GOD WITH US

By Penny Hancell, Brisbane, Australia

Scripture reading: Mathew 1:23

I remember being invited by my father to attend a breakfast meeting (in Auckland, New Zealand) where Nelson Mandela was the visiting speaker. I had read his very inspirational autobiography, “The Long Walk to Freedom,” and can vividly remember feeling a sense of awe at being in the same room and presence of such a great man!

How amazing then, at that time, that the prophecy of Jesus being born was actually happening. They would have felt an incredible sense of fear, awe, and excitement to know God would now be physically with them.

I think of the passage in Mathew 17: 1-6 when Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. In the ancient world, peaks and mountains were often the place where man met with God. And that is exactly what happened. Elijah and Moses appear to them, talking to Jesus. Then God speaks to the disciples and says Jesus is his son, that he loves him, and to listen to him. When they heard this, they fell face down in fear and awe. Jesus then came and touched them and said don’t be afraid.

This miraculous experience was personally and purposely intended for Peter, James, and John; it transformed them, and they became God’s heroes in the faith like Moses and Elijah before them.

I live on the side of a mountain in Brisbane and enjoy going on prayer walks where, at the peak, I can see over the city and surrounding areas. It is there that I experience God and feel his presence because I can focus more on how awesome God is. It also gives me a bigger picture of the kingdom, leaving behind the troubles of the world.

We are so blessed now as disciples to have the Holy Spirit living in us. It is so powerful to have access to God at every moment of every day. When we are in the presence of God and experience that God is with us, it transforms us.

Questions for thought:

1. What can you do today to have a mountaintop experience with God when reading his word and praying?

2. What scripture can you meditate on throughout the day to help you change?

3. How can you bring your experience of God to other people?