Acknowledge Jesus
The average person makes over 35,000 decisions a day. That’s an average of 1,500 decisions an hour (if you were awake for 24 hours). From opening your eyes and getting out of bed to choosing to read this sentence, your life is composed of thousands of seemingly small decisions that shape the course of your day.
Every decision we make matters, but the most important decision we will ever make is whether we choose to follow Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus not only changes our life on earth but also determines our life for eternity. Those who believe and follow Jesus will join Him in heaven one day.
In a letter to the churches in ancient Rome, Paul says…
“If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
Choosing to believe and follow Jesus changes everything. We are not only saved for eternity, but we also get to have a relationship with God today. We have this assurance because God lives in us, and we live in Him. God’s Word says that when we believe in Him, the Spirit of God lives within us, empowering us to live according to God’s will.
Wherever we go and whatever we do in life, God will always be with us. Since we have a relationship with Him, we can talk with Him anytime. His Spirit will grant us peace when we’re fearful and grace when we mess up.
The first step is to begin a relationship with Jesus. As we grow in our relationship with Him, we will have the opportunity to share the hope we have in Jesus with others. So be bold when you have those opportunities to acknowledge Jesus publicly. God lives in you and goes with you everywhere—you have nothing to fear. Thank Him for His presence and His grace today.
God Is With You
The prophet Isaiah wrote the words of Isaiah 7:14 nearly 600 years before Jesus was born. At the time of this writing, the Israelites were doing all the right religious things, but weren’t practicing justice as God commands. Like many prophets during Isaiah’s time, this was a warning against that injustice. But among that warning was a glimmer of hope that God would set things right.
Here, the prophet Isaiah is giving the people of Israel a reason to hope because of God’s good promise—the promise that He will provide a sign and He will show up for us. Because that’s what Immanuel means: God with us.
But what does “God with us” mean for us today?
It means we can share in that hope by fixing our eyes on Jesus and trusting in Him. We can trust that from Christ’s birth to His current reign in Heaven—Jesus is God with us.
He’s with us in our pain when we lose a loved one.
He’s with us in our anger when we see injustice and don’t know where to turn.
He’s with us ...