NO SEPARATION

Separation, one from another, is bound to happen every day between everybody - unless of course you are joined physically to your brother or sister. The time of separation might be anywhere from seconds to years depending on the situation. Is it no wonder then that we pray that the Lord watches over the other while we are away from them? Today's jewelry can be found to have this very sentiment on it. Genesis 31:49 says,  "It was also called Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other."

For those whose trust is in The Lord, He will keep watch over each party who is separated. God is everywhere. We cannot get rid of His Presence. My favorite Psalm and maybe my favorite passage in the Bible says it best -

• "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." - Psalm 139:7-10

However, for the believer in Christ Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, improves our existence since He ascended to sit at the right hand of Father God. By doing so He sent the promised Holy Spirit to dwell within us and come along side us. 

• Dwell within = "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" - 1 Cor. 6:19
• Come alongside us = "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—" - John 14:16

While we experience separation from a friend or loved one for a while because we take up space, God is omnipresent and a very present help in time of need; a very personal Savior - that will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Paul had a life that testified nothing would separate him and believers like Him from God's love through Christ.

• For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39

The prayer of Jesus to Father God portrays, at least to me, of how Christ longed to place His own in the middle of His Father's hand to protect those relationships that were made with His disciples. He said,

• “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." - John 17:6-12

Not even death can separate for the believer in Christ. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 declares that friends and family in Christ will meet together with the Lord one day when Jesus comes back for us to start a whole new chapter of existence. Until then, rest in the knowledge that as a child of God there is No Separation!