You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. - John 15:16, ESV.
Jesus is our Immanuel because of the fact that He has chosen those of us that belong to Him. This passage must deflate spiritual pride in the believer. Not one single ounce of merit on our part allows us the privilege of resting in Jesus as a personal Immanuel.
If we have professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior it is NOT due to a decision that we made. We do not just raise a hand and decide, based on free will, to pray a prayer for eternal life. It is impossible for us, as a natural being, to consider or receive that which is spiritually eternal in nature (1 Cor. 2:14).
As fellow strugglers on a journey toward eternity, we can take no credit, but rest in the truth that those who come to Jesus are in fact chosen to be there. We can celebrate the fact that the very creator of the universe calls us to Himself and grants us the gift of faith that enables faith.
Take joy in this truth for it is all of grace. It is a divine gift that is granted to us so that we can not only be able to believe in Him unto salvation but bear His fruit that will not spoil and therefore ask of the Father that He might give to us freely in the name and person of Jesus.
He clearly tells us here that He chooses and places us in the world to bear fruit. He is the author, sustainer and finisher of faith and life.
Father, if I have in fact been chosen, thank you. If I am not sure, please reveal yourself and your heart to me that I might know for certain today. It is my desire to bear your good fruit in the world and know that I can ask anything of you in the name of Jesus.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Immanuel
"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:23, ESV.
The book of Isaiah was written around 700 years before the birth of Christ. The passage in Matthew 1 is a repeating of the prophecy in Isaiah 7. The virgin birth and Jesus being the Messiah are foretold in Isaiah and recounted in the gospel of Matthew as the prophecy unfolds.
Certainly it is the most incredible of miracles that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was in fact impregnated by the Spirit of God (Matthew 1:20). Yet how much more miraculous it is for us as individuals that is 700 BC and again in around 50 AD, Jesus is named Immanuel, GOD WITH US!
Being one who has wrestled with addiction, adoption, sexual abuse, divorce, alcoholism and depression, it is fair to say that guilt and shame became a way of life. This pervading sense of not belonging plagued my early years and contributed greatly to my rebellion as a young man (which produces that much more guilt and shame).
But Jesus! I have learned to take claim of this portion of Matthew 1:23 to be extremely personal to me: Immanuel. As a matter of fact, the P.B. Fidler translation (not found in stores) reads "...they shall call His name Immanuel (which is translated GOD WITH ME!")
I can make it personal! This verse, this truth, can become specific and cause in me a great strength!
Lord Jesus please allow me to know You as MY personal Immanuel, GOD WITH ME!
The book of Isaiah was written around 700 years before the birth of Christ. The passage in Matthew 1 is a repeating of the prophecy in Isaiah 7. The virgin birth and Jesus being the Messiah are foretold in Isaiah and recounted in the gospel of Matthew as the prophecy unfolds.
Certainly it is the most incredible of miracles that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was in fact impregnated by the Spirit of God (Matthew 1:20). Yet how much more miraculous it is for us as individuals that is 700 BC and again in around 50 AD, Jesus is named Immanuel, GOD WITH US!
Being one who has wrestled with addiction, adoption, sexual abuse, divorce, alcoholism and depression, it is fair to say that guilt and shame became a way of life. This pervading sense of not belonging plagued my early years and contributed greatly to my rebellion as a young man (which produces that much more guilt and shame).
But Jesus! I have learned to take claim of this portion of Matthew 1:23 to be extremely personal to me: Immanuel. As a matter of fact, the P.B. Fidler translation (not found in stores) reads "...they shall call His name Immanuel (which is translated GOD WITH ME!")
I can make it personal! This verse, this truth, can become specific and cause in me a great strength!
Lord Jesus please allow me to know You as MY personal Immanuel, GOD WITH ME!
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