"God WITH Us"

From Scott Erickson's "Honest Advent"

God 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 Us⁣

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There’s a prophetic word about the coming Messiah in the book of Isaiah that says, “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot - yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.” It’s a delightful visual - new life emerging from something that had been cut down - and it fits beautifully in the overarching metaphor of a tree at the heart of union with The Divine.⁣

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Remember, in an ancient context, you received nourishment from trees. There was no grocery store, save for trees, where you could squeeze all of the avocados to find the ripest one. The symbol of the tree is the symbol of sustaining life. ⁣

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The Genesis story has a tree at the center of the garden whose fruit gives life to all who eat of it. Then, in the very last chapter of the vision in Revelation, there is a tree whose fruit is used for the healing of everyone. From the beginning to the very end, the symbol of the tree in our midst is the promise of sustaining life everlasting. That tree is always with us offering life-giving connection. ⁣

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How wondrous is it to contemplate in this season that the 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 was at one time connected to another 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚? That this symbiotic with-ness gloriously proclaims that we will never have to do transformation alone.⁣

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May you see that you never have to do it alone.⁣