Making room and taking time for a conversational relationship with God will awaken amazing things that exist within you. We are designed to experience, explore and express God’s presence to the world around us. “Unto us a child is born” and “He will be called Immanuel” which means “God with us”. The nearness of God is always there. We must work on our awareness of the nearness of God practicing the presence of God as our way of life.
Matthew 1:18-23 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). NIV
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ESV
Jesus commissions us to go and make disciples saying, “I am with you”. The Great Commission involves learning to walk in God’s presence developing an awareness of the nearness of God.
We are continuing the practice of learning to watch for grace and follow favor. In this process we must learn to be deeply gracious and highly relational paying attention to what God is doing in the lives of those in the world around us. We have entered a very strategic season in the church where God is awakening the deeper things of God within us and among us!
We see a pattern when Jesus came as God was introducing a season of greater awareness of Christ. There were no more prophets raised up after Malachi. The Israelites had not further direction from God for these 400 years of silence. Suddenly God seems to be in a strategically conversational mood – a flood of revelation was suddenly awakened in the earth!
God speaks to Mary announcing the news that she would give birth to the Messiah. God speaks to Joseph helping him navigate this very complicated situation. God speaks to the shepherds in the field God speaks to wise men. God speaks to the wise men again warning them that Herod wanted to kill Jesus. God speaks to Joseph again saying Flee to Egypt. God speaks to Joseph yet again in Egypt saying it is now safe to return home. John the Baptist is prophesying and declaring prepare the way. People were waking up spiritually!
A significant season of revealing Christ had come. So is it the case now! People are waking up spiritually! God is being strategically conversational! Calm your thoughts and listen to God positioning yourself to be aware of what God desires to reveal. Pay sacrificial attention!
Unto us a child is born – he is near. The nearness of God is always there. We must work on our awareness of the nearness of God. It takes time alone in prayer and the Word to develop a tender heart with a deep awareness of God that He desires for us to possess.
Something happens in the human heart when we experience the awe filled awakening of God’s presence but this takes time. Chuck Swindoll said, “The Bible yields its fruit to the unhurried mind”.
Dallas Willard said, “The most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds. This is the fundamental secret of caring for our soul. Our part in practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to him. In the early time of our practicing, we may well be challenged by our burdensome habit of dwelling on things much less than God. These are habits that can be broken. New grace filled habits will replace former habits as we take intentional steps to keep God before us. Soon our minds constantly turn to God as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the North. If God is the great longing of our souls, he will become the pulsar of our inner being.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Practice solitude with God very intentionally this week. Expect a deeper awareness of his presence throughout your day, every day this week!
Awareness of the Nearness of God
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
“Unto us a child is born” and He will be called Immanuel” which means “God with us”. The nearness of God is always there. We must work on our awareness of the nearness of God. This is all about practicing the presence of God as our way of life. Sometimes we need to look up to be reminded of his presence within us.
Don’t mistake God’s silence for his absence. Sometimes God uses his presence to bring guidance. Pay attention to the presence of grace. Pay attention to the absence of grace! God gives direction by what he graces with his presence. This is a sense of Kingdom awareness. We are learning to watch for grace and follow favor as our way of life.
Psalm 16:8 I am always aware of the Lord’s presence; he is near, and nothing can shake me. (GNT)
Great encouragement comes from rehearsing God’s Word. It is God’s plan is for us to spend time drawing close to his heart and hearing his voice together as a family. This is why we start each meeting with this question first:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Realize there is great power in just reading the Bible together and allowing the Holy Spirit to awaken his conversational nature in the group.
Matthew 1:21-23 (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save
his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). NIV
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ESV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. Have each person give a 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, in their own words.
3. What do these verses teach us about God?
4. What do these verses teach us about people?
5. What should you do this week in response to what we are reading and what God is revealing?
6. Who comes to mind when considering a person you might share this with this week?
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Practice solitude with God very intentionally this week. Expect a deeper awareness of his presence throughout your day, every day this week!