 The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of December 22, 2014
Immanuel Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Beloved, Immanuel is a Hebrew word meaning "God is with us." We find that the Gospel writer Matthew who addressed primarily a Jewish audience, referred to a prophecy from the Old Testament, more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus, in Isaiah 7:14: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” {Matthew 1:22-23} Jesus Christ fulfilled that prophecy because he was fully man yet still fully God. He came to live in Israel with his people, as Isaiah had foretold. The name Jesus, incidentally, or Yeshua in Hebrew, means, "The LORD is salvation.” The word Immanuel appears only three times in Scripture: Isaiah 7:14, 8:8, and Matthew 1:23, yet we find numerous other references to God being with us. Before his ascension to heaven, Jesus made this promise to his followers: "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20). That promise is repeated in the last book of the Bible, in Revelation 21:3. Before Jesus returned to heaven, he told his followers that the Holy Spirit would dwell with them: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, (John 14:16). Again, God the Holy Spirit will be with us. Beloved, remember the promise given to us hundreds of years ago from Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This week remember that Jesus is Immanuel and He is ALWAYS with us! I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you! In Him, Pastor Joe
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 The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of December 15, 2014
To Us: Isaiah 9:6- “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Beloved, what would you like for Christmas? Guess what? I have the perfect gift for you and your family and it is found in Isaiah 9:6. His name is Jesus. Let’s explore the greatness of this gift. First thing is that “a child is born,” and a “son is given.” Beloved, Jesus Christ, was born and given to us as a free gift to bear the governing of this world for, “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” More importantly Jesus was given to die on the cross for our sins. Secondly, how about a wonderful counselor? Jesus is just that. When we need someone to talk to, someone to lay and release our burdens upon, we can go to Jesus. He is a wonderful counselor who sympathizes with our weaknesses and is an ever-present help in time of need. Jesus is also our Mighty God. Beloved, when we have a situation that is too big, too difficult and too overwhelming, we have a mighty God who is more than able to meet our needs! Jesus is also our everlasting father! He is always present for us and will never leave us nor forsake us. In fact we are told that we can call our everlasting Father, Abba Father or “Daddy.” Jesus is also our Prince of Peace. Beloved, does your household need peace? Are there times in the lives of your family that you need the Prince of Peace to show up? We can have that peace that passes understanding when we have Jesus. Therefore, our gift this year is a, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Beloved, I need all of those characteristics of Christ in my life. What I desire this year for Christmas is simply to have more of Jesus in my life. My prayer for you is that Jesus would be your, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.” I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you! In Him, Pastor Joe  The Word of Grace Devotion for the week of December 8, 2014
WORSHIP Matthew 2:10-11, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” Beloved, as Oscar Gallegos was leading us in prayer this past Sunday morning he said something that stuck with me. Oscar said, “We need to remind ourselves that Jesus is our Christmas!” Yes Beloved, Jesus is our Christmas! In this time of gifts and parties and overeating, my prayer for us is that we would not neglect the fact that Jesus is our Christmas. If we do not receive the gift that we have been waiting for all year we need to remember that we have already received the greatest gift of all time- Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we would unwrap the gift of Christ. I pray that we would like the Wise Men who came from the East, fall down and worship at the feet of Christ. Beloved, Christ alone deserves our undivided attention during this time of the year. He alone deserves our worship and our gifts brought before Him. While we may not have the gifts of the wise men: gold, frankincense and myrrh; we can offer up a sacrifice of praise and worship. We can give to our Lord and Savior a daily time of prayer and a sense of gratitude for the many gifts bestowed upon us. I am reminded of the story of a young lady who returned to school after Christmas vacation. A classmate asked her, “Did you receive what you wanted for Christmas? She replied, “No…but it wasn’t my birthday!” Beloved, as we celebrate the birth of Christ let us remember that we celebrate HIS birthday. He deserves our worship. May we all fall down at the feet of Jesus this Christmas and worship Him! I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you! In Christ, Pastor Joe Marquez |
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