Immanuel, God With Us

I praise God that He is with us. From the very beginning God has chosen to be among us, to walk with us in as physical a way as possible. In the genesis story God walked in the garden with Adam & Eve. In the exodus story God presently led His people in the form of a cloud and fire. In these stories and many others throughout Scripture we discover that God's presence is overwhelmingly powerful in light of our sinfulness and many hide from God. Yet despite our fear, God keeps making a way for us to walk with Him in His presence.
God sent Jesus, the incarnation of God, to walk among us as a man for about 30 years. When Jesus completed His service here, performing the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins and conquering death in the resurrection, He returned to heaven, preparing a place for us to join Him forever in an environment where we can walk with Him unhindered by our sinfulness.
God in His goodness and generosity did not leave us alone when Jesus left. By the power of the resurrection God sent Holy Spirit to dwell in us as resurrection people. Living aware of and connected to Holy Spirit every day is the path we walk to being resurrection people every day.
Just as Adam & Eve hid from God in the Garden of Eden, and the Israelites asked God to keep His distance in the desert, so we too disconnect from Holy Spirit.
Over the next few posts I am going to explore the "armor of God" as described by Paul in Ephesians 6:10-18. It is in this conscious 'putting on the armor' that I have found one way (there are many!) to stay connected with Holy Spirit.