He Will Never Leave Nor Forsake Me

A question that used to nag at me, and I felt compelled to respond to, was:

"How do you know that He will be there with you tomorrow, the next day, etc."

The fact is that I struggle with fights in my mind all the time.

I was convinced that I had to hold onto His presence in my life based on what I was feeling.

I knew that I was made the righteousness of God in Christ, but I still thought that I had to bring Him into my life, that His presence in my life depended on me.

For a long time afterward, I was till convinced that His life and power depended on what I was thinking and feeling. Such bondage.

What changed that wrong thinking and believing?

I had a revelation of Jesus as my Shepherd:

"A Psalm of David.} The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." (Psalm 23)

Notice that David writes "The LORD" -- the Covenant Name of God:

"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3: 14)

Today, I have the revelation of all that God is through His Son Jesus:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13: 8)

The further revelation of how present God is to us, we find in Psalm 137:

"2Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." (Psalm 139: 2-3)

 

And also:

 

"8If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

 

"9If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

 

"10Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalm 139: 8-10)

 

Even if we try to flee God's presence, we cannot!

 

"7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" (Psalm 139: 7)

 

He will never leave me nor forsake me. His presence, His blessings, His work in my life, in our lives, do not depend on us.

 

It all has come about because of Jesus!

 

So, whenever the question, the attack pops up to answer the question: "What are you going to do to make sure that He is there in your tomorrows?"

 

I answer with the Word of God, which announces at length that He is already in my tomorrows, and holds all of eternity in His hands.

Growth Not in Effectiveness, but Grace

This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code. (AA, pg 84)

I have written many times on the post of this blog -- there is no end to our taking inventories, if we are looking at ourselves, our sin, our failings, our whatever.

The moment that Adam and Eve looked at themselves, there was no end to the sense of sin and shame. It is eternal torment for us to remain stuck looking into ourselves, hoping for answers of any kind to shake us free.

That freedom lies outside of us, in a greater revelation of Jesus, not some "Higher Power" whose presence depends on us.

The above passage points out a number of problems which put out the AA cult. Not just the "continue to take personal inventory", but also to grow in "understanding and effectiveness".

Understanding of what?

The whole AA program is based on going in a never-ending circle looking at our faults, striving in the empty business of "doing more".

Doing more what? Effectiveness for what?

If I am a sick, crazy alcoholic, and I am surrounded by a cohort of miscreants who do not even work the program, then what understanding or effectiveness can I offer to anyone else?

The Bible invites us to grow, certainly, but in something else, and in knowledge of Someone else!

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3: 18)


We are invited to grow not in our actions, not in expanding our resumes or achievements. We are to grow in grace. In grace, not in effort, to see all that Jesus has done for us, rather than learn to do more for Him.

Or for "a Higher Power".

We do grow in knowledge, too, absolutely, but not of ourselves. We do not take inventory of our sins and failures, since Jesus Himself will come back, having nothing to do with sin (Hebrews

By the way, God our Father causes us to grow:

"4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 4-5)

and

"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." (1 Corinthians 3: 6)

Growth is not about our efforts, but rather revelation of His efforts, His work in our lives.

We can do all that we want to, but apart from Him, we can do nothing.

Everything that we have, all of that is a gift from God. Where do we get the idea that we serve Him in anything that we do?

I need to see more of how good God is. We are not effective until we see how effective He is in our lives:

"That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." (Philemon 6)

He Is Our Shepherd

The Lord is My Shepherd -- I shall not want.

The Big Book does not teach me this, although "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions" makes references to this verse.

If the secondary companion to the Twelve Step Program goes to the Word of God, why settle for the secondary sources in the first place?

I choose the Word of God, where I can learn about Jesus!

The AA Book talked about God as our Father, and as our Principal.

Yet there is something powerful and necessary about our seeing Jesus as our Shepherd, too.

The Shepherd knows the way and how to prepare us for the road which we must take to get where we are going.

He has the strength and skill to protect us from the enemies before and behind us.

He knows what we need before we ask, and He provides better than we can even think.

This need to see a Living, Loving Savior lives full-well in all of us, and this needs is more than met in Jesus, our Shepherd.

The AA Book wants people to believe that they must do something in order to stay close to God.

According to the Bible, the real Big Book, it is not our job to stay close to God. He keeps us close to Himself. We are not supposed to get carried away in the notion that we can wander away from Him.

Yet for the longest time, I was convinced at great length that I could end up going the right way, or the wrong way, that He could come or go depending on what I did or thought, depending on the choices or mistakes which I made.

Whether individuals want to hear or read this statement or not, much of these misconceptions about God flow from the cult which tells its adherents to choose their own conception of God.

He is our Shepherd. I cannot conceive this, I cannot understand this, and none of us should expect to get this in one sitting, one session, or even a year's worth of church attendance.

Growing in grace, not effectiveness, is what life is all about.

His life, by the way -- the life of the Good Shepherd (John 10: 11) who laid down His life for the sheep, including me!