Jehovah Shammah

We have been talking about the names of God. How many of you have enjoyed this

series, The Names of God? Come on.

The Names of God. And we've been discovering Him more clearly.

We want to see His nature revealed, and we want to understand more of His character.

We want to deepen our relationship with Him, and I think one of the ways we

do that is by knowing the various names that He possesses.

I believe as we know each name that he possesses, that our prayer life will

be guided as well as our experience in worship as we begin to know him more and more.

God reveals different aspects of who he is through the many names he uses,

each one with its unique meaning and power, offering us a deeper glimpse into his limitless nature.

And each name of God is like a puzzle, perfectly fitting exactly.

This piece of the puzzle perfectly fits exactly where we're broken.

Feeling what's missing and completing the picture of who we were created to be.

Like God and like you, I possess many names.

Obviously, my government name is Devon Alexander.

But some people call me Pastor Devon. Praise God. Pastor Alexander, Pastor D.

There are other people. Only one person, by the way, calls me babe.

Okay. It's only one. Okay. Babe. Okay.

One person. If anybody else calls me that, it's a lie and a thief. Okay.

Babe. Okay. If you went to middle school with me, you probably called me Smiley.

That was a nickname that people gave me because they said I smiled all the time.

So Smiley was a nickname. If you knew me as a kid, my nickname was Boo.

Boo. Now, nobody has called me Boo in a long time, but Boo was my nickname,

and our daughter, her nickname is Pooh, and that's kind of where we got it from, you know, Boo, Pooh.

And so Boo was my nickname. I remember I turned to a certain age,

and I said, don't call me Boo no more, and everybody stop.

If you know me from high school and college, Devo was the name.

Devo. And so don't call me Devo either. That was another person, okay?

And so Devo was the name. And so there are different names that describe the

different relationships that people have with,

People know me by certain names. I'll get a call sometimes and somebody will

say, Devo, I know where we met.

I know how we met, so on and so forth, right?

And so these names that we carry also carry different attributes.

There are different functions behind each name.

Not only am I a pastor, I'm an author, and I'm a husband, and I'm a father, right?

And I'm also a friend, right? I'm a mentor.

There are different attributes that we carry. And it's the same way with the Lord.

He has different names with different characteristics and different attributes.

And whatever need that we possess, the name that we call on is the function

that we want to take place in our life. Somebody say amen to that.

And so today I want to talk about a different name. I'll tell you what the name is shortly.

Open your Bibles to Exodus 33 and meet me at verse 1, Exodus 33 and verse 1.

How many of you like opening up your Bibles, amen?

We're going to have a little Bible study today, if that's okay.

Even if it's not okay, we're going to do it anyway. Praise the Lord.

Exodus 33, and we're going to start in verse 1. I'll read through to verse 4.

It says, Then the Lord said to Moses, Depart and go up from here,

you and the people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,

to the land which I swore to Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob saying to your descendants, I will give it and I will send

my angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the

Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey for I will not go up in your midst.

Lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.

And when the people heard this bad news, they mourned and no one put on his ornaments.

Skip down to verse 12 and we'll read verse 12 through 19.

Then Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people,

but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.

Now, the Lord said, I'm going to send my angel with you. And Moses said,

listen, you ain't let me know who you're going to send with me, right?

Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found grace.

That word grace is the word favor in my sight. Look at verse 13.

Now, therefore, I pray, if I have found grace or favor in your sight,

show me now your way that I may know you and that I may find grace or favor in your sight.

And consider that this nation is your people.

And he said, my presence will go with you.

Now, earlier he said, my angel's going to go with you. Now he says,

my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Somebody say rest.

Then he said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

For how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace or favor

in your sight? except you go with us.

So we shall be separate, your people and I, from all the people who are upon

the face of the earth, verse 17.

So the Lord said to Moses, I will also do this thing you have spoken for you

have found grace and favor in my sight and I know you by name.

The Lord knows your name. And he said, please, Moses said, please show me your glory.

And verse 19, then he said, I will make all my goodness, somebody say goodness,

pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on

whom I will have compassion.

And notice this conversation occurs after the golden calf debacle.

You remember the golden calf? Moses goes up to the mount,

hears from the Lord, Brings on the Ten Commandments While he's up for 40 days

Aaron allows the people To create

a golden calf They begin to worship the golden calf Moses came down,

destroyed the calf Broke the tablets, he's upset God is upset and now we have

this conversation Saying listen,

y'all go to the promised land But I ain't going with you God told them they

could have the promised land Listen to this But he would not remain with them In a close personal way,

If they were satisfied with this arrangement, it would prove that they only

love God's blessings, but not God himself.

If they're okay with the angel going, then they were, hey, I just want to be

in the promised land with the blessings of God, but they did not want God.

If they pleaded with him for his presence, not just his blessings,

it would show a genuine heart for God himself.

And that's what Moses did. He pleaded. I don't know who's going. These are your people.

If I don't go, if you don't go, I ain't going.

He pleaded with them, with God for his presence. Watch this.

The presence of God is infinitely more important than anything else.

Do you agree with that? Let me say it again.

The presence of God is infinitely more important than anything else.

The promised land was nothing special without the special presence of the Lord.

I don't care what you believe in God for. I don't care where you're trying to

get to. I don't care what your expectation is.

If you get there without God, it is worthless.

If you get there without the presence of God, it is unnecessary and you're going

to fall flat on your face. You got to have the presence of God.

And when you have the presence of God, you can be in any predicament.

You can be in the middle of a war and have the presence of God and be in the

safest place on the earth when you're in the presence of God.

Come on, somebody say amen. Amen.

God among you is what makes the difference. And this is what Moses was saying to them.

The distinguishing difference between us and other people is you're with us.

I don't want your angel. I want you. I don't want the new house. I want you.

I don't want the blessing. I want you.

So when you get to that place where you want him, then you'll know his ways.

And this is why the Lord said to him, I'm going to make my goodness pass before

me, before you, because you wanted me.

You wanted me, so now you get all of the goodness.

You wanted me, so now you get all of the blessings because I know you want me.

Somebody say, I want the Lord. Say, I can't live without the Lord.

Say, I can't survive without the Lord. I can't thrive without the Lord. I want the Lord.

The promised land was nothing special without the special presence of the Lord.

And we find here in Ezekiel chapter 48, go there, verse 35.

Ezekiel 48 · chapter mention

I'm going to read it in the New Living Translation. Ezekiel 48, verse 35.

Ezekiel 48:35

The distance around the entire city will be six miles. And from the day the

name of the city will be the Lord is there.

The Lord is there. Now, the Hebrew word for the Lord is there is Jehovah Shema.

Jehovah Shema. That's who we're going to talk about today. Jehovah Shema. Say that.

Jehovah Shema. Say it again. Jehovah Shema. Jehovah Shema means the Lord is

there or the Lord is here.

Jehovah Shema. The Lord is here. Say his name again.

Jehovah Shema. Say it one more time.

Every time you say it, you're saying the Lord is here. The Lord is here.

The Lord is here. Jehovah Shema.

The Lord is here. The Lord is here. You could be in a difficult, tight situation.

Jehovah Shema. The Lord is here. You could be sitting in a hospital room and

one of your loved ones passing away. Jehovah Shema.

The Lord is here. The Lord is here. Say it one more time. Jehovah Shema.

Now, Ezekiel prophesied this name after Israel had gone through judgment,

destruction, and exile.

This is a prophetic name as Israel has been going through exile.

The temple was gone, and their hope was fading.

But God gave Ezekiel a vision, a restored city.

And at the center of it, the name Jehovah Shema, which is the Lord is there.

So notice this name Jehovah Shema came after pain.

It's the name that comes after pain.

And Israel has been beat up, busted, disgusted, exiled, temple gone.

They've got, they're scattered. They don't have a home. They don't have a land.

And the name has been prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel.

But even though you are in this situation, Jehovah Shema is right here with you.

I don't care what you're going through. Jehovah Shema is right there.

I don't care what you feel. Jehovah Shema is right there with you.

The chaos, the despair, the agony, Jehovah Shema is right there with you because

he's the name that comes after pain.

Have you ever been in a place where you knew that God was the only one holding you together?

I bet if I handed a mic out, y'all could tell me all your stories about how

you knew God was the only one holding you together.

That was Jehovah Shammah. He was holding you together.

That's the heart behind the name Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is here. The Lord is there.

It's not just a name. It's a promise.

It's a declaration that God doesn't leave when time gets tough.

Hallelujah. When it gets hard and seemingly unbearable and when it gets when

you get in a tight stiff situation Jehovah Shammah is still with you.

See, we like to think, especially, you remember the Hebrew boys in the fiery furnace?

We want God to take the fire away.

God, please just take the fire away. No, the Lord says, I am right there with

you in the fire. Come on, somebody.

He didn't take it away. He just joined them.

And he was Jehovah Shammah right there in the fire with them.

And none of them were burnt up.

Even the guards that were throwing them in there were burnt up,

but they weren't burnt up.

And Jehovah Shammah was right there with them.

Now, notice this. Those boys didn't know whether if God was going to take care of them or not.

They made the statement, hey, our God can save us, but if he decides not to,

we will not bow our knee to that godless idol that you have set up.

And so they didn't know for sure, but they knew Jehovah Shema.

And they knew that Jehovah Shema

is going to be with them in the midst of anything that they go through.

Come on, somebody shout Jehovah Shema.

He's with them. He didn't leave them in the fiery furnace.

He's right there with you. Whatever trial, whatever circumstance,

whatever situation you're going through, Jehovah Shema is right there with you.

Come on, say amen to that.

He's right there with you. We won't, a lot of times, God, take away this pain.

God, take away this predicament. Take away this obstacle.

Take this away. No, we need to start realizing Jehovah Shema is right there with me.

He's right here. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He's right here with

me as I go through this. Say amen to that.

Your story may have started with failure, trauma, or setbacks.

But if God is in it, it will end with the glory of the Lord.

Say amen to that. Jehovah Shema is with you and it's going to end in his glory

because he is there. Say he's there.

Say he's here. Say he's there. Say he's here. He's everywhere.

Amen. He is there. He is here. He's everywhere.

He's Jehovah Shema. Under the old covenant, watch this. God's presence dwelt in a temple.

But now because of Jesus, you are the temple.

Glory to God. And Jehovah Shema lives in you.

He's on the inside of you. Wherever you go, he's right there.

You go to a doctor's appointment, Jehovah Shema is right there because he's in you.

You're in traffic trying to cuss because of the traffic I agree. Don't cuss.

Just say Jehovah Shema is here with me right now.

When you go down to get a job interview and it's about time to get promoted,

Jehovah Shema is in this interview with me. Amen. Amen.

And with that being said, also

don't act like you know everything in the interview. I got to say this.

There was an interview I was going for. This particular interview was going to pay me six figures.

And I was going forward, and they were asking me questions. I did not have any

idea what they were asking.

It was over my head, but I was in that interview because Jehovah Shammah was in there with me.

So I just paused, and I said, can you rephrase the question?

And so they rephrased the question. I still didn't understand.

I said, can you rephrase the question again?

And they rephrased again, and I answered it, and I got it right because I finally

knew what they were saying.

At the end of the interview, they gave me that job. Amen.

At the end of the interview, they said to me, we've had people answer that question

stupidly because they didn't understand the question and didn't even ask enough

to figure out what they're asking.

And they said, one of the reasons we hired you because you were bold enough

to ask, well, can you rephrase the question? Amen.

Even though Jehovah Shammah's with you, you might have to, Jehovah Shammah,

what should I ask? I got some questions too.

Amen. And what should I ask them?

Amen. man. And so, listen, you guys know my story. I don't have a degree.

I was just going for a position that was well over my head. They gave it to

me, glory to God, because of the favor of God.

And then two years later, I was the number one sales rep in that whole industry.

Come on, somebody. That's the favor of God.

That's Jehovah Shema being with me. And not only is he with me, he's with you too.

And not only is he with you, he's in you.

Glory to God. I'm preaching myself excited. You know, I came back from the beach. I got a little rest.

I got a little rest last week. Didn't Jeannie do a great job last week?

Put your hand together. She did a great job last week.

Glory to God. Jehovah Shema. Hallelujah.

Now watch this. You don't need a new location. You don't need a revelation that

Jehovah Shema is already there you don't even need to be looking for signs of

his presence you just need to believe it,

You just need to trust Jehovah Shammah is with me. I'm in the middle of this

predicament, but I'm not alone. Jehovah Shammah is in me.

Jehovah Shammah is with me. He is there and I'm here and he's there and he's

with me. Somebody say amen to that.

Jehovah Shammah isn't just the name of a city. It's your new reality.

So you remember in Ezekiel, he said the city will be called Jehovah Shammah.

The Lord is there, but that's his name. It became now our new reality.

The temple, he was in the temple, but now we're the temple.

And so he's in us. And he's there never to leave, never to forsake us.

He's Emmanuel, God with us.

Glory to God. Go to Genesis 39. Let's look at verse 1 through 3.

Genesis 39, 1 through 3. Watch this. Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt,

and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him.

From the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. Look at verse two.

The Lord was with Joseph.

Jehovah Shema was with Joseph. And look what the presence of Jehovah Shema brought Joseph.

And he was a successful man.

And now he just got bought. He was purchased.

But Jehovah Shema was with him. and Jehovah Shema made him a successful man.

And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Look at verse three.

And his master saw that Jehovah Shema was with him and that the Lord made all

that he did to prosper in his hand.

Glory to God. Look at verse 21, same chapter, verse 21.

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and he gave him favor.

Somebody say favor. Favor.

The Lord spoke this to me several years ago. Favor in the sight of the keeper

of the prison. The Lord spoke this to me several years ago. He said favor.

Let me tell you the story. You want to hear the story? Yes. Let me tell you the story.

I was with my kids and we were at the gas station. We were at Quick Trip.

And my kids, anytime we stop somewhere, if you got children,

you know what I'm talking about. They always want something.

We can't just stop somewhere without them wanting something.

Can we just go without you wanting something?

So we were at Quick Trip, and they wanted something. I see, I see. I never say yes.

You can think of me as much as you want. I don't care what you think about me.

We got to get on the road. We got to go.

But this time I said yes. Ooh, that said yes.

So hopped out the car, and I need to cry. I don't, I say yes sometimes,

but rarely, rarely, rarely in those situations, okay? I'm trying to keep it moving.

I said, okay, let's go in there. We went in there, we're getting a trip.

They're getting their icing, you know, they want to get their own.

So they're making a mess. I'm cleaning up the mess behind.

They're trying to get their own. We finally get to the front,

and this man in front turns around, he looks at us, and he looks back.

And then when he gets to the counter, he says, I got all of this.

I said, huh? He said, I got all of this. He goes, I said, what do you mean?

He said, I'm buying your kids Icys too.

I said, praise God. Thank you, sir. And my children are very thankful people.

They said, thank you. We said, thank you. And he left and I get in the car and

I said, guys, that's the favor of God.

Amen. It's the favor of God. And the Lord said to me, you have minimized favor

to Icys and parking spots.

But my favor should be much deeper than that.

And this is what he said to me. He said, my favor is not an accessory.

My favor is a necessity.

Man, that hit my heart. If we're going to accomplish anything God's called us

to do, and each of y'all have a call on your life, there's a specific call on your life.

If you're going to accomplish that specific call on your life,

it requires the favor of God.

You cannot accomplish it without the favor of God.

That's why it's not a necessary. Oh, and that's great. That was the favor of

God that he bought the ISIS.

I'm not minimizing and diminishing that kind act, but I've got to have favor in negotiations now.

Are you hearing what I'm talking about? And it's not a necessary.

We got to have the favor of God.

It's a necessity that we've got to have. And so don't, oh, that's favor,

that's favor. No, I got to have it.

When you go and you're talking to your doctor, you need to hear the favor of God.

When you're talking to your mama and your children, you need the favor of God in that conversation.

When you're talking to a potential mate, you better have the favor of God in that. Amen.

The favor of God is not a necessary. Say that. My favor is not a necessary.

My favor is a necessity. That's what the Lord said to me.

So I started pressing in. We've got to have the favor of God.

I mean, without his favor, we can't do anything.

Now, you can struggle and grovel and backbite and stab somebody and kick them

in the back and claw and climb and scratch, but then you'll get it with sorrow.

But with the favor of God, the blessing of the Lord will make you rich and add what?

No sorrow. It's the favor of God that we got to have.

And Joseph had the favor of God. Why was he successful?

Was it because he was good looking? You know, Potiphar's wife wanted him.

Is that why? Is it because he was young?

Is it because he was a slave and he was just purchased? Why was he successful? Somebody shout it out.

Because the Lord was with him.

Why are you successful? Because the Lord is with you.

Stop trying to achieve something and realize you are already successful because

you have Jehovah Shema with you.

He's there when you wake up. He's there when you sleep. He's there when you go brush your teeth.

He's there when you get in your car and you drive to work. He's there at work

when you're busing and cussing and you shouldn't be cussing.

But he's there with you.

He's there so why was Joseph successful because

Jehovah Shema was with

him look at verse 23 Genesis 39 23 watch this the keeper of the prison did not

look into anything that was under Joseph's authority why because the Lord was

with him and whatever he did the Lord made it prosper Hallelujah.

When you recognize who's with you, whatever you do is going to prosper.

It may not look like it's prospering. It may not feel like it's prospering.

It may not prosper at the time you want it to prosper.

It may take longer than you think. And let me let y'all know,

everything I've ever received from God has taken a lot longer than I ever anticipate

or imagine. Everything.

But patience is being developed.

If everything happens immediately and suddenly, you would not need the fruit of patience.

The only way patience is developed is through the testing of your faith.

So faith says, I believe I have it now.

What you see with your eyes is you don't have it now. And so now patience says,

I will receive it in due season.

And it's with faith and patience you inherit all of God's promises.

Hebrews 6.15. Somebody say amen to that.

And so the Lord is with you. You're going to be successful because he's with you.

It may not happen in your time frame. It may not happen on your calendar.

It may not happen when you want it to happen. But it's going to happen because

the Lord is with you. Say the Lord is with me.

Say the Lord is in me.

Now watch this in Acts chapter 10 verse 38.

Acts 10:38

Acts chapter 10 verse 38. You are successful because Jehovah Shema is with you.

Acts 10:38

Acts 10 38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

Who went about doing good and healing all, not some, all who were oppressed by the devil. Why?

For God was with him. Look at this.

So all of these exploits that took place, the Holy Spirit with him,

the power is with him. He went about doing good.

That's the word for lamprethry, that he just went around doing good.

Whatever doing good is, that's what he did.

And he healed all. Somebody say all.

Not a not a hand selected few, not chosen ones. All.

All. I said all who were oppressed of the devil.

Why? For Jehovah Shema was with him.

He's with you too. See, this is the purpose of reading the Gospels.

It's the purpose of studying Jesus. And you know, Jesus is our model.

Jesus is our example. We identify with him.

We are in him. So what we see him do is a model for what you and I should be doing.

And so he had Jehovah Shema with him.

Guess who else has Jehovah Shema with him? We do too.

So we can watch this. Now, don't throw rocks at me or my security going to get you anyway.

We can get the same results Jesus got walking the earth because we have the

same Holy Spirit with us, the same Jehovah Shema with us. And Jesus walked this earth as a human.

He stripped himself of his divine, his divinity as a human with the Holy Spirit

showing you and I how to be a human. on the earth. Amen.

He's with you. Joseph was successful because Jehovah Shema was with him.

Jesus was successful because the Lord was with him. Amen. Now watch this.

Watch this. Are y'all still with me?

Genesis 28. Look at this. Verse 15. Genesis 28, 15 and 16. Behold,

I am with you. There it is again.

See, pause there. Take it off screen real quick. Let me break this down.

All throughout the Bible, he's been trying to tell us that he's with us. Why are we so afraid?

Why are we so scared? Why are we so distraught, intimidated?

He's with us. The God of the universe is with us and in us.

Why are we so fearful? Well, you know, the lecture's coming.

We don't know what's going to happen. Don't be afraid.

Just vote and know that the Lord is with you.

Amen. Hallelujah.

He's with us. Well, that may not work out. Or what if this happens?

What if that happens? Well, he's going to be with me if it happens.

Amen. He's going to be with me. He's going to be with me. He's not going to

ever leave me nor forsake me. He's going to be with me.

Well, you may not be able. This used to get me when I bought my first house.

And I don't know why I allowed this to happen. What if I just end up homeless?

Curt, they used to cross my mind all the time.

I might just end up, what if I can't pay this bill?

What if I can't? And I started thinking, wait a minute, the Lord is with me.

Am I supposed to live with my mom and dad the rest of my life? No. No.

And they don't want me to, praise the Lord. I said, no, he's with me.

And if we ever get in the bond, he's with me.

He knows how to get to me anything, from anyone, anywhere, at any time. Amen.

He's with me. And all throughout Scripture, that's what he's trying to tell you.

Do not fear. I'm with you.

I'm here with you. And then he went a step further and said,

I am in you if you are born again believers. Somebody shout amen.

Now let's look at Genesis 28, 15 to 16. Watch this. Behold, that means take a look at. Behold, stop.

Look at. I am with you and will keep you. That word keep means protect you.

Sometimes, only if I go to church, wherever you go.

Glory to God. And we'll bring you back to this land.

For I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely, somebody say,

surely, the Lord is in this place.

Jehovah Shammah is here and I did not know it. Surely he is in this place.

The Lord promises to protect you, keep you, stay with you and fulfill his promise. Amen.

He's surely in this place. Hallelujah.

Say this out to me. Jehovah Shema is with my family.

Wherever they might be. Yeah, wherever they go, wherever they go.

Jehovah Shema. You ain't got to worry. You know, our kids are going back to

school and we're going to pray over all the children.

The faculty and teachers are going back to school. We ain't got to worry. Jehovah Shema is there.

Amen. Jehovah Shema, he's there. He's with us. He's with my family.

I say this. I pray over my kids and I say, Lord, I place them under your care.

Now he's under your care and that means I don't have to care.

Because he is caring for them. Amen.

The Jehovah Shema is with me. He's in this place. He's with me.

He's with me. Fear has to leave.

Because Jehovah Shema is with you. Sickness has to bow.

Chains will start breaking. Because Jehovah Shema is with you. Hope begins rising.

Because Jehovah Shema is with you. You may not feel him.

But he's never absent.

Hallelujah. I don't feel his presence all the time. Do you?

No, I don't feel his presence all the time. But aren't you glad that he's not moved by our feelings?

I don't feel like you love me all the time. But I know you do.

Somebody say, we love you. I don't feel like Stacy loves me all the time, but I know she does.

I'm not moved by what I feel. I'm moved by what I believe.

I'm moved by what I know. And I know you love me.

And I know my wife loves me. And I know that Jehovah Shema will never leave me.

Amen. Somebody say amen. You may not hear him all the time.

How many of you have gone through seasons you just feel like,

I just haven't heard from the Lord like I normally go through.

That don't mean he's not there.

His presence is your anchor. He's there.

Like me, you may feel stuck sometimes, invisible, insignificant, or forgotten.

This morning as I was up praying about this, this is my new book.

It's called The Hope Switch.

And many of you got out. It came out in January. But I felt led to grab it, grab my own book, right?

I grabbed it off the shelf and I heard the Lord say, just read the preference of the book.

And it ministered to me. I'm going to read it to you. Just a preference of the book.

If you're feeling hopeless, invisible, or stuck, this book is for you.

Maybe it seems like your life is caught in a storm with problems pounding like never-ending waves.

Everything feels chaotic, and no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to catch a break.

It's as if the weight of the world is crushing you, making it hard to think

straight, find peace, or see a way out.

You're drained, and it feels like life is spinning out of control.

Perhaps you feel insignificant, like you're fading into the background while

the world goes on without noticing.

It seems like nothing you do matters or makes a difference.

You feel overlooked, like your voice, your efforts, and your dreams don't count.

It's easy to start believing the law that you're not needed or valuable.

You even may feel forgotten like you're stuck on the sidelines watching everyone

else move forward while you stay in the same place.

The loneliness feels overwhelming, like being left behind or abandoned,

and you wonder if you'll ever be seen or valued again.

Those feelings are heavy, and

the darkness feels endless, but this isn't the end of your story. Amen.

God sees you, even when you feel invisible to others.

He hears your cries, even when no one else notices.

You matter to him, and you are never out of his sight.

No matter how deep the despair feels, God has not forgotten you.

I've been there too. You are the reason I wrote this book.

I shared that with you because Jehovah Shema shows up when we feel this way.

And if you're honest with yourself, how many of you have felt that way too?

Raise your hands if you're honest with me. Everybody should have felt insignificant,

forgotten, invisible. I feel that way sometimes.

But just because you feel like that doesn't mean that it's true.

Did you know your feelings are not always true?

I heard someone tell me this recently. No, this one. This was a while back.

But he was saying, opinions are always true. No, they're not.

I don't know where you even got that from.

Opinions are not. Opinions can be wrong. Feelings can be wrong. Yes.

And when you feel a certain way, go back to what you know.

Jehovah Shema. You may not know how you're going to get to the other side.

But you know Jehovah Shema is with you. You may not know how you're going to

pay that unexpected bill.

But you know Jehovah Shema is with you.

You may not know how that you're going to receive this healing or what medication you need to take.

Or whatever the case may be, just know that Jehovah Shammah is with you.

And if he's with you, you have access to excess.

He is limitless, lacks nothing, owns everything.

And when you are with him and he's with you, you have access to excess.

Say this after me. I have access to excess because he's with me.

That's important. Who are you with?

The comedian Bernie Mac used to say, who you with? That's important.

Who you with? I'm with him and he's with me. Amen.