God is with us!
Devotional Text
God is with us—these four words strike terror in the heart of our enemies! How it must have disturbed hell the day the Lord proclaimed the sign: “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel—‘God is with us’ ” (Isaiah 7:14). When the angel announced to Mary that she would conceive a son (Luke 1:31), he referred to Isaiah’s prophecy of the One who would rule with “fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David” (Isaiah 9:7). This special child, as foretold by Isaiah, would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (v. 6). The Messiah’s arrival would mean that “the people who walk in darkness will see a great light—a light that will shine on all who live in the land where death casts its shadow” (v. 2). How perfectly this prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus stepped onto the shores of “Galilee of the Gentiles” (v. 1) and began to undo the works of darkness! Whatever darkness or trouble you are in today, remember that God came in human flesh, born of a virgin, to signal Satan’s defeat and the reign of God’s kingdom. Immanuel— “God with us”— is here to stay, and He is now living in you!