I Am Always With You God Series

INTRO.- Always in his presence, always in God’s presence. Does this remind you of anyone?

Genesis 5:21-24 “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

Enoch walked with God. We assume he walked with God every hour of the day or 24/7. That would mean he was always with God. After Enoch was 65 years old he became a father and walked with God. Did Enoch walk with God before he became a father? We don’t know but we would think so. However, many men don’t think seriously about God until they become a father.

ILL.- In one church where I served we had a man who was raised by Catholic parents. His wife was raised as a Baptist. When they got married she went to her church and he went to his church, but when they had children they decided they had better go to the same church and they ended up compromising and attending the Christian Church. He was serious about his faith and eventually became a deacon and then an elder.

Having children makes you think about many things in life and one of them is your faith or lack of it. Many men started to church and came to Christ as a result of becoming a father. It may not have happened overnight, but it made many fathers get serious about life and death and the example they set for their children.

Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

How can a father bring up his children in the Lord if he himself doesn’t walk with the Lord? Enoch walked with God and maybe only after he became a father. But more than likely, he walked with God before he became a father and that’s the wisest thing to do.

How did he walk with God? I guess he walked with God by continually talking to Him throughout the day.

I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray continually.” Do you talk to God continually? Or as often as you can?

I wake in the mornings, talking to God. I say, “Good morning, Father” and take off from there. I talk to Him about anything and everything. There is nothing that I consider to be “off limits” with God and nothing is “off limits” with Him! I think this is what Enoch did. God was always in Enoch’s presence because Enoch invited God to be with him and we must do the same thing. We should invite God into every day we live and make Him a part of our lives 24/7.

PROP.- The Psalmist tells us what it means to always be with God.

1- We are held by God’s hand

2- We are guided by God’s counsel

3- We are taken into God’s glory

I. WE ARE HELD BY GOD’S HAND

23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

ILL.- When a woman discovered that she was pregnant, her four-year-old son overheard his parents’ conversation. He didn’t say anything until a week later when a family friend asked him if he was excited about the prospect of a new brother or sister.

"Yes," said the boy, "and I know what we’re going to name it. If it’s a girl, we’re going to call her Emily, and if it’s another boy we’re going to call it Quits."

When I read this text I couldn’t help but think of a parent holding their baby or toddler in their arms. What a protective and special thing that is.

ILL.- Just after grandbaby Sophia Grace Shepherd was born she was in the neo-natal unit at the St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Son Shane took me in their a couple of times and I was able to put my hand through the side hole in that incubator. As I put my finger up to Sophia’s little hand she grabbed on to my finger and held on tightly.

That made me feel good but I wonder how it made her feel? Do you think she automatically sensed that protection and love from holding on? Surely, she did as all babies would. When they are held and cuddled next to mommy or daddy they feel loved, protected and secure.

Can this happen to us as adult in regard to our heavenly Father? It could be.

Romans 8:15-16 “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”