The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’. – Matthew 1:23
(The New Jerusalem Bible)
Jesus states: I am Immanuel. My name means God with you. And that is who I am. I am God, and I am always with you, constantly watching over you. You are surrounded by My Love and My Presence. There is nothing that can ever separate you from Me – not even the worst of troubles. Some people feel closest to Me during happy times, when they can see My blessings and sing My praises. Others feel closest to Me in times of trouble – when their trust in Me helps them feel My hand leading them to safety. But both the troubles and the joys are My gifts to you. Each day I provide just what you need, to draw closer to Me.
Jesus concludes: Try to see everything that happens as My gift designed just for you. This helps you to be thankful – even in times of trouble.
Matthew 1:23; Psalm 34:5; Colossians 2:6-7 Study Notes
Footnotes Matthew 1:23 Jesus is both a legitimate son of David through Joseph and the Son of God conceived through the Holy Spirit by a virgin-mother. The reference to the Holy Spirit clearly suggests that the generation of Jesus is the result of a creative act of God.
The name expresses the essence of the person who carries it. The Gospel of Matthew begins with this name “Emmanuel” and ends with the promise of the risen Jesus: “I am with you”.
Passage Psalm 34:5 Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright you will never hang your head in shame.
Footnotes Psalm 34:5 Let our experience be that of the poor and the humble. God is near to those who have no other support but him. When there will be no assurance, God will be obliged to take charge of those to whom he owes fidelity.
It is the experience of a wise, poor man feeling loved by the Lord and experiencing the joy and the fruits of His fidelity.
Passage Colossians 2:6-7 6So then, as you received Jesus as Lord and Christ, now live your lives in him, 7be rooted in him and built up on him, held firm by the faith you have been taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving.
Footnotes Colossians 2:6-7 It is in Christ, Son of God, that we find the whole mystery of God.
Philosophies always contains some truth but they are deceptive insofar as they come from philosophers who have in fact had either a limited or a questionable experience of human reality. While all the currents of thought are the product of their day and grow old with the time, we are assured that all the fullness of God, the Truth, is in Christ.
The call to the authentic message is not superfluous if one thinks of the many spreaders of false theories. We intend to remember to keep the sane doctrine, that is the evangelical, apostolic teachings from which to draw the behavioral norms. The Eucharistic attitude of thanksgiving is always an expression of a relationship with the divine.
THE WORLD…we see history
EARLY PRESIDENTS & SCHOLARS LIVING BY PSALMS 119:105 THE
BIBLE IS A LAMP TO OUR FEET AND A LIGHT TO OUR PATH
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. Promoted lieutenant-general, in 1864, Grant led the Union Army in winning the American Civil War in 1865, thereafter he served as Commanding General.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
“Hold fast to the Bible,” wrote Ulysses S. Grant on June 6, 1872, “as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives.”
“In regard to this Great Book,” wrote Abraham Lincoln in a letter dated September 7, 1864, “I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book.”
The Bible is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; when it burns low, our culture grows dark. The best way to keep America strong is to know her history, to honor her roots, to preserve her legacy, and to cherish the eternal God who, in His providence, placed this continent between two shimmering seas, and who, in His goodness, provided a Book that became her moral and intellectual foundation: the Holy Bible.