EMMANUEL – Sunday March 29th 2015

EMMANUEL 

Memorise: Thus saith the LORD of hosts; in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you. Zechariah 8:23

Read: Matthew 1:18-25; Bible in one year: Micah 1-4, Matthew 10:40-11:19

One reason why the Holy Spirit caused the Gospel of Matthew to be written is to show that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies concerning the Messiah. One of such prophesies is found in Isaiah 7:14n which says,

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

This prophecy was shown to be fulfilled by Jesus in our Bible reading today. One of the key points of this prophecy is that Jesus will be referred to as Emmanuel. The name Emmanuel means “God with us”. There is nothing as good as when God is with a person. God is the eternal, independent, self- existing Being. He is the Being whose purpose and actions spring from Himself without any external influence. God is absolute in dominion and infinitely benevolent. He alone is the cause of all existence and the upholder of all things. Numerous benefits accrue from the presence of God. One advantage of having God with you is that no force, known or unknown can successfully detract you from fulfilling destiny (Romans 8:31-32)

For you to fully key into the revelation of “God with us”, you need to understand who God is. God revealed who He is in discrete parts through His redemptive Names to the saints of old. He said to Moses in Exodus 6:3:

“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.”

An understanding of His redemptive Names gives us insight into His personality and allows us to profit from the consciousness that this personality is with us.

God is the Elshaddai: He is the All-Sufficient One. This means that He has enough resources to meet all your needs – be it spiritual, physical, emotional or psychological. Also, God is Jehovah Jireh: the Great Provider. He has the ability to turn your austerity to prosperity and poverty to wealth (Philippians 4:19). Another Name for God is Jehovah Rapha: the Healer. Are you sick? He has the ability to cure you of all ailments – be it pathological, soul sickness or spiritual sickness. God is also Jehovah Nissi: He is the Man of War. Are you facing any battle? The Almighty God has the ability to fight all of your battles for you and to grant you total victory. Are the enemies of your life mammoth? Turn to Jehovah Nissi today. Let be your Emmanuel. I prophesy that you will experience victory in all the battles of your life in Jesus Name.

Action Point

Consciously carry the presence of God along with you wherever you go.