Immanuel - God With Us: A 6-Day Advent Devotional From the Team at Gather25Sample

Jesus lived on earth in his human body for 33 years. He was both fully God and fully man. He experienced human things like hunger, sadness, and temptation, but he also taught and healed people with divine authority, saying, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Throughout his life, Jesus told his followers that he would not be with them forever. John tells us some of Jesus’ words to his disciples, spoken right before his arrest and death: “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).

It was to their “advantage” that He go away?! How could this be? How could anything compare to being with Jesus, their friend, and Savior, in the flesh?

We learn the answer a few chapters over in Acts 2. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, he ascended to heaven to be with the Father again. Soon afterward, his followers gathered together. “And suddenly, there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting…And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (John 2:2,4).

This was what Jesus had promised. No longer would God be with them through the person of Jesus. He wouldn’t just be near them, beside them, or among them. From now on, for all who believe in him, he would be in them.

And the same is true for us today! The Bible tells us that when we believe in Jesus as our Savior, we are given the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). We don’t have to visit a tabernacle or temple anymore to experience his presence; instead, every believer becomes a temple for the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). He is with us all the time.

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could just walk and talk with God like Adam and Eve or the disciples did? Through the Holy Spirit, you can! If you have entrusted your life to Jesus, he is with you at this very moment - comforting you, helping you, changing you from the inside out.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is the joy and hope for all Christians, all around the world. But as wonderful as life with the Spirit is now, there’s still something even better to come…

Holy Spirit, I praise you! Thank you for dwelling in me and for the comfort and joy you give me every day. Open my eyes to your presence as I seek to know you and love others through your power.

Reflect: What does it mean to you that God comes to dwell inside you when you trust in him? What are some ways you see the Holy Spirit’s power at work in your life?