If there is one axiom I come back to more than any other—one I find myself saying out loud when things start to tilt—it’s this:

Jesus is with me.

Not it’s not over.
Not if I die, I die.

Those are good words. They’ve got grit in them. But this one goes deeper.

This one holds.

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When I’m over my skis.
When the diagnosis lands and everything shifts in a moment.
When a relationship fractures in ways I didn’t see coming.
When the darkness gets loud and starts telling its stories—

There is one truth that can carry the full weight of that moment:

Jesus is with me.

Because when that is true—and it is—what else is there?

What nightmare, what victory, what valley, what fire could possibly outshine the simple, steady reality of what He said:

“Lo, I am with you always.”

---

About That Word

Now I know—lo doesn’t technically mean what I want it to mean.

It means behold.
Pay attention.
Look here.

But when I hear it, I can’t help it—I think of low places.

I think of valleys.
I think of those stretches of life where you can’t see ten feet ahead of you, where the road drops out and you’re left feeling your way forward.

And somehow… He’s there too.

I don’t know how this day is going to work out—but Jesus is with me.
I’ve got that conversation I’ve been putting off—but Jesus is with me.
I don’t know how the end of my story will unfold—but Jesus is with me.

That’s the secret hiding in plain sight at the end of the Great Commission.

We read the command—go, make disciples, baptize, teach—and then we tend to rush right past the final line, as if it were a closing formality instead of the whole foundation:

“And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:20

It’s not our talent that carries us.
It’s not our intellect, or our abilities, or our strength—or even our best intentions.

It’s not our looks—thank the Lord.

The secret is the traveling companion.

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One Word

There’s a story about G.K. Chesterton that I’ve never been able to shake.

He was stopped on a London street corner by a reporter who asked him:

“If the risen Christ appeared right now and stood behind you—what would you do?”

Chesterton didn’t hesitate. He looked him in the eye and said:

“He is.”

That’s it.

Not a theological argument.
Not a carefully framed answer.

Just a quiet correction of reality.

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Waking Up to What’s Already True

Teresa of Ávila, a 16th-century nun who spent her life learning how to pray, wrote these words in The Interior Castle:

“We know quite well that God is present in all that we do.
Our nature is such that it makes us lose sight of the fact.
But the Lord, who is near at hand, awakens it.”

That’s the whole thing, isn’t it?

We don’t conjure His presence.
We don’t summon Him with the right tone or the right words.

We wake up to it.

This isn’t magic.
It’s memory.

It’s the soul shaking itself awake to what is already, permanently, unchangeably true.

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Say It Out Loud

There is no mountain, no fire, no villain, no diagnosis, no setback, no conflict that I will ever face alone.

Not because of who I am—

—but because of the One who is with me.

So when the day comes apart—and it will—say it out loud.

Say it in the car when you’re gripping the steering wheel a little too tight.
Say it when the phone rings and you already know it’s not good news.
Say it when you feel like you’re fading, like you’re disappearing into the noise of everything.

Say it until your heart catches up with your words:

Jesus is with me.

Not as a wish.
Not as a hope.

As a fact.

Lo. He is.

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A Prayer

Jesus—

You said it plainly, and You meant it:
I am with you. Always.

Not until it gets too hard.
Not until we fail one too many times.
Not until we wander too far.

Always.

Teach us to live inside that word.
To say Your name in the dark and mean it.
To stop looking for You somewhere out ahead,
and realize You are already here—

already with us,
already enough.

Amen.

In wanderlust of eternity,
I travel streets of grace 

I know the power of illusion.

But I find truth upon Your Face

(illusions crumble)

the b/ro/ke/nness have weakened bones and feeble flesh. 

I trust in the Musician’s strings,
The One who makes the nation’s sing.
You are good
it’s understood
as days lead on……………. to Day.

So
I
trust
in
You.

 I long for bliss.

 I send resounding praise.
You have always (in every single moment of my life) placed Your Hand upon me and I could not escape it. 

I could not escape the love and the joy that had brought me even in the midst of dark hours in crooked roads.
You hem me in with mercy.
You have laid my sorrows upon the banks of Your glory.

Your glory, outshines them all.
Your holiness compels me in the arena of your steady sure activity
even in times of c h a o s you speak (a sensible soft Voice) like a faithful father, Your Hand
on
my
shoulder.

 I will be guided and I will be kept.

in flesh and blood,
gold and glory,
eyes of fire,
You tell the story.

A hymn or worship reading.

#1:The gospel is the story that pierces,

#3: molds,

#1: feeds,

#2: reveals,

#3: penetrates,

#1: sanctifies,

#3: heals,

#1: humbles,

#2: and saves.

#3: “Tell me the story,” we sing,

#1: and they did—

#3: that great cloud of witnesses.

#2: And the story continues—

#3: the story of Abraham, the pilgrim,

#1: Isaac, the miracle,

#2: Joshua, the conqueror,

#3: Amos, the prophet,

#1: Moses, the deliverer,

#2: Elijah, the challenger,

#3: John the Baptist,

#1: Mary Magdalene, the redeemed,

#2: Peter the Rock,

#3: Paul the apostle,

#1: and John the Beloved,

#2: whose mortal ears heard what we long to hear:

#3: the voices of the angels singing around the throne of our King Jesus.

All: Holy—Holy—Holy!

#3: The story marched through the ages with resolve and purpose. These were the men and women who trusted the ancient truthes found on the pages of God’s word

#2: Martin Luther,

#1: Joan of Arc,

#3: St. Francis of Assisi,

#3: William Carey,

#1: John Knox,

#2: John Wesley,

#3: B. B. McKinney,

#1: R. G. Lee,

#2: Jim Elliot,

#1: Karl Bart,

#2: Annie Armstrong,

#3: Fanny Crosby,

#1: Lottie Moon,

#2: D. L. Moody,

#1: Corrie Ten Boom,

#3: Watchman Nee,

#1: Martin Luther King, Jr.,

#3: Mother Teresa,

#2: and all those who are called to listen

#3: and to serve

#1: and to tell the story.

#2: to write on their heart every word.

#3:And the story continues.

#1: What story will you leave on Earth?

#3: Will it be your story?

#2: Or will it be His Story?

#1: What story will you tell throughout your days?

#3: Let us tell it well.

All: (Whispered) Amen

 

 

A scripture reading that works well for Christmas or Easter.

Scriptures: Luke 2:6-14; 23:43; Mark 15:12-32; John 19:30

Reader 1: So it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

Reader 2: And Pilate answered them, What shall I do with this man you call King of the Jews? And they cried out, Crucify Him!

Reader 1: And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

Reader 2: And they clothed Him in purple and fashioned a crown of thorns about His head.

Reader 1: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Reader 2: And they smote Him on the head with a reed and did spit upon Him, and bowing knees, worshiped Him.

Reader 1: And the angel said unto them, fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy that will be to all people.

Reader 2: And Jesus said unto him, truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.

Reader 1: For unto you is born in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.

Reader 2: Likewise, the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, let this Christ King descend from the cross that we may see and believe. When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished. He bowed His head and He died.

Reader 1: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace . . .