Christmas Eve…
Celebrate the eve of His birth… His stooping low… by kneeling before Him in prayer… giving Him praise… and joining His mission… interceding for those He came to save…
He drew near… Immanuel… God among us… and calls us to draw near Him…
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:8 ESV
The way up… is the way down…
He calls us to draw near Him… and in return He promises to draw near us…
But what prevents us…? from accepting His invitation…?
Sin…
In the presence of His light… we see just how dark we are… an uncomfortable place to be…
James reminds us to embrace our sin… our wretchedness… come face to face with the truth… accept the need to turn from our way… purify our minds… wills… emotions… and humble ourselves before Him…
There is a promise in the drawing near… in humbly doing the work of confession… repentance…
He will exalt you…
He moves us from a place of darkness to light… shame to honor… bondage to freedom… despair to joy…
He lifts us up… when we understand how low we have come… how far from Him we truly are…
That’s what He came to reveal through Jesus… just how far we’ve strayed… just how desperately we need a Savior…
Jesus never strayed from the Father… but He continually separated Himself from people… to draw near Him…
But he would withdraw to desolate places to pray.
Luke 5:16 ESV
He knew the importance of doing the work of coming before Him… remembering who He is… and why He was here…
When we take time to draw near Him… we see who He is… remember who we are… and in repentance… and resting before Him… we see Him all the more clearly… and long for Him more dearly…
A Nativity Prayer… the Final Day
Praise Him for the Way He’s made… for us to draw near…
Praise Him for drawing near in response to our choosing to move close to Him…
Pray for the desire to connect with Him… one on one… in quiet places…
Ask Him to prepare your heart… and the hearts of those in your world… to embrace the truth of who we are… come clean before Him… prepared to be lifted up by Him…
Call on Holy Spirit to make His presence known… opening hearts to conviction… confession… healing… and truth…
Pray for yourself and others… to draw near to Him… to live near to Him… just… like… Jesus…
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