God “is” “With Us”. “Is” meaning ; “existing in this moment of time“, and “the substance, characteristics, and/or character of a thing”. God “is” a “right now”, “in this moment” God; alive, active and available to us. His “substance”, “characteristics”, and “character” is “With Us”.But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,…..” Hebrews 11:6
Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV)
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Matthew 1:18-25 (NKJV)
18-21 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 will save His people from their sins.”
22-23 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, 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.”
24-25 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 till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
“Immanuel”: “with us is God,” (New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). We understand that this is a name which refers to Jesus, and which is usually interpreted as “God with us”. In using “God with us” as a name for Jesus, a name for God, and a description of the nature of God, we need to relate this to John 1:1 & 14; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”, as well as Hebrews 1:3 which states that Jesus is “the exact representation” of God’s nature.
Is it not comforting and reassuring that God is with us at every moment, and that He has said that He would never leave us, nor forsake us? No matter what the situation, or the circumstances, God is with us. HOWEVER, there is something else we must understand and not misinterpret: just because God is “with us” in every situation and circumstance, does not mean that the situation we are in is someplace that He necessarily wants us to be. He is “with us” even though that is not where He wants us to be.
It is nice to know that God “is”; “with us”, “My Shepherd”, “the God Who Sees Me”, “My Provider”, “My Redeemer”, “My Helper”, etc., etc.; BUT is He also “The God to Whom I Listen to and Obey 24/7/365”? How many times have we missed an opportunity and said to ourselves; “I ‘knew’ I should have done that”, or made a mistake and said; “I ‘knew’ I shouldn’t have done that”? Possibly more times that any of us would like to admit.
How did we “know” beforehand that we should, or shouldn’t do something? Quite possibly because God was “with us”, and His “still small voice” was giving us instructions, trying to guide us in the path He wanted us to go. He was “with us”, and He was trying to guide us along “His plan” for our lives.
Unfortunately, there are those times in our lives when “My Way” takes precedence over “His Way” and we wander “off track”. He will still be “with us”, as we wander in the wilderness of our choosing, and He will still be lovingly trying to correct our course. He may not be “happy” with us, but He still loves us and He is still “with us”; we must never forget that. We may need to work on our “listening skills” and our “willingness to be obedient” as He guides us; because He is always “with us” even when we don’t “hear” Him.
Our concept of His “isness”; the manner in which we define His nature, substance, characteristics, and character, and the way we “receive” His “isness” into our life and depend on (have faith in) it, will be the role that we “anticipate/expect” or “will allow” God to play in our lives.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,…..” God “is” “With Us”.
*** Fred Wilson *** is an author, former coach, teacher and Life and Liberty News Contributor
