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Finalmente, o sono veio. Ali, no feno, no lugar mais improv\u00e1vel, Maria n\u00e3o p\u00f4de mais resistir.<\/strong> A exaust\u00e3o tomou conta de seu corpo jovem, e ela sucumbiu \u00e0 um sono profundo e sem sonhos- recuperando seu corpo do trauma do parto. O choro dele enfim a acordou, e suas p\u00e1lpebras pesadas se abriram. O amanhecer ainda estava distante, mas a fome dele n\u00e3o podia esperar. Ela inspirou o ar fresco da noite enquanto sua mente clareava. Tudo que havia acontecido retornou \u00e0 mem\u00f3ria de uma vez. Ela sentou-se e o viu ali na manjedoura. Enquanto ela estava perdida em seu sono, ele havia permanecido ali onde ela o havia deixado. O peito dele se levantava e contra\u00eda embaixo da sua roupa. A urg\u00eancia do seu choro aumentou, mas Maria deu um suspiro de al\u00edvio. Ele estava bem. Na verdade, ele estava mais do que bem. Ele estava em seu lar. Jesus veio para ficar. Pela primeira vez desde o princ\u00edpio, Deus iria ficar.<\/em><\/p>\n He had eaten with Abraham, He had appeared to Isaac and Jacob, and He had hosted a feast for Moses and the elders of Israel on top of Mount Sinai. As grand and terrifying as these encounters were, they were always fleeting. The majesty of these events was momentary \u2014 brief. Consider this dramatic account of what happened after the angel of the LORD had visited Manoah and his wife to instruct them concerning Samson\u2019s birth:<\/p>\n “Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, \u201cPlease let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.\u201d The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, \u201cThough you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.\u201d For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD. Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, \u201cWhat is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?\u201d But the angel of the LORD said to him, \u201cWhy do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?\u201d So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the LORD, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground. Now the angel of the LORD did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. So Manoah said to his wife, \u201cWe will surely die, for we have seen God.\u201d Judges 13:15-22<\/strong><\/p>\n And that about summed it up. These visits, called theophanies, were like flashes of lightning, brilliant, and then gone like smoke rising to the heavens. Yet with Jesus, it was different.<\/em> He was like the sun \u2014 warm, steady, and constant \u2014 the light of the world (John 8:12).<\/p>\n When God became a man, wasn\u2019t just a cameo appearance for nostalgic Christmas pageants to tug our heartstrings.<\/p>\n He joined this tragic drama called the human story and became its chief player \u2014 turning the plotline inside out. He was there in the City of David (Jerusalem) after the angels had departed and returned to their heavenly abode. Their great Captain remained. Jesus was there in Bethlehem after the shepherds resumed the care of their flocks, His two new parents searching for more permanent housing in a place that was not home. We know nothing of His life until the eighth day when He was circumcised and formally named. God had come, and He was being carried about by two sleep-deprived parents as they wandered through those ancient, narrow streets desperate for someone to show them a bit of hospitality.<\/p>\n E o que aconteceu nos milhares de dias da vida de Jesus que n\u00e3o est\u00e3o registrados na B\u00edblia? Um v\u00e9u os cobre de nossa vis\u00e3o, mas, com certeza, Ele estava l\u00e1. Deus conosco. Ele estava l\u00e1 nas manh\u00e3s nubladas e tardes escaldantes. Ele estava l\u00e1 na marcenaria onde aprendeu a ser carpinteiro com seu pai. Ele estava na sinagoga como um menino com outras crian\u00e7as da sua idade. Jesus esteve presente nos funerais e casamentos dos moradores de seu vilarejo que viviam na pequena cidade de Nazar\u00e9. Deus desceu para o comum. Ele imergiu-se no ordin\u00e1rio. Ele caminhou ao lado da humanidade quebrada e devastada. Ele sofreu conosco.<\/p>\n Jesus was our neighbor and our friend. He was the one who sold us tables and then sat beside us at the well. Of course, we are all painfully aware that Jesus is not here right now. He is no longer with us. Jesus offered a timeless, authoritative statement of what God is really like and how He desires to relate to men and women throughout all the ages. While Jesus is not physically present with us right now, He can make His dwelling in our hearts through His Spirit so that we can still walk in close relationship with Him.<\/p>\n Perhaps you are reading these words, and yet you have never actually decided to trust in Jesus for your salvation and be His friend. Perhaps you have spent many Christmas seasons in church but realize that your heart has grown distant from the Lord. No matter where we have come from, advent is a time for us all to draw closer to the fire.<\/strong> It is a time to give our attention to the glory and the mystery of what began in a manger and will end with God coming and making His home among us again, forever.<\/p>\n Search the Bible today. You can read the story of Jesus for yourself. Go to the pages of the Gospel of John. Jesus\u2019 heart beats for us in every word written.<\/strong> His story is your story, and He invites you to come to Him today. He will be God with you.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","post_format-post-format-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/encounter.com\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Deus havia vindo muitas vezes antes.<\/h2>\n
The incarnation…<\/h2>\n
Advent. Coming.<\/h2>\n
It is a time not only to remember that luminous hour of His arrival but also to drink deeply of the truth that Jesus came and dwelt among us. He stayed with us.<\/h3>\n