He is here...

Something I've been pondering lately...

As a Christian, I have heard people pray "Lord please be with us/her/him/me..." I have prayed this way many times too. It becomes some sort of a catch phrase.

But something that I realized recently, he is with us. He is with us always. His dwelling place is our heart. "...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." Ephesians 3:17

He also promises never to leave or forsake us. "he will never leave nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8. The bible even states this twice within one passage.

So if he is already dwelling in us as believers, then why do we need to ask him to be with us. He already is with us. A word picture that came to me today was sitting in a room with your absolute best friend, but not talking to her or acknowledging her. Instead you say to the room, "Mary please be with me now!" even though she is sitting right there with you.

I read a quote recently from "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge. He says "Without your heart you cannot hope to find God, for the heart is his dwelling place. If you ignore your heart, it's like looking for him everywhere but at home." Oh this hit me this week too! I couldn't feel him or hear him until I realized that I had been ignoring my heart.

So what I should be doing instead is thanking him for being with me. And believing that he is with me, "Lord Jesus thank you for being with me in this moment. Thank you for not forsaking me."

But there will be moments that I don't feel like he is with me. So I need to pray that he helps me feels his presence. "Lord I need you now. Please help me feel your presence in this moment."

The enemy wants us to believe that he isn't really with us. He whispers those lies in our ears. He whispers to us that he has left us or that he never really was with us. Or sometimes even worse he whispers to us that he has forsaken us. But these are all lies and agreements that we make.

The bible doesn't lie. Nor is it a book of exceptions. He was, he is and is to come. He is here with me now and always. Thank you Jesus for being with me now in this moment....