“ 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).” Matthew 1:23
From the very first moment of our existence, God has always been with us. But His arrival many years ago in a lowly manger extended an invitation to change the way we see:
In Genesis, He was God with us, kneeling in the dust that made us to bless us!
In Exodus, He was God with us, leading us out of the deserts of our slavery with a ‘strong arm and a mighty hand.’
In Leviticus, He was God with us as the scapegoat who carried our sins outside the walls, banishing our need to ever blame another.
In Numbers, He was God with us as a bronze snake lifted in the wilderness that we can ‘look upon and live.’
In Deuteronomy, He was God with us inviting us to the Promised Land.
In Joshua, He was God with us as the shout of praise that knocks down every wall keeping us from our destiny.
In Judges, He was God with us as the righteous ruler who rescues us from doing ‘what is right in our own eyes.’
In Ruth, He was God with us as the kinsman-redeemer: the great love who buys us back to be His forever!
In Samuel, He was God with us as a shepherd born to be King, whose height, stature, and appearance was despised by his brothers, but who possessed the very heart of God!
In Kings, He was God with us as the true Elijah: the prophet who came from the wilderness, raising the dead and confronting systems of sin, to call the people back to God.
In Chronicles, He was God with us as the coming Temple; not a house we build for Him, but the One who becomes our home, forever.
In Ezra, He was God with us as the One who will never stop pursuing us with His love. ‘His love endures forever!’
In Nehemiah, He was God with us as the Rebuilder of every broken down wall and Restorer of all the enemy has taken; the ‘Joy of the Lord’ who has become our strength!
In Esther, He was God with us showing up in the middle of the night ‘for such a time as this’ to preserve and protect everything He promised!
In Job, He was God with us, stretching out the sky like a sheet to hang galaxies and stars, and splitting the sky as the Light who holds us on our darkest nights.
In Psalms, He was God with us, knitting us in our mother’s womb; the One who knows us completely and has already thought more precious thoughts about us today than the individual grains of sand on every seashore that has ever existed!
In Proverbs, He was God with us as ‘Lady Wisdom,’ keeping us from foolishness and leading us to life.
In Ecclesiastes, He was God with us as the only one who can satisfy every other pursuit that would leave us wanting.
In Song of Solomon, He was God with us as our passionate, pursuing Love, calling us His ‘Beloved’ forever.
In Isaiah, He was God with us as the man of suffering, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; whose punishment brought us peace, and by whose wounds, our every wound is healed!
In Jeremiah, He was God with us as the Giver of a ‘New Heart and a New Spirit!’
In Lamentations, He was God with us in suffering, leading us through every valley of death to see that death was only a shadow!
In Ezekiel, He was God with us, resurrecting dry bones and breathing on us again with His Spirit, so we can live!
In Daniel, He was God with us as 'another in the fire’ of our trials, to refine and not consume us.
In Hosea, He was God with us as the faithful Husband who can’t let us go, but buys us back from every wayward place we run.
In Joel, He was God with us, restoring all the locusts have eaten, and planting us in Him as a vine that will bear good fruit.
In Amos, He was God with us who rules over the heights, yet draws near to the very depths of our hearts.
In Obadiah, He was God with us, causing the sun to go down on the broken system of sin and all of her fruits; rising us as victorious on the other side!
In Jonah, He was God with us as the pleading voice of compassion for us to move past every prejudice and division of ‘us’ versus ‘them,’ until every enemy becomes God’s friend.
In Micah, He was God with us, delighting in mercy and drowning our iniquities in the sea!
In Nahum, He was God with us as the Peace who will end every injustice and wipe every tear from our eyes.
In Habakkuk, He was God with us, always living to intercede on our behalf.
In Zephaniah, He was God with us, rejoicing over you with singing!
In Haggai, He was God with us working through everything shaking to produce glory and establish His peace!
In Zechariah, He was God with us as our victory, releasing hope not by our might or power, but by HIS Spirit!
In Malachi, He was God with us as the Refiner, compassionately present in every detail of our lives to purify, prepare, and present us as holy and whole!
In Matthew, He was God with us as the King who fulfills every promise of our Father.
In Mark, He was God with us as the Suffering Servant who heals and restores us.
In Luke, He was God with us as “Good News of Great Joy for All People!”
In John, He was God with us as the ‘Word' who came not to condemn the world, but that we would be saved through Him.
In Acts, He was God with us as ‘tongues of fire,’ bringing every tribe, tongue, and nation from the places we’d wandered to become one family under one Father again!
In Romans, He was God with us as the Power of God to everyone who believes!
In 1 Corinthians, He was God with us as “Love” patient and kind, always protecting and persevering!
In 2 Corinthians, He was God with us as the Spirit of Freedom, transforming us into the image of ‘ever increasing glory’ as we gaze upon His face!
In Galatians, He was God with us as the ‘Grace’ who brought us out from under the slavery of striving back to the joy of delight!
In Ephesians, He was God with us, rooting and establishing us in a love that surpasses our ability to know and a fullness that surpasses our ability to hold.
In Philippians, He was God with us as the ‘Treasure’ for whom we’ve lost all things and count them rubbish to gain Christ and be with Him forever!
In Colossians, He was God with us as Qualifier into our inheritance as saints; ‘Most Holy Places’ where He delights to reside!
In Thessalonians, He was God with us as the ‘Hope’ who came and is coming back to take us where He is!
In 1 Timothy, He was God with us as the Savior of the ‘worst of sinners!’
In 2 Timothy, He was God with us, remaining ‘Faithful,’ even when we are faithless!
In Titus, He was God with us as Redeemer, giving us a new heart to do good!
In Philemon, He was God with us, transforming every useless act we’ve committed into something useful as we simply come home to Him!
In Hebrews, He was God with us as the substance of every shadow that came before Him.
In James, He was God with us, enabling us to stand through trials and receive the crown of life.
In 1 Peter, He was God with us as the inheritance that will never perish, fade, or spoil.
In 2 Peter, He was God with us as Giver of everything we need for life and godliness.
In 1 John, He was God with us, lavishing love over us, even when our hearts try to condemn.
In 2 John, He was God with us, releasing ONE command: to receive His love completely and release it liberally.
In 3 John, He was God with us inviting us to not imitate evil, but to do what is good.
In Jude, He was God with us, able to keep us from stumbling, free from fault, and full of joy!
In Revelation, He was God with us as the only one worthy to open the scrolls, who we will all see and shout:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
This Christmas, as you spend time with those you love, God is with you.
As you open presents, God is with you.
As you sit around the table, recounting amazing memories of the past year…or as you ache in missing those you would love more than anything to hold close, God is with you.
And when the season ends, bringing down the tree and the lights, and you gear up for everything the coming year will bring, on the mountains and in the valleys, every morning and every evening, every moment from now till forever through a million changing tides, there is one constant we hold onto…
Your God absolutely adores you and will ever be WITH you. Merry Christmas. May you sense Him in this moment and LIVE!
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