Do you need reading helps to understand My Utmost for His Highest?
What are reading helps?
Tools to help you understand something better.
I’ve written about My Utmost for His Highest for more than a dozen years.
Today’s post will include ideas and links to posts I’ve written on understanding the devotional.
Reading helps suggestions–on your own
I’ve been reading My Utmost for His Highest since January 1, 2000. (Survived Y2K and lived to tell about it!)
There are three editions of the devotional:
- The original was published by Biddy Chambers in England in 1927. Link
- An updated version, revised by American James Reimann circa 1990. Link
- A third version updated in 2023 by American Macy Halford. Link.
All three are available each morning at utmost.org, where you can choose the version you want. The website provides readers with an option compare all three.
Our Daily Bread, which manages the Chambers publications in the US, will email it to you every morning, as well.
A book for reading helps in understanding Utmost.
In 2015, Discovery House Publishers, the original US publishers of the Chambers canon, published A Daily Companion to My Utmost for His Highest
Painstakingly researched and written by Dr. Jed Macosko and Dr. Cecilie Macosko, the book provides insight into each day’s reading.
(The companion guide does not include the devotional.)
It’s an excellent source of reading helps–for each day!
In an interview with me, Jed Macosko explained the issue for him:
Jed read it daily for an entire year. He found it a challenge:
“It it was hard for me to take in the meaning of each reading. Particularly when I was still trying to process the reading from the day before.
“To get a handle on the main points, I summed up each day’s reading in a bite-sized sentence or two. I wrote down a few questions that would challenge me to apply the main points. From there, I wrote the beginning “seeds” of a prayer. I wanted to point my heart in the right direction as I talked to God about that day’s reading.”
I found the Macoskos’ book helpful for understanding the historical context in which Chambers taught the concept.
My Utmost for His Highest, of course, was not put together by Biddy Chambers until ten years after Chambers’ death.
What do I do?
I’ve written over 100 blog posts about the Chambers family, canon, Bible Training College, life, and reflections. You can see them here.
But in terms of understanding the daily devotional?
I ask myself what I think it means.
If stumped, I check out the Macosko’s book.
Like Jed, I spent a year rewriting each devotional to explain it to myself.
My husband and I often discussed that day’s reading at dinner, which also helped.
This post describes the different ways I view a specific day’s reading.
This post describes four suggestions for figuring it out.
My answers:
- Cheat (Ask God)
- Pray (Ask God)
- Engage with the Devotional and ask yourself questions. (Not as fruitful as asking God)
- Get Help (See God or the Macosko’s book.)
Reading Helps: Learning about the author(s)
Reading David McCasland’s excellent biography, Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God, is the obvious place to start. Understanding who he was and why he wrote is helpful.
Macy Halford’s My Utmost: A Devotional Memoir, provides insight into OC’s way of thinking.
Mrs. Oswald Chambers (Michelle Ule) The biography of Chambers’ wife explains how she edited his words into the devotional.
Christian History Magazine, March 2025, is an excellent, comprehensive overview of Chambers, his life, philosophy, and ideas.
The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers: Everything he wrote in one volume, 1492 pages!
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?