Bull's eye.

Phil.

How Big Is God?  The Size Of Your Mouth.
WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.com



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brad Dunsé" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 6:12 AM
Subject: Glossing over, how long?


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

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