(This is day ten of the Rediscovering the Christmas Season Advent Study that can be found here. You don’t have to start at the beginning. In fact, you can jump in any time or go in any order. Care to join?)
Read Matthew 1: 22,23; Isaiah 7:10-15; and John 1:14.
Make a sign to remind you that God is with you and hang it where you will see it often.
Immanuel means “God with us.” How is Jesus still with us even though he doesn’t walk on the earth? I know he no longer–at least at the moment–physically walks on the earth, but I also know how often I’ve felt His presence. Sometimes, He is close enough that I think I’ll see Him if I blink just right. I wish I could feel that all of the time. All I know is, we have a date in heaven to walk along the beach together… and I can’t wait.
How is God “for” us different than God “with” us? What are some ways you sense God with you? God for us is the fact that He is on our side. He cares enough that He wants to be with us. Even though we mess up royally, He fights for us. I don’t know how to explain how it feels when He is right beside me, but it’s like knowing He is there, sensing that He is this peace and comfort and strength and awe all wrapped around me at once. I can’t even begin to know how to explain that.
When was a time in your life when you felt closest to Jesus? Make plans to do something today to get closer to God. I think the season in which I felt Him most strongly was when my husband was in Iraq. That whole time, He was so close. Oh, there was a very bad stretch in there when God and I had it out, but He stuck right there, walking beside me through some crazy times, leading me to look deeper at what He wanted out of me. I was absorbed by Him. When I look back on that year, all I see is Him.
-JB
Dawn Lucowitz says
1. I notice God with us the most in nature. It is the place where I think He is hardest to miss. When I walk my dog in the morning I do most of my praying. I literally feel like I can breathe Him in while I pray and walk outside.
The other place I have learned to feel His presence most strongly is when I fly. I hate, hate, hate flying, but actually do it often. I like to feel like he is carrying me upward toward Heaven and holding me and that plane in his hand and won’t let it fall.
2. I know God is for us and has our back all the time even when we don’t realize He is there or we aren’t paying attention to Him. He is always available to be with us if we let Him. Again, I feel Him most strongly when I’m out walking the dog. I like to invite Him to workout with me often. What better workout partner is there to have right by your side than Jesus. He was with me every step I trained for and ran in a half marathon. He was there urging me on when I thought I was too tired to keep going and he was my biggest fan when I was doing well.
3. I would have to say that I felt closes to Jesus while I trained for my half marathon. My husband was deployed at the time and I was really looking to grow spiritually during that time. I often share how that training was the most spiritual thing I had ever done. I prayed over my body and mind for the first time. Well, the first time with any real consistency. I spent my runs listening to Christian rock and praise music. I really noticed all of nature around me and really felt Him right there. I can’t say I was in a dark hole and clinging to Him to get me out, it was a very different spiritual journey than that, but one that I know has made me stronger for when I am in that cave and need him cling to until I get out.