What's in a name?

© 2016 Julie Crane All rights reserved.

The mere sound of His Name will signal hope …

I sure like the sound of that – this Message version of Matthew 12:21. For soooo long, the people of a thousand generations ago, watched and waited and hoped – that the son they birth would be the long awaited Messiah. Prophets kept bringing news and more news of that promise. God’s promise. We see it in Isaiah when the world for these people seemed to be falling apart; he told them of the coming “Immanuel” – God is with us.

… the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). (Isaiah 7:14 MESSAGE)

And that name, Immanuel, spread like wild fire. They all gossiped about the virgin bearing a son. And the message, “God with us” also spread. The mere sound of His name signaled hope.

We, too, are in a season of waiting. But not only for Christmas – Christ’s birth. But we also watch and wait for His second coming. Christ has come. We who believe know this for sure. Christ will come again. May we hold on with certain hope. Celebrate this Jesus – Who was, and is, and is to come!

God lifted Him high and honored Him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 MESSAGE)