You do realize that the Father has said in various places in scripture that He will never leave or forsake us? If He doesn’t ever leave, this means that He’s always with us. And if He’s always with us… He knows! Actually, He would have anyway, but to be with us when we do those things we realllly wish we hadn’t, He sees our motivation and the results of our actions. And, He realllllly isn’t all that surprised. But this means that we should never wait to seek forgiveness… He knows.
Once I realized my foolishness I must admit it was a bit of a chuckle: to want Him constantly to be with me and to not be with me when I ultimately would need to seek forgiveness. How’s that gonna happen? Not. It is a bit absurd when you think about it. And I reallllllllllly want Him to always be with me. Knowing He is provides me with courage, with the ability to Stand, with the desire to be pleasing to Him.
What does ‘always with us’ mean for you? How do you understand this? And is this of comfort for you? or is it slightly uncomfortable because He always knows? The Amplified Bible says in Hebrews 13:5
“Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”
There are a number of insights – one is that He says He will never leave us helpless. Like me, you’ve also probably felt helpless at times. But we don’t need to! He is with us, we can turn to Him to discover what we need to do next… and fretting and worrying are not in the equation. Perhaps this is also the time to remind ourselves:
“Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].” (Hebrews 4: 14-16, AMP)
And reread Romans 8:31-39, AMP (excerpted)
“What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us?” (v. 31)
“It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself]” (v. 33)
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an over-whelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].” (v. 37)
“For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (v. 38-39)
Don’t these verses make you feel energized? That you CAN do all things through Christ who strengths me (Philippians 4:13)? That the crowd of witnesses (Hebrews 12;1) surrounding us, cheering us on, increases our courage? And these 3 are only the beginning of exactly Who is with us and What He does!
Not to be too cheesy or irreverent… but having Him always with us is truly all it’s cracked up to be!
