God Is There No Matter What – Part 2 of 5

If you are a returning visitor, hopefully you saw last week’s message. We are in the midst of a sermon series about comfort in hard times. We all go through hard times in our life, and it is tough sometimes to know where God is during those moments.

Just remember, He’s always with you, and God is working for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose, which means you need to be doing the word of God, and He will be with you.

Like when you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. And remember, He will never leave you nor forsake you, and remember, also, that those who seek God find Him. Draw near to God. He will draw near to you.

So many verses on this that are just flooding into my mind right now. The point is, today we are talking about that no matter what hard time you are going through in your life, you need to remember God is there.

Last week we spoke about, ah, down and up. When you are down to nothing, God is up to something. And if you haven’t seen that sermon, you can check it out. It’ll be in a card up here. I’ll put a link right here to the playlist for this sermon series, so you can watch them all.

In addition, please consider sharing it with other people. If you know someone that might be going through a hard time or a trial in their life, share this with them because it might give them a little bit of insight and light, and then once you share it, follow up.

Be there for them. Help them go through whatever they’re going through. Help them seek the truth. No matter what the facts of life may say, remember this is Truth. The Bible says, “Your Word is truth.”

Always know that the Bible is the truth. That is your standard of living. Whatever the Bible says, that is how you need to live. This is your road map for life. And remember, God is there at all times.

Even if you can’t see Him, God is always there. Let’s go to Deuteronomy 31:8. We’re going to start this off real quick. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged.”

We referenced this verse last week when we talked about how Jesus, in the one of the worst moments or the worst moment of His life, cried out, “Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?”

Now, if God would forsake Jesus, His one true son, you might think, “Well, of course He might forsake us, we are only adopted into the faith, or heirs grafted into the faith as sons, Brothers of Christ.”

The answer is no. He would never leave you, nor forsake you. Why? Because He already did it to Jesus. Jesus took your punishment, meaning that, yes, God could have forsaken you. But because Jesus died, you will never be forsaken.

And you say, “Well, that promise is from Joshua. That’s in the Old Testament, before Jesus.” Doesn’t matter. The Bible works together, both old and new. Jesus came not to abolish those, but to fulfill them.

Meaning that He became our curse. Remember what Paul says, “Cursed is anyone who’s hung on the tree.” Jesus became that curse. That means you will never be forsaken. So just remember that God is there.

All you need to do is remember that no matter what, in those hard times, He is there with you. Sometimes you might be pulling away from Him. God’s not moving. It’s like people that say, “Oh, I found God.” God was never lost – you were. Get back on the path.

God is right there where you left Him. Don’t leave God. So if you have to do something to continually remind yourself that God is there, do that. We have an entire sermon on “Using Reminders.” Check that out. That could be very helpful to you.

God is always with you, no matter what. Let’s go to Matthew 18:20. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” Those are the words of Jesus. So if you gather with, with another person, where two or three gather in my name, there Jesus is, with you.

Now, does that mean that if you are by yourself in your prayer closet praying, or in, in your bedroom, or wherever, praying all alone, that God is not with you? Because it’s where two or three gather, and if I’m only by myself, I’m only one, and God’s not with me. Oh, no! Wrong.

God is with you. Why? Because He gave you Jesus. Gave you a helper, the Holy Spirit. So no matter what, when you pray, two are there. You and the Holy Spirit. “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am with you.”
What if you have four? Doesn’t matter. That’s more people. The point is, Jesus is saying that no matter what, when you have the helper, when you have the Holy Spirit with you, when you have invited Jesus Christ to take up residence in your life, to be the Lord and Savior of your life, you have accepted the fact that you were a sinner.

Now you want to live for Him. The Holy Spirit comes and lives with you. Jesus himself sent a helper to be with you. Now you are two. Where two or three gather in His name, when you are praying the will of God, and you are doing that in His name, He is with you.

So if you’re a non-believer and you’re watching this, you are alone. It’s time for you to make that decision to have a helper in your life, the true helper, the bringer of truth. The Holy Spirit, who will lead you into all truth. And help you discover it, revealing it to you.

As you read the Bible, you will learn because the Holy Spirit is the true teacher. The Holy Spirit will help you and teach you what to do and say, leading and guiding you into all truth. Now, does that mean that you’re putting your hope in the Holy Spirit? No. It’s in Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the helper. What do you think Jesus meant when he said, “Do this in remembrance of me?” Let’s go to Luke 22:19. Luke 22:19. “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, ‘This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

Now, of course, what do you think he meant? That’s communion. It’s talking about communion. We have an entire sermon on the bread or the body in our communion playlist. We’ll put that up here, “Understanding Communion.”

And so what did He mean? It’s the principle that we’re going to get at right here, that he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” So for sure, when you’re doing communion, you need to be doing that in remembrance of Him because His body was the bread.

What is the body? We are the body of Christ. So if we are the bread, we are the bread of life. Yes, that means we are to be bringing the word of God. What is the word of God? The word of God is the Bible.

Why the word, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. And the word was God.” Then what happened? The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. And that was Jesus Christ, which is the body. And then if we are the body of Christ, the believers, then it’s, it’s all together.

And so what must you do in remembrance of Him? Everything, because whatever you do to you, means you need to be doing, to build the kingdom here on Earth as it is in Heaven. Doing so in remembrance of Jesus. Because if you are being like Jesus, you are doing it in remembrance of Him.

You are working to be like Christ. You can’t work to be like someone if you’re not remembering how they were. Now, you might not have firsthand knowledge, as in you witnessed it in person, but you know, through the Bible, and you know through the Holy Spirit, how Jesus would be.

We have a sermon, “WWJD.” Think about what would Jesus do? If you know Jesus, you know what He would do in a certain situation, and you will know that you will do that, remembering or in remembrance of what Jesus would do.

He wants you to do all things in remembrance of Him. All things as a representative of Him. That’s what being a Christian is. It means wearing a uniform of Christ. Being Christlike. Let’s go to Colossians 3:17.

Colossians 3:17. “And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Whatever you do, words or deeds, you do it all in the name of Jesus.

God wants to be on your mind at all times. All times. He doesn’t want you to clear your mind. He wants to be on your mind. Some people say, “Well, I like to meditate and just clear my mind, let my thoughts go.”

No. That is not a biblical thing. That is not biblical teachings. God wants to be on your mind. So if you are trying to clear away your mind, you are tapping into something that’s not good, like the occult. Oftentimes, meditation. Where did that come from?

Far East religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, whichever, some of those places. And what do they do? They meditate, and they focus on what, a saying or a chakra or something like that, which is to do what? To achieve some form of spiritual enlightenment.

Where are they going with that? Not to God. Not to Jesus. The. Not to God the Father. That’s a false religion, false teaching – idol – demons. Stay away. Don’t be clearing your mind. Put God on your mind.

Let’s go to Joshua 1:8. Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

Last week, we referenced prosperity and success. If you’re struggling with that, find a promise and figure out what you have to do in order to achieve that.

Here you go. You want to be prosperous and successful? I guarantee you, if you keep this book of the law always on your lips, meditate on it day and night, and be careful to do everything written in it, you will be prosperous and successful.

So what does the Bible say about meditation? Right here, meditate. I like to clear my mind. I like to let my thoughts go. Wrong. The Bible says, “Meditate on the Word of God.” Very simple.

Doesn’t say you can’t meditate. It says, “Meditate on the Bible. Meditate on the Word.” God wants to be continually, He wants you to be continually reminded that He is Lord, and that He is the One who is in control of your life. But you have to let Him.

If you go out and you live in sin, you’re not doing what God wants you to do. Is God in control of you? No. He gave you free will. So does God control everything? Well, God has a plan and a purpose, a divine plan and a purpose. And yes, is always in control over the rules He set in place.

He gave you free will. You can defy Him if you want. That would not be what God wants. So is He in control in that minute? No, you’re trying to take control. You’re seizing control. Don’t be doing that. God wants you to always remember him.

Let’s go to Joshua 1:9, the very next verse. “Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

You need to remember God is there. He is always with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He goes before you. He will be with you wherever you go. Remember that when you became a Christian, you asked God to lead your life. You pledged your allegiance to Him.

You decided that you would no longer make the decisions in your life, that you would seek God first, and He would direct your steps, as Proverbs says, “In His heart you may plan your course, but it is the Lord that establishes your steps.”

You turned over control. You told Him that you would live your life for Him. Therefore, do all things in remembrance of Him. We referenced that sermon, “WWJD.” Always be thinking about what would Jesus do. You wear the uniform of Christ.

This is not something to be taken lightly. This is a huge responsibility for you. Because if you go out there and misrepresent Christ, or you do something that leads someone astray, what did Jesus say about that?

That if anyone leads one of these little ones astray, it would be better for them to have a millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the depths of the sea. It would be better that they had never been born. That’s some powerful stuff. That’s why it’s very important, obviously, to make sure that if you are teaching others, you are, you are teaching correctly.

The Bible also says that teachers will be held to a higher standard on the day of judgment. That means me, as a, as a pastor, as a preacher, as an apostle, as a leader, leading and shepherding people.

Of course, I wouldn’t consider myself, as a pastor or ah, to be a shepherd, because Jesus is our shepherd. I would say I’m more of a sheepdog. That’s my job – is to round up the people and, and direct them to the one true shepherd, Jesus Christ.

And if you are a Christian, that’s your calling, to do what the Bible says. To fulfill the great commission. To work in that. But it says that when you start teaching others, you need to make sure that you are directly being led by the Holy Spirit.

That the Holy Spirit is guiding you, and is teaching through you. That you are getting out of your own way and letting the spirit flow through you, because then you know what you’re teaching is Truth.

If you teach Bible, it’s always Truth. Don’t try to misinterpret things or put twists on them. Just teach what the Bible says. That is all Truth. And you never have to worry about leading someone astray because you’re teaching and doing exactly what the Bible says.

So on the day of judgment, when the teachers will be held at a higher standard, you don’t need to worry about that because if you’re teaching the truth, there’s nothing to worry about. Always be reminded of who you are and who God is.

And remember that God is there. Know your place in this relationship. You are a representative of Christ. The Bible says you are Christ’s ambassador. Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 5:20.

2 Corinthians 5:20. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” All right, what is this saying? You need to be reconciled to God.

You must be in right relationship with Him, and know your place in that relationship. God is your commander-in-chief. He is your father. You are His child. You are called to be a Son of Christ. You are called to be like Jesus. You say, “I’m a female. I’m a daughter.”

You are called to be a son. Why? Because sons are heirs to the throne. Remember when this was written, you are Sons of Christ. Sons of God. Sons receive the inheritance. When this was going on, when the Bible was written, at that time, women were not given that place.

They did not have that authority. You say, “Well, if times change.” The Bible is timeless. The Word of God does not change. It stands true forever.

In the, in the Word, in the Body of Christ, there is no Jew or Gentile, no slave or free, no male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. What are, we all, we are all called to be Sons of God, Brothers of Christ.

So be reconciled with Him. Know your relationship. You are Christ’s ambassador. Meaning, what is an ambassador? That is a representative of Christ. Meaning that if you go and do something, you are speaking and doing and acting as if it were Christ. That’s a pretty heavy responsibility.

That’s, that’s like you are given power of authority, power of attorney over what Christ wants to do over the kingdom of Heaven on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Meaning when you go and do something, you are not going to someone and saying, “Let’s go to the throne. Let’s, let’s bring you to Christ.

No, you are bringing Christ to them. You are Christ’s ambassador here on earth. So when you go to minister, when you go to do outreaches, to evangelize, to do what the word says, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to preach the gospel, what are you doing?

You are representing Christ to them. You are bringing Christ to them. The Kingdom of Heaven is not some far-off place. It is here. What does the Bible say? “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” Meaning that as you go and do these things, the Bible says, you are literally bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to that very place.

This is very significant. It means that you need to always remember God is there. So if, if you are doing things that are not according to the Bible, like you are engaging in sin, or promoting sin, or not even promoting but tolerating or accepting it, that is not something Christ would do.

You would be a bad ambassador. Think of, like, ambassadors of nations. What happens, well, when someone like an Ambassador of the United States goes to wherever, Russia, and is speaking? They are speaking on behalf of the United States government.

If they went over there and spoke something contrary to what the United States wants, what would happen? Probably, they would be executed because that would be considered an act of treason.

So if you are Christ’s ambassador to the people of the world, you should never be acting in disagreement with what the Bible says. You say, “Well, how do I know if I’m acting in disagreement?”

Know what the Bible says. That’s why it is so important for you to what? Meditate on the Bible day and night. Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Study it, learn it, know it, understand it, talk about it with others.

And yes, you might mess up, or you might learn something in the Bible and say, “I’ve been doing this wrong.” Repent. Ask God for forgiveness. And then what? Go and sin no more.

Work hard to do it the right way. Renew your mind. Transform your actions, and be Christ’s ambassador in the world. Remember, God is there with you, no matter where you go.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank you so much for this great message, this inspiring message. I ask that you would, would inspire each and every person watching or listening, that they would truly understand this, and that they would grasp the importance of it.

The importance that they need to be representatives of Christ. They need to be Christ’s ambassadors here. They need to do and say what Jesus would do in that situation. In every situation.

And how can they know that? They need to think, “What would Jesus do?” They need to know Jesus because if they truly know your Son, they would know what He would do in all situations, and they would be able to do that.

So help them be motivated, and to have that desire. Put that desire in their hearts, and then give them that desire as they receive the desires of their hearts. Doing the word of God. Doing your will each and every day here on Earth as it is already in Heaven.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a great week, and God bless. We’ll see you next week.