Right Here, 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
Christmas-the first Christmas-was a package of miracles. A virgin birth, God
clothing Himself in human flesh, the Father giving His amazing love to an
undeserving world, Christ making Himself poor that we might be made rich.
It's an unspeakable gift that we can't begin to wrap our minds around.
But we can open the gift. We can receive the truth that it brings to us.
Emmanuel-God with us.
Take any word of that phrase, and it is astounding.
God with us. The very God of the universe humbled Himself to take on human
flesh and enter our world through a manger. Lying there in the straw was God
Himself. And He chose to come to our world.
God with us. Not only has God come to our world, but He is near. His very
coming proved that He wants us to know Him, to be reconciled to Him. He is
not a distant God, but a God who loves us and has chosen to show His love
for us in a phenomenally unthinkable way-by giving Himself for us.
God with us. We don't deserve God's love. Yet He came. He chose to be born
into a common family and grow up in a common home and learn a common
profession. He proved that He can identify with us-with you, with me.
Who would have expected that God would even want to come to us? Who would
have thought that God could come to us? But God did the miraculous. He came.
And because of Christmas, every child of God can know with certainty, God is
with me-right here, right now.
As you rejoice in the miracle of Christmas, thank the Lord for His immediate
and continual presence in your life.
