The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections   Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page   Aug 18 Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest Luke 18:23 "When he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich" Devotion: Love for Jesus Alone The rich man loved his wealth so much that Jesus' words, "sell all that you have," hit him with deep discouragement, and he went away from Jesus struck speechless with sorrow. Jesus demands that we give it all up for Him. All of it. Everything that we are. Everything that we have. Everything we cling to and depend on. Everything that we own. Everything that has a grip on us has to go. He wants us just as we were when we were born, stripped down to only our very soul, standing naked and without before Him.  Our free will—it will cling to its freedom. It will fight this battle with or without you.  But if we truly mean what we say, we must follow Him in whatever way He leads. I was sixty‑eight, ...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page May 19 Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest Romans 8:35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"  Nothing Can Separate Us Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. His love is within us. Our relationship with Christ begins inside of us, grows inside of us, and is sustained by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us at all times. Because of this, we can reach God at any moment — in any place, under any circumstance. The evils of this world are real, but they cannot invade the inner sanctuary where the Spirit of the Most High God lives. No matter what is happening around us, we simply turn inward and focus on Him. Jesus has overcome the world and all its evils. God does not shield us from every trouble, but the troubles are not more powerful than the Spirit within us. We rest in the assurance that He is with us through it all. Just remember...not tribula...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page May 12 Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest 2 Peter 1:8 "If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful ..." When Habits Fade, Love Remains Do we spend time with God simply because it has become a good Christian habit? Or do we come because of love — the love of Christ Himself, our love for Him? In today’s devotional, Chambers exposes a subtle but common spiritual trap: becoming more aware of our habits than of Christ. He is not criticizing prayer, Scripture reading, or discipline. He is warning us about the moment when a good habit quietly becomes a substitute for living in daily dependence on God. It is good and necessary to form spiritual habits in the Christian life. Every new practice we add to our day becomes a habit, and these early habits — prayer, Scripture reading, quiet reflection — help establish consistency as we grow ...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page May 11 Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest 2 Peter 1:5, 7   ". . . add to your . . . brotherly kindness love" Love That Mirrors His Nature Chambers reminds us that Christian love is not a vague feeling or a natural affection. It is the deliberate, Spirit‑produced love that reflects the very nature of God. When Peter instructs believers to “add… brotherly kindness, love,” he is describing the highest expression of spiritual maturity — a love that mirrors Christ’s own. The foundation of Christian love is the believer’s supreme love for Christ, a love Jesus Himself says must exceed all other loves (Luke 14:26; Matthew 10:37). This kind of love does not begin with human effort. It begins with God pouring His love into the believer’s heart through the Holy Spirit. But once that love is given, it must be developed through the disciplines Peter lists in 2 Peter 1. God s...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections  Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page Apr 30 Today's Reading: My Utmost for His Highest 1 Corinthians 13:4   “Love suffers long and is kind…” The Love God Produces Chambers teaches that true love is spontaneous — it appears in our actions without our noticing, because it comes from the Holy Spirit, not from our own effort. We cannot make ourselves loving by saying, “I will be patient,” or “I will be kind.” That kind of self‑management only produces strain. The love Scripture describes does not begin in us. It begins in God. It is His love “poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” ( Romans 5:5 ). But here is the part many of us miss: that love does not flow freely until the Holy Spirit has full authority within us. He indwells every believer, but He does not override the will. As long as we are still governing ourselves — trying, striving, managing — His love cannot rule our responses. We pray for patience, but...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections  Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page Bible Verse John 21:17 "Feed My sheep" Reflection There is a quiet trembling in me every time I return to this moment between Jesus and Peter. Not the trembling of fear, but of recognition — the way love exposes what is true and then gently rebuilds what has been broken. Peter’s confession was not a performance; it was a revelation. Jesus’ question pierced him, not to wound him, but to free him from the illusion that love must be proven by passion, promises, or spiritual intensity. Love is proven by surrender. Chambers reminds me that the love God pours into us is not something we manufacture. It is His own nature, His own life, His own Spirit flowing through the cracks of our humanity. And when that love takes root, it does not ask for admiration or applause — it asks to be spent. It asks to be poured out in the same way Jesus was poured out: quietly, obediently, without ...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page Bible Verse 2 Corinthians 12:15 "...though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved" Reflection Chambers reminds me that real Christ‑shaped love is not measured by how people respond to it. Paul loved without conditions, without guarantees, without the safety of being understood or appreciated. He let his life become a vessel God could spend — not because the people around him were grateful, but because Jesus had already poured Himself out for Paul first. There is a holy poverty in that kind of service. A willingness to be overlooked. A willingness to give without being met halfway. A willingness to let God decide what my offering accomplishes. This is the part that pierces me: Paul didn’t negotiate with God about the cost. He didn’t ask for assurances, comfort, or clarity. He simply allowed himself to become “broken bread and poured‑out wine” in the hands of Chr...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page Bible Verse 2 Corinthians 12:15 "I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls..." Reflection There is a kind of love that does not negotiate, calculate, or protect itself. It simply gives—gladly, steadily, without keeping score. Paul lived inside that love. He wasn’t driven by usefulness, applause, or even the satisfaction of seeing results. His life was poured out because he belonged to Jesus, and Jesus had the right to spend him however He wished. Chambers reminds me that true sacrifice is not dramatic or heroic. It is not the grand gesture I choose, but the quiet willingness to let Christ choose for me. It is the surrender of my preferences, my timing, my desire to be seen as faithful. It is the offering of my life into His hands for His interests in the lives of others. The delight of sacrifice is not in the exhaustion—it is in the belonging. I lay down my life ...

Bible Verse 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NLT Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  Love does not demand its own way.  Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.  It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  Love will last forever... And here is how the same passage reads in the KJV: Charity suffereth long, and is kind;  charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly,  seeketh not her own,  is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.  Charity never faileth: ... Reflection Love that suffers long and remains kind is not something we can manufacture on o...

Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:14: The love of Christ compels us...." There is a moment in the Christian life when love stops being something we feel and becomes something that holds us. Paul describes it as being seized—overpowered—by the love of Christ. Not inspired by it. Not warmed by it. Gripped. Subdued. Captured. Most of us spend years trying to live for God out of our own experience—our gratitude, our memories, our desire to be faithful. Those things matter, but they cannot compel a life. They flicker. They shift. They rise and fall with our circumstances. Paul’s life was not built on any of that. He lived from a love that had taken hold of him so completely that everything else lost its power to sway him. Praise or blame, honor or humiliation, open doors or slammed ones—he received them all as if they were happening to Christ Himself. That is what it means to be a witness to Him, not merely a witness to what He can do. There is a holy strangeness to this kind of life. It lo...

The Quill and Me—Devotional Blog•Oswald Chambers Reflections  Today's Devotional • Back to Home Page Daily Verse & Prayer Dec 4 1 Corinthians 16:14 NLT "And everything you do must be done with love."   Do All With Love Reflection Love is more than a feeling — it is the foundation of every action we take in Christ. When Paul reminds us that everything must be done with love, he is calling us to let love shape our words, our choices, and even the smallest tasks of the day. Love is patient when we are weary, kind when we are tested, and strong when we feel weak. The ocean view reminds us of God’s vastness and His endless mercy. Just as the waves reach the shore again and again, His love continually reaches us. Today, let us choose to let love guide our steps — in how we speak, how we serve, and how we forgive. In doing so, we reflect the heart of God to those around us. Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, I praise Your holy name and ask forgiveness for my sins.  Help me begin t...