ALWAYS NEAR

Be strong and of good courage,

do not fear nor be afraid of them;

for the Lord your God, He is the

One who goes with you, He

will not leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:8

It's almost unimaginable what Joshua was facing. Moses was gone and Joshua found himself stepping into the sandals of Moses to lead God's people into the Promised Land. God gave him many words of help and encouragement that could have been hard to absorb in those moments. Most of those recorded words we now have in our Scriptures aren't quick for recall, but the above verse is one believers have hung onto for a very long time.Over the last several months, I have been and will continue to be one of those believers who clings to the promise of Gods ever and ongoing presence in my life. There are two key words in this verse to note....leave and forsake.

Leaving in most cases refers to a temporary absence. It indicates a person leaving will usually return at some time. We may leave for work, leave on vacation, leave for church or a military person coming home on leave. The word usually refers to a going and coming process but still indicates a time of being away.

Forsaking is a totally different word. Forsaking indicates a permanent leaving with no return in sight. Forsaking is often a quick exit from one's life, be it a job, family, friends and is usually done in the middle of great hurt, anger or severe offense. I've usually heard the word with respect to family members but can apply in other areas. Just about the only forsaking I have known as being a good thing is when a person forsakes sin and wrongdoing in their lives.

This precious verse is found twice in the Old Testament that I saw and it referred to Joshua. However, the verse is repeated in part in the book of Hebrews. In all three places, we believers are promised that God is going to be a constant presence in our lives every moment of our being . He is a party to our every tear, disappointment, time of joy, words of praise, physical pain and loneliness. It's another of God's I WILL statements we can claim all the way into Heaven.

Father, help me to relax in the knowledge that You are with me at every moment of everyday. I pray I won't ignore Your presence but will recognize Your being such a part of my life and that I'm never alone. In Jesus' precious name...Amen