Deuteronomy 31:8  And the LORD, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee:  fear not, neither be dismayed.  (KJV)

This is almost a verbatim repeat of Deuteronomy 31:6!  (Sept 14, 2015-Treadin’ Companions)   Must be something near and dear to the LORD’s heart and that He desires us to hear.  So, don’t be too quick like I almost was to skip over it and move on.  Linger with Him awhile.  Hear His heart for YOU.  Hang on His life raft…….

The King James Version is not used much anymore, but as you know if you have been treading with me,  I grew up using it.  My dear, sweet, godly grandmother would be appalled at how I write and highlight and scribble all over its pages. She would not have been a fan of Kay Arthur…. just sayin!  Her Bible is in my curio cabinet without a mark in it except for the Family Tree in the front.  She treated it with kid gloves and reverence.  The language, though archaic, is beautiful.   The thees and thous give God’s Word character and require more than a casual reading.  It gives one pause as you stumble over wording that is grammatically correct and unfamiliar.  Our language today makes every English teacher wince in pain and bleed red ink across every written paragraph they are required to read, for unfortunately we write as we speak.  So, my apologies to any English majors reading this!  I really do try to be grammatically correct.

The old hymns used thees and thous as well.  I love them too.  Singing these helped ground our worship and direct our attention heavenward.  Focus:  Where and who God is in relation to me.

According to this scripture focus: where is God in relation to me?  He is before me, with me, and I need not be afraid, confused, or concerned about failure because HE WILL NOT LEAVE ME!

In this world of no-sense-of-commitment, this is like a extra large can of RedBull infused by IV into a weary soul slugging it out day to day.  It brings renewed vigor, clarity, understanding, and hope!  He promises to be there every step of the way!

I challenged you to memorize this verse.  He is our personal God.  He NEVER leaves us!  He knows the future because He has already been there.  If God is for me, who can be against me?  (Romans 8:31)  This is why we worship:  our adoration comes from this knowledge.  We have NO REASON to be fearful or confused.  

When we get fearful, it is because we forget, and we believe the lies.  Lies from the pit designed to steal our peace, rob us of joy, and keep us fearful.

It is a choice:  Who will I believe?  Whose word is true?  Who cannot lie?  We know the answer.

Again my virtual friends, learn this verse by heart.  Put it on auto-repeat in your mind’s soundtrack.  Hear the Father speaking these precious words to you.  In time, you will come to know them not only as words on a page but experientially.  I wonder, if we ever really got this, if it would not be the source of our ability to “walk on water,” of finding the solid rock beneath our feet.   Until then, we will have to keep on treadin…………….

Treading still,
Von