With

The Christian author AW Tozer once said that – far beyond any personality test score, family background or personal interest – what someone thinks about God most defines who they are.

So it’s significant that the prophet Isaiah gave God a special name: “Emmanuel”.  Literally, it means, “God with us.”

Isaiah’s point is that God is not a bearded-old-man ruling from a throne far away – no, God is our companion Lord, walking with us through every joy and challenge.

And since we’re made in His image, God calls each of us to be with others in the unresolved highs and lows of their lives — not to fix nor help them, but to sit with and listen until we spot traces of Emmanuel, the God who is with them.

More on the topic:

• Why many of our Christmas songs miss the mark of the fullest truth of Emmanuel.
• Pastor Sam Wells speaks powerfully of living “with” God (rather than ‘for’ Him!).
• A riff on AW Tozer’s line on the importance of our view of who God is.
• And Pastor Sam Wells again, on how to pray “with” God.