Today you will KNOW that the Great I AM is the One who stays! Wherever you are standing … whatever you are walking through … and whatever you are facing in the path ahead … you will KNOW!

If there has been any question or doubt that God is with you, today that will be settled – once and for all! Today your “hope” will no longer be a “wish”; it will become a confident assurance. It will no longer simply be a longing or desire; it will become the source of your longing and desire. Today your “faith” will no longer be based upon sincere intention; it will be founded on immutable truth. Your faith will no longer be based on an idea or an ideal; it will be firmly planted in the Person of the Almighty God.

The Israelites had seen God’s activity throughout their wanderings in the wilderness. Now they stood on the western bank of the Jordan River preparing to cross over into the promised land.(1) Those who were now adults, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, had either been children at the time of the exodus from Egypt, or had been born during the wilderness journey. Most had no memory of the exodus, and the memories of those who were oldest were only faint. But they had all repeatedly heard the accounts of God’s deliverance – the plaques, the angel of death passing over, and the parting of the Red Sea – and how God had given Moses the Law written in His hand on the tablets of stone. All of them had experienced God’s daily provision of manna and heard of His miraculous provision of water and quail. But many of them only had a secondhand knowledge of who God was and the promises He had given. As they prepared to enter into the land that had been promised by God, Joshua told the people to draw close – to come and listen – so they might know.

Before you see His works, listen to His words. They were standing on the banks of a river they needed to cross over, and they had no means with which to do so. Upon entry into the land, their first encounter would be with a foe who was completely surrounded by impenetrable walls. They were about to see God order events and provide for their needs in very “unconventional” ways – ways that could only be described as supernatural. And God did not simply want the people to be amazed by His wonders; He wanted them to have such faith and trust in Him that they were expectant of His wonders. When scientific knowledge, military convention and human wisdom all indicated a different outcome, He wanted His people to have unwavering faith and rock-solid trust in Him, and what He was about to do. He wanted them to be able to look at the circumstances ahead through His lens – the lens of the One who had stayed with them throughout it all and would continue to do so.

God wanted His people to know Him, to know His voice and to know the fellowship of His presence. And that was not solely to be a “collective” knowing; He wanted each and every individual to have that personal knowledge and assurance. He wants each and every one of us to have that personal knowledge and assurance as well. He sacrificed His Son on a cross so that we might be able to have that intimate relationship with Him – and He might be able to have it with us. That’s how much He desired it with His people there at the Jordan. That’s how much He desires it with us here and now! And He did not want the people to know Him through secondhand knowledge. He wanted them – and each one of us – to know Him personally, to know His voice intimately, and to know the fellowship of His presence warmly.

Because once i truly know Him, Who He is and what He has said, i can then have the everlasting assurance of His presence and His promise. When the storm comes up (because it will!), i can have confidence that the One who is Sovereign over the storm is there in the boat with me(2) – or as Joshua says, “is among you”(1). When we come to that place of assurance, the storm is no longer the absolute reality; the absolute reality is the One who is sovereign over the storm. And i must be far more focused on Who He is and what He has said about the storm – or the river, or the walled city – than i am on the situation or the circumstance itself.

Yes, as His children, He will allow us to see and experience His works, but as we hear His words – as we meet Him face-to-face – we will experience something even more precious than His assurance, we will experience the intimacy of His presence.

After you have heard His words, see His works. “He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you.”(1) He will drive out the enemies ahead of you – or those that surround you. More often than not, our real enemy is not flesh and blood, it is principalities and powers(3) and apart from Him we are defenseless against them. Perhaps your enemy is spiritual strongholds that are causing your family to crumble, or backbiting by a coworker that is making your life at work unbearable, or the persecution you are receiving from your unbelieving family for your relationship with Christ.

Only He can drive out the enemies, so i must walk in the intimacy of His presence. (And if there is ANYTHING in my life that is disrupting the intimacy of my walk with Him, i must immediately deal with it.(4)) Only He can drive out the enemies, so i must walk in the knowledge and assurance of His promise.(5) Only He can drive out the enemies, so i must walk confidently, steadfastly and unwaveringly in the reality of His Person.(6) He will give you possession of the promise He has made. His arm has not grown short; that which He has promised He will fulfill.(7)

And through it all, God was at work to make His Name known to all the nations so that His Name would be glorified among every tongue and tribe – through the works of His majesty and through the testimony of a people who were wholly His. So it wasn’t sufficient for them just to see His works; they must know His words, know His Person and know the intimacy of His presence. God is still at work through the lives of His people – through the works of His majesty and the testimony of our lives. He is at work to conform each of us more into the image of His Son so that He is glorified in and through us.(8)

So there is much more at stake. There is much more than the defeat of your enemies. There is much more than the possession of the promise He has given you. Come and listen to what the LORD your God says. Because today you will KNOW that God is the One who stays!

As i frequently do, i want to point you to a worship song that will encourage you today in the midst of whatever circumstance you are walking through. It’s entitled “The God Who Stays.” Below are the lyrics and a link so you can listen to it. Take the time to be encouraged and to be reminded – He is the One who stays!

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This post is adapted from Possessing The Promise, chapter 7 entitled “By This You Shall Know”. This third book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print and for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy.

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(1) Joshua 3:9-10 (NLT)

So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the LORD your God says. Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you.”

(2) Mark 4:35-41

(3) Ephesians 6:12-13

(4) 1 John 1:9

(5) John 15:7

(6) Philippians 1:6

(7) Deuteronomy 11:2 and Hebrews 10:23

(8) Romans 8:29

Photo by Cristian Mercado on Unsplash

The God Who Stays

If I were You I would've given up on me by now
I would've labeled me a lost cause
'Cause I feel just like a lost cause

If I were You I would've turned around and walked away
I would've labeled me beyond repair
'Cause I feel like I'm beyond repair

Oh, but somehow You don't see me like I do
Somehow You're still here

You're the God who stays
You're the God who stays
You're the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You're the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays

I used to hide
Every time I thought I let You down
I always thought I had to earn my way
But I'm learning You don't work that way, no

'Cause somehow You don't see me like I do
Somehow You're still here

My shame can't separate
My guilt can't separate
My past can't separate
I'm Yours forever

My sin can't separate
My scars can't separate
My failures can't separate
I'm Yours forever

No enemy can separate
No power of hell can take away
Your love for me will never change
I'm Yours forever

'Cause you're the God who stays
You're the God who stays
You're the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You're the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays

You're the God who stays
You're the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away
You're the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done can separate my heart
From the God who stays

Songwriters: AJ Pruis / Jonathan Smith / Matthew West

The God Who Stays – Matthew West (Lyric Video)

The One Who Stays

The God Who Stays

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