MORNING MANNA 12-20-21
IMMANUEL
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”– Matt. 28:18-20
God has always been omnipresent—present in all places at the same time. But when Jesus came to Earth, He was not only present; He took on human flesh and experienced life as we experience it. And although Jesus returned to Heaven when His work was complete, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within those who receive Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit is the “earnest” or “down payment” of God’s promise to bring us to Heaven, and we have the assurance that He will never leave us.- – – This very real presence of God is a continuing, ongoing, and necessary gift as we live and work for God. Thus, the presence of God did not depart when Christ ascended. Instead He left His promise to always be with us.
Charles Spurgeon said, “Immanuel—God with us is eternity’s sonnet, Heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of the angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky. How could anyone preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor if that one word were taken away? Immanuel—God with us.”
The world tells us that we are alone. The devil tempts us to think, like Elijah, that there aren’t any faithful people left. Yet God is always with us. He is there to give us strength and guidance and power as we work for Him in the world. That will never change. Jesus may no longer be physically present in the world, but His Spirit is always with us. God’s presence is just as surely with us today as it was with the disciples when Jesus was here on Earth. ( Daily in the Word).
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
www.lakewaybaptist.org
