Wanna' feel God?

Wanna' feel God? Christmas, 2016
God's comfort and presence at Christmas.

Podcast: http://www.pastorwoman.com/podcasts/bb5b68d2-35c2-4118-8461-6a8fc15...

From one of you~ "Thank you, Christine, for this message tonight! This is my 2nd Christmas without Al and it doesn't seem much easier this year than last. I was watching a music program tonight on TV with a singer named Michael Buble. I had never heard of him but his music was wonderful. He sang an old song "You are always on my mind". I can't remember who made that song popular but the words were so much what I feel most of the time. I know that I am not the only woman who is missing her husband and the season makes it so much harder.
...we all have changes happening in our lives, but we all thank our Lord that he is here for us!!"

We don't get through heartache at Christmas just by doing for others, truly it is through the comfort of the Savior born at Christmas who is God with us. "THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."1 ~ a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, rendered 700 years earlier.2 Hmm, Immanuel, God with us . . . what does that mean?

And the question: how do you feel God's presence--at Christmas or any time?

Throughout Scripture, the people of God were assured that God was with them. Joshua was told by God, "for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."3 David wrote of God's presence throughout the psalms; we are comforted by the same assurance he was, that "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me."4
[Hurting? Bereft? Go back-reread those
scriptures slowly, out loud]
Just before Jesus ascended into Heaven, he comforted his disciples with these words, "lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."5 Cognitively, we can believe that God is with us, but how can we FEEL his presence? A few of my thoughts on our part in feeling God's presence~

First,
♦be desirous of God's presence ~ Consider Brother Lawrence,6 who said, "Oh my God, since you are with me, and I must now, in obedience to your commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I ask you to grant me the grace to continue in your presence. To this end make me prosper through your assistance. Receive all my works, and possess all my affections." He was a dishwasher.

♦Look for God - be aware of where he might be working around you.
>If you are praying about something specifically, and there is movement in that area, don't you think it is at least possible, if not probable, that God had something to do with it?! Look for God at work around you.

♦Ask God to reveal himself to you - Psalm 19 talks about the heavens declaring the glory of God all around us. Look up, look around and listen for him around you.

♦Make room for God with a little silence, so that you can hear him.
"God is the friend of silence . . .
See how nature, the trees, the flowers, the grass
grow in deep silence.
See how the stars, the moon and the sun
move in silence.
The more we receive in our silent prayer,
The more we can give in our active life." Mother Teresa

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46.10
"Be silent in the presence of the Lord God" Zephaniah 1.7

I hope you will give God some quiet to speak into,
I hope you will look for him at work near you, in and around you~
I hope you will listen, and let God speak to you, comfort you and assure you of his presence-especially now at Christmas.

Christine
PastorWoman.com

1 Isaiah 7.14
2 Matthew 1.23
3 Joshua 1.9
4 Psalm 23.4
5 Matthew 28.20
6 Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence