God Is With Us This Season And Always
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Matthew 1:22-23
A family I know is struggling with health and addiction problems right now. It made me aware of the fact that every family has stress and problems like this family that just don’t seem to fit in with the joy and celebration of Christmas. Then I saw this verse from Matthew in this morning’s devotion. It hit me that what this dear family is going through is the reason Jesus came as a baby. God in his compassion for us gave us his son to rescue us from the chaos of our sin.
Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
Jesus was miraculously born from a virgin. He is human.
Jesus came to this Earth as God and man. Jesus was tempted in every way but never, ever, gave in to sin. Not as a baby. Not as a toddler. Not as a child. Not as a teen. Not as a young adult. Not in his public ministry where he was surrounded by the vast need of people and the unending hate of his critics. Only the sinless life of Jesus could be God’s perfect sacrifice to take the punishment that each one of us deserve for our sin.
Why would God’s Son endure all that? Because he loves us so much, he wants to be with us. The truth of his love is that simple and that profound.
Immanuel
God is with us.
Now and
forever.
This year as your family experiences its own very hard struggles that might make you feel alone in the world, look at that little manger and see Jesus. Know he is with you because he tells you he is. Your family is not alone. The King of kings is with you right now.
His Words reveal his heart: “Father forgive them”
How can God forgive us when we all know what causes us shame? It is the truth that that tiny baby came to take the punishment we all deserve.
That is the real light and joy and peace of Christmas.
God is with us, in the manger, in our heart by his gift to us of faith in him.
This time of the year is such a good time for a family to look at the manger and talk about the truths of this verse. God wants us to be honest with each other and him about the stress of our sin and the reality of his love that gives us true peace with God.
Jesus came to rescue us from the sin we all are infected with. The reality of Christmas is the truth that Jesus as a baby, not to be on a cute Christmas card, but to rescue us from the
Jesus was born of a virgin – he is a man. And Jesus, Immanuel, is God with us. Literally!
The coming of Jesus to this earth is not magical! It is a reality!
Jesus came not to be on a cute Christmas card, he came to rescue us.
A Daily Prayer:
Thank you, dear Jesus, that you took on our flesh to enter this world of dark sin to rescue us from eternal death our sins deserve. What a wonder that you live with us in all of our hard times. We repent for the hurts we have caused. We thank you for the gift of faith you give us to trust your complete forgiveness for us. We ask you to give us peace as we endure the injustice and hurts others have caused us. Please bring those who do not know you yet to faith in you as their Savior. Amen.