The LORD is with You While You're with Him

"The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you" (2 Chronicles 15:2). The word of God is full of promises like this, principles like this. This one is resonating with me right now, so much. Clearly, the world is not "with" the Lord. But someone who has repented and turned to the Lord can claim all these promises. I'm not talking about "name it and claim it" theology, I'm just talking about taking the Lord at his word. His promises are for the people who have trusted in him, who have repented and are walking with him, in a relationship with him--who have been born again. I don't honestly know how people can keep going on and on without knowing God. There is so much in this world that shouts at us that this world is judged, it is under the wrath of God, and everyone who goes on and on in their sin is already condemned, Jesus said in John Chapter 3. It's hard for me to believe that any American has not heard the name of Jesus, or has not heard the gospel many times. Maybe they haven't really heard it, or it has gone in one ear and out the other, as my mother used to say. And then there's the matter of death. Most of us have lost loved ones, many of us, fairly recently. What hope do we have for our loved ones who have died if we have not found faith in the Lord? People say "RIP" and say someone has "gone to the other side," but what is "the other side?" I used to think people just lost consciousness when they died, or went back to not knowing anything like before they were born, but I learned that was a lie. How did I learn that? By believing in Christ and being born again. He came to take our sins away. It appears that most people don't believe that. Why don't they believe that? Because they choose not to believe it. We who have been believers for a long time have probably shared things about God and Jesus dozens of times with our loved ones, and still there are those who refuse to believe. I don't know why. I guess they like hating and judging and patting each other on the back for being so much smarter than those of us who have a simple faith in the Bible and in God and in Jesus Christ. I am just glad that the Holy Spirit gives me strength every day to not feel destroyed by the rejection of my loved ones who think I have misbehaved because I don't believe what they believe. They are so sure that they are right and I am wrong. The problem is when I was born again, the Bible says "I died," so what they are rejecting is God and Jesus. So, I don't have to take it personally. It still hurts, but the power of the Holy Spirit is something wonderful. No matter what the world slings your way, you have a shield, the Bible calls it a shield of faith. The shield of faith is part of the Christian's armor as described in Ephesians chapter 6. It may seem presumptuous to some for me to say if they are rejecting me, they are rejecting God and Jesus, but that is what God's word says. When I was born again, I became a different person. The different person that I am inside is because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; the old me died. If you go and read Ephesians 6:10-20, you will get a great blessing. I just did. In verse 20, the Apostle Paul says he is an "ambassador in chains," because he was in prison, under house arrest in Rome. He was often in such a state, simply for preaching the gospel, and he was martyred like most of the disciples. But his words have lived on, because they were delivered by God, and you can't kill the truth. Everybody will be judged, or has already been judged by God's law. No one will escape the judgment of God, but you can escape from its penalty by turning away from your sin and surrendering to the call of God. I did many years ago, and I have never regretted it. Guaranteed. I pray God is dealing with your heart or all of this will go right past your ears.