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Isaiah prophesied,
“Therefore The Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His Name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14
Matthew added a very important detail. He told us what Immanuel means.
Immanuel means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23)
Jesus has often been portrayed as a traveling companion, a roommate, a good friend, even a marriage partner.
Jesus has been presented as being separate from God. He has been portrayed as being separate from us. He has been portrayed as going away and coming back one day.
Jesus has been portrayed as someone we can invite in or dismiss when we choose. His Presence has been presented as dependent on our performance … even a performance of our generating enough faith to believe in Him.
But Jesus makes it clear He is not here to give a performance test. He is here as a Gift! And He makes it clear Who is giving The Gift.
Jesus said,
“I and The Father are One.”
John 10:30
Jesus and God are One!
But the news gets even better. Jesus revealed The One is One with us. He is God with us!
Jesus said,
“On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.”
John 14:20
Jesus said,
“The Kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 17:21
How could we have something inside us and not know it?
We had a heart inside us from the beginning, but we may not have known it. Even as it was faithfully doing its job of keeping us alive, we did not know it was there.
And then one day we did. We learned something new. We felt a pulse. We heard a heartbeat. We recognized we had a heart!
Our heart is only one of the many Gifts God has already given us.
His Greatest Gift is The Gift of Himself He put inside each one of us. Immanuel means God is with us .. all of us. We have had God with us from our beginning. And He is never going to leave.
Jesus said,
“Be sure of this. I am with you always!”
Matthew 28:20
Look past the manger. Look within.
Feel your pulse. Recognize Who is knocking on the door of your heart from within to remind you He is indeed with you always! He always has been and will be forever!
Look again at the name, Jesus. You may be surprised by another God wink.
You are in Him and He is in you.
JesUs.
Now look again. We, all of us, are in Him and He is in us!
JesUS!
I invite you to enjoy this song and be thankful for the best Gift you will ever receive! Merry Christmas!
