Emmanuel – God with us! He isn’t just Emmanuel at Christmas time—He is with us every moment of the year.
The reason that we can be strong is because He is with us. The reason that we can live without fear is because He is with us. [1]
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Psalms 16:11
Saying the Lord is with you, is so much more than it seems.
It’s actually a love story. If you have a personal relationship with Jesus, there is a moment in time when you knew that He loved you.
A regular day—ordinary really, hands in the soapy water of the single sink in a tiny apartment. The few dishes are hardly worth the full sink of suds, but a vase is spied on the top shelf—that you have to drag a chair to in order to reach, speaks of its irregular use.
A heart simply wonders when flowers would be received again.
A supper invitation the next day.
Family, laughs, and dishes done together—time to go home. At the door, a beautiful red rose with a note attached. “I love you,” nothing else written.
It came from Jesus, He hears quiet thoughts of hearts and made a point to get a flower in the vase. Love. What is your story?
Jesus prayed for us in John chapter 17—a beautiful portion of scripture…
“I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”
John 17:23 NLT
A tiny little conjunction in bold, but absolutely important to understanding…
We don’t think about the meaning of this word, but what it means is “to the same extent or degree; equally.”
Now look back at the verse, and it should leave your mouth agape! We read about the relationship Jesus had with the Father, the closeness and intimacy, the unity, the whole book of John is filled with that special relationship.
As equally—think back to that moment of love, when you knew, when you accepted His grace and allowed His love.
The presence of the Lord brings joy, meaning, and anticipation to our lives! 2022—it is with the joy and the confidence that comes from knowing He is with you.[2]
We’ve been leaving little challenges in our January blogs—remember this well-known saying “Love God, love people?”
Here is your challenge this week…
Show love to someone on your heart. Send a card in the mail, leave a treat on a neighbours doorstep, make a call, send a bible verse, there are a thousand and one ways to show love, so let’s show ❤️ the ACOP way!
- https://acop.ca/facing-2022-with-confidence-anticipation/ —by Rev. Wes Mills
- Ibid.