Our God Is With Us

   Our God is uniquely different from other gods in countless ways, and one of those ways is His names. Most gods are known by one, or a few at the most. Our God, the one true God has a very long list of names.

  A lot of those names mean something different, and it seems to be His way of showing us He is whatever we need Him to be. The Old Testament alone has several different names for God, and then along came the New Testament and the birth of Jesus, and long with His birth came a whole new list of names:
Savior
Counselor
Good shepherd
Prince of Peace

  There's a chorus we used to sing at church called "He'll Be to You". It went like this:
“He’ll be to you just what you need Him to
He’ll be your Savior, a Comfort, and your Friend
He’ll be your help in time of trouble
If you’re bound, He’ll set you free
He’ll be to you what you need Him to be.”

  There are times we need a rock. Other times we need a father. He is those and so much more, and depending on where are and what we are going through, a different name may mean more to us at different times of life than others. Whatever we are going through, there is a name of God that we can latch on to and know He is there and isn't a God for just certain times and circumstances.

  Most of us probably have one name that means more to us than others. It could be because of something that happened and that one name became special, and will always remain special. Or one name may just stand out to us, as it signifies what we need most in and from God.

  I have one. Among all of the names of God, there is one that really stands out to me, and in a way encompasses most of them: Emmanuel. We hear it most at this time of the year, for it is when it became reality: God with us.

  I'm not sure why this name of God gets consigned to Christmas. Yes, Christmas is when God became flesh and for the first time, was with us...... but He still is. He's not a God who is off in Heaven watching from afar. He is here, with us. In us. Emmanuel.

  There are a lot of great names for God, but would they mean as much without this one? If God wasn't with us, would it mean as much that He was our Rock, our Shepherd, our Father? He is far and beyond any other god man has come up with in feeble attempts to worship something or someone else. Some of their gods were men and were with them briefly, and not all the time and everywhere. Our God is with us 24/7, no matter where we are, no matter where we go. He is there. With us.

  There's a Christmas song Steven Curtis Chapman wrote and recorded some years back that I love. T He captures the idea  of what Emanuel, God with us means to us:
And our God is with us, Emmanuel.
He’s come to save us, Emmanuel.
And we will never face life alone
Now that God has made Himself known,
As Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel.
 
  The line in the chorus that grabs me every time I hear it is "And we will never face life alone
Now that God has made Himself known"..... and therein may lie one of the reasons this name means so much to me: life can be lonely, especially if you're single, though single people don't have a corner on loneliness..... but if God is in our hearts, we will never face life alone. Emmanuel....... our God is with is, was with us, and will always be.

Our God Is With Us by Steven Curtis Chapman

Verse 1 One of us is cryin’ as our hopes and dreams are led away in chains,
And we’re left all alone;
One of us is dyin’ as our love is slowly lowered in the grave,
Oh and we’re left all alone.
But for all of us who journey through the dark abyss of loneliness
There comes a great announcement - we are never alone -
For the maker of each heart that breaks, the giver of each breath we take
Has come to earth and given hope it’s birth.

CHORUS
And our God is with us, Emmanuel.
He’s come to save us, Emmanuel.
And we will never face life alone
Now that God has made Himself known,
As Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel.


Verse 2
He spoke with prophets’ voices and showed Himself in a cloud of fire,
But no one had seen His face;
Until the One Most Holy revealed to us His perfect heart’s desire,
And left His rightful place;
And in one glorious moment, all eternity was shaken,
As God broke through the darkness that had kept us apart.
And with love that conquers loneliness, and hope that fills all emptiness
He came to earth to show our worth.

(chorus)


So rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel has come!
And our God is with us, Emmanuel.
He’s come to save us, Emmanuel.
And we will never face life alone
Now that God has made Himself known,
As Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel.
Our God is with us, Emmanuel!