I am in awe of the name Emmanuel. It’s my favorite name for Jesus. The literal translation is “God with us”. This name tells me that Jesus really wants to be with me. He wants to grace me with his nearness. That the tangible nearness I crave is aligned with his desire to be near. Awesome!

So when I read a message from Farshid Fathi (a Pastor incarcerated in a prison in Iran) entitled “2014, The Year of God’s Presence”, my heart jumped for joy.

Join me in enjoying this.

“Dear brothers and sisters,

We are celebrating Christmas in prison with honor and unexplainable joy in Christ.

2013 is going to end and we are very thankful to the Lord for everything we were given this year. I had called 2013 ‘the year of revelation’. Now I am very excited because I am calling 2014 ‘the year of God’s presence’.

God calls us to walk before him and be blameless, as he said to Abraham. So far, walking before him is very sweet and so exciting. It is filled with great endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, sleepless nights, hunger, purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech and the power of God.

So my dear brothers and sisters, if you read this, be ready for a very exciting journey in 2014.

Thank you so much for remembering me in your prayers after 1,100 days.

With blessings in Christ,

Your brother, Farshid”

Let it be so Lord! Draw near to us and give us a renewed strength to press in for more of you in 2014. We want to see and feel you walk among us, Jesus!