28 June | Youth
«Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.» Isaiah 7:14
Let us take a look back. In the gospel, it is like John is saying: “Trust in Jesus. He is who He says He is. Life is about knowing Him.” In Revelation, his summary message could be: “You have not seen anything yet. You will be thrown into the eye of the storm. But everything is under control because the Lamb of the cross is the Lion of Heaven. Do not give up!” And in his epistles, John makes an invitation: “Little children, learn to walk as Jesus walked. Draw near to Him and enjoy His greatest joy.”
God's plan is in order. You can call it the Emanuel Plan. God is with us. He always planned to be. God is with us now. He will be with us at the end. Only those who believe in Jesus, trust in Him and learn to walk with Him at every step of the journey enjoy this blessing.
Christianity is a lifestyle marked by communion with God, who shares His grace to all who believe. And trusting Him is a journey of faith. Knowing Him is like meeting a friend. I can tell you about my best friend. I can give details about him: where he lives, what he likes to do and the qualities that make me like him. But you will never be able to love my friend like I do, because you do not know him. You will only learn to love Jesus when you know Him personally.
Jesus is not by your side only when things are going well and you are living in holiness. He is with you not because of who you are, but because of who He is. His love is unconditional. His promise to his disciples is still valid: “I will always be with you.” Why is Jesus with us? Because He is Emmanuel, God with us. All the time.
No matter what I have been through, He's with me. Even if it does not make sense, He is with me. Even if I cannot understand every detail, He is with me. No matter what anyone says, He is with me. No matter what my feelings are, He is with me. No matter what my pain says, no matter what my bank account says, He is by my side. In the darkest part of the journey, what keeps us full of life is the certainty that God is with us.
What would happen if all those who claim to be followers of Jesus decided to live as if Jesus was actually with them? You may be just the person He is looking for today to be a Friend.