A SON IS NEVER ALONE

Wherever Jesus went, He carried within His heart the sense that His Father was always with Him. In this week's Scripture passage from the gospel of John, we read how Jesus was fully aware that He was standing side by side with the Father in every decision He made.

Even at the time when Jesus knew that all His disciples would abandon Him, He made a statement in John 16:32 that gave us an insight into the special bond between Father & Son when Jesus said... “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. (NIV)

It is very important to God that we know that we are not alone in this world. The truth is that we were never created to live in isolation. Even in the Garden of Eden, when the Father observed a yearning in the heart of man for a help mate, God said in Genesis 2:18...  “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (WEB)

Since we were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) who within Himself is a community of love (Father, Son & Spirit), we have a desire for communion built within our DNA. Communion with each other and most importantly, communion with God Himself. Jesus spoke of this beautiful union between God and man in John 14:23 when He said...  “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (NIV)

Even in the Old Testament, when Joshua was facing the daunting task of taking over the reigns of leadership of Israel from Moses, God spoke these words of comfort to him... Joshua 1:5... 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. (ESV)

If we struggle to believe that God really is with us as He promised, then we will feel a real sense of being all on our own in this life. I don't know how you feel, but as far as I am concerned, the world is a scary place to live if we have to figure out life all by our self! But the truth is that we are NOT alone!

We have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit as a deposit to guarantee our inheritance! (2 Corinthians 1:22) and we have been forever joined with Jesus as He declared in John 17:23... I in them, you in me Father!

The glorious truth of the gospel is that the omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent God is closer than we could possibly imagine! Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, each one of us gets to host the abiding presence of God in our own bodies (1 Corinthians 3:16)... forever!

So if you are feeling isolated and alone today by circumstances beyond your control, my prayer for you is that you would become more aware of your union with the One who is an ever present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). The God who has promised to 'put the lonely in families' (Psalm 68:6) has now placed you in the biggest, best family in the universe (Ephesians 3:14-15).

My prayer today is that you would know the tangible, abiding, brooding presence of God in and around you. May you feel the comfort of Father's love (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) and His closeness especially in times when you are crushed in spirit and brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). The Most High will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) no matter what happens in your life. He is with you in good days, bad days and every day in between!

So as you go about your daily routine today, may you do so with the glorious awareness that you are not alone! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have forever, joined themselves to you! It was God's eternal intent that you would never feel isolated or separated from the community of love that finds its source in His heart.

May you be strengthened by our Great Shepherd's words when He left this charge with His friends and promised to be with them, through thick and thin, even to the end of the age...

Matthew 28:18-20
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." (ESV)