God With You: A Personalized Advent Devotional
God With You: A Personalized Advent Devotional, will help keep you nourished this season and remind you that He’s with you in everything.
God Is Faithful
Life is uncertain. The future can look clouded. Decisions remain yet unmade.
And since we’re in this “unprecedented” time, all of the unsettling circumstances can make us feel lost. Have you ever felt like that in this past year?
Oh friend, if you only knew the host of problems and challenges my family is facing.
But I know I’m not alone. All around me may seem unreliable, but my God is faithful.
This Advent, I’m choosing to remember the faithfulness of my Creator. And while that settled in my heart as a beautiful comfort, He placed the phrase “God with you” on my heart.
He’s reaching down to us in this unknown season with reassurance. Doesn’t that sound good?
Let me explain more of what I mean.
God is reaching down to you in this unknown season with reassurance that He is Emmanuel, God with you. #Advent #Devotional Click To TweetEmmanuel, God with Us
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” Matthew 1:22-23
Jesus came. He’s God with us.
Sometimes we hear that and fail to take it to a personal level. But God is personal.
The Holy Spirit came upon Mary (Luke 1:35), the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus (Luke 3:22), and the Holy Spirit came upon God’s people (Acts 1:8).
Jesus ascended. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in you so you’re not alone as you walk with Him (John 14:16-18, 26). Isn’t that wonderful?
God with You
One morning I looked at the trees outside in the light of the dawn. I noticed how crooked the branches appeared. We have a forest of tall trees out back, and I stared at the many winding branches extending out from the massive trunks.
The twisted branches reminded me of how our lives often seem askew with problems. It was a visual of how they represent life’s complexities.
But just as each tree is firmly rooted in the ground, a Believer’s life is rooted in an individualized relationship with Jesus. The roots of the tree sustains every part of it, the same way Jesus is the anchor for each part of life.
Can you see the power of this in your life?
He is God with you!
5 Promises God Gives His People
Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10
I love this verse! In it, He promises us, His people.
He says:
- I am with you
- I am your God
- I will strengthen you
- I will help you
- I will uphold you
Aren’t those powerful promises? I encourage you to write them in your journal like that!
God is with you in all these ways. And because He cares about the details of your life (those winding, crooked parts of the branches), He is with you.
Join Me This Advent
What is Advent? Advent is the first season of the Christian church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays (New Oxford American Dictionary).
Each Tuesday for the next four weeks, I’ll share a new devotion from my new Advent devotional, God With You: A Personalized Advent.
We’ll dive into Scripture and see how God was individually with Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds. And then personalize that for ourselves. I’m so excited!
It’s easy to allow the busyness of the season to replace an intimacy with the Father. We might even start slipping into the train of thought that we “should” spend time with God because we’re “supposed to.” Even that can rob a freshness with Him.
Am I right?
That’s why for this holiday season, I’d like to share this devotional as a way for us to keep nourished. When we are nourished, we are strong, and we can overcome all that comes our way!
Does that sound good?
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