MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST 11 AUGUST 2024 BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
Read My Utmost for His Highest 11 August 2024 (Oswald Chambers Devotional) Sunday Inspirational Message.
TOPIC: This Experience Must Come
Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. . . . And Elisha saw him no more. — 2 Kings 2:11–12
It isn’t wrong to depend upon your Elijah—your guide and leader—for as long as God gives you. But remember that a time will come when your Elijah will have to go and can no longer be your guide, because God does not intend it. You say, “I can’t go on without Elijah.” God says you must.
Alone at your Jordan River (2 Kings 2:14). Jordan is the type of aloneness where you find no fellowship with other human beings, where no one can take responsibility for you. At Jordan, you have to put what you learned with your Elijah to the test. You have been to Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you must go there alone. It isn’t any use saying you can’t go. This experience has come, and you must go. If you want to know whether God is the God you believe him to be, go through your Jordan alone.
Alone at your Jericho (vv. 19–21). Jericho is the place where you’ve seen your Elijah do great things. When you come to your Jericho, you feel a strong resistance to taking the initiative and trusting in God; you want someone else to take the initiative for you. But if you remain true to what you learned with Elijah, you will get a sign that God is with you.
Alone at your Bethel (v. 23). At your Bethel, you find yourself at the end of your wits and the beginning of God’s wisdom. When you get to your wits’ end and feel like you’re going to panic, don’t. Stand true to God and he will bring his truth out in a way that will make your life a sacrament. Put into practice what you learned with your Elijah. Use his cloak and pray. Determine to trust in God, and do not look for Elijah anymore.
FURTHER READING: Psalms 81-83; Romans 11:19-36
Wisdom from Oswald
To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”
The Shadow of an Agony
Oswald Chambers was an early-twentieth-century Scottish Baptist evangelist and teacher who was aligned with the Holiness Movement. He is best known for the daily devotional My Utmost for His Highest