PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 1:18-25
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“They will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:23)
When I talk about Jesus, I am not talking about just another human being.
Jesus was fully human, like us, and yet he was more.
Matthew is stressing this uniqueness of Jesus in this paragraph.
Like Adam and Eve, he was not born in the normal human way.
And yet like Adam and Eve, he was fully human, created that way by God.
Jesus also has a unique mission tied to his unique beginnings.
Like Adam and Eve, he is tempted by Satan – but the outcome is different.
Unlike Adam and Eve, who plunged humanity into sin, Jesus saves us from sin.
God steps into our sin-cursed world, becoming human, to rescue and restore us.
When people met Jesus, something in him prompted them to sense ‘God is with us!’
Like when Simeon and Elizabeth met the baby Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:22-38).
Or when Thomas met the resurrected Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)
I walk and talk with Jesus, and focus on Jesus, because he connects me to God.
Is this who Jesus is for you; do you sense God with you when you talk with Jesus?
PRAYER
Lord, I cannot explain how you were born, but I do sense in you the joy and blessing of ‘God with us’ I also name you ‘Saviour’ and ‘Immanuel’… my Lord and my God!
“Immanuel” – God with us! Jesus as son of God enters in a sinful world so that God can once again be with us. Like the garden of Eden before our disobedience shut it down – God walked with us. Jesus came in – He is God with us. Somehow now we should also label the HS as Immanuel – God with us! Then our God is one – so God is with us Father, Son and HS! Thank you Lord – some days you are so close to me and other days I don’t let you get close – forgive me and I know you won’t give up on my or cast me away! I desire to be faithful! Thank you Jesus for entering in so that we may once again have God with us!
Spirit driven.
God uses His people His wonders to perform, according to what He had promised. He spoke to His servants in past through dreams, visions. They responded in His way accepting their purpose to serve Him. Go was with them.
And so He is today – with us. With me. But I need open eyes and open ears to do as He desires to be His instrument of peace to do His will.
Make me a servant
Humble and meek
Lord let me lift up
Those who are weak
And may the prayer
Of my heart always be
Make me a servant
Make me a servant
Make me a servant today