EMMANUEL (Part 1)
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him ImmanuelH6005.
Isaiah 7:14 (BSB)
H6005 im-maw-noo-ale’ – A proper noun designating Immanuel, the name of the child who would serve as a sign to King Ahaz in his day and, in the fuller meaning of the prophecy, as a sign to the Lord’s people Israel in the future. The name means “God with us”.
Baker, Warren and Carpenter, Eugene,eds., The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament
Emmanuel – I was about four or five years old, wearing my little leg braces, and I told my granddad, BJ Young, that I wanted Jesus to be mine forever and to be on His team. He carried me down to the altar to be led in prayer by Brother T. D. Hall, and that was it! I believe Jesus was, and is, and forever will be mine. (Susan)
Emmanuel – It was the summer before my sophomore year in high school when I realized that even though I was active in the youth group at my church, I did not have the relationship with God others had. I asked my youth minister, Ray Young, to talk with me; and he led me through the “Roman Road of Salvation”. I prayed to receive God’s free gift of grace, and immediately Jesus was with me. (Susie)
Emmanuel – At the age of 16, I had 200-300 stitches down my back after the surgeons corrected a 98° curvature of my spine to about 35°. I was in drastic pain, but Jesus was with me. In 2006, I was in the hospital awaiting a lithotripsy to blast kidney stones. My surgeon felt an urgency to check on me and found me unresponsive and not breathing. While I was on the ventilator for three weeks, God was with me and specifically told me to minister to His shepherds. When both of my legs had to be amputated above the knee, I coded again. Once again, the presence of the Lord sustained me. (Susan)
Emmanuel – When my husband left me five days before our first wedding anniversary, I yelled at God; but God was with me and led me that Sunday (our first anniversary) to a church family that saw me through my divorce and discipled me to walk more closely with the Lord. When my daddy went to be with the Lord after a battle with cancer, I found I could “dance like a child” in God’s presence even though my heart was breaking. As I cared for my mother for six years, Jesus was with us every step of the way. (Susie)