I Am With You

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Tributes

"I commend I Am With You to all persons who are seeking to deepen their spiritual lives"

(Cardinal George Basil Hume,

former Archbishop of Westminster, England)

"I Am With You is a very special book, which will bless countless people"

(Prebendary John Pearce, England)

I have never experienced such a closeness to Jesus

(Fran Gunning, U.S.A.)

A lovely book of devotions; we use it daily

(Dr Donald English, former President

Methodist Conference)

"I Am With You will deeply touch many people"

(Robert de Grandis, U.S.A.)

God’s Holy Spirit breathes through every page

(Revd Robert Llewelyn, England)

The touch of God is in these beautiful words

(Margaret Green, Canada)

A most wonderful book which I keep with me always

(Fr Michael Clothier, O.S.B.)

"I Am With You is so powerful"

(Barbara Anicich, U.S.A.)

"I Am With You is a little gem"

(Authoress Joyce Huggett)

Wonderfully inspiring (Betty Tapscott, U.S.A.)

"I Am With You opens a lovely door into God’s presence; reading it is a thing of real joy"

(Bishop John Crowley)

Admirable for daily devotions (Church Times)

God speaks in a very powerful way.

(Mgr Seamus Kilbane)

I was soon head over heels in love with God’s words

(Inmate in English Prison)

The book has changed my life

(Fr F. Bernard, S.J., India)

The most wonderful book I have read

(Fr Tom Cass, Tyneside, England)

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USING THIS BOOK

Although the words in I Am With You are usually read in the order given in the book, there is an index at the rear for specific areas of personal need or sudden crises.

If prayer is made beforehand, so many readers have found that they turn to just the right page and that a word for the need of the moment is unfailingly given.

THE BIBLE QUOTATIONS

Bible verses - in which God speaks directly - have been chosen to accompany our Lord’s words in

I Am With You.

MY PRAYER FOR YOU

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May the Lord Jesus Christ speak to your heart, repeatedly, through His words in this book.

May He greatly bless you, and each day draw you closer to Himself.

I am the hope of all the ends of the earth. But so few truly know it deep in their hearts. In Me lies the fulfilment of the complex desires and possibilities of human nature.

You know that all the qualities you see in Me are available for you. Are you sad, My child, that so often you fail to make use of them? Yes, this is the world’s failing - that men do not appropriate that which is there for them, in Me.

Set Me before you always as your one true hope. Be sure that your hand is firmly in Mine … Proclaim Me as mankind’s hope to those around you … As you recognise the progress you make with Me, so the conviction will grow which you bring to telling others, all that I can be to them!

I know that in your heart is that longing to know Me more perfectly. I honour that longing, and that is why you are sure of My patience in all your failures. It is, of course, My grace which helps you to maintain that longing - and to come, increasingly, into oneness with Myself.

I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me.

(John 6.37)

Long before My love was seen on earth it was expressed in creativity. Although seen as creativity of power or of mystery, it is a creativity of love … a continuing creativity.

Existence, as you see it, is puzzling and often frightening, but let it thrill you that the Father was seen in His creation … becoming one with it, surrendering Himself to it. That moment in history when I stood as the meeting-place of Divine love and human hopes and fears, was the beginning of all true spiritual awareness.

You will be aware of much darkness, and of forces dedicated to obstructing your climb towards the heavenly sphere. Any other view of My creation would be naive and partial. Nevertheless, you must resolutely see love as the soul of creation… now, as it always was.

Love in creativity means that I am never remote from the inevitable heartaches of My children … or, of course, from your heartaches.

Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father.

(John 14.9)

My child, let it be your privilege, each day, to dwell upon My sacrifice - made for the whole world.

In My suffering love upon the Cross you see a continuing process… the unrequited love which pursues My children - yearning for the slightest response, and profoundly grateful when one of those children surrenders his or her life to Me.

On the Cross, you see My heart of love crushed, for the moment, by the force of evil which darkens this universe. Then you see the bursting forth again of love’s power… in My Father’s victory; this power, in its submission, and its patience, can change, permanently, any human situation.

Although you are conscious of being unworthy of that love, be sure that the pain of rejection is made so much less by even the simplest, imperfect dependence upon Myself.

Here, at the Cross, give Me your heart, anew, every day.

For the sake of My sheep, I surrender My life.

(John 10.15)

How much it means to Me when one of My children, responding to a prompting of My Spirit, asks to live close to Me.

The response to that request is automatic. Forces to draw closer our spirits are then at work, in spite of the tangled emotions and contra-influences of earth. As soon as that hesitant request is made, I am able to look upon My child as perfected.

Everything is built upon that child’s request. I see beyond the intermittent progress, the spiritual weariness, and the times when that child fails Me. I need no more than the initial response, and the continuance of that wish to be close to Me, for My existence increasingly to interpenetrate yours.

My child, can you still recognise that deep desire for closeness to Me in your heart… even after many discouragements in your spiritual walk? If so, let it remind you of the perfection which is your destiny.

Drawn by Me … with bonds of love!

(Hosea 11.4)

My child, the bond between us is unbreakable, because you are My chosen …

The company you keep is with the Architect of this universe in His infinite wisdom. My presence surrounds you - and My influence, in your unique circumstances. Without Me, you would have been in the gravest danger.

Because you are precious to Me, your need near to My Heart, I save you from what is contrary to your best interests, diverting harmful influences.

No combination of circumstances can defeat Me; therefore, do not be afraid of earth’s chances, nor of the very worst that evil can do. Not afraid… because I can always restore and return you to the path of My will. All that you need to dwell upon is that My care of you stretches into eternity!

No-one can take My children out of My hand.

(John 10.28)

Even those who acknowledge Me carry burdens because they cannot believe that My forgiveness is infinite; they cannot believe that there is cleansing of the deep guilt flowing from wilful acts which had tragic consequences for others; they cannot believe that (even with true sorrow over those things) My mercy can extend to them.

My child, you know that the only condition for My overflowing love and mercy is your heartfelt sorrow … and always sorrow that the wrong act should have hurt Myself. My forgiveness is instantaneous; you are made clean in My sight, worthy of My most tender care. Attendant evil influences are swept away.

My child, that same love will now help you to forgive, from your heart, all who have hurt you. This is My law, and must be obeyed. Release them into My love.

To convey the peace of forgiveness concerning any sin is why I gave Myself… I wish My children to be drawn back to Me with the pain of guilt removed … even if memory cannot be erased completely.

I am the Lord your God … merciful, gracious, and infinitely patient.

(Exodus 34.6)

It would be wrong to pretend that maintaining faith in Me will always be easy.

There is the greatest temptation to see earth’s calamities and misfortunes as pointing to a universe without soul.

Whenever you are forced to conclude, even momentarily, that you are alone in a materialistic creation, then evil has secured what is always its greatest ambition.

The one crucial division in this world is not between fortune and misfortune, but between life based on Me and shared with Me - and life divorced from Me, leading to oblivion.

When events seem to point away from Me and lead you into doubt, that is the very moment to summon all your strength and to tell Me that, in spite of all, I am with you and can never fail you.

You cannot know the power of such a trusting word - spoken to Me in circumstances which cause you to doubt!

Whoever believes in Me will live!

(John 11.25)

My child, because I in-dwell you by My Spirit, I experience in the closest possible way, your conflicts, your longings, all which can cause you distress. Because I have travelled your road, there is, within the Godhead, infinite, tender appreciation of what you endure upon earth.

Because you have responded to My call, however imperfectly, I have made you My concern … When I see you in great need, My love and compassion are made most real to you. Each heartache, each struggle can be made to awaken the sense of need of Me, to deepen trust, to teach new truths.

It is only because I can see the ultimate blessing to you of pain shared with Me, that I can accept (though never unmoved by them) your earthly struggles.

Recognise love’s transforming work in earth’s darkness … See experiences of darkness melt, under My hand, into experiences (within My love) of security and of hope.

I am making everything new.

(Revelation 21.5)

My child, your time spent in My company impresses upon you, deeper than mere intellectual assent, that you owe everything to Me.

Yes, I brought you into being … foreseeing that event. My hand was upon your life long before your thoughts turned to Myself. You owe to Me your very existence now, in a world which, without My victory, would have been lost. Recognise in your care in the hands of loved ones and the kindness of friends, My prompting and My provision. See Me as the origin of everything with which your life has been blessed.

The sense of gratitude to Me is missing from the lives of so many. You have the tremendous privilege of being among those who can make glad My heart by your recognition of your debt to Me.

You could never, of course, repay that debt. All I ask is your thankful heart towards your Saviour, and your Protector.

I have called you by name; you are Mine.

(Isaiah 43.1)

True knowledge of Me comes when I am valued … To place Me above everything else in your life is indispensable to your growth … causing you to thrill at the thought of Me, and to desire closer and closer communion with Me.

When you arrive at the blessed state of My being all in all to you, you also realise that this has not made any less precious those whom you love on earth … On the contrary, My place of supremacy in your life encircles those other ties, and means that the influence of heaven is in your relationships - making them pleasing to Me.

Even at times of disappointment, let there be that steady resolve that I should maintain first place; this will draw everything into a beautiful harmony, as life loses its conflicts and its vain striving. My child, enthrone Me in that highest place now, and rely on Me to ensure that everything flowing from this is unerringly right.

I came so that you may have life … abundantly!

(John 10.10)

Trust is so often formed by difficulties and setbacks; a trust which remains, even when My way does not bring the ‘results’ which have been sought, when that way is hard to understand.

Blind trusting, when no obvious advantage is gained, is the real trust which