by David Gibson<\/p>\n
By using a Bible computer program, you can type in the words, “I am with you<\/em>,” and in just moments the screen displays every passage where this phrase is found. If you count all references to “I am with you<\/em>” plus “I will be with you<\/em>,” you will discover more than 20 occurrences altogether.<\/p>\n A study of these in context is impressive-and reassuring. Over and over God pledges His presence and His help to His people. Among those who received this assurance (and who really needed the encouragement) were Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jeremiah, the twelve apostles, and Paul (Genesis 26:3, 24; 28:15; 31:3; Exodus 3:12; Deuteronomy 31:23; Joshua 1:5; 3:7; Judges 6:16; Jeremiah 1:8, 19; 15:20; Matthew 28:20; Acts 18:9-10). God also encouraged Israel with this promise through Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Haggai (Isaiah 41:10; 43:1-2, 5; Jeremiah 30:10-11; 42:11; 46:28; Haggai 1:13; 2:4).<\/p>\n The promise of God’s presence and help is conditional on our cooperating with His will (I Kings 11:38; 14:7-11). Let’s so live that God can always be with us.<\/p>\n God’s presence may be invisible, but it is real. His promise “I am with you<\/em>” may be ancient, but it isn’t dated. We need to hear those words today as much as those in earlier times. We too face great trials as we obey Christ. But as Jesus said in giving us the Great Commission, “. . . I am with you always, even to the end of the age<\/em>” (Matthew 28:20).<\/p>\n To the end of the age.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Comforting assurance By using a Bible computer program, you can type in the words, “I am with you,” and in just moments the screen displays every passage where this phrase is found. If you count all references to “I am with you” plus “I will be with you,” you will discover more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[359,1513],"class_list":["post-96995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-comfort","tag-relationships"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/be-not-dismayed\/","url_meta":{"origin":96995,"position":0},"title":"Be Not Dismayed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jeremiah came in the worse days of Judah\u2019s history \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Corruption was everywhere - Jeremiah 6:13-15 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jeremiah was told from his youth to preach the truth - Jeremiah 1:4-8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But that didn\u2019t make it easy. Jeremiah was opposed most of his life \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11015,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-mythology-false-gods-and-their-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":96995,"position":1},"title":"Notes on Mythology, False Gods and Their Worship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"General References Judges 2:12 1 Kings 9:9 2 Chronicles 7:22 Ammonite Gods Molech Leviticus 18:21 2 Kings 23:10 Jeremiah 32:35 Amos 5:26 Zephaniah 1:5 Acts 7:43 Assyrian Gods General References 2 Chronicles 32:21 Land Based Gods 2 Kings 17:26-27 2 Kings 18:33 Isaiah 36:18 Babylonian Gods General References Isaiah 21:9\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61311,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-blessings\/","url_meta":{"origin":96995,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Blessings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Genesis 1:18 Genesis 9:1 Genesis 12:2 Genesis 17:20 Genesis 21:9-21 Genesis 24:35 Genesis 26:12 Genesis 27:21-40 Genesis 28:1 Genesis 32:29 Genesis 39:5 Genesis 41:31 Genesis 48:15-16 Exodus 23:25 Exodus 34:10 Leviticus 26:4 Deuteronomy 23:5 Deuteronomy 28:2 Deuteronomy 29:5 Joshua 14:13 Joshua 22:6 I Samuel 2:20 II Samuel 6:11 II Samuel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42402,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-the-hardening-of-pharaohs-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":96995,"position":3},"title":"Notes on the Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tommy Peeler Pharaoh's heart was hardened (Exodus 7:13-14, 22; 8:19; 9:7, 35) Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34) The LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:20; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17) Describe Exodus 5 in light of these three ways of describing Pharaoh's hardness of heart.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12932,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-canon-of-the-old-testament-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":96995,"position":4},"title":"The Canon of the Old Testament \u2013 Part 2","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In our prior lesson, we established the acceptance of the writings of Moses by a large number of people over a wide range of history. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The writings were not accepted because of some decree or because the documents were old, but because they were recognized as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/180-day-bible-reading-schedule\/","url_meta":{"origin":96995,"position":5},"title":"180 Day Bible Reading Schedule","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Start Date: Finish Date: Total Number of Days: All readings should be completed in one sitting. In order to obtain the maximum benefit from your efforts, read out loud and read every day. Day 1: Genesis 1:1-6:8 Day 2: Genesis 6:9-11:26 Day 3: Genesis 11:27-19:38 Day 4: Genesis 20:1-25:11 Day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}In time of crisis<\/h2>\nGod promised to be with them in view of their facing tremendous difficulties and challenges. The normal human reaction to such hurdles would be discouragement and fear. In fact, in several of these passages God says, “Do not fear<\/em>,” along with the promise, “I am with you<\/em>.”
\nIn other words, since I am with you, you need not fear. And so we can say with David, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me<\/em> . . .” (Psalms 23:4).\n