God With Us

Last evening at our Christmas Hymn Sing a lady attended our service for the first time and she is a friend and neighbor of one of our members.  As we spoke I was reminded she has a  famous ancestor, Edgar Allen Poe !   Poe wrote his classic “The Raven” just a mile from our church in a 19th century inn where he stayed at that time.   And as I spoke to this woman I said, “I hear you are pretty good at writing yourself !”  She modestly replied she does some poetry but her famed cousin of her grandmother was much better !    As Christmas approaches, and we think of His coming to take on flesh, He did so that we could not only be reconciled to Him but start to become Christlike ourselves.  This begins at conversion but is to continue as we grow spiritually.

Like Poe, this woman exhibits some of his traits.  It’s “in the genes” as they say !  And like Jesus Christ so should be become more like Him !   Once saved we’re “in Jesus” !!  So it’s important we spend time with Him and yes, read and pray and attend church, and fellowship with like minded believers but never neglect the simple yet powerful means of ongoing growth in staying in fellowship with Him !  One of the terms the Bible uses to describe Jesus’ first coming at Christmas is “Emmanuel”:  “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is ‘God with us'”.  (Matt.1:23).    God is with you permanently once you’re saved but your sin can sever the sweet fellowship you can have with Him.  Simply put, we must never cave in on confessing our sin and living in constant communion with Him. It is a battle for we have our sin nature but as we read, pray, obey, attend, etc we are strengthened in our spirits to WANT to live in fellowship with Him.  The spiritual side bests the carnal side and we desire more to live righteously and its then automatic, we start to think, talk, act more like Him !!!  What another great Christmas gift !!!

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