Treasures for the Soul

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Immanuel.”

The Lord became a man, with flesh and blood, so that we can know the love of God and the Lord in a more concrete way. A prophecy in Isaiah chapter 7 talks about how “a virgin shall conceive” and the Child would  be called “Immanuel.” On one hand, it tells us that the Lord’s life journey would start from His birth as a baby. On the other hand, it tells us that the Lord would be with us. Therefore, His name is “Immanuel.” It’s so precious that today, we can truly experience the deepest and closest presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is what we need the most. In the Lord’s presence, precious things will happen.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic for Treasures for the Soul is “For to us a child is born (1).”

Isaiah chapter 9 writes about a child being born for you and me. It’s so precious that God has given us His Beloved Son, who became a baby, held in man’s arms. John 3:16 tells us that whoever believes in Him has eternal life. Eternal life is to know and experience the Father and the Lord. God gives Himself to us, and this is the greatest gift. Therefore, it’s right that we give ourselves to Him in return.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “The offspring of the woman.”

Satan has been deceiving many. He has used all schemes to cast doubts in us about God, and caused us to question God’s love toward us. Therefore, we need to guard our mind. Genesis chapter 3 writes about the fall of man. However, it’s very precious that at the same time, God immediately told about  the prophecy of “the offspring of the woman.” This account already hinted at two of the very important prophecies: “the virgin shall conceive” and the Lord’s crucifixion. The Lord is forever a man for us. To accomplish salvation, He was crucified for us. These two events were the most impossible, but they have been accomplished.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Amazing–the Lord is a Man forever. (2).”

What the Lord said on the night before His crucifixion was very astonishing. For instance, He talked about the love with which the Father has loved Him would be in us, and that we were the joy set before the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord has given us the most precious meaning to our lives. In Him, we can contribute a great deal and be the most useful. Hebrews chapter 1 tells how God spoke to our fathers by the prophets at many times and in many ways, but in these last days, He has spoken the most important message by His only Son. The Lord became a baby for us, unlike Adam, who was already an adult when God created him. This shows the gentleness of the Lord. He used His life, His death and resurrection to express His love toward us.

Brothers and sisters, today’s topic of Treasures for the Soul is “Amazing–the Lord is a man forever (1)”

We are the most amazing and precious because we were created in God’s image. God created us to be kings of the world. God gave us families and through them He demonstrates His will. Furthermore, God’s love towards us comes with His divine grace and preparation. He even gave us His only Beloved Son, who was born in a manger and stayed as a man forever. The Lord completely removes our low self-esteem. All these things are closely related to us and tell us how valuable we are. 

David mentions in Psalm 101 that he would not set before his eyes anything that’s worthless, and a perverse heart should be far from him. He knew well which truths to set before his eyes. In this age of information, we must also learn to choose which contents to put before our eyes. When we learn to guard our mind, our spirit can reach a new level. Colossians 3 teaches us to seek the things that are above. We really need to replace wrong thoughts with good ones, so that we can win the victory and be filled with enjoyment.

Psalm 16 is a psalm by David. It also symbolizes how the Lord lived before God throughout His whole life. He set the Lord always before Him. That means He thought of God always. His mind was filled with God and His precious truths. Through psalms, we can see that in David’s life, he always waited on God and was always living towards God, and he always set God’s love before his eyes. Psalm 27 mentions that David desired one thing, that is to dwell in the house of the Lord and to gaze upon His beauty all the days of his life. This should also be our daily lives. For example, we sing the ‘diamond hymns’ (“Who affects the Father the Most”, and “Love Like a Rainbow”) every day. We can also apply Bible verses personally to ourselves. And let our minds be filled with the Lord and His love throughout the day.

We were created and born again to be in love with God. The Bible often talks about the importance of love. For example, in Psalm 90, it says that we need to be satisfied in the morning with His steadfast love. In 1 Corinthians 13, it also mentions that love is the greatest. It’s so precious that God is the origin of love. He loves us so much. As mentioned in 1 John 4, “We love because He first loved us.” And in Jeremiah 31, it says that He has loved us with an everlasting love. It’s even more precious that it’s this love that draws us. When we are drawn by the Lord and enter into the personal love of the Infinite One, we can overcome the schemes of the enemies. We don’t need to compare ourselves to others, because we know what’s the most precious, which is to be in love with the Lord.

Psalm 90:2 says, “...from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” And Psalm 103 says that the “…love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him”. We are enjoying God’s eternal love. We are His first love. We are the most wonderful in the whole universe because God created us according to His own image and gave us a spirit. We will encounter sufferings and difficulties on earth. It’s very precious that in spite of all these situations, we would still choose to love God. 

The Lord is our all-knowing, all-loving true Beloved. He knows all our needs. He has had compassion towards us since eternity past. He also prepared all for our needs, even to the point of becoming a Man to accomplish salvation for us. He sees our loving heart towards Him. The Lord really desires for us. Our meditation is sweet to Him. In Song of Solomon 7:10, the darling sees that she’s her Beloved’s. She also sees that the beloved loves her and desires for her. This illustrates the spiritual growth of a believer, that he sees and experiences the Lord’s love and desire. We are indeed the Lord’s eternal, most-beloved darling. We attract and capture His heart the most.