Episode Transcript
Hello and welcome to another episode of Worldwide Wonderful Women. I am your host, Paula Harris, and this podcast is for women who are all about learning how to live in God's divine power. It is produced on behalf of Transformed Worldwide Ministries. Thank you so much for being here.
Season's Greetings the title of this episode is God With Us.
When you woke up this morning, did you sense God's presence with you? Did you even acknowledge his presence? As you go through your day, are you aware of his being with you? Do you see his working on your behalf in your daily activities?
There's a prophecy recorded in Isaiah, Chapter 7, verse 14, and this is what it says "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel."
Now this prophecy in Isaiah foretold of a unique birth. First of all it says, behold, the virgin shall conceive. Now that's a unique birth. And then it told the sex of the child shall bear a son, and then it told the name of the child and his name shall be Emmanuel.
Now in the book of Matthew, we get further insight. In Matthew, Chapter 1, verses 18 to 25, it states,
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets, saying, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus."
Now there's a lot in here which I as a teacher would love to expound upon, but I basically want to concentrate on the name Immanuel, which Matthew gives us further insight, which means God with us. So the Book of Matthew is letting us know that Emmanuel is a Hebrew word meaning "God with us." Now there's no record as far as I am aware of, of Jesus ever being called Immanuel while on earth; he was always called Jesus. Now the name Jesus means "God is salvation or God saves." Now we know that Jesus came to earth so that we could see the very evidence of God being with us.
Well, for what reason? For the very purpose of saving us. So Jesus is God and the ministry that he has is saving people from their sin. And the only way that that could be accomplish was for God himself to come down to be with us. Yes, Immanuel, God with us. So in Jesus God came to us and lives in our world and he identifies with us in every way.
Now knowing that and understanding that he is with us and that in and of ourselves we could not go to him or even live in the heavenly realms without him, should cause us to be grateful and thankful as we come into this season where we acknowledge Jesus. He was able to come from his heavenly realm and to come down to earth to identify with us and to reveal to us that God is with us constantly. Jesus doesn't take us out of our trials and pains of daily living. He walks with us in the midst of them. He helps us to have the strength, the counsel, the endurance and the wisdom needed to be victorious in spite of them.
So the salvation that Jesus brings is not an escape from the world, but God's ability to deliver us while in the world. You know, in looking back over my life I can definitely see the evidence of God being with me, whether in good times or bad.
Just for example, I can see his working in my life to bring me into full time ministry. When I was younger or many years ago, I began to teach to little children in Sunday school and I really enjoyed it. And I began, what I realized now, to develop my spiritual gift of teaching. And what happened was I taught the children. And then one day I was approached to teach the teens. Well, that frightened me to teach the teens. I didn't know whether I could handle their challenges or not. But then I began to teach the teens. And then I was approached and asked to teach women. And so I began to teach women. And then they began to go out and tell other women of the way that I taught, where I took the Word of God and broke it down in a practical way where they could understand it. And that is how I began to go out and to teach and speak all over. It wasn't something that I had set out to do, but I can see now that God was with me. He was training me, delivering and teaching and developing me. So That I could one day come to a point of having comfort, knowing that he was with me and I wasn't by myself, so that I could teach and travel and speak and share His Word.
And there are so many ways throughout the day that God reveals Himself and shows that he's with me, just in little ways. I can go to a grocery store, and the very things that I needed, I can find on sale. And I really give God the praise and thank him when that happens. Also, I can be in a rush or have a little bit of time, and I need a parking spot. And here God will open up a parking spot just when I need it. Then I know there are times when maybe my heart might be sad or there's something that is troubling me and God may have someone call or write to cheer me up. There are so many ways in which we can see God's hand and his presence being with us.
There's a passage that is very dear to my heart, one that I've committed to memory, and I'd like to share it with you. The New King James Version states it this way. And the passage first of all, I should tell you where it's found. It's in Deuteronomy, Chapter 31, verse 8. And this is what it says in the New King James. "And the Lord, he is the one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you, nor forsake you. Do not fear, nor be dismayed."
Then I also like how the New Living Translation states this verse. It says, "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will never fail you nor abandon you." And so I am just so thankful that God wanted to make sure that we understood that he did all that he could in his love to come down here to let us know through Jesus Christ that He is with us. So whether we acknowledge it or not, God is with us. You, my dear, are important to Him. He truly values you enough to send his only begotten Son to deliver you, whether you understand your need for deliverance or not.
If you have not, will you start to acknowledge his presence with you throughout the day? Will you let him know that you see him and appreciate his never leaving you alone?
I trust that you will. I trust that you will begin to look at ways in which you can see the evidence of God being with you, of going before you, of never leaving you, nor forsaking you, so that you don't have to be fearful. You don't have to be dismayed because he has promised to never fail you nor abandon you. Now remember, we could have never been able to make our way to God and to develop a right relationship with him because that was impossible for us. He did the impossible by coming down to us, to reveal Himself to us, to make Himself known to us, and to give us the comfort and the assurance of knowing that he would always be with us. Not that he was going to take away the trials or all the pain, but that in the midst of the trials and the pain, he would be with us, to walk with us and to help us to come through.
Well, although we here at Transformed Worldwide Ministries cannot be with you constantly, we appreciate it when you do listen to these podcasts monthly and we hope that you will visit our website, which is going to be announced at the end of this podcast. And just realize, even though we're not with you constantly, our God is Emmanuel. God is with us. And again, we all want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you. And just remember, God is with you. And for that purpose you can smile; Jesus loves you!
Thank you for listening. To make sure you do not miss any future episodes, please subscribe to our podcast. We want all to be able to live in God's divine power. Also sign up for our monthly newsletter on our website, twmforjesus.org. Please do share our podcast with others and Lord willing, we'll be together next month.
