God With Us

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Pastor Kyle preached a sermon last Sunday on how Jesus is the Promise of Christmas. Immanuel (Hebrew =  עִמָּנוּאֵל) meaning "God is with us". The Old Testament is really about Jesus because Christ is the common thread that runs through the entire Bible, which is the counsel of God. Like a movie trailer is a preview of what is to come, the Old Testament points forward to the coming Messiah and to the fact that Christmas was coming. There are, something like, 365 messianic prophesies (stories that foretold the coming of the Christ) in the Old Testament.

Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”

God can make the problems that we face and worry about go away. God will be with us. Have you ever been in a place where you thought that you will lose everything and freaking out? What are we to do? When most people reach “crisis mode”, they either choose fight or flight. But God gave us a sign in Jesus and gives us a part to play. The Lord tells us to stand firm in faith and obedience, and to trust God to do what He says and then do our part. Not to team with an unholy alliance in an attempt to accomplish by our human effort, but to trust God. We don't need to compromise for His planto come about. What is God asking you and I to do? Answer: Nothing, just listen, trust and obey.

Matthew 1:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

God is truly with us in Christ, but we have a part to play. That part is to stand firm in faith through obedience, even though this may not be the easiest way or the nicest way always. Sometimes, it is hard, but God will be with us. Repentance is simple making a change of mind and direction. It literally means that when we are walking away from the Lord, to stop and make a U-Turn to walk towards the Lord. This is walking in the Spirit and standing on “God with us” and this is our part. God has called you and I into something else than a world of disobedience, in another way, in obedience to His perfect way and to His glory. This is not about “God is with me” so I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, but about what is His way and what He wants for my life. Where are struggling today to see that “God is with you”? Make Jesus Christ, Immanuel – God with us, that Christmas promise from God in your heart and Lord of all.

In Christ, Brian