God showed up?

We hear many comments today about "God showing up". The fact is that our Great Lord showed up 2000 years ago in a way that simply staggers the imagination. The King took on flesh and dwelt among us! He lived with us and died for us. . .but He didn't stop there.

Jesus reminded his followers that He would not leave them as orphans. He gave a gift for which the prophets themselves dreamed. . .the gift of His Holy Spirit. God establishing permanent residence within our own spirit. Oh, what a gift. Jesus' last words were true. "Lo, I am with you always". No, he doesn't have to show up. In actuality, God is much closer than we think.

Our longing for God to show up today reveals the inner distance we often feel between His world and our own. But, it is not He who has distanced Himself. It is you and me.

God's dwelling is among us. His divine presence literally permeates the landscape of our lives. His kingdom is among us. The great need of our spiritual lives is not one of presence. Rather, the great need is for sight. We must be remedied from our interior blindness. We must open our eyes afresh and anew to His kind of world.

The Ablaze for God series is ultimately about recognizing God's presence among us. It's about opening the eyes of our heart and realizing that this is a God-permeated, God-saturated world. It's about embracing His presence and His person as the most meaningful and most-real reality in our lives. It's about emptying ourselves to be filled by and through Him completely.

He is presently willing. May we choose to see that His Presence already within your reach today.