"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us") Matthew 1:22-23.
The name Immanuel appears twice in the Hebrew Scriptures and once in the New Testament. It is literally translated "with us is God" or as Matthew's Gospel put it, "God with us." No matter where we are or what we are going through, God is with us. This is a simple reality that we tend to forget and what power and strength is found when we grasp this reminder that He never leaves us. Let that wash over you for a minute.
Today, I want to share with you directly from the reading for today. As we rise to the challenge to daily spend time with God in prayer, in His Word and with other followers, I pray that we will also be so changed by spending time in His presence that we will begin to show the reality of His presence in us, by demonstrating His presence every place we go. Ready to meet the challenge?
This is from the devotional...
"If we want to experience Immanuel, "God with us," we need to be where He is, to do what His love compels, to reflect his image to the rest of the world. Today, I pray that Christ will piece my heart with the things that pierce His. I ask for grace to look for Him in the midst of the world's suffering, whether close to home or far away. I pray that he will give you and me faith to join Him there, transforming our prayers, our time, our talents and our financial resources into evidence of his presence in the world-Immanuel, a God who is truly with us, in this Christmas season and every day of the year." (Ann Spangler, Immanuel, p, 71)
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