Grace: Immanuel, God is with us
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23
The prophet Isaiah prophesied the birth of Christ thousands of years before the Messiah was born. The writer of Matthew’s gospel refers to this old prophets words. Interestingly Jesus was named “Immanuel” long before He was even conceived. This means “God is with us.” Think about this for a moment, God! All powerful, invincible, eternal in nature, One who is altogether holy, descends and takes the form of sinful man to live and walk among us. If that does not qualify as an Act of Grace what will?
Who will enjoy an act of grace from you today? Look out for opportunities, there are many.
Tell us about your Acts of Grace below, or share some thoughts about today’s scripture.
God provided an opportunity for me to bless a couple today.They were walking along Highway 67 with bags of groceries on the shoulder that’s heavily snow-covered. I felt a sense in my spirit that I should stop offer them a ride home wherever that may be but I was reluctant, for safety reasons.I prayed about it turned around went back and discovered the man has had double hip surgery. Was walking with much difficulty I drove them home and gave them a small Christmas gift.
It is so cool how God works. I was prompted by God to start acts of grace in the beginning of December by giving out Tim Horton’s gift cards to people in need. I have been able to that at least 4 times since then.
Through doing this it has given me a better sense of when God wants me to give and to whom. Yesterday a customer of mine lost heat in their home due to their furnace breaking down. They said they needed some heater to heat the home till they got it replaced. I wanted to help right away by borrowing them a heater but as I drove away from their house I knew I could do more and show them an act of grace. So I took care of it for them.
Thank you for sharing. I know what it’s like to loose heat in the winter. That’s so encouraging. More grace to you.
Listen to the one for Dec 21! Grace-giving
https://www.insightforliving.ca/listen/lifetrac
In addition to acts of grace items. I’d like to share.. I’m convinced that Christmas is the most wonderful time of year because it’s worship to Jesus.. non-believers singing about the saviour everywhere! If they could know that they can feel that way 365 days a year by accepting him!!
This morning while waiting in my car for Costco to open (yes, u am one of those people ????) I chatted with an elderly man next to me about how he has a hard time sleeping. So I shared with him that when I need something I ask God. And that the bible says God gives sleep to the ones He loves. So he can say “you love me God, so please help me sleep”
I pray these words will sink in and he will sleep more than 2 hours tonight!!
Wow that’s powerful. It’s so interesting how we meet people everyday who open up and talk about their problems. One thing I get from your story is how you pointed to God as the solution. And Amen! May the seed you planted grow.
I was able to give a copy of a powerful book I read recently titled “Rescue” by Jim Cymballa to a brother and sister including spending time with them for coffee at Starbucks. The time spent talking with a 20 and 18 year old was a blessing. It reminded me of my own children. It felt good to do an act of grace. Now I need help to do more of things like this in the 2019.
We have our cards and baking to our 13 surrounding neighbors yesterday! We had fun!
This is lovely. There is a feeling of thankfulness that comes when we engage our neighbours. 13 is a lot of people to visit and deliver baked goods to. Thank you for sharing