Christmas is upon us and we are all busy making lists and purchasing gifts. In the midst of this busy season, I wanted to call your attention to a different gift, the gift of God’s presence. In the book of Isaiah there are twenty-two prophesies related to The Lord Jesus Christ. Woven throughout The Word of God there are countless other prophecies that point The Way to the fulfillment of the coming Messiah. Every prophetic pronouncement in scripture has or will reach its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. God is faithful to keep His promises and His truth endures from generation to generation. In Isaiah 7:14, the promise of God being forever with us is pronounced. Immanuel, Good with us, is the name used to denote The Father’s eternal presence and protection. Immanuel, God with us, is present through every action that we begin, continue and end in Jesus’s name. Immanuel, God with us, comforts, defends, enlightens us in every aspect of our lives-the good, the challenging and all in between. Immanuel, God with us, is also in us even till the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
To understand what Immanuel, God with us, means for our daily lives, I invite you to consider Isaiah 7:14 and what Immanuel, God with us, means today. Ahaz, was told by Isaiah that to be saved, he needed to place his trust in God and not himself nor his ability to maneuver politically. From this, we learn that it is not by anything we do that brings salvation, but through our faith you and I are saved (Galatians 2:16, Ephesians 2:8-9). The truth of this principle remains. There is nothing that you or I can do other than put our faith and trust in The Lord to be born again.
It is important to remember that faith and religion are two different things. Ahaz lacked faith, was pious and this invited God’s judgment into his life. You and I need to remember that religion does not save. We can regularly attend church, Sister in Christ Zooms, have daily devotional time, and purposefully do all the right things but none of this will make us right with The Father. Nor will doing so replace repentance and putting our trust in The Father through accepting His Son as our Savior. The promise of Immanuel, God with us, reminds us that trust in God is a key to a life of freedom, maturity, and intimacy with God.
Ahaz made the mistake of fearing people more than he feared God, he failed to remember the teaching found in the book of wisdom (Proverbs 29:25). You and I know that making decisions based upon fear or lack of trust in The Father will always lead us down the wrong path. Operating in fear causes us to make unwise decisions which never please God. We need to be sure that our decisions are based in the faith and trust we have in God. The promise of Immanuel, God with us, reminds us that choosing faith over fear is a key to a life of freedom, maturity, and intimacy with God.
Matthew and other New Testament writers reminds us that Immanuel is in His church. Paul, in Ephesians 2:21-22 that the church is the dwelling place of God. We, God’s people are THE CHURCH. Jesus and His Spirit live in the hearts and lives of His children, those who have put their faith and trust in Him. He makes Himself known to this sin-sick world through His church. Our worship gatherings, for prayer, teaching, and fellowship, ought to be shaped by Immanuel, God with us. All that we say and do ought to reveal His presence. Our connection to The Father is seen as we love one another, encourage one another in The Word, pray for one another, and speak truth to each other. The world will know we belong to The Father not by our mere words but our actions. The old hymn, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love, ought to remind us to live our faith before those in the world. If God is truly within us our actions will be reflective of Who He is. The promise of Immanuel, God with us, reminds us that love is the key to a life of freedom, maturity, and intimacy with God.
The Gospel is the principal reminder of God, The Father being with us. To fully embrace Immanuel, we must allow The Father to remove our sins, cleanse us with the Blood of Jesus and make us righteous. Then and only then can you and I truly become His daughters, being His opens the door for the indwelling The Holy Spirit. When we fully surrender to The Father through Jesus, His Son, Immanuel will forever be with us-we will never be alone. Immanuel will be with us throughout this life and we will be with Him in life eternal. While on this side heaven, we may experience loneliness but because Immanuel, God with us, we are never alone (Deuteronomy 4:31). While on this side of heaven, we may experience pain and suffering but because Immanuel, God with us, we have the promise of healing (Isaiah 53:5). While on this side of heaven, we may experience various trials but because Immanuel, God with us, we can walk courageously, without fear and experience peace, power, and unspeakable joy (Deuteronomy 31:6, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 23:4, Romans 8:37-39). I am grateful for the promise that Immanuel, God with us is all we need and all we truly have in this world. I am forever grateful for the gift of His presence.
Join me Under The Church Hat for this month’s exercise:
Have there been times in your life when you, like Ahaz, experienced a crisis of faith? If so, in less than 250 words describe how you overcame the crisis.
Describe how your understanding of God being with you has been impacted by this devotion.
Describe how the keys of faith, love, and trust have opened or are opening you to a life of freedom, maturity, and intimacy with God.
What does the gift of God’s presence mean to you today?
Choose a passage from this devotion to meditate upon this month.