The Immanuel Solution

It was early evening, just after dinner. The teacher and I were sitting by the campfire along with others. He was holding a cup.

"An empty cup," He said. "How do we get rid of its emptiness? There is only one

way . . by filling it."

So the teacher went over to the fountain and filled the cup with water.

"We have successfully removed the emptiness," he said with a slight

smile, "not by focusing on the emptiness or by concentrating on removing it.

We removed the emptiness by simply filling the cup with water. A simple

solution--yet profound, even revolutinonary when you apply it to life. How did

God accomplish salvation? By removing evil from the world? No . . . by His

presence, by coming into the world, by becoming God with us, Immanuel"

"By pouring water into the cup," I said.

"Exactly. He didn't take away our problems or remove them from the world.

He did something better -- He gave us the answer. He poured the answer into

the world. You see, salvation is not the absence of sin. It's the presence of God. Salvation is not the removing of the world's darkness. It's the shining of

God's light into the darkness. And by the light, the darkness is driven away.

Salvation is the incarnation of God. It's His presence. It's Yeshua. It's the

Immanuel Solution. So what does it reveal?"

"You don't overcome the darkness by focusing on thee darkness. You

overcome the darkness by focusing on the light."

"Yes. And you don't overcome sin by dwelling on sin. You overcome sin

by dwelling not on the sin, but on God. You overcome emptiness by dwelling

on His presence. You solve your problem, not by dwelling on your problem,

but by dwelling on the Answer. . . .by being filled up with the Answer. You

overcome sorrow by the presence of joy . . . and hate by the presence of

love . . .and evil by the presence of good. Apply this secret, and it will change

your life. Overcome the absence by the presence of its opposite. It's as simple

and as deep . . as pouring water into a cup . . . the Immanuel Solution."

The Mission: Apply this day the Immanuel Solution. Overcome the problem

with the Answer, the bitterness with forgiveness, hate with love, and evil with

the good.

Isaiah 7:14, Luke 6:26-36, Romans 12:9-21

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

The Book of Mysteries

Day 193