Encouragement

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The Lord Is With You (Luke 1:26-31)

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having coming in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women! But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name Jesus.”

During the last two weeks, we looked at how the angel Gabriel came to Mary and told her about her part in God’s great plan. We also looked at how Heaven saw her as someone who was “highly favored”.

When Gabriel said to Mary “the Lord is with you”, it must have shaken her to the very core. Although Mary worshiped God and knew that she and her family belonged to Him, she had probably never thought about the fact that God was present with her. Now, as she became aware that God Emmanuel was soon to be living in her, she also found out that He had always been with her, and always would be. He was making His presence known!

Today the Lord is saying to His kids: “I am with you”. "I always have been and I always will be, and I promise I will never leave you.” You may look back on seasons of disappointment or pain in your life and believe that you were alone, but God was always with you. It was He who strengthened and carried you through. His whispered words of encouragement lifted you up when you were weary, and lit a path to guide your way. The day you placed your hand in His, you stepped into covenant with Him, and began to know His presence, but I believe that he was with you even before that, calling you into revelation and relationship. He is, He was, He always will be. The great “I AM” is with you and He has promised He will never leave you nor forsake you.

If we walked daily in the full awareness of God’s presence, we would always live in victory. It could be that we suffer defeat only because we believe a lie which the enemy stands on, the lie that we are alone. When Jesus returned to Heaven, He said “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18). He promised “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” and He gave us the ability to be with Him through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. God Emmanuel is surely with us, and He draws us deeper into the Father’s love each day! There is nothing that you cannot handle because God is with you. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and there is no mountain you cannot climb. He and you are a majority!

Whatever you have been going through, be assured that the Lord is by your side, and that He is taking you through to a better place. You are journeying through life with the great and mighty One who formed you in your mother’s womb, the One who created the universe and flung the stars into place. You have nothing to fear because Abba is near! You may have feared the attacks of the devil, but know today that he is actually afraid of you because he sees the presence of God with you. He cannot touch you when you are living in the shadow of the Almighty. God Himself is with you!

Dear friend, this is a good day to get back in touch with the One who loves you so much and laid His life down to be with you. One of the reasons why we do not feel God near us is that we may not be taking the time to get in touch with Him. Life cannot get so busy that we forget to fellowship with God and feel His presence with us! Take a few moments to breathe in deeply and acknowledge God is with you and step into fellowship with Him once more. It would truly change your life if you consciously tapped into His presence through your day and drank of the peace and rest He brings. He is with you and He always will be.

I pray that you will walk in the revelation of His powerful, loving presence, and know without a doubt that God is with you even as He was with Mary.

Minoli Haththotuwa, 16 December 2014
www.risingonwings.org

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