Scripture: "They will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us")." (Matthew 1:23)
Happy Christmas!
One of the things that God most wants is to be with us.
Let that sink in.
Christmas is a time for being awed again by a God who left his throne in heaven to walk amongst us because He wanted to be with us. In the words of Rend Collective's Song, he left his throne to wear our scars. This is an unbelievable truth: that Jesus would abandon glory in the hope of winning back his people, that Jesus so wants a relationship with us that he would willingly come to earth to die so that we might live with him forever.
God wants to be with us this morning. In this very second, he waits, as the Father of the prodigal son waits on the edge of the field, for us to turn around and run to him. He waits with open arms wanting to embrace, wanting us to sit at his feet and tell him how we're feeling. He wants nothing more than our attention, to set his love upon us, to tell us that he is with us always and that life need never be lived in isolation from him. His Holy Spirit sent to live in our hearts is proof that he never wants to be apart from us. God could have an empty heaven and be perfectly content and yet he wants us there with him. (John 17:24)
In 2020, this is a truth that we need to hear and know more than ever. We do not know what 2021 will bring. In recent days, Christmas plans have been thrown into confusion and a new strain of coronavirus is wreaking havoc in the South East. We do not know what the future holds but today, of all days, let us remember the truth that - whatever comes next - God is with us.
God wants to be with us this morning. In this very second, he waits, as the Father of the prodigal son waits on the edge of the field, for us to turn around and run to him. He waits with open arms wanting to embrace, wanting us to sit at his feet and tell him how we're feeling. He wants nothing more than our attention, to set his love upon us, to tell us that he is with us always and that life need never be lived in isolation from him. His Holy Spirit sent to live in our hearts is proof that he never wants to be apart from us. God could have an empty heaven and be perfectly content and yet he wants us there with him. (John 17:24)
In 2020, this is a truth that we need to hear and know more than ever. We do not know what 2021 will bring. In recent days, Christmas plans have been thrown into confusion and a new strain of coronavirus is wreaking havoc in the South East. We do not know what the future holds but today, of all days, let us remember the truth that - whatever comes next - God is with us.
God is with us. We do not need to be afraid.
God is with us. We need never feel alone.
God is with us. Because he wants to be.
Reflection:
God is with us. We need never feel alone.
God is with us. Because he wants to be.
Reflection:
God is with us in every part of the day ahead, every part of the week ahead, the month, the year. In each moment, the moments we long for and the ones we dread, he is alongside us.
Use the words of this poem this morning to reflect on the awesome truth of God's presence.
Father, we pray that we would know the reality of you with us. We pray that we would feel you close and know the difference that it makes. We pray that we would feel your presence in a new way today, that we would know the truth that you are as close to us as turned attention, as close as conversation. All we need do is acknowledge that you are there. Amen.
Immanuel
The Lord is with you.
God is here, now, right this moment.
The creator, the king, the author of life itself.
Here. Now. With you.
The Lord is with you.
Not against you, not distant or far off, not distracted by needs more pressing than your own.
Here. Now. With you.
The Lord is with you.
His whisper stirs the dawn, his voice echoes in the sound of a new-born’s cry, his call caught up in the taste of coffee on a cold morning.
Here. Now. With you.
The Lord is with you.
In the hustle and the bustle, the pain and hurt and loss and dreams left unfulfilled.
The mundane, the boring, the day after day after day.
Here. Now. With you.
The Lord is with you.
He is the ever-present one, closer than breath, than flesh on bone, than thought and feeling, than the anxiety that presses upon your heart.
Here. Now. With you.
The Lord is with you.
God. The most high. The uncreated one. The maker. The king. The Almighty. The one without start or end.
Here. Now. With you.
Dare you believe it, trust it, lean on it.
The Lord is with you.
His name –
Immanuel.
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