God will be WITH you throughout your life       

                                                                        Part 1

(PERSONAL PROPHECY--An unconditional promise to a Believer is like a prophecy-- IT WILL HAPPEN. These promise-prophecies are for you PERSONALLY as a Believer in Jesus Christ)

God will be WITH you throughout your life -- Part 1

This first part will be followed by 3 examples: How God was "with"

            1) Jacob,

            2) David,

            3) Paul.

These 3 examples (and many more could be given) show God's promise to "be with you", and the practical aspects of how God's presence works its way in real life.
The Lord has made a promise-prophecy to be with you as a believer in this life. Among the very last words of Jesus before He ascended to the Throne of His Father in Heaven were these,
   

                                                                            ... and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."   

                                                                                                                                                                        Matthew 28:20
   

            1. Jesus had earlier put this prophecy in the most personal way when He said "I will not leave you as orphans." (John 14:18)
   

            2. Jesus had put this prophecy in the most intimate way when He said that He would be IN us through His Holy Spirit--forever! (John 14:16-17)
   

            3. And He had put it in the most private way (as opposed to the corporate church as a whole) when He said that He knows each of us by name.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                (John 10:3)

To "be with you" means that God will accompany us    

            1. wherever we go,    

            2. wherever we are,    

            3. at all times.

God will be present with us on our journey   

            1. In life's ups and downs, peaks and pitfalls,   

            2. in joy and sadness--even through death,    

            3. regardless of sin, strife or stress, 

This promise is so firm and irretractable that it becomes a Prophecy for every believer.

God's means of being with us will at various times include    

            1. rebuke and recovery    

            2. blessing and joy    

            3. discipline and wisdom   

            4. deliverance   

            5. comfort   

            6. encouragement and hope   

            7. guidance and strength

But whatever His means, His purpose never varies, because...

...we know that God causes all things to work together

for good to those who love God,

to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

That is why, after a hard time under God's discipline, we afterwards come to realize that when God was WITH US in rebuke and discipline, it actually became a blessing.

"For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines...for our own good." (Hebrews 12:6,10)

We will see in Parts 2-4 that God promised to be with Jacob, David and Paul. When we read the account of each of their lives, they recognized that indeed, "God was with me." We will see that God cultivated (caused growth) and pruned (painful correction) their lives, all the while delivering them either through, or from, distress. God walked "through the valley of the shadow of death" with these men (Psa. 23) and He will do the same with you.