11-4-2015

Good Morning All!!

           Isaiah 7:14; “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

    The nation of Judah was in trouble.  The nation of Israel was destroyed and the same fate awaited Judah.  The prophet Isaiah was trying to speak to King Ahaz who had turned from God and was seeking alliances with other super powers in the region.  In order to avoid the Assyrians, he is looking to Babylon for aid.  It was tough on the king, negotiations were not going well.  Judah was small and had no leverage to bargain with.  Rumors on the streets of Jerusalem were running rampant.  The people were losing hope in a hurry.  The king was going the wrong way; the leadership of their church was absent.  It seemed that faith was gone.  It seemed that God was gone.

    So Isaiah goes to the king and says even if you don’t trust God, even if you don’t believe in God; God still loves his people and is still faithful to his promises.  He will give you a sign even though you didn’t ask, even though you don’t believe.  God is going to give you a sign of his love the birth of a son to a virgin and his name is Immanuel.

    Immanuel.  It would have brought about thoughts of better times for the poor soul wandering the streets of Jerusalem.  The good ol’ days, Camelot, whatever you want to call it; because to the average person on the street the name Immanuel carried meaning.  Immanuel- God with us.  It spoke to God setting up his tent and living in the middle of our encampment.  It reminded the people of how God went with the children of Israel in the wilderness and protected and provided for the people.  Protection and provision would have sounded pretty good to the people of Jerusalem especially when they faced the siege of their city and the starvation they were soon to face.  Immanuel, just the sound of the name brings about comfort and hope because when there is “Immanuel” we are not alone; we do not face the great enemy by ourselves; we have God’s loving provision and protection.

    This means the same thing to us today.  There are those around us who look to false gods and look to selfish ways that always lead to pain, sorrow and sadness.  These ideas may seem to be appealing but they always fail and leave us alone.  It is at these times of loneliness and sadness that we desire Immanuel; we desire God’s presence in our life.  Because of God’s wondrous grace, he blesses us with his loving protection and his gracious provision.  We lack nothing.  In the darkest hour, in the time of greatest pain we are not alone; we have Immanuel- God dwelling with us.

Gracious Father, at the times of my deepest distress you are there.  At the times of my greatest joy you are there.  You are always with us.  Your grace sustains us.  Your mercy uplifts us in all that we face.  Continue to make your presence known.  Continue to give us hope.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret