 2026.

I read about it every month. I wrote devotionals about it. But it wasn’t until April that it struck a chord deep within me and the Lord opened my eyes so I could see — that this was what I had been searching for. This was it. I needed surrender in my life. I didn’t fully understand it, but I knew instantly it was what I had been longing for all my life.

And once my eyes were opened, I began to see something I had missed all along. From the very first day of this book, Chambers has been pointing to surrender. I didn’t realize it at the time, but now I see it clearly — almost every devotional has been about laying down the self‑life so Christ can live His life in us. Perhaps this is why surrender is rarely talked about. It is a deeply private act between the soul and God, a holy yielding that happens in the quiet places of the heart. But even though it is private, it should not be hidden. We need more surrendered souls in this world. We need believers who are awake, who have bowed their will so the Holy Spirit can rule within. If people are never led to surrender, they may never surrender at all. And now I understand that Chambers has been leading me toward this truth from the very beginning — I just didn’t have eyes to see it until now. No wonder it tore me apart for months—I was being drawn into surrender without knowing what it was. 

Chambers’ message today is about being truly born again. I was truly saved. Christ saved me. The Holy Spirit came to dwell within me. But that was all I knew. And for years, when I was young, the Bible felt like a foreign language. Slowly, over time, I began to understand more.

But what Chambers is talking about in today’s reading is something I had never understood — the inner “death” that makes the Christian life come alive. Salvation is when Christ saves you, seals you, and makes you His. But sanctification — the life of Christ being formed within you — begins when the Holy Spirit finally gains access to the inner places you have never surrendered. You do not lose your salvation; you lose your self‑rule. The you inside of you must yield, must bow, must step off the throne so He can take it. As long as you are living through your own strength, He cannot live His life through you.

He must have control of the sinful you, the willful will, the selfish self that fights His holiness. You must choose to let Him sit on the throne of your life. You must die to self.

I had that phrase written in my Bible — die to self — but I never understood it. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know how.

You don’t really “do” it. You let Him do it for you. You bow. You surrender your whole self and let Him do what only He can do — control the self, sin, and will within you so He can sanctify you. Sanctification is the Holy Spirit working the very life and nature of Jesus Christ into your being, until one day you are one with Jesus and God the Father. As Jesus was one with the Father, you will be one with Them.

It is not overnight. It is a process. It is surrender. It is daily from now on. Very few take this step. They do not understand it. I did not understand it — but I knew it was what I wanted and needed. I didn’t dissect it. I simply took the posture of humility and surrender, and let Him have the throne of my life.

And nothing has ever been the same. I would not go back for anything in the world. I am home.

The evidence is in the devotionals I write, the life I now live, as the very nature of the Lord is being worked into me by the Holy Spirit. And He is still working on me. He will continue to do so. Because acting like you are saved is just that — an act. When you are saved and sanctified, you do not act it. You live it.

Selah. 

Breath Prayer

Give me eyes to see
and a heart to surrender.

~ Quil

Scripture References

John 3:7 — “You must be born again.” (The foundation of the devotional; Jesus’ command to Nicodemus.) 

John 1:12 — “But as many as received Him… He gave the right to become children of God.” (Receiving Christ at salvation — my age‑nine moment.)

John 3:3 — “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Spiritual sight — my April 2026 moment.)

1 John 3:9 — “Whoever has been born of God does not sin…” (The evidence of the new birth — power over sin.)

Romans 6:6 — “Our old self was crucified with Him…” (Death to self — the surrender described.)

Galatians 2:20 — “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Christ taking the throne — sanctification.)

Romans 8:13 — “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (The Holy Spirit doing the work — not you.)

2 Corinthians 5:17 — “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” (The new birth producing a new life.)

Philippians 2:13 — “For it is God who works in you…” (He does the sanctifying — not your effort.)

Hebrews 12:2 — “Looking unto Jesus…” (Spiritual sight — seeing Christ clearly.)