The Joy of Emmanuel God With Us

 As we are inching ever closer to Christmas, I want to share some encouragement about the name Emmanuel.  The name means God is with us.  Isn't that a comforting thought?  Our God is with us this Christmas no matter what we are facing.  Are you currently flying high with joy and excitement?  God is with you.  Are you feeling low and hopeless?  God is with you.  Are you or someone you love dealing with sickness?  God is with you.  Jesus came to be Emmanuel; God with us.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel” 

(which means, God with us).

There is an older song written by Michael Card that says,

"Emmanuel, Our God is with us

And if God is with us

Who could be against us

Our God is with us, Emmanuel."  

  We cannot count on the fact that anyone will always and forever be with us, but we can know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if we have believed and put our trust in Christ, our Emmanuel is forever God with us.  We can run to Him in our joys and in our sorrow, in the good times and in the bad.  He came to be our Savior and He invites us into His presence.  

  It is comforting to know that He understands our humanity and our frailness. Because He came and walked this earthly life, He can sympathize with our weaknesses.  

  Because He was without sin He was able to go to the cross and pay the price to redeem us from our sin.  Hallelujah what a Savior!  Because of what He did for us at calvary, He is now able to give us forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and victory in Jesus.  He understands that we are weak, but He invites us to let His strength replace our weaknesses.  In our current christian culture many excuse sin and fail to see that Jesus came to give us victory over our sins.  He is with us, and He wants to sanctify us to be more and more like Himself.

  I also love the Christmas hymn "O Come O Come Emmanuel." In the song you can hear the emotion of those who are eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah, and the chorus becomes jubilant as it says, "Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel Has Come."  As I look around me at many disturbing things in the world and culture today, I relate to that longing for Emmanuel to come again!  He is coming again, and what a glorious day it will be when we are forever with the Lord worshiping Him for all eternity.  He is going to make all wrongs right, heal all brokenness, and dry our every tear.  While we traverse our pilgrim way, we can praise Him that Emmanuel is with us, and we can look forward to that day when one day we will forever be with the Lord in perfect peace and rest.  That, my friends, is something to be excited about!

  In closing here are some verses referring to Emmanuel, God with us.  I hope you will find a few minutes to dwell on these and let your heart be strengthened: 

  This would make a wonderful Bible study to go through and try to find all the verses in Scripture that talk about how our God is with us.  It is very reassuring and comforting.  This Christmas my desire is that we can all have peaceful hearts knowing that we are not alone in our struggles.  Our God is with us.  He knows us better than we know ourselves and He loves us.  His steadfast love endures forever.  Merry Christmas and may these truths fill our hearts with true comfort and joy!