Quotes from Oswald Chambers

A good book, in the language of the book-sellers, is a salable one; in that of the curious, a scarce one; in that of men of sense, a useful and instructive one.

Books are standing counselors and preachers, always at hand, and always disinterested; having this advantage over oral instructors, that they are ready to repeat their lesson as often as we please.

The dearest friend on earth is a mere shadow compared to Jesus Christ.

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else.

We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered foe, so he is, but only to God, not to us.

We say, sorrow, disaster, calamity. God says, chastening and it sounds sweet to him though it is a discord to our ears. Don't faint when you are rebuked, and don't despise the chastening of the Lord. In your patience possess your souls.

We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle.

I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them.

There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes.

Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing...Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.

At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God's hand until we learn to hear Him.