Day: June 21, 2021

Immanuel God With Us (Jun 21)

Matthew begins his gospel with
the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Whilst Genesis traces the creation
of the universe and man, Matthew
now shows that the advent of
Jesus inaugurates a new creation.
From the call of Abraham, God
has been moving to accomplish
His great redemption plan. Jesus
the prophesied Messiah, fulfills
the OT promises in every facet of
His life: birth, boyhood & baptisms

Lord, You’re With Us Always:
An angel of the Lord appeared
to (Joseph) in a dream, saying:..
She will bring forth a Son and
you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from
their sins. So all this was done
that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the Lord thro 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 (Matt 1:20-23).

Lord Jesus, You promised your
followers in Matt 28:20 that
you will be with them always,
to the very end of the age.
Though my busyness & activities
often disconnect me from others,
it will never separate me from You.
Your promise is reliable in a world
where most promises are not.
And thank You for the permanent
nature of your promise. Amen.

Lord, help me see what is already
true – that You are here with me
right now; that You are a constant
companion throughout the day.
Remind me You are not far away
but that U are in the room with me.
Grant me holy imagination that
Father is looking into my heart
with love; that Jesus is sitting
beside with a smile and that the
Spirit is hovering over me. Amen.

Lord, You’ve come to bring peace,
to be love, to be nearer to us.
You’ve come, to bring life,
to be light, to shine brighter in us.
Oh Emmanuel God with us.
Our Deliverer, You are Savior;
In Your presence we find
our strength over everything.
Our redemption God with us,
You are God With Us. Amen.

Knowing God thru His Names

In the Bible, God reveals Himself by
various names, mostly related to His
ability to meet needs of His people.
So, the people of God in the Bible
call on the Name of the Lord for
deliverance, victory, protection,
provision and many other things.
What’s true for God’s people then
is true for God’s people today too!
Whatever our present need,
God is the one who can meet
that need. And to call on God’s
Name in prayer is to appeal to
that aspect of His character that
relates to our particular need.

Starting from the Torah Law:
In Genesis, we see Abraham’s
Obedience in Trusting God though
he didn’t have all the answers. And
in response to Abraham’s attempted
sacrifice of Issac not knowing
how he be father of nations; God
revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh
the Lord Will Provide (Gen 22:14).
In Exodus 17, we see Joshua
won a mighty victory against the Amalekites even as Moses uphold
together with Aaron & Hur on the
hill-top; and later Moses built an
altar calling it the Lord is my Banner.
And leading Moses in Deut 7:9 to declare to the Israelites to know
that the Lord as the Faithful God
who keeps covenant and mercy
with those who love Him.

Moving to Israel History,
the Lord by drying up the water
of the Red Sea and winning two
great battles against two kings of the Amorites; revealed Himself as the
Supreme God In Heaven (Josh 2:11).
In Judges, Gideon was fearful
of an upcoming battle against
Midianites; and God assured him, leading Gideon to build an altar and
called it: the Lord Is Peace (J6:24)
And in 2Sam 22:47 David on the
day the Lord delivered him from the
hand of his enemies including Saul,
declared the Lord as God My Rock.

Psalms was used as the temple
hymnbook, containing pleas and
praises, capturing the essence of
what it means to walk daily with God.
In Psalm 23, God was portrayed
as the Lord My Shepherd who
provides, guides and protects.
In the face of defeat & opposition,
Psalm 62 shows us that God
can be our praise-worthy refuge.
And we should praise God for His
mercy and being our Helper (Ps 118).

In prophets, repentance and
judgment are common themes; but
so are redemption and restoration.
Tho God’s people were spiritually
deaf, they were given the sign of
Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7).
God shows Himself as Master Potter
moulding us into His plan (Jer 18).
In His dealings with His people,
the Lord also shows Himself to be
the God who will Restore to (us)
what the locust has eaten(Joel 2:25)
He also Keeps Promises; for the
vision is yet for an appointed time…
though it tarries wait for it because
it will surely come (Hab 2:3). Amen