FGB Testimony: “Always!”
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The Great Commission
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Introduction
Privilege, joy to share with you. Not my life story but a testimony of how the risen, living JC has been with me throughout the ups & down of my life.
[Intro] Breakdown, Macon, France (Burgundy, near Lyon). Power steering Failed, car shut down, I had to be rescued. We prayed & prayed for a miraculous resolution. Hours before we were rescued from the Mway and Car impounded in Macon on a Sat with no hope of a Ford repair before Monday. RAC Europe>Motel. We prayed & prayed…no word from the Lord as we read our Bible. We wandered into a nearby campsite, met a couple from Middlesborough who lent us a bike so we could cycle along the riverside (Saone) to city of Macon (Jehovah Jireh) – God provides.
We walked ½ mile to the Ford Garage and found out they could not do the Steering repairs for several weeks. RAC Europe tell us we have to stay with the car until it is repaired. At that we put our foot down and said we were coming home and headed to the train station. A kindly man for the car dealership took us to the train station in Macon (Foc). Wrong train station. The Eurostar station was 17 miles away. We prayed and prayed. We had no cash - card machine wasn’t working. Lord, we cry out to you, are you hearing us? 500 miles from Calais and no money, no food, no transport.
Many mini miracles along the was. A bottle of water. A kindly bus driver. We got the last two Eurostar tickets to Paris. Needed a Taxi across Paris to Gare du Nord and 50 people in the queue. I spoke to a gendarme, and she called up the next taxi and put us on it. We got to England and then by train and a car ride and caught the midnight ferry to Islw of Wight. Where was God in all of that? We prayed and prayed, I still have PTSD when I think of it and yet the Lord provided for us and held us by his righteous right hand throughout (Isaiah 41:10). Funny story ‘mon pantalons!’
Yet we knew God was with us.
Main Testimony
Isaiah Chapters 40-49 are full of assurances of the comfort of God’s presence, ‘withness.’
Isa 41:10 do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand…. 13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 43 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.’
There are times in our life when we are just not sure we can take any more, the pain is too much, darkness too black, future is too bleak.
To hear these reassuring words ‘I am with you,’ is very personal.
I had invited JC into my life (age 10) & from that day forward it has been personal, me & Jesus – ever-present helper (Ps 46:1).
That was so true for me when I was 23. At the age of 23.2 I wondered what life was going be like as a broken, paralysed young man when 2 days earlier everything in the garden looked rosy – trainee accountant, successful in sport, fast car, 4 bedroom house, active in a Christian fellowship.
Then, in an instant, a car crash, I was catapulted into the ranks of the disabled, handicapped, crippled – all words I loathe but all new ways people would refer to me.
How was I going to fare in this new unwanted life before me? A life I didn’t see coming, a life I didn’t welcome, a physical predicament that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
How was my faith going to hold up. In Isa 41:10 I find that the Lord is holding on to me. Hear the Lord's promise – ‘do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God - I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’
Isa 41:13 I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Notice the repetition of the pronouns I am with you, I am your God I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you……this is personal.
NB the object of pronoun is you! ‘I with you’ ‘I am your God’ ‘I will help you’
As I lay crushed and fearing my life was ebbing away, I heard the voice of the Lord ‘I am with you, always.’ Words from Isaiah and from Matt 28:20. I was helpless and yet these words were so reassuring ‘I am with you.’ A Dr came to tend to my needs at the bottom of the ravine (a Christian).
When we encounter difficult times, it is so easy to focus on the trauma and be overwhelmed, helpless and alone - even when family and friends are around - they are not where you are. When the givens in life are taken from you, independence, health, mobility, finances, relationships - things look very different.
In those situations the Lord in Isa 41:10 tells us not to fear the predicament.. why? Ans: because ‘I am with you’ – in other words don't focus on the issue - look to him. This is personal. ‘Fear not,’ is another way of saying ‘trust me.’ (John 14:4 Believe in me (trust)). Four words ‘I am with you,’ in my darkest hour, those words changed everything. Gave me hope, courage, and strength. 4 words changed everything. I am with you. Like a heartbeat, kept me hanging on until ICU in Whitehaven and then 9 months in hospital followed.
After the accident, then nine months in hospital, then completed my studies and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. I started my own Accountancy Practice and traded for 15 years. Some of the ways the Lord provided for me are written in Lake of Tears).
1984 Giff Claiborn spoke a prophecy 1. Healing ministry (22 yrs later) 2. Partner
I had the joy of meeting, courting & marrying Jennie (7 yrs after accident).
Then, a few years after accident. I began to wallow in self-pity. Outwardly, I wore the mask - Kelvin was coping but inside struggling.
I didn’t like dragging Jennie thro the hardship of disability. Like the people in Isaiah 49:14 I was saying ‘the Lord has Abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ I was ‘flattened’ by the disabled life that had been forced onto me. I still did church, I still prayed, sang hymns but I had stopped reading my bible. God was impersonal; I felt as if I was battling with this paralysis and disability on my own, abandoned and forgotten. God’s answer blew me away!
Lake of Tears (pg 118 in draft)>>>>>>>>>>>
Isa 41:10 do not fear, for I am with you. We will face trials, we will experience hard times. The Lord does not abandon us in these situations ‘he upholds’. He shares in our trials, weeps when we weep, knows every tear.
Psalm 56:8 I have held your Tears in a container (a crater lake). He could not forget or forsake me.
That is my testimony/experience of the Lake of Tears vision. God with us is not just for the good times but also with us in the darkest valley.
If you are facing trials don't see that is sign of being away from God or abandoned by God. God is with us in the fire he rescues us from the floods.
There is a fifth word….Always. Always…..Matt 28v20 surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If you think about it ‘Always’ in the context of Jesus ascending does not add to the meaning of his statement. It adds emphasis. I am with you – stands alone as a promise but Always is reassuring. That is how it was for me as I heard his voice on Honister’s bank – it was this word ‘Always’ that reassured me. He didn’t leave me as the car careered off the road, he is with me always.
Always means the risen, ascended Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit never leaves us and never fails us.
Have these words become more personal for you today? Do you need to come to Christ Jesus for the first time, maybe a renewal with fresh zeal. Perhaps you have a prayer need that the Lord can meet and minister to today.
Quaker: Richard – “Don’t pray for me, don’t Bless me!”
