Hi Brad,

I like that a whole lot.

Blessings,

Pat Ferguson

At 07:12 AM 1/9/2012, you wrote:
>A tall, hot cup of coffee at the ready, he 
>clicked the icon for the bible software.  With 
>the computer whirling his spiritual owner's 
>manual into legible digital bits on the monitor, 
>he reached over to the steaming cup, took a nice 
>caffeinated pull from the fresh brew. Almost as 
>if purposefully choreographed, he slowly closed 
>his eyes savoring the brew while his favorite 
>cup simultaneously delivered its own morning 
>stimulant.  Eyes snapping open and flailing left 
>hand in front of him in a childish attempt to 
>waft the burning fingers received from the 
>embossed sides of his prized Guinness 
>cup--gifted him by his wife on a 
>once-in-a-lifetime trip to Ireland earlier in 
>the year, he was now  fully stimulated to receive a morning word.
>
>Reading a familiar set of verses in Matthew, he 
>ran across an issue of names which had always 
>bothered him. You know, one of those things you 
>read in the Bible that seem like a contradiction 
>and yet, you know there isn't one simply because 
>the Word of God has no contradictions. When they 
>are encountered, it requires a deeper look at 
>the context, translation, original definition of 
>words and that sort of thing. Once that digging is done, revelation will come.
>
>Only in this case, he had no need to dig. The 
>answer to his perplexed mention of names 
>abruptly stimulated his brain, not much 
>different than the stinging finger burn dealt by 
>his coffee cup only a minute prior.
>
>He read:
>
>"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His 
>name Jesus, for He will save His people from 
>their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill 
>what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 
>"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND 
>SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME 
>IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."
>
>All his days of reading, looking for the deeper 
>meaning and concept and context of the passages, 
>he had a glossed over hang-up on the names 
>mention. First Jesus, then Emmanuel … Jesus? … 
>Emmanuel?  Hmm … Jesus, a word listed in the 
>biblical dictionaries as the name for the Lord 
>yes, and also two others in scripture. Emmanuel, 
>as scripture says meaning God with us, so how 
>can his name given him by his parents by 
>direction of the Holy Spirit, differ from 
>Emmanuel? Shouldn't the prophet's prediction read that the same name was given?
>
>Scratching the back of his head, a little more 
>careful now reaching for the near molten ceramic 
>cauldron of bean brew, he took another sip and 
>then it occurred to him.  Finally, after all 
>these years he saw the answer. It was almost as 
>embarrassing as it was revealing. It came down 
>to two words, and not Jesus and Emmanuel, 
>although yes, they were the core of his perplexity.
>
>The two words that made the difference were 
>"you" and "they." For the first time he saw 
>where the Holy Spirit said: "and you shall call 
>His name Jesus," and then it says, "AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL."
>
>You call him Jesus, they call him Emmanuel.
>
>Shaking his head swallowing more coffee, he 
>wondered if it took him that long to figure out 
>such a simple perplexity, and from something 
>that stood out in the open like a deer broadside 
>to the arrow, how long it will take to fully 
>understand the less obvious precepts of the multi-faceted Word of God.
>
>
>
>Brad Dunsé
>
>"Write like you mean it and sing like nobody's watching." --Ben Wakeman
>
>http://www.braddunsemusic.com
>
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>
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