““Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”- Matthew 1:23
‘Immanuel,’ when broken down- comes from the hebrew words:
‘Umma‘- meaning ‘against or beside’
‘Am‘- meaning ‘people’ but more specifically in the way it is most often used, ‘all mankind’
‘El’– Shortened of ‘Elohim,’ the genus of God
Furthermore, if you were to take these three roots and use them as best you could next to each other in a sentence, the listener would assume you are saying,
“God IS with us” as opposed to ‘was’ or ‘will be’ or whatever. So- our Loving and all powerful God and Father IS WITH US. All of the time. Even in those situations when we think He might not be…from the mundane…to the secret, desperate pain or worry.
And He’s the same Jesus He always was. With that in mind- consider these encouragements when you might need them…
– The same Jesus that calmed the storm…
…attends every one of your staff meetings.
– The same Jesus that fed 9,000 people with 12 loaves of bread and a few fish…
…is staring at the fridge with you when you’ve been too busy working (and too tired) to go shopping.
– The same Jesus that caught a fish with a coin in it’s mouth…
…is pumping gas with you two days before you get paid.
– The same Jesus who healed the blind men when the crowd wanted them to shut up and leave Him alone…
– is with you on those days in church when everyone looks so happy and put together- and your smiling face is hiding how desperately alone, broken, and in need of your Father’s attention you feel.
– The same Jesus that cautioned the disciples and told the children to come to him after he had been teaching all day…
…is there when your child wants to play ( and all you want to do is go to bed early and make up for the sleep you lost last night.)
And Yes-
The same Jesus that turned water into wine…
…knows when you just need to have some fun…(and goes out with you and your friends!)
Hope you have a great weekend…see you next week!
Vince Arnone 