God. With. Us.

        "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoke by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name, Immanuel' (which means 'God with us'). (Mt.1:23)
        "God with us."  Have you really considered what this means? Right this moment, in the midst of the frenzy to celebrate Christmas (though the world has no idea we're celebrating the birthday of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords), can't we pause for a moment of Sabbath sanity to consider anew this astounding, life and destiny altering truth--God. With. Us. 
       Have we perhaps lost sight of the wonder of who He is and why He came in the midst of all the busyness and craziness? Well then, let me remind you--as I've reminded myself--God with us.
       The God who is with us is the Almighty, all-glorious, omnipotent, omniscient Creator and Sustainer of all that we see and of the most unimaginably distant galaxies and the tiniest, most infinitesimal atomic structure.  Yes, that Lord of glory and wonder and perfection and steadfast love and grace and holiness and compassion, He is "God with us."  God with you.  Right now.  Whether you're mired in the midst of the deepest sorrow or sailing along the wings of wondrous joy.  Whether you're stuck in the muddy middle of some challenge or difficulty that seems to have no end or coming home to promising beginnings or happy completions. 
         On your very best day, He is "God with us."  And on your very worst, when you've failed and forgotten Him and given up and maybe even quit, well, He is still "God with us. " Ever-faithful. Ever-forgiving. Ever-loving.  Ever-sustaining.  The God of fresh starts and new mercies, day or night. The God of "Let's begin again, right here, right now, because I am with you and for you and in you. I am Immanuel, God with us."
         Oh how overwhelmed and thankful I am that He is "God with us."  But let me close with the powerful words of Charles Spurgeon.  Please read slowly and savor and then pause to thank the Lord that He is God. With. Us.  Always and forever.  Spurgeon writes--
           "This is his name, 'God with us,'—God with us, by his incarnation, for the august Creator of the world did walk upon this globe; he who made ten thousand orbs, each of them more mighty and more vast than this earth, became the inhabitant of this tiny atom. He, who was from everlasting to everlasting, came to this world of time, and stood upon the narrow neck of land betwixt the two unbounded seas. 'God with us': he has not lost that name – Jesus had that name on earth, and he has it now in heaven. He is now 'God with us.' Believer, he is God with thee, to protect thee; thou art not alone, because the Saviour is with thee. Put me in the desert, where vegetation grows not; I can still say, 'God with us.' Put me on the wild ocean, and let my ship dance madly on the waves; I would still say, 'Immanuel, God with us.' Mount me on the sunbeam, and let me fly beyond the western sea; still I would say, 'God with us.' Let my body dive down into the depths of the ocean, and let me hide in its caverns; still I could, as a child of God, say, 'God with us.' Ay, and in the grave, sleeping there in corruption, still I can see the footmarks of Jesus; he trod the path of all his people, and still his name is 'God with us.'"
          Praise You, Lord, praise You, our Immanuel--God with us--and to You be all the glory.