Prayer Practice
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
God With Us Always
by Kelsey Bacon
Immanuel: God with us. I have read the story of Jesus' birth a hundred times, and still it amazes me that God came down to be with us. Still it amazes me that God chose to be human, that he chose to leave the richness and glory of heaven to be on dirty, dusty earth where we have mosquitos and mean people and (in the time God chose to come to earth) no real plumbing. Imagine being the God of the universe and stooping so low as all that! But Jesus did it for us. Immanuel: God with us. Jesus, with us, here not only 2,000 years ago on this earth, but here in our hearts today as we believe in and follow him.
I love how this story also shows us the fullness of the trinity, the power of God in full. The Father sent his Son down to earth, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. God truly with us and in us, in the world, transforming the world through his power and goodness. Immanuel: God with us, in the fullest sense. God was working in the world in the most miraculous way yet by sharing himself with the world, set to sacrifice for the world, to give us his Son and his Spirit so that now, as believers, we can truly have God with us always.
How many times have you heard this story? How many times have you thought about the Christmas story? I invite you to again be taken aback and overwhelmed by the reality of Immanuel: God with us. It doesn't take my breath away nearly as often as it should. Human life gets in the way of my being in awe of Jesus far to much, but today I reflect again and I sit in the truth of Immanuel. I would be nothing if God were not with me, if Jesus never came, if the Holy Spirit did not dwell within. God came down to us. That's how broken we are, and that's how good he is.
Praise God today for Immanuel--today especially, as we end this year of 2020. Because despite the turbulence of this year, God was still with us. God us still with us. And God will continue to be with us as we step into 2021. So praise God for Immanuel. Thank you Jesus that you are always with us, in the bad times and the good, and thank you that we start a new year knowing that you are with us, in us, and leading us.
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