God Is With You
Fear is the most popular weapon that the devil uses against us. Also, the common lie that he uses is to infuse fear into us that God is never with us.
Indeed, we have all at some point felt that God is ignorant or far away from us. It’s time we stopped believing in the lie.
Our Heavenly Father has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. In Genesis, we read of God walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. In Revelation, we read of God living with the redeemed humankind in New Jerusalem. Still, in between, we read of God interacting and fellowshipping with people. Thus, Our Heavenly Father does not watch us passively but actively involved in our affairs, directing and guiding us according to His divine will and purpose.
The presence of God was apparent when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness. However, after they worshipped the golden calf, God was angry and told Moses that He would not go with them on their journey to the promised land because they were a stiff-necked nation. Exodus 33:3-4, “ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments”.
Moses pleaded with God to go with them, and He relented. Exodus 33:12-17 says, Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up these people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now, therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”n15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” 17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
Therefore, God was with the Israelites leading them by a cloud of smoke by day and a cloud of fire by night. They went where the cloud went.
For the Israelites, “God is with you” meant that they pleased God and guided them through the wilderness to the Canaan.
Immanuel, God with Us
The presence of God is seen as more intimate in the New Testament. God reassured Joseph about Mary’s pregnancy and said. Matthew 1:23 “ 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” This implies that Jesus Christ was God in human form, living among us.
The disciples experienced God’s presence in a close and intimate way. When asked by Phillip to show them the Father, Jesus replied if they had seen him, they had seen the Father. John 14:8-9, “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
God gave Joshua the same promise that Our Lord Jesus gave to His followers in Matthew 28:20b, ” And lo, I am with you always. Even to the end of the age”.
At times we misinterpret what it means for God to be “with us.” Since we misunderstand the promise, we are prone to breaking this God’s command to us “Be strong and of good courage.”
Three Ways God Is With You
By His Word
Before Joshua crossed River Jordan to start securing Canaan for the Israelites, Yahweh assured him of His presence and gave Him His Word. Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Before Joshua went into war, he had to hear, understand, and believe God’s Word. Further, he had to meditate and keep it in his heart so that he could speak it all the time. Even us, God is with us through His Word. Let us train ourselves to meditate on the Word for us always to experience His presence.
By His Son
The Israelites were to be sanctified and made holy before God would show Himself strong on their behalf and do wonders among them (Joshua 3:5). The first thing was circumcision, which was a sign they were in a covenant relationship with God. (Joshua 5:9).
God in Colossians 2:11-12 reveals to us how we should be consecrated before him. “In Him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body [a]of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead”.
It is through faith in Christ Jesus that we are into a relationship with God.
The Israelites followed after holiness by observing the Passover. Joshua 5:10 says, “Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on Jericho’s plains.” They were also to remember how God delivered them from slavery and saved from death by the blood of a lamb. Exodus 12: 13, “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Likewise, the blood of Jesus is a symbol for us. Believing in His Name, and having faith that His sacrifice is enough for redemption. Therefore, we are assured that no condemnation or plague will befall us. Luke 22:19-20 says, “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
By His Holy Spirit
We have a more intimate relationship with Our Heavenly Father. While Jesus walked with the disciples, we have God’s Spirit in us. Thus, God is with you always.
Jesus said in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray for the Father, and He will give you another [a]Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you”.
The Holy Spirit, our counselor, will be with us always. Unlike God’s presence with the Israelites, a temporal presence, and unlike Jesus Christ, who was with His disciples for only three years, God’s Spirit is a constant partner. He is God with you. His function is to help us glorify God with our lives. Also, He reveals to us the divine secrets and empowers us for ministry.
Always know that God is with you in a very close and intimate manner. He lives in you, comforts you during hard times. Therefore, you are never alone. He will keep you safe no matter what you face.
Halleluiah!