Here we are, three days before celebrating the coming of our Christ, and there’s something burning warm that I want to share with you.
If we grasp this word we will find freedom, so lean in a little…
He has always wanted to be the God who is with us.
If I could slip my arm through yours, and pull you closer in, and say it right to your face myself, I’d delight in the opportunity. Since I can’t walk arm in arm with you today, meander through some proving passages with me here instead….
He hovered over the face of the waters in the beginning. (Genesis 1)
He walked in the garden where the first humans lived. (Genesis 3)
He filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40)
He filled the temple as soon as Solomon finished praying. (2 Chronicles 7)
He forfeited all glory and power in the heavenlies to come and live and die alongside his creatures. (Matthew 1)
He sent the Spirit to live inside of us. (John 14)
He never leaves us. (Hebrews 13, Matthew 28))
And He prepares a place for us and will bring us back to Himself. (John 14)
Does this track record move anyone?
He is the God who wants to walk with those He fashioned.
His very name of Immanuel means…God with us.
As I mentioned in the Advent study that I recently penned, it’s realizations like this that make me want to call Him Abba, Father. Abba is the Aramaic word for what a child would call his Dad. It is translated to mean Daddy, or Papa. It shows a relationship that is personal, intimate, trusting.
It’s who He is.
God in the form of the trinity – God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit – He has taken on these different forms throughout history to speak to, move amongst, and live within His children.
It’s all quite baffling.
Beautiful, and majestic, but perplexing.
Here’s the take-home:
God goes with us, and wants to. Always has, always will.
And there is no believer that is exempt. If you want Him with you, He will be. No matter the stats of your history. His track record trumps yours.
And isn’t it all just glorious?
May we be stirred as we walk toward the stable over the next few days. And may we feel seen, cherished, and accompanied – as we celebrate Christ’s good coming this year.
Merry, merry Christmas friends.
” His track record trumps our”. Priceless!!!