Tag: Immanuel

Links for the Weekend (2025-12-05)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Somebody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

Advent may have special meaning for those with chronic conditions, for Advent reminds us that Jesus entered our world as “the ultimate expression of sympathy and care.”

Christians can go boldly to the throne of grace because Jesus stepped willingly into our crucible of grief. He knows what we need because, in his humanity, he once needed it himself. The old spiritual originally lamented, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen; Nobody knows my sorrows.” But happily, along the way, someone noticed the flawed theology and changed the last two words: “Nobody knows, but Jesus.”

Don’t Think Lower Thoughts of Yourself than God Does

Those who are prone to mean and hateful thoughts about themselves will especially appreciate this article. Tim Challies’ list of what God thinks about us is worth framing.

And invariably, God’s judgment of me is far more favorable than my judgment of myself. He sees me as someone he loves, someone he cares for, someone he is proud of, someone he does not condemn. He thinks only the highest thoughts of me. He does not loathe, condemn, or despise me, but loves me with all the love he has for his very own Son, for, by the gospel, I am in his Son. And who am I to disagree with his assessment?

Stay Put and Make Disciples

This is a plea to aging saints to, when possible, invest in the places they’ve been for so many years.

For decades, God has been preparing you for these golden years. They are golden. You’ve never had so much life experience. And if you’ve been faithful and walked by the Spirit, you’ve never had more wisdom. You’ve lived long enough to appreciate the energy of youth, and you’ve seen the pivotal place of godly patience in tempering that enthusiasm. Oh, how our young adults need your perspective, guidance, and counsel.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Immanuel: God with Us

Posted onAuthorCharissa Rychcik

I recently read the book Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel. The book is helpful in outlining a strategy to journal intimately with God. Although I enjoyed reading about the strategy and have practiced it a few times, the bigger take away from the book for me was a deep dive into Exodus 3:7-8a (emphasis mine).

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

God not only saw and heard his people. He cared for them and ensured he was with them. He also showed compassion towards them by doing something for them.

God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Therefore, this same God sees us, hears us, knows us, is with us, and will do something for us in our times of struggle!

God sees

God sees us without judgment. He sees our smiles and our tears. He sees our stomachs in knots, our pacing, our nail biting, and kind gestures towards others. As Genesis 16:13 reminds us, God sees all of us. “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

God hears

God not only hears our verbal utterances, but he hears our thoughts and words unspoken. He hears our sighs and grumbles, and he hears our thanks and praises. While listening, he does not condemn us and continues to love us. Isaiah 6:24 reiterates the promise that God hears us. “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

God knows and understands

God understands how big and hard our challenges are. He does not minimize our struggles and continues to care for us. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

God is with us

One of God’s names is Immanuel, which means God with us. He met the Israelites in their time of struggle, and he does the same for us. He is glad to be with us and treats our weaknesses tenderly. Psalm 139:1 gives us reason to rejoice in this promise. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!”

God cares for us tangibly

God moved the people out of Egypt; he tangibly met their needs. We can lean on the many Scriptural promises that God cares for us and will meet our needs. Romans 8:31 is one example of many promises. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Immanuel

I’m grateful to serve a God who takes the time to intimately know me. He could be a God who only rules perfectly from heaven, and yet he makes himself known to me through Christ and the Holy Spirit by knowing the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:31), knowing me before I was created in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), and being a God who is true to his Scripture promise in Exodus 3. He is a God who sees me, hears me, knows and understands me, is with me, and cares for me. Alleluia!

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Immanuel: The Story of Christmas

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22–23)

I have contended that we can summarize the entire story of the Bible with the name Immanuel. Thus, Immanuel is more than the story of Christmas, but it is certainly not less.

God with us

The inescapable, mind-bending miracle of Christmas is that God became man. The one who breathed humanity into existence took human breaths as a baby.

The reason is not particularly romantic. The Creator set the rules in the garden and we set them aflame. Divine action was the only path to reunion.

We did not need a superhero, a military general, or a crowd-rousing activist; we needed God himself to come. To breathe. To cough and walk and laugh and cry in our midst. We needed Jesus to do all that we could not and would not do.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

God with us

We once had easy access to and comfortable fellowship with God in the garden. Adam and Eve were with God before the curse was found anywhere.

God has come near at times after Eden. He visited patriarchs, delivered stone tablets, and filled temples. But even those who knew God intimately experienced profound, confusing distance from him.

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)

On this side of eternity, we have a longing to be home, to once again walk with the God who made us. We want to be with God, without any of the danger and panic such an encounter arouses within sinners.

Even as the Son of God came, he was with us for a mere moment. Jesus died. God was with us temporarily so that God might be with us (by his Spirit) and so that his people might be with him permanently.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

God with us

Christmas brings about community almost by definition. Immanuel means God with us, not God with me.

We all relate to God individually, but we don’t relate to him alone. Those who are God’s are brought into a community and family.

We are no longer alone. God is with us, and by virtue of God being with us, others are with us too. This may not be a physical reality for some Christians now, but it is a mystical truth and a coming reality. Christmas means the dawning of the end of loneliness.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14–16)

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