Years ago, before a dear woman became my mother in law, she gave me a leather bound copy of My Utmost For His Highest. Little did I know at that time, how God would use this book to teach me and minister to my heart and faith. In fact, I remember reading and having very little understanding of what the man, Oswald Chambers, was talking about. But in the last several years, God has used it so much that it is a set part of my time with Him and though the book doesn't change from year to year, I seem to receive new inspiration almost every time I read it, praise God! He continually aligns a particular day's subject matter with something directly affecting my life at the moment. It is awesome. I have even connected on deeper levels with friends over them.
So, when I post them here, it is by NO MEANS to preach. It is just because it hit me and I want to be reminded by what it said the next time I pull up the blog. If you are touched by it, hurray! If not, maybe you didn't need that one right now, like I did! :) I love the last line of this one, He is so calling me to intercession right now, it is an awesome thing! Thank You, Lord!
Our God is so great~Adrian (and p.s. THANKS, MomMom!)

The Distraction of Contempt
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt —Psalm 123:3
What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. "Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously" ( Malachi 2:16 ). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.
Beware of "the cares of this world . . ." ( Mark 4:19 ). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by "the cares of this world."
Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, "O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself." Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, "I must explain myself," or, "I must get people to understand." Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.
When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.