“Lord”, Simon Peter said to Him, “where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.” (John 13:36 Holman CSB) Oswald Chambers uses the KJV and I love the way it reads…“but thou shalt follow Me afterwards.” Afterwards.
Girls, I just have to tell you—today’s words has brought the tears to the forefront. Stuck in my throat and threaten to burst as a waterfall. Maybe it’s partly due to the post I finished tonight called “Letter from Heaven“. But I also believe that once again—the Lord has confirmed to me that this book—this devotional tool, was the correct one for this year. Words I spoke today—BEFORE I ever opened this book are on this page. (If you have the book—read today!)
Following Christ Jesus has been my determined path for some time. More determination than before, however, lit my heart afire this past year. Actually, the fire began rising higher in 2007.
Between the first calling of “Follow Me” from Jesus to Peter to the second calling was one of the “blank spaces”. What Peter did in his blank space is, I’m afraid what happens in many of our lives in our blank space. Chambers’ words, “Between these times Peter had denied Jesus with oaths and curses, he had come to the end of himself and all his self-sufficiency, there was not one strand of himself he would ever rely upon again, and in his destitution he was in a fit condition to receive an impartation from the risen Lord.” Sound familiar?
It does to me. For I found HIM only at the end of myself. Realizing I had no power to change any circumstance of my life…but He had all power. As Chambers closes this page, his words ring true and fresh tears sting. “There is only one lodestar in the life now, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Lodestar. Guiding star. Point of reference. My trusty dictionary.com says this about lodestar:
1. a star that shows the way.
2. Polaris.
3. something that serves as a guide or on which the attention is fixed.
Today, where is your attention fixed? Are you at the end of your abilities? You will never find the end of His. Without Him, we have no ability, but Jesus said four times in the Gospels, “with God all things are possible…..”….”If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth.”….”With men [it is] impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”…..”And he said, Abba, Father, all things [are] possible unto thee”….(Matthew 19:26; Mark 9:23; 10:27; and 14:36)
What are you believing Him for? Are you at the “afterwards of your blank space?”…are you looking at the horizon and feel the end of yourself? That is where I found Him. At the very end of me. No longer self-sufficient…but God is sufficient for me.
Jeff and Angie Knight 
January 6th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Good Morning, AngieI can relate to exactly what you are saying here. I re-turned to our Lord when I had no where else to go. I had hit rock bottom before I remembered to look up.Now, I will never turn my face away again. I remember the words that were spoken over me when I was baptized, “Be dead to yourself and alive in Christ.”That is my goal in my life–an ever going, never ending goal until my physical death–to be totally alive in Christ and dead to myself.As I go on this journey, it is difficult at times, easy at others. Difficult because God calls us out of comfort zones sometimes into places and situations where we would not normally go.But, with God calling us, hearing and obeying, and then with Him at the helm, we cannot fail. The end of me–God is sufficient for me, He is my strength and my righteousness.Beth
January 6th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
THIS SAYS IT ALL:“You will never find the end of His. Without Him, we have no ability, but Jesus said four times in the Gospels, “with God all things are possible…..”….”If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth.”….”With men [it is] impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”…..”And he said, Abba, Father, all things [are] possible unto thee”….(Matthew 19:26; Mark 9:23; 10:27; and 14:36”Thank you for sharing this!
January 6th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Angie, this post just caused me to go and pull my Oswald Chambers book of the shelf. A friend gave it too me as a gift in ’94 and I’ve read it through several times but with just that first quote you had me wanting to go through it again.
January 6th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Angie,I couldn’t wait to tell you (but things have been so hectic around here I haven’t had much time to comment) I am using the same devotional this year.I really wanted something else, but couldn’t find the one I was looking for. So I pulled this one out of one of my boxes of packed books.I am looking forward to sharing some of the things the Lord shows us.
January 6th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
YOu truly blessed my heart! Yes, God is sufficient for me! Amen Thank you so much for this wonderful post…
January 7th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Such an awesome post, I love you.