My Utmost for His Highest Selections for the Year, Oswald Chambers. © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, & Company, Inc.

I recently had the pleasure and privilege of presenting the devotion for our monthly critique group meeting. Stephanie Gallentine, who was interviewed in last week’s blog, wrote a YA thriller, Refuge, and we thought it appropriate to meet in a nearby wildlife refuge to recognize its recent publication.

For my devotion, I chose to read a selection from a book that saw me through the early days of my salvation; My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I’ve referred to this book several times since I surrendered my life to the Master. The pages of my copy are dog eared, stained, barely clinging to a broken binding. Over the years, I’ve given several copies as gifts.

This book is actually a compilation of notes meticulously taken by his wife, Gertrude from his lectures at The Bible Training College which he founded in London in 1911. In fact, Chambers wrote only one book entitled Baffled to Fight Better, while he’s credited in more than thirty other books similarly complied by his devoted wife of seven years.

After his school was closed in 1915 because of World War I, Chambers continued to minister to troops in Egypt as a YMCA chaplain. He died at 43 in Egypt, after suffering a ruptured appendix.

The Utmost for His Highest is an inspiring collection of devotions—one for each day of the year. Chamber’s wisdom is inspired and timeless, relevant to the hectic pace of the modern Christian life. They are also indexed by subject so the reader can easily locate an encouraging word for whatever issue he or she happens to be facing.

I recommend this book to the tired writer’s soul in need of edification and reassurance that writing gift is a call from God.

No Wonder They Call Him the Savior by Max Lucado

I am enrolled in the Christian Writers’ Guild writing course. For the lesson I just completed, I was given a list of short story books. My assignment was to select one of those books and read some of the short stories. Then I was to analyze the techniques the author used to make it interesting using various methods listed in that particular lesson.

I was delighted to see a book by Max Lucado listed, which would save me a trip to the bookstore if I had that particular title in our collection. Luckily, I had picked up this particular book at the Friends of the Library book sale in the spring.

I fixed a glass of hot Earl Grey tea and sat down in my favorite chair to read. Needless to say I ended up reading all the selections from No Wonder They Call Him the Savior.

I paper clipped several stories that I particularly liked as I read through the book. When I completed the book, I had to select a passage I wanted to comment on. It was a hard decision, but I ended up selecting “Puppies, Butterflies, and a Savior”. This was my favorite because it talked about puppies that won’t come when called by the master because they are distracted by something else. My mixed lab is like that.

What I learned from this assignment is how an author can take an ordinary life experience and use it to teach a spiritual truth. In this case, how we are like our puppies because we get distracted by the things of life and ignore our Master’s call.

Max Lucado is a master of the English language. He mentions in the foreword how Jesus used stories to make a point.

When I read the short chapters in the book, which was subtitled “Chronicles of the Cross”, I felt as if Max Lucado and I were sharing an afternoon visit. His vivid style of telling a story reminded me of my childhood and listening to my Aunt Pearl tell of her childhood adventures.

If you want to read a master story teller and study examples of outstanding story telling techniques, then treat yourself to No Wonder They Call Him the Savior by Max Lucado or any other of his many published works.