“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

In a dream Joseph learned of the coming of the Messiah…”Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1: 20-21

The name Jesus means “God saves”. The name Christ means “anointed” or “chosen”. Jesus Christ is the living God, the Holy One anointed to save all people from their sins and He dwells with us this very day, if we choose to invite Him into our hearts.

I will tell you of a mystery I have learned in my own life about what happens when you follow Jesus.

Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

Over twelve years ago I heard God calling me and I responded to the call by leaving the business world and trying to enter the humanitarian world where I thought God was calling me. So I chose to quit my job not fully realizing what God was calling me to do. As I began searching a profound silence filled my life. It was the first time in my life that I had time to really reflect on what Jesus might want from me. The silence though was not sweet and alluring. At first the silence was dark and foreboding. I was restless and wanted God to answer me quickly. “What do you want from me God?”.

In truth I think I wanted God to fulfill the plan I had for me and it took time for me to humble myself enough to consider the possibility that what I had imagined as the next step for me was not what God had in mind.   In the silence of my life, I began to ask God to “teach me, teach me, teach me”…It became my little chant to God, “teach me”. I wanted to learn what He wanted and I will tell you that for quite awhile I experienced extreme loneliness. I felt like I had entered a wilderness and I felt alone. I wondered if I had made a mistake leaving my job, but God continued to urge me to “trust Him”. It has taken me years to realize that God’s designs usually take time. It’s rare that we suddenly understand what God is striving to do, but slowly and carefully His designs begin to form if we are willing to do what He asks.

Years have passed since I first heard God calling and now I desire the silence that at first felt ominous and uncomfortable. In the silence of my life I have discovered that I am not alone. God is with me! He has taught me many things and the mystery I discovered was that when I finally began to want to deny myself and focus on His will, He did not deny me. I realized I was in His holy presence and that my life was now His. I realized I had found a new home and that home was in God’s heart. I thought I had to die and go to heaven to meet Him and instead He came to meet me, because I was finally ready to prepare room for Him in my life, in my heart and from that point our intimacy began to form and grow and grow.

What a humble Lord we have! He is with us in the world today and He asks us to deny ourselves so that we can prepare some room for Him to give us the treasures in His heart. So often I feel like a little peasant girl who got an audience with the King. The King steps off His throne to greet her like He has been waiting for her for a long time. The peasant girl is overwhelmed by His humility, His kindness and His compassion for her. She realizes how much the King sacrificed to be with her and she is overwhelmed by His holy desire. The King offers her His holy hand and she receives it with a joy that cannot be expressed in words.  He touches her soul and her soul opens to His divinity.  She understands that the King is God and that she is His creature and that she has a role to play in His great mission of salvation.    She understands that their family is divided and fighting against one another. The King’s enemy, satan, has taken too many captives and they must be set free. Our Lord Jesus is the King, He is God and He desires for each and every one of His people to come to Him, to be reconciled to Him and to be with Him.

I have learned that in the King’s palace there are many rooms, and the secret is the rooms are in His Sacred Heart, a Heart so generous, so loving, so merciful, so willing to transform each one of us.   May His Holy Word penetrate your heart: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

I have found my Lord Jesus! At first I gazed up to the heavens to search for Him, but much to my surprise, the God of our salvation didn’t want to wait for me to meet Him in heaven. He has come home now, into my heart and Emmanuel is with me and He wants to be with you!  I encourage you to embrace your calling, for God is calling you to declare His praises and enter His holy light, receive His heavenly embrace now and forever.