Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
Mar.16, 2012

“God is Always With You”
“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart…” – Proverbs 4:20, 21

The following are the words from the hymn, “Take the Name of Jesus with You,” by Lydia O. Baxter.

Take the name of Jesus with you, Child of sorrow and of woe;

Precious name! Oh, how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heav'n;
Precious name! Oh, how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heav'n.

Take the name of Jesus ever, As a shield from every snare.
If temptations round you gather, Breathe that holy name in prayer.

Oh, the precious name of Jesus, How it thrills our souls with joy;
All the favor of the Father In this name we may enjoy.

At the name of Jesus bowing, Falling prostrate at His feet,
Claim His vict'ry over evil And the enemy defeat.

When I read this verse (from Proverbs) this hymn was one of the first things that came to my mind. When Solomon bids us to keep his words as close to us as possible—what better way to do that than to have THE WORD (John 1) with us at all times? When you place your faith in Christ, Christ places his Spirit before, behind, and within you. Not a strange spirit, but the same Spirit: the parakletos. Everything Jesus did for his followers, his Spirit does for you. Jesus taught; the Spirit teaches. Jesus healed; the Spirit heals. Jesus comforted; his Spirit comforts. As Jesus sends you into new seasons, he sends his counselor to go with you.
God treats you the way one mother treated her young son, Timmy. She didn’t like the thought of Timmy walking to his first-grade class unaccompanied. But he was too grown-up to be seen with his mother. “Besides,” he explained, “I can walk with a friend.” So she did her best to stay calm, quoting the Twenty-third Psalm to him every morning: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…”
One school day she came up with an idea. She asked a neighbor to follow Timmy to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, lest he notice her. The neighbor was happy to oblige. She took her toddler on morning walks anyway. After several days Timmy’s friend noticed the lady and the child.
“Do you know who that woman is who follows us to school?”
“Sure,” Timmy answered. “That’s Shirley Goodnest and her daughter Marcy.”
“Who?”
“My mom reads about them every day in the Twenty-third Psalm. She says, ‘Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.’ Guess I’ll have to get used to them.”
You will too. God never sends you out alone. Are you on the eve of change? Do you find yourself looking into a new chapter? Is the foliage of your world showing signs of a new season? Heaven’s message for you is clear: when everything else changes, God presence never does. You journey in the company of the Holy Spirit, who “will teach you and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26 NLT).
Pastor J. T. Carnell