"I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS!"

Matthew 28:18-20                      (ESV)

"18 And JESUS came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to ME.

19 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,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, "I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS", to the end of the age."

Not long ago I saw someone displaying a sentence that said something like "we need to put JESUS back in the classroom"!    Well, who are we that we actually think we can expel JESUS CHRIST from anywhere HE wants to be?  Doesn't scripture say in Colossians 1:15-16 "HE is the image of the invisible GOD, the firstborn of all creation.  For by HIM all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through HIM and for HIM?"  Since HE is the image the invisible GOD, why doesn't HE just impose HIS will on us?

ALMIGHTY GOD, whether we agree with HIS decisions or not, allows us to CHOOSE to follow HIM, or not to follow HIM.  Now HE uses hardships and difficulties to "persuade" some (Saul/Paul in Acts 9 among many others), but we still have to CHOOSE to follow HIS leadership out of the darkness we are battling.  The children of Israel followed a "cloud" when exiting Egypt.  We have to follow the same GOD by allowing the HOLY SPIRIT to guide and direct our lives!  

1 Corinthians 3:16 says "Do you not know that you are GOD's temple and that GOD's SPIRIT dwells in you?"  We can't allow the lie to be promulgated that we have expelled GOD ALMIGHTY from any venue as long as HE is in the hearts of fellow Believers.  What we can do is to pray that HE embolden the hearts of us who serve HIM to reflect HIM for this dark world to SEE!

To say that we need to do something magnificent to display our love for our HEAVENLY FATHER sounds real good, but what we REALLY need to do is display that "I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS"!  Trying to make GOD more of what we think HE needs to be to suit a specific situation may not a part of HIS Plan.  Making sure that others can SEE that "I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS" is all I need to be concerned with!!!