Scripture

Joshua 1:7-9
[7] Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.
[8] This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
[9] Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is 2010 Light & Salt Mission's Devotional Service.
Since its members are in the unique situation of having to work even on Sundays, Friday All Night Service is the time they offer the devotional service.
I give all thanks and glory to God the Father who allowed its members to give this devotional service.
I also extend my thanks to all the devotees who have prepared this service with all hearts, all minds, and all their strength.

Dear devotees.
The title of this message that God is giving to you is "God Is with You."
Just as this title implies, God always wants to be with each and every one of you.
In order for Him to be with you, however, you should first be qualified though.
Actually, it is true that Light & Salt Mission was directly affected during the 98-99 Refinements.
However, such refinements became blessing to those of you who are here.

Through undergoing the refinements, you clearly and distinctly observed what the truth is and what falsehood is.
If you had been in the word of God, you would have been able to discern all the things by truth.
And you could have kept watching and praying.
If you had had such a love for God in you, you would have done just that.
God surely gives His grace and blessing to such people, and leads them in the way that results in the prospering of their spirits and souls.
And it is still true in the spiritual flow we have today.
Sin is rampant today and countless people fall into a maze and do not know where they should be going and they seek only the worldly things.
However even though the whole world is rushing toward the flesh, if you have the word in you, you can distinctly discern the truth from the untruth.
Additionally, if you pray without ceasing, God gives you strength to overcome this world.
Moreover, if you are faithful to God's kingdom, God will always give you grace and blessings so that you can feel God "who is with you."
In these times when the end is near, God is working through this church so that you can feel God who is with you in this way of grace and blessings.
God helps this church preach the word of light and the word of holiness in order to strengthen you and to lead you to live a life of truth.
He also pours down the strength on you that allows you to pray fervently.
And He arranges for you to be able to experience the works His amazing power all the time so that you can walk in firm faith.

God the Father wants to pour incredible overflowing grace on the Light & Salt Mission once again throughout this devotional service.
God wants the fervor and fullness that you originally had as this mission was being established to become whole by rechanneling your energies.
He also wants you to understand the heart and will of God the Father who allowed you to establish this mission and to accomplish it more greatly.
In order to make it happen, your Light & Salt Mission should be the mission that God is always with.
Each member of the mission should be able to meet and experience God all the time.
I urge you to understand what it is and what it means that "God is with you".
By doing so, may you have overflowing evidences that God is with Light & Salt Mission, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!

Dear devotees.
In order for God to be with you, first, you should not have "changing of mind" in you.
God hates too much changing of mind.
One of the outstanding attributes of the spirit is "an unchanging mind."
On the contrary, the typical attribute of the flesh is "changing of mind."
You change with the passing of time. You change when the situation or environment changes. When your mind changes like this, this is the 'changing of mind' which is an attribute of the flesh.
You should be aware that the cause of this changing of the mind is not from an external cause such as somebody having done something and being in a situation that drives you to do what you do. It is actually a cause that is found inside you.
'Changing of mind' proves that you don't have (discernment by) truth to that extent.
In other words, you are not truthful.
Such people frequently change their mind for the purpose of seeking personal benefit according to the fleshly thoughts.
For example, someone made a contract, but then later he was given an offer which might benefit him more greatly.
What would you do if you were in this situation?
Since you've heard the word, you would make up your mind not to change your mind, and try to practice it.
However, if you have the attribute of the changeable mind, you will constantly have conflicts in your heart.
You know the truth, but you didn't cultivate it in your heart, and thus you hesitate in doing what you should you.
Chances are that you may change your mind seeking for better and greater benefit.
By the way, "changing of mind" is not always as evident as in these cases.
You should check yourself to see just how faithfully you keep the more trivial matters which you made a resolution to do.
The things that you underestimated thinking, 'It doesn't matter that much,' actually become the nutrients that help the attribute of 'changing of mind' to grow up inside your heart.
Once you receive fullness and grace through a devotional service like this, how many times do you make up your mind?
As you listen to the word, you come to rejoice and become full of the spirit and then you mentally decide, "I am going to walk by the truth."
Unless you cultivate what you hear into the spirit, however, you will eventually change your mind for your benefit.

You should also understand that, if you become disheartened because you don't yield fruit as much as you expect, though you think you practice what you heard, then you have the changing of mind in your heart.
James 1:6-8 says, "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
When you don't yield the fruit the way you expected, you become discouraged and disheartened; this also results from the fact that your heart are not steadfast, in other words, you have the 'changeable mind.'
One instance that can most reveal the 'changing of mind' is "prayer."
One of your favorite yearly prayer titles is "to have the fiery power in prayer" or "fervent prayer."
Now, have you been truly praying fervently without ceasing for this whole year in accordance with your yearly prayer title?
When you have a problem which you need God's answer, you pray fervently in the fullness of the spirit at first. But, you may give up and cease praying for it if the answer is not coming as you expect.
You even give up in the middle after you vowed to pray for a certain period of time in Daniel Prayer Meeting.
Dear devotees.
When you examine yourself how you behave in the relation with others, you can surmise how you act in relation to God.
For example, some people received much blessing and grace through the shepherd.
They are healed of terminal diseases that drove them to the edge of death. They were saved from inescapable difficulties.
They, then, usually made a confession that they would never forsake the grace, and they would love and totally trust in the shepherd."
But what happened to them as time went by?
Many of them changed their minds for a benefit presented to them, or they forsook the grace in their fleshly thoughts.
Chances were that they didn't fully trust in the shepherd, but even set themselves apart from him.
I always treat them with an unchanging heart and with love, but they yielded the fruit of the 'changeable mind' due to their own evil and fleshly thoughts.
Such cases like these don't only happen in the relationship with the shepherd.
Indeed, the same attitude and behavior will eventually come out before God the Father.
They are the people who seem to devote all they have to God when they receive grace and become full of the Spirit, but they are also those who forsake the grace when the things don't benefit them or when they lose the fullness due to their fleshly reasoning.
As long as the changeable mind remains in them, this situation repeats itself.
Dear devotees and congregation.
In accomplishing sanctification, it is truly important not to have the changing of mind.
For example, some lose fullness and become disheartened when they find any form of evil in them.
They pray with their lips that they wish they could find their true self, that they could abstain from every form of evil, and that they could change.
However, once they find their evil, instead of rejoicing and giving thanks, they lose their strength and become disheartened.
What would God do with such people?
Would God cause it so that they could not find any form of evil in their hearts in order to make it so that they would not become disheartened and without losing spiritual strength?
If that were the case, when could they ever find their true self and change themselves into the spirit?
Just as they pray, they should rejoice and give thanks whenever they find evil in them, and they should keep praying to abstain from it.
As they undergo such processes without changing of mind, they can quickly abstain from every form of evil and yield the fruit of sanctification.
It is a certainty that those who have changeable minds are those who don't show completely different actions once they find their evil.
Therefore, the more quickly you get rid of the attribute of changing of mind, the sooner you can find evil in you and change into the spirit.
Joshua 1:7 says, "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go."
Please root out the attribute of the changeable mind even in small matters.
Only then can God be with you, and lead you into the spirit and the whole spirit.

Dear devotees.
In order to have God be with you, secondly, you should meditate on the word of God day and night, and put the word into your heart.
Proverbs 4:20-21 says, "My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart."
Just as written in John 1:1, the word is God. And thus, to always have the word near you and put it in your heart is to have God near you and put Him in your heart.
If you love God, you ought to have His word near you and put it in your heart.

And you should cultivate the word into the spirit.
Say, there is someone you truly love.
An unavoidable situation causes you to be set quite far apart from her.
You cannot see her face to face, and you cannot even hear her voice directly.
Then, one day, you receive a letter along with her picture.
Now, what will you do with her letter and picture?
You will probably look at her picture whenever possible, and read the letter again and again,
You may even remember every word of her letter.
Her picture may be even worn out because you take a look at it countless times.
Your love will not cool down or change just because you are far apart, but your love for her will rather become deeper and greater.
The same is with the word of God.
Since the word is God Himself, those who truly love God and try to have Him close to them will treasure every word of God.
They will put what they hear in their heart, and try hard to live by the word.
Such people are prone to be easily led to the truth in their life.
The Holy Spirit also inspires them through the word.
Therefore, those who keep the word near them, put it in their heart, and practice it will have increasing strength to walk in the truth.
To that extent, their love for God will become deeper and deeper.
Likewise, those who come near God and love God through the word will be loved by God and meet God as written in Proverbs 8:17.
In other words, God is with them.
Now, Joshua 1:8 says, ""This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success."
There is such an easy way to have God with you and to make your way prosperous it is obedience. So, why is it that there are people who don't obey the word?
Many of you come to me and profess to me that this word of sanctification is so precious, and that the word is like water of life.
However, just making such a profession doesn't make the Word yours.
Please live by the Word and make it yours.
Only then, can you surely find God and experience that He is with you.
Dear devotees.
Just as you heard earlier, if you don't change your mind, but always have the word near you, meditate on it, pray for it, and live by it, God will be with you.
And the evidences that God is with you will surely be found.
What kind of being is God?
He is the Creator who created heavens and the earth and everything in them, and He is the Almighty God who governs the history of mankind, and their life and death, fortune and misfortune.
As such God is with you, how can the evidences not follow you?
By the way, here is one thing that you should pay attention to.
It is the difference between the expressions God 'is with you', and God 'walks with you'.
The fact that God 'walks with you' means that there is a higher level of fellowship between the individual and God.
God wants to be with His children all the time; moreover, if you accomplish the heart of the spirit and enter the level of becoming His true child, He will walk with you.
He will protect you in your everyday life, hold you, and lead you.
Just as parents hold their child's hand, God will walk with you and work for you.
Even though the title of this message is "God is with you," God actually tells you to reach the higher level so that God can 'walk with you'.
As God is with you, and furthermore, walks with you, amazing fruit of change in your life will be found.
Suppose that an owner of a big and rich enterprise walks with you and provides you with everything you ever need.
You can have whatever you want, and you will be lacking nothing financially.
Now, God can solve not only financial matters, but any sort of problems, and moreover He can give any kind of answer to your heart's desire.
Therefore, the fact is that those who walk with God will be followed by countless evidences such as the blessing of having their spirit and soul prosper, the blessing of health, the blessing of finance, the blessing of family evangelization, the blessing of becoming a noble man who commands honor, authority, and the blessing of being loved.
Just remember the people in the Bible with whom God was, or furthermore, with whom God walked.
They were surely followed by such blessing that I just mentioned.
In Genesis 26:28-29 is found the confession that Abimelech, the king of Philistines made to Isaac.
It is written, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD."
As God was with Isaac, even a king came before Isaac and asked for peace.
No matter how strong the authority of a man may be, he cannot recklessly deal with the one whom God is with.
What about Joseph?
As Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt, it is written in Genesis 39:3, "Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand."
Also, as he was put in a deep jail, it is written in Genesis 39:23, "The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper."
As Joseph was with God like these, he was prosperous in all things, and he eventually received the best blessings in all things including wealth, honor, and authority.
Of course, among the people of God, there are some who died in martyrdom and suffered in persecution and afflictions according to their times.
However, the rewards and the glory that they will soon receive in the future cannot be compared with anything of this earth.
If the members of Light & Salt Mission receive such blessings, how much blessing will the entire mission receive?
Seeing the evidences that follow you, countless people will be evangelized, and thus you will experience great revival.
Countless evidences that God is with this church follow and are manifested in this church .
Haven't you, the most members of Light & Salt Mission, experienced them?
The dragonflies, extraordinary rainbows, and many kinds of signs and wonders; things like these the people of the world could never imagine, these are things that are taking place in this church.
You should make these evidences yours; you should not only meet God and experience Him, but you should also spread the news to the people around you.
Only then can the Light & Salt Mission play the role of light and salt of this world, and be able to lead many souls to the Lord.
This is the plan that God has for you.

Dear devotees.
Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
The fact that Joshua could hear words like these proves how proper he was in the eyes of God.
How happy will you be if you hear God say, "The LORD your God is with you wherever you go"?
Tonight, I told you the very way to become like that.
I said that, first, you should not have the changing of mind, and that second, you should always meditate on the word of God and put it in your heart.
And to be able to do like this, you should always keep watching and pray fervently.

Joshua and his people obeyed the word that God gave them, and just as God promised, God was with them wherever they went.
God made them achieve victory wherever they went, and allowed them to have the land of blessing, Canaan.
They became the noble people who caused the gentiles to tremble in fear of them.
I wish such an amazing blessing will be in your life as well.
May God be with Light and Salt Mission and its members, and bless you with beautiful fruit, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!

[Amen]

2010-05-17 Posted
2010-06-14 Updated