Meditate On
Jesus Is Immanuel, the Almighty God with Us
Matthew 1:22-23
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be
with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is
translated, “God with us.”
Did you know that Jesus’ name is not just Jesus? His name
is also Immanuel, meaning the Almighty God is with us. How comforting it is to
know that our awesome Almighty God, who is also our loving Father, is always
with us!
A precious brother shared with me that even as a believer
years ago, he had a problem with alcohol, and every night he would be out
drinking to the point that he could not even remember how he got home the next
day. He tried everything he could to stop drinking, but failed repeatedly.
One day, he went out with some friends for a game of
squash. After the game, he laid down on the ground to rest. As he was resting,
he felt Jesus’ presence come upon him and in that very moment, the Lord broke
his addiction to alcohol and totally removed his desire to drink!
Today, this brother whom the Lord delivered from
alcoholism is a key leader in my church. Isn’t it just like God to take the
weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise?
You know, all our struggling, willpower, discipline and
self-effort cannot do what the presence of the Lord can do in an instant. And
who is to say that as we are talking about Jesus now, His presence will not
take away something that is destructive in your life?
You see, you are transformed not by struggling. You are
transformed by beholding Jesus and believing that He loves you and wants to
save you.
Now, what does it mean to say “God with us”? We must
understand it the same way the Hebrew people would have understood it. There is
something beautiful here—this is the secret of Immanuel! The Jewish mind
understands that when the Lord is with you, you become successful in every
endeavor. Don’t just take my word for it. Look through the chronicles of Jewish
history. The Bible records that whenever the Lord was with them in battle, the
children of Israel were never defeated, and every military campaign ended in
overwhelming success.
My friend, it is no different for you today. When the
Bible says that Jesus is with you, He is with you to help you, assist you, turn
things around for you and make good things happen for you. He is not with you,
as some wrongly believe, to condemn, judge or find fault! When Almighty God is
with you, good things will happen in you, around you and through you. Expect
this to happen to you today!
BLESSINGS
JOSEPH PRINCE
