By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

I Am With You!

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“…I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.  For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:15 English Standard Version

Where have you gone this past year?  Have you been to foreign lands and strange places? Have there been changes in your family or your living situation?   Have you had crises and losses that you did not anticipate?  Have the journey been joyous or painful or both?

Looking back over the past year, do you wonder if God is really directing your life?  Do you feel his presence or do you feel far away from him?  In today’s passage, Jacob is scared and wonders if God will be with him, especially because Jacob has fractured the relationship with his own twin brother.

The Lord assures Jacob that he is indeed with him.  There is mercy and grace for Jacob and God is directing the plan for Jacob’s life.  Jacob is entering a whole new world and many new relationships, but God is with him in all of it!

And the Lord is with you also.  Not because you have done everything correctly this last year.  Not because everything is happy and prosperous.  But because of his great mercy, you are saved in Christ Jesus.  Because of the love of Jesus for you, you are never alone on your journey of life.  Because of the love of Jesus you can rest assured that God is using everything in your life, both good and bad, for your good and his glory!

No one knows where this next year will take us.  No one knows what joy or sorrow we will encounter.  But be assured; you do not go alone.  For the sake of our Lord Jesus, God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, until one day that he takes us home.  Do not be afraid, God is with you!  Amen.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado