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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.       
 

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