{"id":736,"date":"2017-12-16T11:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T17:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/god-is-really-really-with-us\/"},"modified":"2019-02-18T10:12:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T16:12:25","slug":"god-is-really-really-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/?p=736","title":{"rendered":"God is Really, Really With Us"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nI’ve become an avid “noticer”. A noticer is one who observes, notices, and pays attention to details — not one like my husband who would notice and identify flaws in home construction or a musical composition and performance (just ask my Staci about how he “noticed” everything — like the sound quality, her word pronunciation, or the tempo of the music). I became a “noticer” when I became a Technical Writer and Editor for various publications, but mostly of late I’ve become a “noticer of the most important things like one who recognizes God’s nudges as well as His touches in the mainstream of life that point me in the direction I should go or tell me what to say. I’ve sure been a noticer during this season of Advent and Christmas. That word seems to be encased in the traditions of Christmas. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nI\u2019ve noticed the words I wrote under some of my Christmas treasures that were purchased to \u201cremember\u201d special times. I noticed my family in the many Christmas pictures I\u2019ve scattered throughout my home. Because of my precious mother-in-law\u2019s distribution of so many of her treasures to me and others, I\u2019ve prominently placed mine where I see them every day. I notice them. I notice words in scriptures that I never noticed before. I’m in good company with my \u201cnoticing\u201d. The shepherds were noticers of the angels who broke the news of their Savior’s birth. The Wise Men were noticers of the star that led them to the Christ Child. And, Mary was a noticer and ponderer. Luke 2:19 says (after the shepherds departed): “And Mary pondered (noticed) these things in her heart.” I like that — and I desire to follow Mary’s lead, as well as the shepherds and Wise Men \u2013 to notice and ponder. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nI like to think that noticing is a part of seeing, hearing and sensing God WITH US. Don\u2019t you love the word \u201cwith\u201d? As I wrote that first paragraph, I sensed my husband \u201cWITH\u201d me when I remembered His noticing. I remembered His many hours of coaching our daughter with her music and performances. \u201cWITH\u201d is a powerful word. \u201cWill you go WITH me?\u201d \u201cStay WITH me.\u201d Here\u2019s the greatest news that Christmas brought us. It brought us God in human flesh. Isaiah 7:14 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel (God with us). GOD WITH US!! In Matthew 28:20 the man, Jesus, said before He ascended into heaven, \u201cSurely I am WITH you always, to the very end of the age.” There were no caveats when He spoke those words. He didn\u2019t say, \u201cIf you do this or that, I\u2019ll be with you.\u201d \u201cIf you go to church or if you give to the poor, I\u2019ll be with you.\u201d No, none of that. There are no requirements given to us. He is with us. God is with us.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nSo, in my pondering and noticing and remembering\u2026\u2026I realize GOD IS WITH ME. In our times of fear, stress or worry \u2013 God is with us. In times of feeling lonely or forsaken, we must not forget \u2013 God Who Knows all, sees all and even felt all — is with us. We\u2019re not alone. When we understand and respect that Emmanuel is with us, then even the thoughts we think are what God is wanting us to think, ponder and notice. Maybe they are just not random thoughts but bulls-eye-target thoughts where we are to be God\u2019s representative to our world. We can be on purpose to be aware that God is with us and in us to be His “light” representative. That means as His representative we convey His attitude, actions, and character in and through our lives. God gave us more than miracles and messages. He sent Himself; He sent His Son. \u201cThe Word became flesh and dwelt among us\u201d John 1:14. He wants us to NOTICE that He really is WITH US and be bold as His ambassadors to tell the world “God is with us”!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I’ve become an avid “noticer”. A noticer is one who observes, notices, and pays attention to details — not one like my husband who would notice and identify flaws in home construction or a musical composition and performance (just ask my Staci about how he “noticed” everything — like the sound quality, her word pronunciation,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[494,491,4234,4235,606,517,4236,1179,4237,467,4238,4239,4240],"class_list":["post-736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-emmanuel","tag-god-with-us","tag-i-am-with-you-always","tag-isaiah-714","tag-john-114","tag-luke-219","tag-mary-pondered","tag-matthew-2820","tag-noticers","tag-noticing","tag-pondering","tag-the-word-became-flesh","tag-thinking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7649,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions\/7649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}