ALWAYS WITH ME
Carey Madding
Today’s Scripture: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20, ESV)
Theme: Being a disciple-maker isn’t something you do alone, but in partnership with God.
IS IT CREEPY?
In my tenth-grade year, my grandmother died. I remember sadness and loss, but I also remember being a little creeped out. I’d be thinking something ugly about a classmate and I’d wonder if Grandmother now knew I had a mean streak. Did she know that I had told a lie or hadn’t turned in my homework? I never had a comforting “angel on my shoulder” feeling of being watched over...and I don’t think the Bible really teaches that, either. My imagined feeling of someone being there all the time, watching over me, was not comforting at all.
IT’S POWERFUL
God told Joshua two times that He would be with him: “I will not leave you or forsake you” and again, “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:5, 9, ESV). In Joshua’s case, God was declaring He would guide Joshua, teach him to lead the people, and give him military success. Boy, I’d have needed that strong evidence of God’s presence to take up the CEO position after Moses died! These promises gave Joshua great boldness. They were for a specific person, specific tasks, and a specific need. God was faithful to all He promised to Joshua.
WE HAVE A PROMISE, TOO
Matthew recalls Jesus’ final words to His disciples before He returned to heaven. Last words have power. We ought to remember them. They were spoken to His followers and to us, all who would follow. So, when Jesus commands us to “Go and make disciples” and then says, “I will be with you always,” (paraphrase of Matthew 28:19-20), we know that we, too, have a specific promise for a specific task.
I know Jesus is always with me and has given His Spirit to live in and direct me. That’s comforting, not creepy. Yet I am doubly confident that He is always present, supporting, and empowering me when I am sharing the Good News of Jesus, when I am making disciples by introducing new people to Him. He is there when I try to explain spiritual things to someone in need. He is my Source, my wingman, my partner, my Helper. He is always there when I feel the nudge that "now is the time" to share the Good News of Jesus.
Make it Personal: Are you in awe of the presence of God in your day-to-day? Does that comfort you? Embolden you? Convict you? Jot down your most consistent feeling about the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life.
Pray: Father, I thank You for the gift and presence of Jesus in my life. Thank you for my salvation. I thank You that the Holy Spirit ministers peace, courage, and truth to me. Thank you for partnering with me in sharing the Good News; I don’t have to do that alone. You give me opportunity; you give me words; you give me courage. Father, help me to pray for more opportunities. Help me to see these opportunities and actually take them. Give me a zeal for sharing the best thing in my life with others. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
Read: Joshua 1:1-9; Acts 4:29-31
Weekly Memory Verse: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV)