Skip to main content

With You/With Him


Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
                                                            (Matthew 28:18-20)

          Today's revelation is of omnipresence,  immanence and intimacy. It is Immanuel. Jesus said, "Go and make disciples (which involves baptizing and teaching). Then He did not say "I will be with you always." He said "I AM with you always" where ever you may be. The I Am is "with you always, to the very end of the age."
      I've shared about this idea before. It's a recurring theme in Scripture, so it's important, but it's not just that God happens to be with us. He's omnipresent, so He can't not be with us, but that's not all this passage tells us. The I AM is with us. It is His nature to be with us. It's integral to His character. It does not depend on our abilities. Being with His people is just as much God being God as God being all-powerful, or loving.
      Not only is He with us always, but in this passage He tells us how we can be with Him. If you've ever had an argument with someone, you know what it's like to be in the same room with a person, and not be with that person. He invites us to be with Him, doing what He is doing, having the same priorities that He has. This is one of the main teachings of Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God: seeing where God is at work and joining Him there.
         This may be part of the solution to the issue of burnout. So often, we think we have to be everywhere and do everything, or we wonder whether what we're doing is of value. We get stuck in a rut and it seems as if we're spinning our wheels. When you're feeling that way - or even when you're not - perhaps it is time to remind yourself that God is with you always and time to examine your life and your surroundings and ask where God is working, and join Him.       
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more