“…She will give birth to a son…

And they will call him Immanuel…

Which means ‘God is with us.’”

Matthew 1:23 (NLT)

There was once a man sitting in his living room by the fireplace on a cold winter’s day.  Outside, snow was falling and had already covered the ground.

The man heard a tapping on the window and turned to see a small bird pecking at the glass with its beak.  It was lost and cold, suffering out in the bitter weather.

Feeling sorry for the bird, the man walked outside so that he could help it inside and save its life.  But when he came close to the bird, it got scared and flew away.

So the man went inside once again, realizing that his plan to help the bird had failed.

A few minutes later as the man rested by the warm fire, he heard once again the sound of tapping on the window.

He turned to see the same bird trying to get into the house and escape the freezing cold weather outside.

This time as the man walked onto the front lawn he saw many other birds also trying to find warmth.  One by one he came close to them, trying to help, but each of them got scared and few away.

Frustrated, the man walked back inside.  “If only I could become a bird,” he thought.  “Then I could speak their language.  They would know that I am only trying to help them and save their lives.”

After Adam and Eve sinned, they began to die.  Since then, we’ve been like those little birds—lost and suffering in our sin.  Every time God has tried to come close and take us into His loving care, we’ve run away from Him.

    Like the man trying to save the birds, God had to find a way to become one of us, to speak our language and help us to understand Him.

So He sent His son Jesus, who is just like Him, to come and live on this earth with us.

Just like that man left the comfort of the fireplace to go out into the cold and try to help the birds, Jesus left His home in Heaven to come to this earth to save us.

Jesus spoke our language and told us of God’s love for us.

He told us that God wants to take us in as His children.

            One of the names of Jesus is Immanuel.

That means “God is with us.”

God came to us as a person, as Jesus, and walked on this earth.

He understands us and He loves us.

Instead of running away from God, we need to run to Him.

Remember, Jesus is God with us.

Someone e-mailed me this photo…I’m sorry I don’t know who the photographer is…but I love it!

“How precious is your unfailing love, O God!  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 36:7 (NLT)

“He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust…”

Psalm 91:4