God with us

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" —which means, "God with us."" (Mat. 1:23 NIV)

^1"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1 NIV)

⁷ "But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD." (Jer. 1 NIV)

³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' " (Luke 15 NIV)

¹⁶ Rejoice always; ¹⁷pray without ceasing; ¹⁸in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thes. 5 NIV)

I was listening last night to a sermon by a pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in the Grand Rapids, MI area and was struck and challenged - in a good way - by the overall message of the sermon. It caused [causes] me to reconsider why I do things and why I seek and search for God. Perhaps you have the same tendency I do - to do things for God, or to do things to obey or honor God.

But the pastor's main idea was that what matters most is not what we do for God but that we are with God. Much as Brother Lawrence wrote about being with God, even when peeling potatoes for dinner, or being with God even when up to your ears in baby spit up and diapers, or being with God as you mow or vacuum, or being with God while you clean a closet, or while you drive or while you shop or while you....you get the idea. Are we doing for God or are we being with God?

It's a challenge for me to just be with God, no matter what I'm doing. But maybe this calling is just another example of God showing us his Father-Love, inviting us to crawl up in our Abba Father's lap, and rest under the shelter of his wings.

So today, I invite you to just be with God.

God of Love, we hear your call to us to be with you. Help us to seek first your Kingdom and righteousness and to set aside any striving that hinders us from being with you. Forgive us when we forget to pray unceasingly and to recognize your presence in every moment. Help us to not fear you, but to trust you. Help us to desire to be with you. And then wrap your arms of love around us as we recognize the joy of being with you. Through Christ we pray, amen.

http://marshill.org/teaching/2010/06/20/tortured-by-books/