![\"British](\"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/P10105301.jpg\")
<\/a>My Utmost for His Highest. \u201c. . . my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed . . . .\u201d We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It\u2019s as if Paul were saying, \u201cMy determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest\u2014my best for His glory.\u201d To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn\u2019t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point\u2014He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only\u2014my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.<\/span><\/p>\nLord, the range of Your power, the touch of Your grace, the breathing of Your Spirit\u2014how I long for these to bring me face to face with You. Forgive my tardiness; it takes me so long to awaken to some things. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/i>Oswald Chambers [from YouVersion<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u201cI eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.<\/i>\u201d Paul (Philippians 1:20)<\/p>\n ****************************************************<\/i><\/p>\n I\u2019ve been reading through the Bible this year using a reading plan from YouVersion<\/a>. If you aren\u2019t using some plan to read through your Bible, give this a look and get started today!<\/p>\n I recently saw on a church sign, \u201cA daily devotion is better than a yearly resolution<\/span>.\u201d It is. Speaking of daily devotion, several are available on the same web site. I started this 30 day devotional reading by Oswald Chambers<\/a> today. I encourage you to pick one from the list and do the same.<\/p>\n Reading from the Word every day, early in the morning, and from a short devotional, following the path of a mature believer who has been in some deep places with our Lord will change your day for good, and your life forever.<\/p>\n<\/a>My Unstoppable Determination for His Holiness. \u201cWhether it means life or death\u2014it makes no\u00a0difference!\u201d (see Phil 1:21). Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. But before we choose to follow God\u2019s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God\u2019s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide\u2014for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.<\/p>\n