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 see injustice and don’t know where to turn.
He’s with us in our sadness when we grieve what has been lost.
He’s with us in our joy when we celebrate with others.
He’s with us in our peace, when we’re merciful to a suffering world.
And He’s with us in our hope, lighting the way to a brighter future.
He is with us.
No matter where life has brought you to in this moment—through the good and through the bad—Jesus has been with you, drawing you to Him. He is the promised Immanuel. He is God with us.
Luke 9
“Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; and of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. And the ...
God Keeps His Promises
“'The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.”
Jeremiah 33:14 NIV
A lot of people would have laughed at Jeremiah when he said these words. Why? Because it seemed like God had abandoned both Israel and Judah.
At this point in the story of the Bible, Israel is gone—wiped out by an invading army. Now Judah is alone, and another massive army is at their gates to destroy them too. The situation couldn’t have been more hopeless.
Have you ever experienced a moment like that? Maybe it was a life-changing loss, or impossibly difficult news. In those painful moments, it can feel impossible to trust God’s promises. The people listening to Jeremiah probably felt the same way. But it wasn’t the end of their story because circumstances can’t ruin God’s promises.
Yes, the enemy broke in and took God’s people into captivity for decades. But God didn’t abandon His people or give up on...