The mystery and the miracle of the birth of Christ was the fulfillment of the promise that God would be with his people.

The very name Emmanuel means God with us, and Jesus Christ is our Emmanuel. In this study, Scott Pauley reminds us of our

ever-present Savior, God with us.

In the dark days of the Civil War, someone asked President Abraham Lincoln,

is the Lord on our side, President Lincoln?

They said that Mr. Lincoln immediately responded with these words.

The question is not, is the Lord on our side?

The question is, are we on his side?

Oh, what a true statement that is.

We return today to words that sound very familiar and very true to what Lincoln said.

Second Chronicles chapter 15 in verse number two, God's message to King Asa was this,

The Lord is with you while ye be with him. I wonder, are we really with the Lord? Do you remember

Moses when he had that encounter with that group of people who were rebellious? And there had to be

a distinction between those that were with the Lord and those that were not. He drew a line in the

sand and said, if you're on the Lord's side, come over here. I wonder, whose side are you on today?

You see, this promise has ended a principle. Everybody wants to talk about God being with them and

feel good about it, but wait a minute, are we really with the Lord?

This principle is woven all through Scripture.

For example, Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 29, but if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Again, Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13, and ye shall seek me and find me

when you shall search for me with all your heart. Or how about James chapter four, verse number eight,

draw nigh to God, and he shall draw nigh to you. Do you understand that it is not simply God coming to us?

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