Emmanuel Day 15

Emmanuel, God With the Lonely

“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”

John 5:5-9 (NIV)

Every time I read John 5, I’m filled with an amazement and wonder that lead to a thousand questions in my mind. First of all, did an angel really come down and stir the water? If not, why doesn’t John clarify that this was just myth and legend? Was the first person who made it into the water actually always made whole? Was this something that our God really provided for the healing of His people? If so, who decided when it was time for a heavenly-someone to go stir the water? Was there a stir-the-pool alarm set in heaven for a certain day and time? Was it the same angel who went every time or did they take turns? I hope we get to watch all these moments on a giant movie screen in heaven with some type of glorious calorie-free popcorn and candy, because that would be a great way to find out all the answers to my questions!

Usually when I’m reading this chapter in John, my mind is obviously a little bit all over the place with wonder. But if I’m honest, I also get a little annoyed at the weak and seemingly bitter-hearted excuses this guy gives in his response to Jesus. Our unguarded human hearts can sometimes get a bit judgy toward those who are in circumstances that we know nothing about, and our gracious God will often allow us to walk through our own set of circumstances in order to develop our compassion and empathy in a way that reflects His heart a little more. One day, as I was immersed in John 5, the whole scene just hit my heart a bit differently and his words jumped out to me in a way they hadn’t before…

“I have no one to help me…”

 

“I have no one…”

That day I was alone again. Older kids get busy with jobs and life. Health problems were keeping me from doing as much as I was used to doing. My adorable husband was off and busy about the kingdom of God, just as he should have been. I knew all of the logical, Biblical reasons why I should have been just fine with the season I was in. I knew I wasn’t alone because Emmanuel, God with us was there with me. But as I sat there, it was a fight to have my mind wrapped up in the things of God, rather than being wrapped up in the pity-party my emotions were trying to throw for me. In the same way that I knew everything I should or shouldn’t be doing or thinking, I also knew that the man in John 5 shouldn’t have been so wrapped up in his own pity-party of excuses when Jesus was obviously trying to heal him right then and there. But the problem with lonely places is that they don’t usually make logical sense, and sometimes it just takes more strength than we feel we have in order to “logic and reason” our way out of them.

Maybe what I had always looked at as being this paralytic man’s excuses were actually the cries of his sorrowful and lonely heart. In his thirty-eight years of being paralyzed, most likely homeless and cast out, how many times had he thought the words, “I have no one”. If these stories about the pools were really true, and the ones who made it into the waters first had been healed, how many times had he ached for someone, anyone, to take notice of him and try to help him in any way? How many times had his heart felt broken and bitter as he felt the depth and the darkness of the phrase, “I have no one.” How many times had he responded to the questions people asked with the reasoning of, “Because I have no one to help me.” By the time Jesus got there, maybe this phrase was second nature to his mouth and mind. Maybe it was the often-sung anthem of his heart and tag line of his soul. But the problem with taglines that aren’t given by God is that they blind us to His presence when Emmanuel is standing right there with us, ready to fix and heal our aching, broken places.

Physical ailments, relational issues, and various other circumstances can make it easy for loneliness to echo within our souls. Past Christmas memories can magnify present sorrows as life naturally changes and progresses. Social media images pop up of Holiday gatherings that either we weren’t invited to, or felt as though we might not be wanted even if we were brave enough to try and show up. It can be easier in the moment to entertain the taglines of loneliness than it is to fight for the remembrance that Emmanuel, God is with us. Add onto all of this the heartache of a long road of the same old pounding trial, and the sorrow can feel almost unbearable at times.

But when Emmanuel, God with us, comes to this precious man in John 5, He responds to his reasons and excuses by speaking into the truth of the real problem…

“Do you want to be made well?”

Sometimes those questions that seem to be obvious have deeper roots than even we ourselves can understand. We’re prone to focus on the most glaring circumstances as the greatest cause of pain, but Emmanuel is God with us in the depths of our hearts, and He knows the questions to ask in order to bring out the most tangled roots of our truest issue. We don’t know the whole story of this man in John 5. Had he been paralyzed since birth, or had he gotten hurt somehow? No sin is mentioned like in other stories of paralytics, so maybe his brokenness was simply the result of living in a fallen world. We don’t know his story, but we do know our own stories, and sometimes when Emmanuel, God with us, shows up to heal, He starts by touching on the less obvious points of pain.

Victim mindsets can have a strong pull on our souls, can’t they? Identities of pain, sorrow, isolation, and loneliness wrap us up like fuzzy, familiar blankets that seem to promise protection from further pain. New beginnings and clean starts can be a little bit scary, unfamiliar, and ominous to jump into. Do you wonder where this man went after he took up his mat and walked? What did he do for the rest of his days? Was it the uncertainty of those questions that caused him to hesitate within his excuses for a moment? But could you imagine if he had just stayed in that place of pain and brokenness because of the uncertainty of his life without it?

Friend, could you be wrapped up tight with a lonely identity today? No blanket of victimhood can ever truly keep you protected from pain. Emmanuel, God with us is here to unwrap our hurts and set us free today. No longer do we need to be clothed with the garments of shame, sorrow, or sadness. No longer do we need to have thoughts filled with taglines of having no one. Emmanuel, God is with us! He’s here to trade our garments of heaviness for the clothing of His marvelous praise. He’s here to trade our sorrow for joy, and our ashes for His beauty upon us and within us. We don’t have to wonder in hesitancy over who we would be without the identities of pity, sorrow, sadness, and brokenness. We have been created by God for so much more than this. Jesus doesn’t even climb into the weeds of our wonder with this paralytic or with us.

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

He knocks down the walls of our excuses and immediately calls us into the active places of wholeness with Him. Victim mindsets and broken murmurings have no place within us. They’re just weights that hold us back from victoriously running the race that God has set before us. Let’s not spend one more day of this Christmas season crippled with the focus of ourselves, our limitations, our hurts, or our sorrows. This season reminds us that Emmanuel, God with us, has come to free us from every burden and weight that’s wrapped around our souls. It’s time to run free in all God has created us to be and do, and there’s no better day than today to take up our mats and walk out the impossible with Jesus.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 14

Emmanuel, God with us All Along

“While they were talking and discussing it, Jesus Himself came up and began walking with them. But their eyes were [miraculously] prevented from recognizing Him… and they stood still, looking brokenhearted.”

Luke 24:15-16, 17

I don’t hear well. I’m not a quick thinker. I’m not super athletic, active, or agile, and I don’t have a great memory. But, all that being said, I’ve always had better than twenty-twenty vision and have, throughout my days, for sure taken some pride in doing something well. I’ll probably try to keep hiding it for a while longer, but recently, my perfect vision has possibly started to grow a bit dark and fuzzy. I don’t need glasses yet (she said emphatically) because my arm is still able to hold things out far enough away to see, but it might be almost time to admit that small, close-up images have been a tiny bit blurry and out of focus as of late. Sigh…

I was recently on a walk with one of my daughters, expressing my dramatic woes over not being able to see better-than-perfect anymore, and she said she had just heard a Bible study that went along with what I was saying. The pastor had been talking about how, “everyone eventually loses everything.” Some lose almost everything all at once, like Job, while others just lose one thing at a time until everything is gone. I was speechless at my “sunshine-girl’s” less-than-cheery message, but unfortunately, it’s pretty close to being the truth of our earthly predicaments.

Much like the somewhat-sorrowful, reality-checking walk I was on with my daughter, we find these two men in Luke, walking toward Emmaus, immersed in their own sorrow and disillusionment. Thankfully though, our sadness never goes unnoticed by Jesus, and true to all we’ve learned of Him, Emmanuel was God with them as they walked along in their sorrow. Jesus immerses His resurrected body right alongside of them and says…

“Then Jesus asked them, “What are you discussing with one another as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking brokenhearted. One of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, “Are you the only stranger visiting Jerusalem who is unaware of the things which have happened here in these [recent] days?” He asked, “What things?” And they replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel and set our nation free. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.”

Luke 24:17-21 (AMP)

They were sad because things hadn’t turned out, worked out, or panned out in the way they hoped it would, thought it would, or wished it would. They were brokenhearted because they thought they were wrong about their supposed Redeemer. They were brokenhearted because they thought they had lost the One they hoped in. They were brokenhearted because they trusted only in what their earthly vision could see and in what their earthly minds could understand. They had no idea that the plans of God were perfectly in place, and that the very redemption they longed for was walking right along beside them. We can look back from this side of their story with the excitement of those who know these two men had no true reason to be hopeless. As we read Luke 24, it’s only a few verses later before their eyes are open to the resurrected Jesus, and they understand the plan of God’s redemption to be wider and deeper than they had ever imagined it to be. They were heartbroken because they thought the One they hoped would redeem them had died, but we know the death that broke their hearts was accomplishing the very redemption they longed for.

As these men walked hopeless to Emmaus, Jesus, Emmanuel, God was with them walking with them and declaring truth over their confused, weary, and troubled minds. Later, at the table of communion, their eyes were opened to who Jesus truly was, and they realized that Emmanuel, God with them had been with them all along. They hadn’t been forsaken, left alone, left unredeemed, or left without the goodness of God. They realized that even though they hadn’t been able to see Him in the moment, God had been with them, working out His plan of redemption, and speaking to their hearts the very words they needed to hear.  

“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:32

Have you ever walked a difficult road, wondering why you felt so alone, only to look back years, months, or even days later, and realize that Emmanuel had been with you all along? We don’t always understand what He’s doing in the moment, but when we come to the end of that road, we’ll find that we had all the strength, joy, and peace of His presence to make it every step of the way. As the old, unclaimed quote says, “His past faithfulness demands my present trust.”

God’s past faithfulness to us and to all the generations who have gone before us is evidence that He will continue to be faithful to every heart in our generation and beyond. Every path, every journey, every mountain, every trial, every step you take; every moment of shame, pain, heartache, and heartbreak, Emmanuel, God, is with us. He has never failed us, and He will never fail us. He has always worked all things together for our good and will continue to work every detail out within our lives for His eventual glory. Even when life seems to be a bit blurry, cloudy, dark, foggy, or dim, Emmanuel, God is with us. He is the same yesterday today and forever, and we can take comfort in that truth when we feel hopeless in the blurry vision of our realities. Even when our felt-circumstances don’t seem to line up to what we thought God said, whispered, promised, or declared, we can know that Emmanuel, God with us is and will continue to be right there with us. When a little time has passed, and we look back on this particular season of life we’ll realize exactly what these two men realized after their little walk with Jesus as well. God is and was working out His plans all along, and Emmanuel walked with me through the sorrow. Even when we feel the loss of life’s natural progression and should probably just buy ourselves some glasses for Christmas, Emmanuel is right beside us, faithful to open our blurry eyes to Him.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 13

Emmanuel, God with us in the Place of Praise

“As for me, my feet had almost stumbled… For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… their strength is firm… they are not in trouble… nor are they plagued… always at ease… increase in riches… When I thought of how to understand this, it was too painful for me- Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.”

Psalm 73

If you read the whole chapter of Psalm 73, maybe you’ll find our sweet psalmist stuck in the same place that our hearts can be stuck in sometimes as well. He was confused by what he saw in the seeming lack of cause-and-effect in the lives of those around him. He couldn’t understand why some people just seem to have it good, regardless of the way they lived, and why life can sometimes be difficult for those who try to live for God. He was stuck in the horizontal views of life, and that thinking caused him to “almost stumble” and “nearly slip.”

Have you ever found yourself in a day, season, or lifetime of that type of how-come thinking? In my experience, it never leads to a joyful mood, peaceful mind, or a contented life. Whether Psalm 73 was written with thoughts from a day or a while, the wise author finally finds his joy once more as he brings himself into the place of praise. Our peace will never be found in wrestling with the “why’s” of life. Joy and contentment are only found as we intentionally run into the place of Emmanuel, choosing to remind ourselves that God is with us. Only that sight can set us thinking with the proper perspective once more. Like the Psalmist, when the fog of horizontal thinking clears, and we see God in His sanctuary, we too can feel that we have been a bit like “a beast” before Him. When the sight of God is found by our thoughts once more, we remember that we’re headed for heaven, and truly have all we need. But friend, horizontal thoughts won’t disappear on their own, and they can torment our souls until we choose intentionally to look for the presence of God with us.

The problems come because we can sometimes identify so well with the discontented and confused thoughts of the Psalmist, right? Life does often seem to be confusing and troubling, and if we let our minds dwell only on what we see, those constant thoughts can drive us a bit mad. We know that Second Corinthians tells us that those who compare themselves are unwise and foolish, but our fleshly hearts sometimes can’t help looking around a little and thinking, “But I know them, and I know what they’re doing, so I wonder why…” or, “Why can’t I…” or, “How come they…” This pattern of thinking leaves us anxious, wondering why God seems to be with them rather than with us.

There’s this astounding scene at the end of Revelation 5. The Lamb has just been found worthy to open the scroll that John was weeping and worried about. Suddenly, in the midst of his sorrow, John hears millions of angels, Living Beings, and Elders surrounding the throne of God and singing a song of the worth, power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing of Jesus. He then hears everyone in heaven and on earth join in the exclamation of God’s worthiness upon the throne.

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

Revelation 5:11-12

John, like the Psalmist went from a place of sorrow to a place of praise by being brought into the presence of our God upon the throne. This is the place we need to run to often. God is Emmanuel, God with us, and sometimes it takes a little diligence to “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) We’ve read the stories where Emmanuel comes sweetly to those in need, but we have to remember that He’s not simply a sweet God with us in the lowly moments, but that He is also a mighty God upon the throne of our lives and the world. Twice in Revelation 5 John writes about looking and seeing the Lamb of God. In the middle of his sorrow, he directs his gaze toward the Lamb of God rather than the worries of circumstances, and the sight of God on the throne changes his whole perspective.

Friend, is there a sanctuary that you can run into today? Looking around at what is going on, not going on, who or what you have or don’t have will never bring the peace, joy, or contentment that your heart is desperate to find. The wisest moment of our Psalmist in Psalm 73 was when he went into the sanctuary of God. Stop looking around and look for God instead. Emmanuel, the Lamb, God with us, is in your midst, on His throne.  Whether in an actual church sanctuary or in a moment of worship you create silently in your heart or out loud with your mouth, find a place to seek God on the throne today.

Maybe as you read this you’re thinking, I have tried to sit in His Presence. I have tried to look toward Him. I know the discouragement that can set in when we continue to struggle with the same worry over and over. 1st Peter tells us to cast our cares upon Him for He cares for you, and the idea in the Greek is to keep casting. Every time you feel the weariness of worry, care, confusion, and concern, cast it to God, and when you feel it again, cast it to Him once more. KEEP CASTING, knowing that if you run into the sanctuary of God every time you’re stuck in the first half of Psalm 73, the second half will come again.

We’ve heard it time and time again. Our happiness won’t be found in anything under the tree, in any earthly place, or in any earthly person. I don’t know about you, but I often accidentally wait for joy to come, thinking it won’t arrive until my circumstances change. But joy will always be found as we seek Emmanuel in the place of praise. Every year by the time Christmas is over I’m ready for a season of clean eating. Junk food takes a toll on our body and we’re often ready for a change by the time the new year comes around. In much of the same way, junk-thinking will take a toll on our minds. We can be pretty hard on ourselves and others in this season; desperately trying to create the picturesque moments that we’ve seen in books, movies, or social media. Horizontal thoughts of unmet expectations can kill our Christmas peace, love, and joy, and feeding on those junk-thoughts will only lead to sorrow. The Christmas movie you imagine yourself to be living in most likely won’t wrap up with changed circumstances and a happy ending within an hour and a half. But we don’t have to stay in the place of sorrow and disillusionment until our circumstances change. There is plenty of room around the throne. Right this very minute we can find Emmanuel, God with us in that place of praise. He is here with us, ready to help us lift our eyes.

Choose something today that will lift your perspective to the throne of God. Sing a worship song out loud. Pick someone to pray for. Memorize a verse. In the sorrow, keep singing, keep praying, keep reading His word, and keep seeking Emmanuel, God with us. Keep running into His sanctuary and keep looking toward His throne. Contentment and joy won’t be found in those people, that house, that thing, those decorations, or in any appearance. Neither will they be found in our circumstances changing. Contentment and joy are only truly found in the place of praising Emmanuel, God with us, and the good news about that truth is that He is always on the throne, ready to bless us with His presence.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 12

Emmanuel, God with the Seeking

“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.”

Joshua 5:13-15

Have you ever found yourself in between a rock and a hard place, as they say? Or maybe it feels as though your greatest need of today is to be in a place of perfect strength and provision, and instead find yourself in weakness, wonder, and lack? Or maybe, like Joshua, you’ve just taken over for a beloved leader in some way, and you’re feeling the pressure to do things well. Maybe you have a new job, a new calling, are entering into a new family, or are making the Christmas dinner for the first time on your own. Whether you’re talking about giving birth or living life, transition can definitely be one of the hardest moments to endure.

Much in the same way as their escape from Egypt, the entrance into the promise land began with God confirming Israel’s steps by splitting apart the waters so that they could march across miraculously on dry ground. Heading into a season of long-awaited battles, strength seemed to be their greatest need, but instead God called them into further weakness and searching. Imagine being Joshua. You’re the new leader who’s responsible for bringing a massive group of desert-wanderers into the promise land, and God gives a command to make sure everyone is circumcised. If you obey, you’ll be led into days of pain, vulnerability, and weakness. Quickly following the order of circumcision, the manna ceases, and suddenly an entire generation who has never had to provide food for themselves is having to learn a whole new way of life. In the middle of all this, you lift your eyes and look ahead, and all you can see before you are the seemingly impenetrable walls of Jericho. No wonder we find Joshua out in the middle of the desert, taking a few quiet moments for himself.

Maybe you identify with Joshua as you read his story today. There seem to be many moments in life where we know God is leading us in a specific way, and in our logic, it seems that the sure paths of God would be paved with just a little more ease rather than so many difficulties and obstacles. Maybe life has been filled with weakness and searching for you lately, and you were just hoping for a few easy days, or at least an easy Christmas season. Maybe you’re in a place where it seems as though your greatest need is strength, yet you seem to be getting called into even greater weakness. Or you were hoping for a place of abundant provision but seem to find instead a greater need for searching.

We’re reminded in 2 Corinthians that it’s in our times of weakness that we find God’s strength to be perfect. Maybe our greatest moments of weakness are given with the purpose of driving us into searching for God’s strength in a greater way. Maybe it was because of all these difficult and weak places that we find Joshua wandering off by himself in the desert, in the perfect place for Emmanuel, God with us to show up and give him the strength of instruction. Sometimes God lets us feel the weight of being overwhelmed, nervous, and confused, knowing it drives us into a greater place of seeking after Him rather than trying to forge ahead in our own strength.

Can you imagine how different the book of Joshua would have been if God had just given supernatural strength to everyone and told them to just run ahead and conquer however they felt like? Maybe it would have seemed easier in the moment, but then they never would have had these faith-strengthening memories of knowing they were met by Emmanuel, and that He was with them through every step of the battle. Sometimes God allows places of weakness and seeking because He knows that’s what it takes to get us to the place where we’re looking for Him to meet our needs. God had already given Joshua the path to find Him through the meditation of God’s word and the remembrance of His presence, and now He allowed the circumstances for Joshua to need to press into these truths and practices.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”.”

Joshua 1:8-9

God isn’t just Emmanuel, God with us in the now, but He’s also Emmanuel, God with us in the future. Joshua could look back and see how God had been with them in every step as they wandered through the wilderness, and here God gives him the promise that He will be there through every step in the promise land as well. It’s often in these “between a rock and a hard place” moments when Emmanuel, God with us shows up with His desperately needed plan and presence.

Maybe, like Joshua, you’re in a place where you just aren’t sure what the future holds at this point, or you’re in a season of wandering through weakness and wonder. Can I remind you today that your greatest need is not to strategize anxiously, but to find the place of holiness and spend some time in worship and in meditation of God’s Word? Maybe you find yourself in a place of seeking after God but seeming to only feel weakness. Or maybe you’re searching for God but see only giant walls ahead of you. The answer of His presence will always eventually be found in the seeking. His strength will be made perfect in our weakness. We know the end of Joshua’s story. Jericho’s walls crashed down before them victoriously, and the promise land eventually became home for all of them. At the end of his days, Joshua declared that God hadn’t failed him in anything He had promised, and friend, our stories will be the same. Leaning on what we can see will never produce the strength we seek. God’s ways are high above ours and don’t always make sense to the logical mind. But if we will set to searching for Him in His word, worship, and in prayer, Emmanuel, God with us will always show up with the perfect battle plans in the perfect moment.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 11

Emmanuel, God with the suffering

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said…”

Job 38:1

I was driving through Maine with my husband one fall day, in awe of all of the autumn color when suddenly I started to wonder, if leaves could talk, would they let us know that they are appalled by all the people who gather around every year to watch their death? Ultimately, it’s the death of a leaf that makes fall so beautiful right? It made me wonder that day, could our death be beautiful to the heavenly host? And I don’t just mean physical death, but the death of our flesh that happens any time we choose to bow in surrender to the ways of God, rather than looking out for ourselves and our own earthly desires. I wonder if at any moment of death to our often-frantic pursuit of our own comfort, if there could be even just a tiny bit of gorgeous color that lights up from our lives?

Depending on where you live, you might describe Job’s situation as a whirlwind, tornado, snow-flurry, or dust storm. However you want to look at it, Job’s life looked to be spinning out of control. We talk about spinning plates in life, and I don’t know about you, but my plates seem to spin a bit faster around Christmas. To “be still and know that I’m God” is a fought-for concept in this season, and maybe for you this year, it isn’t just because of a Christmas-overload of fun.

The story of Job is one that can strike slight terror within our hearts, isn’t it? Most Biblical stories seem to make logical sense to us as we read them. Some fell into moments of sin and had to walk out the consequences. Others had a small difficult season before Emmanuel, God with us, showed up and made it all better. Even stories of hard times like David’s or Joseph’s take longer than we would like to personally live through, but in the end, we see that their trials served an understandable purpose. But the story of Job just sits a bit different, doesn’t it? It can feel somewhat startling to read of Satan walking the halls of heaven and of a godly man being handed over to the enemy in order to have his uprightness tested and proven by the loss of almost everything. A bit later the physical pain sets in and we find him in an ash heap scraping his rotting, worm-filled body with broken pieces of pottery. We read in Job 3:25 that everything he had dreaded and feared had come upon him. As if all that we’ve already read isn’t enough, Job’s “friends” show up and if you know this story, then you also know we should say the word friend very loosely. Their words can be shocking to read, full of opinions that are of no help to the hurting, and more than that, some of their words are just downright mean. For Job it was a season of where every bit of understanding he thought he had of godly living and the goodness of God was called into question and seemed to fall crashing down before him. Imagine the shame of trying to prove that you’re not harboring any secret sin, when every area of your life looks like an imagined punishment from God. Even with our insight of reading Job chapter one and knowing the “why” behind his story, aren’t there still elements of it that tend to make our hearts tremble a bit?

Job brings up question after question, but still only silence emanates from heaven, reinforcing his feelings of being alone, forgotten, abandoned, forsaken.

Where is Emmanuel, God with us, when no one seems to be there?

We know God promises to work all things together for good, and to never leave us nor forsake us. But when we seem to be alone, forsaken, and left with everything crumbling around us, how can we reconcile what we feel to be the truth with what we know to be the truth? It’s in those times that we are able to cling to Job’s story as an anchor of hope.

Job was left with silence from God for a while, but not forever. Faithful as always, Emmanuel, God with us speaks out from the whirlwind to reveal Himself to Job, right the wrongs, and to set him on his feet once more. Whirlwind seasons of life will always end with a greater revelation and a deeper understanding of how Emmanuel truly is God with us.

God’s response to Job is a little different than you might expect it to be, isn’t it? I would think He’d say something like, “Listen Job, here’s how it all went down. Satan was attacking you. I was defending you. I knew you would come forth as gold, so I let him…” But our God doesn’t show up with a “because.” Instead, Emmanuel, God with us, shows up with greater revelation of who He is by asking Job seventy-seven questions that could only be answered by God’s wisdom and sovereignty. The presence of God is the answer to every question of life we could ever ask. “Do you know where the ostrich lays her eggs? Have you seen the store house of snow? Can you tame behemoth or play with leviathan? Can you say to the sea stop here and have it obey?” Without the book of Job we wouldn’t have discovered much of what we know to be true about the earth. Because of this time in Job’s life, we know that the world is suspended on nothing, and that there is a water cycle where the clouds are wrapped up with water yet don’t burst until they’re ready to pour down their moisture. We could go on and on with the revelation we have of God and His world thanks to Job’s suffering and the revelation of God to his hurting heart. Emmanuel, God with Job, gave him all he needed to gain back the clarity and perspective once more of who God was, and who he was to God.

“Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained. You said to me, Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel by words without knowledge. Therefore I now see I have rashly uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear, please and I will speak; I will ask You and You instruct and answer me. I had heard of You only by the hearing of the ear, but now my spiritual eye sees You. Therefore I retract my words and hate myself and I repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 42:1-6

In the whirlwind times of life sometimes we seem to be spinning alone. It can feel as though we have lost everything, including our reputations of how other believers view us. But when God shows up in the whirlwind to speak out truth and clarity, everything changes. We realize how little we truly knew and understood, and our eyesight gets fixed on God in an even greater way. Precious friend, regardless of what life seems to look like, or what the enemy is whispering into our ears, we are never left alone for even a moment. Even if we appear to be losing everything, and we’re convinced that nothing will ever feel blessed or full again, we are still in the loving hands of God. Emmanuel, God with us will show up and speak out in an even greater revelation of His glory, wisdom, and sovereign care.

Most likely as you read this, autumn is getting ready to pass and winter is about to begin.  Every autumn we have confidence in the process of the wind, knowing that the death of the leaves isn’t for the purpose of the tree’s destruction. Without the wind blowing away the old, there would never be room for new growth and new fruit. In much the same way, Emmanuel, God with us, measures perfectly what will be lost in the whirlwind of our lives and has seasons of much greater fruitfulness in store for us. Windy winters will end with us having an even greater knowledge and understanding of God, and an even deeper revelation of who He is and how He works. As Christmas brings a chill to much of the world, we can be reminded today that our windy winters will someday be over. God will be spring around once more, and we’ll soon find ourselves blessed in the fragrance of His fruitful abundance once again.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 10

Emmanuel, God with the wondering

“Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

Luke 1:34-35

Have you ever won a contest? Maybe you guessed the right number of candies in a jar at the fair, or had your ticket drawn out of a bowl for a raffle prize somewhere. My husband and I were on a cruise ship one time when his name was picked out of a spa raffle. He was excited to be declared the winner of something, until he found out that the unexchangeable treatment he won was a leg wax. I’m not sure about any other man on the ship, but there was no way my husband was going to show up for that appointment! And seriously, what kind of a winning prize is that anyway?

Quite the opposite of that, we see here, through the lens of Luke, that Mary wins the contest to beat out all other contests. There was no lame leg-wax-prize given at the end of this conversation with the angel Gabriel. The entire nation had been on the edge of their seats for years, in anticipation over the long-awaited Messiah. Of all the people God could have chosen for this immense task, He sent His angel to a young woman, hidden and unknown to most of the world, with the declaration that she was seen by Him. The initial promise of a saving Messiah, God with us, had been given thousands of years before in the Garden of Eden. Maybe there were some who had even given up hope of it ever actually coming to pass. But suddenly, without flare or fireworks, an angel comes to Mary with the message that the time of fulfillment is here, and the promised Messiah was to enter the world through her. I can’t imagine the mixture of emotions and confusion that must have been welling up inside of Mary’s heart in this moment!

We don’t know much about Mary’s past at all. We’re not sure what her parents were like. We can only wonder why she chose to go to Elizabeth’s house while waiting out a portion of her pregnancy. We can’t be dogmatic about her age, only that most likely, she was fairly young for all of this according to our current-life standards. Maybe Mary was just a good girl trying to live a godly life. Maybe she had days where she wondered if anyone saw the good choices that she made or the integrity that she operated by. Maybe she felt a bit invisible. Maybe her life had been a little bit difficult. It was the father’s job to bring a pregnant, unmarried girl out to be stoned, so where was he? Did Jesus have grandparents? This song of praise that Mary sings in Luke 1 makes it sound like she had felt weak, and in that weakness, God had brought her strength. If songs are windows into the heart, it sounds like there were proud, difficult people in her life that she was excited to see God dealing with. There are undertones in her song of mighty people who had been ruling on the thrones of her life. She said that God had filled the hungry with good things. Was she physically hungry, or was she speaking only of spiritual hunger? Mary chose to trust that God had a good plan for her and her family, and she let the truth of God’s character dictate her feelings and emotions, rather than the circumstances of her life getting to tell her feelings how to feel.

The first “Christmas season” was one filled with hardship for the sweet little mama of Emmanuel. A census? Leaving home? Walking or riding on an animal for a ninety-mile journey? Giving birth in a stable? And let’s make sure we’re thinking properly about a what a stable was back then. Thanks to many home-improvement shows, barns could possibly have taken on a somewhat romantic feel in our hearts. But we’re not taking about a cute, modernly refurbished southern-type stable with wood floors, new paint, darling chalk boards, and plants propagating all around. We’re talking about a girl who probably gave birth on the ground in a pile of hay with animals all around. No bed, no body pillow, no ice-chips.

This was not a cute little nativity scene moment. There were no cartoon sheep snuggling close to keep our Savior warm or cows moo-humming Jesus soft lullabies. Every barn I’ve ever been in has been a flurry of active noise. (Not to mention the gagging smell!) This sweet mama was far from home, far from family, and in a far from clean and quiet atmosphere. It was not exactly the place to rest and recover from delivering a baby or to start a new sleep-training schedule! And if that’s not all wild enough, enter stage right: the shepherds. These were not your adorable little elementary school aged kids dressed up in a few clean sheets and sashes. Shepherds were known for being the towns unclean out-casts. I’m trying to picture my reaction if a few sketchy-looking men who smelled like the field showed up to see my newborn and me. Did swaddling cloths mean they had no money to buy any baby clothes? A manger is a feeding trough, so did she feel like she was putting her brand-new baby in a slobbery water bowl? I think we tend to romanticize so much of her story, or maybe just skim over it due to familiarity. The Bible doesn’t refer to Mary as holy or perfect, so where did her strength and ability come from, and where can we find that same strength and ability for our own difficult and confusing seasons?

I love the phraseology of what the angel Gabriel said to Mary. The Holy Spirit would come upon her, and she would be overshadowed by the power of the Highest. I think many of us have been in the place where we don’t quite understand how God’s plan is going to work, how His goodness will prevail in certain situations, or why these circumstances are happening in the first place. But, like Mary, even in the questions and wonders of life, we have the promised power of the Highest to lean upon. We too can choose to trust in the faithful goodness of God, and in that place of trust we will find the overshadowing power of God, strengthening our ability to accomplish what He is calling us to do.

Do you remember the last earthly instructions the disciples received from Jesus before He ascended into heaven?

“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now… you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”

Acts 1:4-5

There are many things in life, that just cannot be accomplished well without us being overshadowed by the power of the Highest. There is a need to wait on Emmanuel, God with us, for His power, to seek His strength, and to be baptized with the anointing power of the Holy Spirit if we’re ever going to be able to live this life the way He intends us to.

The Greek word for overshadow here in Luke 1 is the word episkiazō, and it means to cast a shade upon, or to envelop in a haze of brilliancy. (Strong’s Concordance) Thayer’s commentary describes the idea of the word as the Holy Spirit exerting creative energy upon the womb of the virgin Mary and impregnating it. … with the idea of a cloud as symbolizing the immediate presence and power of God.

Today, whether we need to be enveloped by God’s brightness, need His creative energy upon us, or are just plain desperate for the immediate presence and power of God, I think we should all raise our hands to Emmanuel asking to be overshadowed and enveloped by the Holy Spirit in some way! Precious friend, what is it that you need today? For every area of your holiday season and beyond, God has an enveloping brightness, a creative plan, His presence, and His power available and ready to put in use. Even if we don’t understand the how’s or why’s surrounding the circumstances of our lives, we can trust in Emmanuel God with us, knowing that He knows the how and the why. What seemed impossible and improbable in Mary’s life was made possible by the overshadowing of the Highest, and what seems impossible and improbable in our lives will also be made possible when we cry out for the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit upon us as well.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 9

Emmanuel, God with the waiting

“But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon… Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him…

Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years.”

Genesis 40:14-15, 23, Genesis 41:1

It’s the propensity of human nature to latch on to another human as their ticket out of hard times. I’ll never forget the day we found out that my husband had stage four cancer. I texted a close friend, expecting her to get in her car immediately and drive right over to help us through the emotions, but she never came. I’m sure you’ve experienced deep trials where friends back off because they just aren’t sure they can handle the weight of what you’re walking through. Whether it’s because they don’t know what to say or what they can do to help you, suddenly you find yourself not only in the place of worrying about your trial, but also wondering where your friends went. It’s embarrassing, but I’ll be honest and say that I’ve also been on the disappearing end of friendship when others have walked through deep trials that I just didn’t feel capable enough to handle or speak into. Sometimes the issue is the longevity of the situation, and other times we say nothing because we fear saying the wrong things. Empathy needs to be learned, and we’re instructed to weep with those who weep, but no matter which way you look at it, other humans are only humans, and we just weren’t designed to hold the full weight of another human’s trial. The morning after we found out about Jason’s cancer, I remember feeling so alone, and opening up my Bible that morning to read Psalm 121:1-2

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.”

God often uses times of difficult waiting to get our eyes off those who seem to be the strong, sturdy, dependable, mountains in our lives. Our help can’t come from another weak and feeble human, no matter how strong and mighty they may seem to be. Trials in the waiting rooms of God outlast the strength and ability of other people and cause us to realize that Emmanuel, God with us is the only One who can truly surround us, support us, uphold us, and strengthen us in the way we truly need.

You remember Joseph’s story, I’m sure. The favorite of his dad, as shown by the gift of a coat with sleeves or colors, thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Falsely accused by his slave-master’s wife and thrown into an Egyptian prison. Even there Joseph serves with passion and integrity, and when Pharoah’s butler and baker end up in jail with him it’s almost as though you can see the wheels of his mind turning. THIS is how God is going to provide a way of escape for me! But as we read, the butler forgets, and two long years go by. We know the good things that God had in store for Joseph, and that His goal wasn’t simply to free him, but rather to use him as a second-in-command ruler for the purpose of saving the known world from famine. As we read the book of Genesis, it’s just a tiny little chapter break before we get to the rest of his story, but as poor Joseph waited, he didn’t know the answers to the “how-long” and “why’s” that we ask so often in our own stories. We know Joseph wasn’t forgotten by God. This wasn’t punishment, this was development. Joseph wasn’t rendered useless; God was getting him ready for what was next.

I would imagine that you’ve already baked some great things this season and are probably getting ready to bake some more. When your timer goes off and you check on what you’re baking, what do you do when they’re still a little soft or squishy in the middle? You close the oven door again. Because you’re mean, done, or have given up on them? Because you no longer want them? Because you want to use something else instead? Of course not! You close the oven door again because you know they need to cook for just a little bit longer before they’re fully ready. Closing the oven door for just a few more minutes is the baker’s way of saying, “Almost, not quite; if I take it out now it would be just a little too soon.”

Seasons where we wait in the hot ovens of life are God’s way of saying to us, “Hang on for just a few more minutes because I have some great things ahead of you and you’re not quite ready for them yet.” Friend, when the oven closes and the heat remains, we have to remind ourselves that we’re not done, shelved, over, yesterday’s news, washed up, washed out, finished, completed, concluded, out of the way, defunct, over with, living with an expired date, kaput, ineffective, terminated, all wrapped up, buttoned up, used up, rendered useless, or any of the other words that the enemy has the propensity to whisper to us while we’re in a season of waiting. Do you ever wonder in the waiting, like I’m sure Joseph did, what you did wrong, where you went wrong, if you were made wrong, or if you were just plain wrong about God, wrong about life, or wrong about the callings, dreams, and promises that you really thought God whispered to your heart?

Joseph chose to fight bitterness and hopelessness and to instead trust God’s timing and his ways, and it sure paid off in his life, didn’t it? Through all of his waiting he learned not to depend on the mountains in his life, so much so that he was able to speak his famous words to those who had caused all of his problems, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20 NIV)

Emmanuel, God with us through the waiting. His ways are so much higher than ours, and His wisdom so much greater. We can’t even begin to understand the fullness of what He’s doing. It’s the truth of every analogy you’ve ever heard about the hard times. Diamonds and stars shine brightest in the dark. Christians are like tea bags, the hotter the water the stronger the flavor. Times of waiting are a call to deepen what we know of Emmanuel, and to learn to depend on His presence that is with us in an even greater way.

Maybe you’re waiting for something this Christmas. The Holiday season often seems to be a marker in our minds for memories, doesn’t it? We say phrases like, “Remember last Christmas when…” or “Maybe by next Christmas we’ll…” Maybe for you Christmas is also a marker of how long you’ve waited, how long you’ve been without, or have been waiting for God to heal, restore, redeem, return, rebuke… The list of all that we wait for can go on and on and on. Maybe you can’t imagine waiting two full years like Joseph did, or maybe you’ve been waiting much longer. Maybe you’ve had many conversation-with-the-butler moments where you’re just sure that this will be it. “Things will change.” “Now they’ll finally understand.” “This is what God will use to accomplish the good things He has for me.” But still those conversations seem to go unheeded, unheard, untouched, and unused. Friend, can I encourage you to keep waiting just a little bit longer? Even if life feels like a cul-de-sac, you will turn a corner where you will see the goodness of God. A Christmas will come where you’ll find yourself sitting in the blessing and favor of Emmanuel, looking back at all of the ways He was with you while you waited.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 8

Emmanuel, God with the Unseen

“Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” 

Genesis 16:13

Sometimes the busy demands of the Christmas season can leave us feeling less than perfect, can’t they? Even when our desires are to bless others and leave them feeling lavished with love and care, it doesn’t always seem to work out the way we’d envisioned it. Cookies burn, wrong presents, wrong sizes, wrong makes and models are bought. We just can’t seem to make it to that tenth Christmas event on time, or worse yet, those we’re waiting for can’t seem to manage their time the way we’d like them to learn to. Have you ever felt the holiday-season-demands closing in on you, and you accidentally find yourself angry at the very ones you were trying to make feel loved? The honest truth is that we won’t always feel like we’re doing everything right, or maybe I should say, that we will actually hardly ever feel like we’re doing anything right. Sometimes the busyness of the season can seem to magnify our imperfections rather than the perfectly perfect perfection that we would like for people to see instead. (Can you tell I’m a recovering perfectionist? Ha!)

When we find our sweet friend Hagar here in the desert, she’s in the middle of a really bad day, and if we knew more about her, we might classify it as a bad day in the middle of a bad life. There’s nothing recorded about her earlier years. We read that she was an Egyptian slave so obviously at some point she was a captive, sold into service. But we have no idea what the “why” was behind her life. Was she born to a poor family that needed money? Was she kidnapped from her home and taken to a marketplace to be sold? Had she sold herself to Abraham in the desperate search for a better life? Whatever the reasoning behind her slavery, we find her here in Genesis, living in the tents of Abraham and Sarah as a handmaiden until, through circumstances that might have felt a bit awkward to her, Hagar ends up pregnant with Abraham’s baby.  You have to wonder if it was the first time in Hagar’s life that she felt like she was something special and important. She was placed in competition against the woman whose name meant princess, and she had won the prize of a child. Unfortunately, the problems unfold for this precious girl when the look on her face declared her feelings of special status, and that didn’t set too well with her heartbroken, barren mistress.

Regardless of what they are, each of us have some type of difficult circumstances in life that have, at one time or another, made us feel like less-than-seen mistake-makers. But here in Genesis, Hagar’s difficult, feeling-unseen moment gives us insight into the loving care of Emmanuel, God with us, who sees the unseen and comes to breathe His grace upon us. If there were mistakes to be made, Hagar’s life most likely contains some sort of version of them, but still the eyes of God rested upon her with hope and promise. Precious friend your mistakes don’t bring about some type of deserved banishment or invisibility. Sometimes our mistakes, especially sinful ones, do bring about consequences that we may have to live through. But even in those times, the perfect, all-seeing love of God is available to every one of us. His eyes are able to see beyond our mistakes and flaws. Emmanuel, God with us, is on the hunt for every hungry, hopeless, searching, and seeking heart. He sees beyond our shortcomings, short tempers, misgivings, and mistakes. Even when we are alone in the wilderness of our handmade consequences and results, He comes with the promise of His presence.

This season, no matter the circumstances that surround every one of your days leading up to Christmas and beyond, know today that you are not hidden, invisible, cast out by God, or rejected. You’re not too much, too big-of-a-personality, too loud, too exhausting, to messed up, too talkative, too quiet, or too tiring. You’re perfectly loved just as you are. I’m not saying there won’t be sweet, corrective talks between us and our Savior, but even the correction of God is done with His love and grace. Precious one, you are seen by Emmanuel, God with us, God-Who-sees, and He longs to cup your face into His loving hands and wash you clean with His presence. You are known and loved by the gracious Father who gives promises of goodness and mercy that will follow you all the days of your life as you follow Him. Maybe you’re one who has been taught to think of God as an angry Father ready to strike you down in the moment of any failure or imperfection, but precious friend, that picture couldn’t be any further from the truth. Our God is Hagar’s God. He’s the God who warns us of the depression and desperation that comes from a life lived to our own passion and pleasure, but He’s also the God who comes with the well-trodden way of salvation and blessings fully opened to any who would accept His offer of love.

From feelings of invisibility to mistakes made in the heat of the moment by the pure accidental nature of humanity, the life of Hagar draws our attention to the loving care of God. Whatever this Christmas season holds for you, I pray you would take note of her story and remind yourself often that you are seen by a loving, searching, gracious God who pours out His favor upon us in our moments of need. Hagar’s life declares to us today that Emmanuel’s God-with-us Presence is near to the broken and to the broken-hearted. Today, rest in the truth that God is indeed the God-who-sees you, the God who comes to you, the God who can restore you; He is Emmanuel, God with you. He is the One who is able to raise you above every mistake you make and declares that He has good plans coming for you. He is the God who promises to work all things together for good for those who love and trust Him, so let’s lean into the light of His eyes upon us and let ourselves be drenched today with the love of the gracious God who sees us always.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 7

Emmanuel, God with us in the panic

 

“There he came to a cave and spent the night in it; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very zealous (impassioned) for the Lord God of hosts (armies) [proclaiming what is rightfully and uniquely His]; for the sons of Israel have abandoned (broken) Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I, only I, am left; and they seek to take away my life.”

1 Kings 18:9-10 (AMP)

 

Have you ever noticed that Christmas emotions seem to run at an all-time high? They aren’t usually those that stay steady or neutral, are they? In this season we’re usually found experiencing either inward peace on earth where all is calm and all is bright, or we instead find ourselves on the opposite end of the spectrum where the inward and outward chaos could make even the Christmas manger scene look quiet and peaceful. Maybe you’ve had times like I have where you’re at the height of Christmas joy and suddenly, to your surprise something sends you spinning off into a tizzy of the lowest sorrow, anger, annoyance, fear, or despair. I think we can learn a little something from Elijah here today that might help us through the holiday season, and in reality, will help us through all of our days here on earth.

In 1 Kings 18 we find Elijah in the midst of a battle with the prophets of Baal. It’s one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and if you’ve read it then it’s probably one of your favorites as well. Basically, Elijah leads the prophets of Baal up to Mount Carmel for a ‘battle of the gods,’ where they set up two altars, and Elijah brings the challenge of “whoever lights their altar on fire first is the true and living God.” Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there and seen this? Elijah lets the prophets of Baal go first and they spend the day crying out, cutting themselves, and calling on Baal to throw down his fire, and of course their false god never shows up. Then comes the moment where Elijah lets God show off a bit by drenching the altar of God with water, (that he first had to repair) and as he prays and calls upon God to show them His glory, the fire of God falls from heaven, consumes the sacrifice, and licks up every bit of water from the altar.

After a great victory on God’s behalf, it seems as though, all of the sudden, Elijah is thrown into a bit of an emotional whirlwind that sets him off, running for his life. After miraculously being fed by The Angel of the LORD and being given strength to run beyond man’s natural ability, he ends up at a cave by himself, seeking the presence of God. When asked by God what he’s doing there, Elijah declares that he alone is left of all who have served God. This desperate and fearful emotion seems out of place for such a bold prophet who had just been used to bring about a great victory for God. But really, I think we all find that those depths-of-despair moments that take us by surprise actually have their beginnings in a much quieter thought pattern within our minds. If we rewind our reading, back to the middle of the battle with the prophets of Baal, there’s this little, tiny line that jumps out at us.

“Then Elijah said to the people, 

“I alone am left a prophet of the Lord”

1 Kings 18

Here we see him, boldly and victoriously declaring to the nation of Israel that they are faltering, or more literally sinking beneath the weight of two opinions, and he cries out in that moment that he’s the only prophet of God left. It’s interesting that he uses the same phraseology with God two times in the middle of his cave-time desperation as well. The question begs to be asked, if he said it out loud three times, how many times had he thought it? It appears as though maybe the Israelites weren’t the only ones who were sinking beneath the weight of a heavy opinion or two.

Christmas blow-ups don’t usually begin in the moment we find ourselves consumed in the crazy. They begin in a much more secret, quieter place, rolling around in our thoughts for weeks and weeks. We know Biblically that we’re to love God with all of our mind, and to take every thought captive, and to think on the things that are true, right, lovely, noble, virtuous and praiseworthy. And I’m sure many of us are good at taking those big, struggling sets of thoughts to Jesus, in an attempt to let Him help us change our mindset. But let’s learn a lesson here from Elijah today, that the quiet, tiny, seemingly harmless thoughts need to be given over to Jesus as well.

Yet even wrong thought patterns, fear-driven moments, and feelings of being a hopeless failure, are no match for our Emmanuel. In the middle of Elijah’s panic God shows up with His gently, breezy presence, and doesn’t even chastise Elijah for his needless, fearful running-rampage. Emmanuel, God with us, meets Elijah just where he’s at, and friend, Emmanuel, God with us will meet us just where we’re at in each moment as well. God gives Elijah a new calling and reassures him that he’s not alone. I’m sure it was encouraging for Elijah to hear that God had 7,000 men who hadn’t bowed to Baal waiting in the wings, but even more encouraging must have been the gentle reminder that he had God with him as well. God sees our needs, hears our thoughts, and meets us with all of His strength, sustenance, and endless presence that we could ever desire.

Even in the places where we say the wrong things, think the wrong things, go in the wrong directions and set off running for our lives when God has called us to stand still and stay strong, He meets us. Even in those messed up places, Emmanuel shows up with His presence to strengthen us once more and to set us off running in the right direction, to do His will in His strength. God with us means He’s not just a Fairweather Friend. He’s not with us only when we’re in the right places of being good, strong enough, and brave. Emmanuel, God with us shows up to save, heal, strengthen, and restore when we’re in the most desperate places of weakness and wrong thought patterns.

So today, take some time to lay your mind, thoughts, and heart open before God. Let Him point out any tiny thoughts that He sovereignly knows may eventually spark a wildfire of fear, panic, or anger within you. But be encouraged that even if you can’t seem to clear out your wrong-thinking once and for all, Emmanuel, God with us can overcome even that. He will show up with all you need to get headed in the right direction once again with the comfort of His calling and presence.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 6

Emmanuel, God with the invisible

“But as Jesus went, the people were crowding against Him [almost crushing Him].

And a woman who had [suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years [and had spent all her money on physicians], and could not be healed by anyone,  came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His outer robe, and immediately her bleeding stopped. Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” While they all were denying it, Peter  [and those who were with him] said, “Master, the people are crowding and pushing against You!” But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, because I was aware that power [to heal] had gone out of Me.” When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came up trembling and fell down before Him. She declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in Me] has made you well. Go in peace (untroubled, undisturbed well-being).”

Luke 8:42-48 (AMP)

Have you ever found yourself wondering why bad things happen to seemingly good people? We know of course Biblically that there is none good, no not one. But doesn’t it sometimes feel just the tiniest bit confusing when life gets difficult for the ones who are trying to live an upright life by loving God and loving people? We know that we live in a fallen, sinful world. We understand that many have chosen to turn their backs on God. We know that Satan is the prince and the power of the air here on earth. But we also know that God is love, that He’s sovereign, and that He says He alone does wonderous things as He works all things together for good in our lives.

Do you think this sweet little woman with the issue of blood wondered the same things? I really wish she could at least be known by her name rather than by a title that magnifies an embarrassing condition that I’m sure she would have preferred to have kept hidden. It would be nice if we knew just a little more about her. How old was she and what did she look like? What was her family like, how had she grown up, and how did she get this terrible disease? We read that she spent all her money on doctors, so how did she eat, live, or buy all she needed? Had she been left in more pain by the unsuccessful medical procedures that she had dared to try in her desperation? Did she have a warm, comfortable place to sleep? Friends and family couldn’t touch her without becoming unclean, but was there anyone who still tried to let her know she was loved, seen, and not-alone? I hope we’re able to find out the details of this precious woman’s story when we get to heaven, but honestly, maybe for now it’s better that we don’t know too much about her. Maybe her ambiguity leaves room for all of us to climb into her story and find a few identifying markers of who she was, so we can find hope within our own stories.  

Had she wondered why this was happening to her? Did she wrestle with sovereignty of God in her heart as she sat within the prison walls of these circumstances that she herself did not create? If you want to be brutally honest, she had this chronic ailment because God allowed it. She was despised and looked at with disgust because of an issue that she had no control over. But if she knew the One who was in control, and knew that He could heal her at any moment that He wanted to, how many times, in that approximate 4,380-day period did she wonder why He hadn’t? You could almost think that you’d rather be anyone else in the Bible but her. That is, until Emmanuel, God with us enters her story and she finds all she’s ever looked for within His healing, love, and acceptance. In one moment, her life was changed. All that she had wrestled through, every tear she shed, every moment of feeling cast out and all alone was wiped away in just one encounter with Jesus. As He rejoices with her over her healing, He calls her daughter, making me wonder how long it had been since she had been called by that title. In one moment, did Emmanuel, God with us, heal her emotional scars as well as her physical hurts?

“But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise

With healing in His wings”

Malachi 4:2

In the Messianic verses of Malachi 4, healing is promised to those who fear God. The word translated wings here is the Hebrew word Kanaph, which can also be translated as corners, referring to the tassels on the corners of the garments worn by the Hebrew men. For hundreds of years, as the nation eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, the Hebrew sages would teach that when Messiah came, He would rise with healing in His Kanaph. They taught that there would be special healing powers in the corner tassels of Messiah’s garment. Maybe this precious girl had heard those teachings somewhere, and maybe her faith was set on finding out if the tassels of Messiah’s garment truly could bring healing to those who were desperate for it.

Maybe, like this precious girl, you’re suffering the consequences of circumstances that you didn’t choose. As we march on through the holiday season, I know many have family they didn’t choose and possibly wouldn’t choose. Amidst the joys of the season there might be moments where you speak of your family’s unchanging quirks with phrases such as, “They always…” or “They never…” or “I wish they would just…” Or maybe your struggle has nothing to do with family. Maybe like our precious friend we’ve read about today you’re dealing with health problems or financial troubles. Regardless of the struggle, the answer is the same. Emmanuel, God with us has come. Reach out in faith to Him. He’s come to heal, to save, to rescue, to restore, and to redeem. God’s timetable might feel a bit too long for you, as I’m sure it did for this precious girl many times. But I think if she could write us a little note, she would let us know that this one encounter of Emmanuel being with her was well worth the wait. I pray today that we would notice the hurting all around us; those whose backs are bent under the heavy burdens they bear. May we find strength and courage, knowing Emmanuel, God with us, will rise with all of the physical, emotional, mental, financial, relational healing we desperately await, and may we spread that encouragement to all who need to hear it today.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 5

Emmanuel, The Friend with us

“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,

The offspring of Abraham My friend”

Isaiah 41:8

What do you think of when you hear the word “friend”? Are there certain qualities you look for in a friend? Similar interests? Mutual affection? Humor and fun? Someone who listens to you pour out your heart and helps dry your tears? Someone you can drink coffee, hike, or eat chocolate with? What makes you feel like someone else considers you to be a friend? Feeling loved, accepted, and wanted?

Some of the dictionary definitions for the word “friend” are…

A person attached to another by feelings of affection, trust or personal regard.

A person who gives assistance

A person who is on good terms with another

A person who is not hostile.

Don’t you love to think of Jesus as your closest Friend? Matthew records Jesus as being the “Friend of sinners”. We sing songs like, What a Friend we have in Jesus. We know that Jesus is our Friend, but do we also see ourselves as His friend? In the middle of a study of Emmanuel, God with us, I’d love to take a few minutes today to take a look at how we can also be the friend with Him?

Isaiah 41:8 and 2 Chronicles 20:7 are the two verses in the Old Testament where God calls Abraham “My friend.” In both places the word used for friend is the Hebrew word ahav, “one who loves.” In other words, God was saying that He felt loved by Abraham. Have you ever thought about God feeling loved by you? The whole thought makes me want to cry! When my kids were little, I tried to fight their Christmas-covetous-tendencies by constantly bringing our holiday conversations back to Jesus and the birthday gifts they were going to give to Him as opposed to the gifts they wanted for themselves. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea for all of us to think of as well. I, for one, can get so focused on serving Jesus, that sometimes I forget to just take time to let Him know that I love Him and adore Him. Doesn’t this thought make you want to renew your friendship with God today? How can we make sure that God feels loved by us, and what was it about the life of Abraham that made God feel loved by him in a connection of friendship? There were a couple of things that popped into my heart as I was praying about this, and the first one is that Abraham showed his friendship and love to God through his obedience.

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

John 14:21 (NLT)

God makes it clear multiple times in His Word that He perceives our obedience as us showing love to Him, and as a mom, I get this! When my kids were younger, we had such fun days when they were obedient and joyful, I felt loved, they felt loved, and the blessings of a close relationship flowed free. But on those days where they were in feisty moods and constantly pushed against what I asked them to do, let’s just say the days like that were not quite as joyful as the others.

God called Abraham to do some pretty wild and daring things, and Abraham showed his love, friendship, trust, and faith in God by being willing to obey. If you don’t know Abraham’s story well, you can find it in the book of Genesis, but here’s a little highlight summary of Abraham’s obedience.

• God called Abraham to leave his homeland, all that was familiar, safe, and comfortable in order to wander around the promise land as a pilgrim and sojourner for the rest of his days, and Abraham did it.

• God called Abraham to offer up as a sacrifice his promised son that he had waited over 25 years for, and Abraham did it. (Thankfully God intervened on that one, but we know Abraham was willing!)

• God called 99-year-old Abraham into a new covenant requiring circumcision as the sign, and Abraham did it.

God had some pretty big asks, and Abraham seems ready to obey without much seeming hesitation at all.

Abraham also showed his love and friendship to God by his belief in the promises God made and by his faith in the heavenly destination that awaited him. He didn’t let his heart get distracted or divided away from God by anything this world had to offer. He showed his love and friendship to God by marching on, eyes fixed on heaven and excited for the day he would finally be face-to-face with his Friend.

“And the Lord brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So [numerous] shall your descendants be.” Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord; and He counted (credited) it to him as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man).”

Gen 15:5-6 (AMP)

Do you ever wonder how many times Abraham looked up into the sky and remembered this moment? It seems that we read of him often outside, spending time with God; hearing His voice, looking up, listening, seeking. We are blessed beyond measure by Emmanuel, God with us, and maybe we could show Him our love, friendship, and adoration today by taking some time to remind Him that we love to spend time with Him as well. Maybe you could even head outside tonight and take a few minutes star-gazing with Jesus. As you look up at the stars be reminded that Abraham isn’t the only one who has a starry promise from God. Psalm 139 tells us that God thinks of us more than all the stars in heaven. Spend some extra time with Him tonight, seeking Him and asking Him how you can grow even deeper in your friendship with Him. Try to count the stars tonight and you’ll be reminded of the massive love Emmanuel has for you. What a privilege it is to be the friend of the God who came to be the Friend of us sinners.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD.

Emmanuel Day 4

Emmanuel, God with the “worthless”

“When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD.”

Hosea 1:2

It doesn’t seem to matter what century it is or what circumstances surround our outside worlds. There is a longing in every human heart for perfect, whole companionship. When God calls Hosea into a life of being a prophet, He kicks off the calling with one of the most interesting commands in the Bible. If you knew Hosea, and he told you that God had told him to take a prostitute as a wife, would you believe that he heard right? I’m not sure I would, to be quite honest! I might encourage him to pray a little longer and make sure he heard God right, because I just don’t know that God would… (But of course I would have been wrong!)

The story of Hosea and Gomer is a much longer story than we have time to unpack right here, but I think there are many who can identify with the wounded feelings of Gomer. I was recently reading the book of Hosea in a 1970’s version of the New English Bible. In that version Gomer, Hosea’s wife, is called, “a worthless woman.” Now, I’ve never been a prostitute or an adulteress, but I think there’s a little piece in most of us that identifies in some way with this title of “worthless.” It seems that most are so desperate to chase worth because the idea of being considered “worthless” is one of the titles we fear the most. As we grow older, or have seasons of being sick, isn’t part of the frustration and heartbreak because we have times where we feel worthless compared to who we used to be? Humankind has been trained to find worth in who we are and what we do. We desperately seek worth in our appearances, possessions, titles, positions, and places of belonging. In this season we’re prone to seek worth in the biggest display of Christmas lights, or in finding the perfect presents. But the problem with chasing after the world’s view of worth is that it’s transitory. Youth fades. Wealth can be lost. People change. Relationships falter. And the Christmas season ends; lights come down, and even great gifts end up in a pile of things we have to find a place for.

The story of Gomer and Hagar is a beautiful love story that depicts the lengths our Emmanuel will go to make sure every worthless piece of us is redeemed and made whole within His love and His presence. Emmanuel, God with us, doesn’t view us as someone to avoid, steer clear of, or hide from. To Him we are not a bother, a waste, a horror, or a whore. No longer do we have to chase our worth in what others think of us, because our worth is fully found in the Worthy One alone.

On our own, our righteousness is as filthy rags. On our own there is none good no not one. On our own we are bent toward the passions of stealing, killing, and destroying. BUT EMMANUEL, GOD with us… He takes the ones like us who are tarnished, wrecked, despairing, too busy, too tired, too overwhelmed, and too small, and He places value upon us by placing His loving presence within us.

Our value and worth comes from the truth that God; our Maker, our Husband, our Emmanuel was willing to die in shame and torture upon a cross to win our love forever. Much more scandalous than a small prophet from a tiny town marrying a prostitute is the story of the pure, holy, righteous, Most High God declaring His love every day for the un-loveable, un-worthy, and un-qualified before the entire world. The love, boldness, and tenacity of Emmanuel, God with us, is mind blowing and astounding. God shows up in the worthless moments of our feelings, where we seem to go unseen, unwanted, unneeded, and unheard. and He runs boldly to those places to declare His love for us by drawing us close with His presence. He puts His arms around us and walks beside us with His gaze of love upon us, for all the world to see.

Emmanuel, God with us. This title of God makes all the difference to our days. It’s the title that changes every moment of loneliness we could have. Can I encourage you today, if you have a moment of feeling a bit lonely, left out, worthless, or unwanted to listen to the song O Come, O Come Emmanuel? Have you listened to that song yet this Christmas season? Pull up the lyrics, turn the song on, and sing this prayer to remind your heart of just how precious you are to God. You are loved, you are wanted, you are anything but alone. He hears your prayers, hears your pleas, and answers with His presence. I’m not sure if it’s cold where you are, but I pray that His presence would wrap and warm your heart like a snuggly blanket on a freezing cold day.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD.

Verses to think upon as you sing

O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

“’And 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 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.’”

Matthew 1:21-23

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them                          victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot- yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.”

Isaiah 11:1

“When He ascended on high, He led captive the captives, and He gave gifts to people. (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above the heavens, so that He might fill all things)”

Ephesians 4:8-10 (NASB)

O come, Thou Key of David, come And open wide our heav'nly home; Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.

“These things says He who is holy, He who is true, ‘He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens.’”

Revelation 3:7

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.”

Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are

pleasures forevermore.”

Psalm 16:11

Emmanuel Day 3

Emmanuel, God with us THROUGH the…

“They saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected,

and the smell of fire was not on them.”

Daniel 3:27

“So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatsoever was found on him, because he believed in His God.”

Daniel 6:23

 

I’m sure most will already know the stories of these guys, but as a quick recap, (and if you don’t know their full stories you should definitely do a deep dive into the book of Daniel because they’re AMAZING!) Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel were Hebrews boys who were taken as captives from their homeland to the land of Babylon. Somewhat of a long story cut extremely short, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship his giant gold statue, king Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into a fiery furnace. Daniel’s most well-known moment happened when he was thrown into a lion’s den by king Darius, for continuing to pray regardless of a mandate not to. (How’s that for a quick summary!) Though none of these guys were harmed physically in their big trials, they still had to go through the nervous moments of facing fire and lions, and having no idea what the ultimate outcome of their fate would be.

Sometimes we hear people say the phrase, “I’m just trying to get through the holidays.” When we encounter difficult moments like these guys did, our prayers are usually those begging to be saved FROM trials, OUT of tribulations, and AWAY from troubles, and of course there are times in our lives that God does just that. But there are also times where God chooses, for reasons beyond our understanding in the moment, to instead help us THROUGH the troubles we’re in so that He can increase faith, strengthen souls, and ultimately bring His glory and salvation to the world around us.

As I read Daniel 3 and 6, what stands out to me about these guys and their stories is their insistence to have faith in God and His sovereign goodness, regardless of what paths He chose for them. When Daniel knew the decree against prayer had been made, God’s Word tells us that he still knelt down to pray and give God thanks, as was his daily custom. When warned of being thrown into the fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego declared their trust in God’s ability to save them, but they also bravely declared their faith in God for their outcome, regardless of what it would be.

“If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

Daniel 3:17-18

None of them held God to a standard of doing what they wanted Him to do, what they thought He should do, or even what they hoped He would do. They knew God had the power to save, but they also trusted Him to work in the way He thought best for the plans that He desired to accomplish within their lives. They knew salvation would come, whether on earth or heaven, and they trusted that the times of their lives were in the hands of God. Maybe the greatest element of faith we see in their stories was the choice to not grasp desperately at their own fates, but instead to lift their hands in surrender to God. Even in the face of the unknown, they trusted God with the how, the when, the why, and the way.

Emmanuel isn’t just “God with us” to deliver us how we want Him to deliver us. God with us is still GOD with us. He is our God whose ways are higher and who sees all things in a way that our finite understanding can’t. There are times, moments, and seasons where we long to be delivered from, out of, and away from. But when God chooses instead to walk THROUGH the fire with us, or to keep us in the lion’s den THROUGH the night, we can trust that He is good, has a good plan, and is working all things together for good in our lives. Having a relationship with Emmanuel, who created the heavens and earth means that we can trust His sovereign details to be at work in our lives as well. He is a glorious Architect who knows exactly what He’s trying to accomplish, and I pray the lives of these men would ignite within us hearts of faith that are willing to walk through fire and fierceness with Him. These guys had no idea how everything would ultimately turn out, and yet they chose to firmly believe that Emmanuel would be with them every step of the way in whatever paths He placed before them.

I know there are some who are just trying to get through the holidays, but today I feel led to ask, what if it’s in the “through” that God wants to reveal Himself to be your mighty Emmanuel, your Defender who is with you; strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to be all you need Him to be? This doesn’t mean that God won’t deliver and save you out of your trials, but can we also be willing to have the faith to walk through the fiery and fierce storms with Him as well?

Honestly, without Emmanuel choosing to be with them through their fires and fierce nights, would the stories of their lives really be well known? What if God had struck down king Nebuchadnezzar the moment he came against these boys, or closed the furnace so no one could get in, or kicked down the criticizers before they even had time to bring Daniel’s name before the throne of king Darius? They would still be great stories, but maybe not too familiar to us, and definitely not stories for us to cling to through times of ongoing trials. Think of what we would be missing without the stories of God saving the souls of a depraved nation twice by radically reaching the hearts of two pagan kings.

What if God is trying to give you a greater story by what He’s allowing you to walk through? What would be missing if He just quickly saved you out of your trial rather than being Emmanuel, God with you through your trial? What if friends, family members, or nations get saved because of what they’re watching you go through? Where do we draw the line at what’s worth it or not? Do we want to be the ones who decide what’s too much, what we can take or can’t take? Or do we instead want to trust the God who made us, formed us, and knows every day He’s created for us? If we choose to trust Him wholly, what good could come from it, and if we choose not to trust Him wholly, what good could be missing in the lives of those around us? What miracles could happen? How could Emmanuel be glorified? How could people be encouraged by your perseverance? And beyond all of this earthly truth, what type of glorious rewards do you think were waiting for these guys in heaven for their faith, trust, hope, perseverance, dedication? And what heavenly rewards could be waiting for us at the end of our earthly journey as well?

Regarding heaven, Romans 8 reminds us…

“For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be

revealed to us and in us.”

Romans 8:18 (AMP)

Precious friend can I encourage you today to surrender yourself anew and afresh to God? Maybe you’ve been feeling as though you are buried under the weight of a trial. Please intentionally remember today that God sees and knows. He will save and deliver in His time and His way. My prayer is that we would choose once again today to pray and trust God regardless of the trials He may walk us through. Our stories will always have great endings, because God is with us, will be with us, and will continue to be with us. Our Emmanuel is not just with us in the “now,” He’s with us in the “through.”

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 2

Emmanuel, The Light of the World

“But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.”

1 John 1:7

       There is something about the brightest of lights that can tend to ignite a bit of fear within us, isn’t there? I remember when my then-younger kids were getting braces. The orthodontist put a contraption in their mouths to hold their lips back, exposing their crooked teeth, and then proceeded to put on his camera a ring of the brightest lights I have ever seen. As the orthodontist lined up my kids against the wall for their “before” shot, he looked over at me and said, “Do you want to get braces too?” My immediate thought was, “Not on your life buddy!” My teeth aren’t the straightest I’ve ever seen but I wasn’t about to let anyone expose my crooked, coffee-stained teeth with that much light!

I don’t know that any of us are huge fans of bright lights and closer-than-close proximity. The pressure of our flaws being fully exposed to anyone can feel overwhelming, and it seems as though the Christmas season can sometimes kick those fears into high gear. It’s astounding to me how much pressure we put on ourselves to look, act, and be thought of as perfect in a season that’s intended to remind us that we are the imperfect humans who required a perfect God to come and rescue us.

Maybe this fear of exposure is also why our culture tends to favor social media interaction over everyday hangouts. I for one have never posted a picture of myself un-showered, un-make-uped, in a messy house, or in the middle of a messy conversation. My social media accounts make the “reel-me” look pretty good, which I guess is the point of it all right? Who doesn’t love a filter that brushes away the wrinkles and blemishes… Who cares what the rest of my house looks like as long as the little corner in my shot looks good… Does it really matter what was happening before or after the shot as long as we got the picture we needed in order to look like we’re living in the highest of highs?

Oh friends, life lived in a constant attempt to control every perspective is a life that’s only lived in the shadows, and we were never designed to find fellowship or joy there. While we can never ensure full acceptance from those around us, it’s essential for us to remember that full acceptance from people isn’t our greatest need. All the precious friends and family in our lives are too broken themselves to be able to give us the approval we so desperately seek. Unfortunately, this Christmas season, I can almost guarantee that we will, at some point, feel overlooked, under-appreciated, and taken advantage of in some way. I would assume we’ll be made to feel guilty or inadequate over something, and most likely we won’t receive all the gifts we hope to get or be able to find all the presents we hope to buy. We humans are too focused on our own desires to be able to fully fulfill the desires of anyone else.

The good news of this season (and every day of life) is that we were created with a desire to be fully accepted, and that’s the whole reason our Emmanuel came to this earth. Full and true acceptance is found in God alone, and God is with us to give us all we truly desire. We will never find full acceptance in any place but in the presence of Emmanuel, God with us. He has stepped into the shadows of darkness to save us and to carry us into His marvelous light.

According to Ephesians 1:5-6 we have been adopted by Jesus Himself…

“according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,

by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

My prayer is that we would become a little more intentionally aware of how perfectly loved, adored, wanted, and seen we are by God. We will never find true fellowship or joy without first coming into the exposing light of His Presence. Just like the brightest of make-up mirrors expose our flaws with the purpose of allowing us to fix them, so the glory of God is meant to expose so that HE can fix all that is flawed within us. Emmanuel is not simply “with us” when we look good, or “with us” in the dim light, or “with us” when no one else is available. He desires to be with us regardless of what we look like, how we have acted, who we are, or who we aren’t.

       Jesus isn’t just the highlight reel washer of our lives. He is with us 24/7 as a soul scrubber, a mind-shaper, a word-watcher, a hurt-healer, a peace-bringer, a joy-filler, and so many more attributes and benefits than I could ever think of words for. We can run into the perfect and pure light of Jesus with every flaw, scar, hurt, mistake, mess-up, and failure. The light of God’s glory sorts us out, settles our hearts, and sets us back up on our feet to run this race in His grace once more. He is Emmanuel ALWAYS with us. ALWAYS for us. ALWAYS in love with us.

       Let’s come to our Emmanuel with the heart and humility of the psalmist who said…

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

 

Today in the middle of all the Holiday Chaos, take a deep breath, and step into the bright light of the glory of God. You have nothing to hide from Him; nothing to hope He doesn’t see, and nothing to pray He doesn’t find out. Emmanuel, God with us means that you are fully exposed, fully known, and still fully loved. There is nothing to keep from Him; no lies that need to be spun, no stories that need to be imagined, no flaws that need to be covered up by anything else but His blood. There is no boasting that needs to be made in order for Him to like you, and no softer light for Him to see you in before He thinks you’re beautiful. This Christmas season, as everyone else is running around in an impossible flurry of the desired perception of perfection, I pray we would instead take time to intentionally remind ourselves and others that we have been perfectly made, perfectly loved, and perfectly forgiven by Emmanuel who came to be with us.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD

Emmanuel Day 1

Emmanuel, God with us

What comes into your mind as you hear the phrase, “Christmas is coming?” Some might think of festive decorations, family gatherings, or fun shopping days, filled with Christmas music and finding the perfect gifts. Maybe you’re excited to make and eat all of your favorite foods, or to drive by gorgeous, shining Christmas lights that light up the sky on chilly nights. Hopefully, foremost in all of our hearts, are feelings of awe and amazement over the Christmas truth; that God would come to this earth as a Baby with the ultimate purpose of bringing salvation to us all.

But I think oftentimes, for most of us, sprinkled within all the excitement over the Christmas season, can also be feelings of sorrow, sadness, loss, and loneliness. The holiday season can feel like one of the most difficult seasons to walk through. When our hearts are already aching over regular life, there’s just something about the holidays that can cause us to feel those aches in an even deeper way. James 1:2 reminds us that, in life, we will encounter “various trials.” The details of our lives are different, yet still the common thread is that each one of us has a “various trial” that makes our heart ache, and the holiday season has a way of magnifying those hurts.

 “Various trial” heartaches can come in this season from feeling as though we no longer have a place, never had a place, or from feeling misplaced, displaced, lonely, or left out. Maybe your “various trial” comes in the form of aching over lost loved ones, or love that has been lost from the ones that we still love. Those “various trial” aches can spring up before, during, and after stressful family gatherings, or from that person who always or never… (fill in a thousand blanks). Inner heart aches can come from outwardly hurting bodies, thinning budgets, and feelings of an inability to measure up to the expectations that others place upon us, or even the ones that we place upon ourselves. Everyone experiences aching hearts to varying degrees at some point throughout this season, but before you stop reading because I’ve now become the depressing one causing your heart to ache…

I want to turn our aching hearts and attention to the beautiful title that God gives to Himself

specifically in this season that we’re celebrating right now.

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is,

God with us.”

Matthew 1:23 (KJV)

       It was as the birth of Jesus was approaching that God reminded Joseph and revealed to us through the words of the prophet Isaiah, that “God with us” was coming to be with us. The truth of this season is that God desires to be with us, and it’s on my heart to remind us of that truth here every day so that the foremost thought in our minds this holiday season is that GOD IS WITH US!

Statistically, loneliness and aching hearts are on the rise. As I write this, 61% of Americans report frequent feelings of loneliness. 71% of avid social media users report feeling lonely. The APA poll states that one in three Americans feel lonely at least once a week.

I guess what those statistics are saying to us is that if you’re lonely, you can know that you’re not alone in your loneliness. So, what can we do with all of these lonely aches within our own hearts? And how can we help others in pain feel the joy, peace, and hope of the Christmas season when we have a hard time finding those feelings ourselves?

Emmanuel [Messiah: Greek Emmanouēl, from Hebrew ʽimmānūʼēl,

literally, with us is God]

 

The answer to all we seek, desire, and ache for is found in Emmanuel, the God who…

“made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Philippians 2:7-8

Precious friend, the truth of the matter, is that you have One who is so desperately in love with you that He literally left the comforts of heaven to take on a humble earthly body for you, and ultimately died so that He could be with you forever. Maybe those aches we feel deeply in the Christmas season are intended to be a reminder that the One we truly ache for is the One who truly ached for us. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to fully grasp or understand how deeply we are loved by this God who laid everything aside just to be with us, but don’t you want to try with me to meditate on this truth every day and let it affect and change us from the inside out?

I’m praying that as we take just a little bit of time each day this Christmas season, to turn our attention to the One who has His attention fully upon us, that some of those aching places will be met by His glorious presence. Today, as we begin, try to intentionally remember that you are not alone even for a second. Write this truth down somewhere you can see it often today. You are seen, heard, understood, and perfectly loved by the God who left heaven on a rescue mission for you. Emmanuel, who is with you right now, brought His presence to earth so He could forever bring His presence to your heart and meet every aching need that you would ever have.

Emmanuel; with us IS GOD.

April Twenty-Third

Today’s One Year Bible Reading…

Judges 1:1-2:9 * Luke 21:29-22:13

Psalm 90:1-91:16 * Proverbs 13:24-25

‎"Teach us to realize the brevity of life so that we may grow in wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

Can you believe you’re how old you already are? I know I can’t! Even if some days feel long, we look back and realize how quickly life is truly passing by. Daily rhythm seems to carry on as usual and it can sometimes feel as though we’ll have forever here on earth to say all we want to say to our families, friends, community, and co-workers, but that’s just not our true reality. The psalmist’s prayer here reminds us to live each day as though it could be our last, and wisdom is to have the desired conversations and actions today, knowing that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow.

"Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty."

(Psalm 90:10)

Are we making the most of everyday, choosing to live today depositing treasure into heaven through love, witnessing, forgiveness, kindness, and intentionality. Have we realized the brevity of our days and taken time to fill our hearts and minds with God’s lasting Words, as well as the hearts and minds of those around us?

"Heaven and earth will disappear, but My words will never disappear…Watch out! Don't let your hearts be dulled... Keep alert at all times and pray that you might be strong

(Luke 21:33, 34, 35)

God warns us to stay alert, and it's time in His Word and prayer that keeps us awake and victorious. On our own, we tend toward apathy, laziness, defeat, and defiance, but God has given us all we need to be more than conquerors in Christ. We just need to look to Him with eyes awake and filled with faith. Realizing the brevity of our days fills us with all the wisdom we need to pursue victory within our lands.

"The LORD answered Judah, for I have given them victory over the land…But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots."

(Judges 1:2, 19)

It’s heart breaking to read of their failed victory, and maybe it hits a little too close to home in our own lives as well. God had given the nation of Israel all they needed to conquer the land and live in freedom, yet something held them back from fighting the full fight of faith. Maybe it was fear, laziness, or just the failure to realize how short their time was. Maybe they thought they would take the time to conquer the land next week; next month; next year. Whatever their reasoning, they had a lack of understanding as far as God's power and a forgetfulness that they worshipped the God who flicked the wheels off the Egyptian’s iron chariots! The truth wasn’t that they could not, it was that they would not, and unfortunately their lack of faith effected generations for years to come. God longs to see discipline and obedience in our own lives even as He calls us to cultivate it within the hearts of our kids.

"Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them."

(Proverbs 13:24)

God chastens those whom He loves and calls us to chasten our children as well! Wisdom reminds us that we don’t have too many days given to shape their hearts and mold their minds. May we be diligent to pour our time, effort, and energy into keeping our own feet and the little feet that follow on the narrow path headed toward the kingdom of God.

"Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

Psalm 91:1

What stood out to you from today’s Bible reading?

April Twenty-Second

Today’s One Year Bible Reading…

Joshua 24:1-33 * Luke 21:1-28

Psalm 89:38-52 * Proverbs 13:20-23

"The people of Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him- those who personally experienced all that the LORD had done for Israel."

Joshua 24:31

How essential it is for us to experience God on a daily, personal level! He longs to work on our behalf and desires that we would have our own current stories of crying out to Him in prayer as He provides all we need. The testimony of others doesn’t have enough longevity to carry us, and we can’t live only in our “years ago” faith. God wants to show off His miraculous faithfulness within our lives today.

"When your ancestors cried out to the LORD, I put darkness between you and the Egyptians... But I gave you victory over them. And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not swords that brought you the victory...

Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshipped."

(Joshua 24:7, 12, 14)

What great reminders for us to daily clear out our hearts, minds, and lives of anything but remembering to put God first in all we are and do. We make such a mess when we get caught up in this world and all it seems to offer. May all that we do each day instead symbolize that we are representatives and servants of Christ! Would God be first in all we do, even as He was for the precious widow who gave all she possessed as worship unto God.

"'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said, 'This poor widow has given more than all the rest of them.'"

(Luke 21:3)

Here was a woman who understood that fearing the LORD and serving Him would be greater and more fulfilling to her life than possessing all the treasures of this world! May our eyes be focused on our eternal God alone, because this temporary world is passing away quickly.

"But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution."

(Luke 21:12)

Do you ever wonder how you would respond to a time of persecution? Would we be ready, and would we be strong enough to endure? I think the answer is found in how we’re currently living during times of peace. Are we daily choosing to live for heaven with all our strength and confidence stored in God alone? Like this precious widow, if we know that all we have and are belongs to God, we’ll be confident in His care regardless of what comes our way. I pray that, like Joshua, we would be those who point everyone around us to God. May our words encourage those around us to fear God, serve Him, get rid of idols, store up treasure in heaven alone, and keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus in times of any kind of persecution.

"Walk with the wise and become wise, associate with fools and get in trouble. Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous."

(Proverbs 13:20-21)

Wisdom is found in hanging onto the righteous and chasing after Jesus together with all we are. Such blessing is found in the place of obedience by His grace!

"But not a hair of your head will perish! By standing firm you will win your souls."

(Luke 21:18-18)

God's Word in our hearts, our possessions in His hands, and our eyes fixed on Him gives us the ability to stand firm in this temporary world!

" Praise the LORD forever! Amen and amen!"

Psalm 89:52

What stood out to you from today’s Bible reading?

April Twenty-first

Today’s One Year Bible Reading…

Joshua 22:21-23:16 * Luke 20:27-47

Psalm 89:14-37 * Proverbs 13:17-19

‎"But I will never stop loving him, nor fail to keep My promise to him. No, I will not break My covenant;

I will not take back a single word I said."

Psalm 89:33-34

Our God will always prove to be faithful and true! We can forever trust His words to be strong, His paths to be sure, and His promises to be steadfast.

"Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the LORD your God has come true,

not a single one has failed."

(Joshua 23:14)

I wonder if David had times where he drew strength from these words of God that Joshua spoke over the nation Israel. Both men had promises that they had waited long to see fulfilled, but here, Joshua already has the testimony of seeing God remain faithful to bring His words to pass. Still living in caves and on the constant run from king Saul, maybe there were moments where David stirred up his confidence and faith by remembering that God had never failed to do what He said He would do. Fulfilled promises often look a little different than we’d imagined them to look and take a little longer to be fulfilled than we’d imagined them to take. But God’s words will never fall forgotten by Him, and He is always working all things together for the good of those who love and trust Him. Joshua reminds the nation of Israel that even as God kept His promises of blessings for obedience, there were also promised consequences for those who would instead choose to turn away from the paths of God and to follow their own ways. (Joshua 23:15) The blessings of God will never be found in chasing after our own lust, desires, and supposed ideals. Our own fleshly paths seem appealing for a moment but will always prove to have devasting and painful consequences. God has laid out clear Biblical paths for us and it’s in those that our joy and peace will be abundant.

"Rather, cling tightly to the LORD your God as you have done until now...

So be very careful to love the LORD your God."

(Joshua 23:5, 11)

God is the One who drives our enemies out before us. (Joshua 23:5) God is the one who can set a thousand to flight before us. (Joshua 23:10) For those reasons and a thousand others, extreme care should be taken by us to ensure that we are clinging tightly to God and following after Him with all we are.

"So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction.

Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left."

(Joshua 23:67)

Holding fast and clinging tightly come as we love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. As we seek to live out the most important command of loving Him, we will find that He is the One who has truly been holding onto us the whole time we were seeking to cling to Him.

"It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them."

(Proverbs 13:19)

It’s foolish to think we could ever find peace, joy, and fulfillment from following after any kind of path drawn up by the evil one. Jesus is our peace, joy, and fulfillment of satisfaction. May we cling to Him with all we are, trusting that He is good and will bring every good word to pass in His perfect timing.

"So He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for they are all alive to Him."

Luke 20:38

What stood out to you from today’s Bible reading?

April Twentieth

Today’s One Year Bible Reading…

Joshua 21:1-22:20 * Luke 20:1-26

Psalm 89:1-13 * Proverbs 13:15-16

‎"Not a single one of all the good promises the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled. Everything He had spoken came true."

Joshua 21:45

Today we see the evidence that the promises of God within our lives will always come to pass. Reading of Israel finally being settled in their lands after a long journey of seemingly impossible promises being fulfilled should give us great confidence in the faithfulness of God’s Words and works within our lives.

"So the LORD gave to Israel all the land He had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD helped them conquer all their enemies."

(Joshua 21:43-45)

Seeing God’s past faithfulness should give us a boldness and confidence in our own days, knowing we can trust in Him to be a mighty and faithful Conqueror of all that lies ahead of us. May our lives be spent walking steady in God's unfailing words.

"A person with good sense is respected... Wise people think before they act, fools don't, and even brag about their foolishness."

(Proverbs 13:15, 16)

Whether it’s gathering together in a mob-mentality of assumption and anger like we saw in Joshua today or trying to fight against the authority of Jesus like we saw in Luke, I pray we would instead be filled with the steadiness that comes from the good sense of following after the faithful promises of God. We find such rest and relief in our lives when we remember that nothing is ever dependent upon us! God is the promise Speaker, promise Keeper, and promise Deliverer. He will bring to pass all the plans and promises that He has ever spoken over our lives. We just need to look to Him in faith, trust, and obedience, knowing every moment of surety and authority we could ever need is found within His truthful Words.

"Teacher, they said, "We know that You speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully."

(Luke 20:21)

Our God isn’t worried about what others think, say, or do. He’s not concerned that there may be an enemy or an opponent who can keep His plans, purposes, or promises from being accomplished. Our God alone is mighty, powerful, and strong to save. His authoritative Words of promise and protection give us the confidence we need to continue to march in the direction of resting, settling, and conquering for the sake of His Kingdom. None can stand against Him, and all will fall silent before Him.

"They were amazed by His answer and they became silent."

(Luke 20:26)

I pray today we would be in awe of our mighty, promise-fulfilling God, and that every word we speak would be given over in praise of the One who rules oceans, calms storms, and has captured the awe and wonder of every heavenly heart.

"I will sing of the LORD's unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of Your faithfulness... The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God... You rule the oceans.

You subdue their storm-tossed waves."

Psalm 89:1, 7, 9

What stood out to you from today’s Bible reading?

April Seventeenth

Today’s One Year Bible Reading…

Joshua 15:1-63 * Luke 18:18-43

Psalm 86:1-17 * Proverbs 13:9-10

"As the man came near, Jesus asked him,

"What do you want Me to do for you?"

Luke 18:40

This blind man in Luke 18 seems to see more clearly in his blindness than I’m able to see on most days with my sight. He was desperate to be touched by Jesus, convinced that His hands were able to heal all that was wrong within him. Reading of this encounter leaves me wondering if I know my true desperation for Jesus. Am I fully convinced that His hands upon me are all I need to enable everything in my life to be made well, whole, new, and complete? Am I so convinced of my need for the power of God within me, that I’m willing to keep crying out, regardless of who is trying to silence me? God is ready with His power to save, but He also desires to teach us persistence in prayer through our needs. We cry out to Him, and He comes back with a question of what we would like to see Him to do on our behalf. We see Judah limit this victory in their own lives today by choosing to settle in apathy rather than continuing to cry out to the God who had already declared His promises of possession over them and their land.

"But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites; who lived in the city of Jerusalem. So the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to this day."

(Joshua 15:63)

What a heartbreaking end to such a beautiful beginning! God had fullness of possession available for them, but they chose to settle in complacency rather than drawing their swords in prayer.

"This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribes of Judah."

(Joshua 15:20)

This land already belonged to them, but there was no victory because there was no desperate prayer made to the victorious God. Judah had sought to clear the land in their own strength, and when they were unable to gain the territory, they gave up and were instead ruled by their own fear. Freedom, purity, holiness, and wholeness are ours for the taking, but they will never come into our possession by our own hand. Even as this blind man knew he would remain blind without the touch of Jesus, our lives will remain conquered without the hand of God upon us.

"What is impossible for people is possible with God."

(Luke 18:37)

All the power we need for victory is at our disposal. We see this in the life of Caleb, don’t we? His territory was just as difficult and just as impossible, but Caleb’s eyes were fixed on the mighty hand of God rather than on his own weak arms. Trust placed in God enables us to conquer great walled cities and the giants within. I pray we would spend our days not giving up, giving in, struggling with old sin, old ways, and old habits. But may our days be spent as Caleb, crying out for the conquering strength and ability of God.

"The life of the godly is full of light and joy... Teach me Your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to Your truth. Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You."

(Proverbs 13:9, Psalm 86:11)

God desires to fill our lives with His light, joy, and freedom. He longs to teach us His ways, make us to walk in His truth, and fill our hearts with His purity and His honor. All of this comes as we cry out to Him for His touch and His victory. He alone can conquer our impossible territories.

"Jesus said, 'All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you! Instantly the man could see and he followed Jesus, praising God, and all who saw it praised God too."

Luke 18:42-43

What stood out to you from today’s Bible reading?