"My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers

As each day unfolds in the journey of life, I've found much inspiration from the works of Oswald Chambers. As I've reflected upon "inspiration", I thought I would share todays devotion. Be blessed.

The Inspriation of Spiritual Initiative
"arise from the dead" Eph v 14
All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you-"Buck up, take your disinclination by the throat, throw it overboard, and walk out into the thing" That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, "Buck up," we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to the visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say "Arise from the dead". When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiaitive is that the life comes after we do the "bucking up". God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says- "Arise from the dead" we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand-"Stretch forth thy hand", and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because He gives life immediately.
Oswald Chambers

Reflection:
I'm daily gaining insight into the life God intended for me to live; a life inspired by the Spirit of God. I'm reaching out, getting up, and following after the inspiration that God has placed in my heart. Life in Christ is simply amazing!

Road Blocks and Detours

Road blocks and detours are often God’s way of saying I’ve got an alternate route for you to travel. As with any detour, the roads are often less traveled but provide great opportunity to view sites that often go unseen. Take time today to reflect about the road in which you’re traveling. Are you enjoying living life? Your journey might be rough but take time to enjoy it! Maybe you’re on a different path than you intended. Know for sure that if your faith is in Christ, he’s the author and finisher of the road you’re traveling. Take time to live in the joy of knowing that God’s ways are higher than our ways. Ultimately, He’s our GPS guiding us to our eternal home. Relax and be confident that God’s leading you in a path (even with road blocks and detours) designed to fulfill His purpose in you.

Be Blessed.