Since Joseph is such a major character in the story of the birth of Jesus, I wanted to spend another day pondering the scripture in Matthew 1:18-25, , today I used the New Living Translation.
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
Looking again at our scripture, I was struck by Joseph’s compassion and consideration of Mary. He knew that divorcing her was what was expected of him, but he wanted to do it quietly so as not to cause Mary further embarrassment. He also thought about what to do and did not jump into action. God knew Joseph was struggling with his decision, so an angel appeared to him in a dream giving him direction on how to move forward. The principle here is that God knows the society in which we live and realizes we need His encouragement and reassurance to do His will when in opposition to worldly standards. Joseph’s encouragement came in an angel dream but we have the Bible today which we can reference, search and rely upon as well as the indwelling Holy Spirit of God for direction and guidance. Joseph did not have either of these so God took care of his needs in a different way which gave him exactly what he needed.
How do we see God in this appearance? We see God’s omniscient knowledge of all that was happening, His realization of Joseph’s fear and need for encouragement and reassurance, God’s plan and forethought to bring Messiah into the world at exactly this time in history. God is perfect. Everything in this event is perfect. What God says, does and plans is without fault. Because God is unchanging and faithful, the measure of what perfection is begins with God. What God wills is good and perfect. His ways are flawless and righteous. All scripture is included in God’s perfection. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ” All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
As you consider God’s perfection, think about His creation, His plans for our redemption, and the plans He has for your life. All good things reflect His perfection. Remember the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God has all your circumstances handled perfectly, relax and let God work in and through you today. He can do it for you just as He did for Joseph.
Linda
How have you seen this to be true this season of thanksgiving? Is your mindset towards thanks contagious? “How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9 Paul felt that the thanks he had for his fellow believers, for their faith and love for God, caused him to rejoice. He saw God working in their lives and this brought joy and thankfulness to his own worship. I would call that contagious thanks. Have you ever been thankful for someone or something and it caused you to give thanks to God? As we live our lives, we need to look for those things that God gives us that create ‘contagious thanks’ within our hearts. As we give thanks to Him in these situations, God will faithfully create in us a thanks that will be contagious and will result in our being in a constant state of thankfulness and joy. Paul left the Thessalonians with these words in 5:16-18 “
Develop that attitude of gratitude and watch it grow in your own life and then watch it rub off into the lives of those around you.
I was thinking this morning about the designation ‘Black Friday’. It seems that since the 1950’s the day after Thanksgiving has been called ‘Black Friday’. It began as a term to describe the crowds, like the street was black with pedestrians. It then became a day to retailers signifying when they began to turn a profit and moved from the ‘red’ into the ‘black’ as the volume of their sales increased. In the Bible the blackest Friday would be the day of the crucifixion. It was the day when the skies turned black and darkness covered the land. “
sin and death. An angel spoke to them when they got there,
in communion with Him and have our sin’s forgiven. We are free to live a life in Christ that is pleasing to God and that is free from the penalty of death brought on by sin. That Black Friday was the best one in history for you and me.
Who is God to you? To King David He was a personal God, one who saved, loved, protected, helped, restored,cared for and directed him throughout his life. In Psalm 118:28-29 David desires to give thanks to his God.
Make God personal today and move into a relationship with Him. 1 John 1:9 tells us how to know Jesus- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Make this your first Thanksgiving with Him- ask for His forgiveness for the sins you’ve committed. You know the words you’ve used to hurt others, your selfishness, your unkind actions… the list for all of us goes on and on as this is the sin nature we were born with. Put a stop to this circle of sinning and invite Jesus into your life. Like David, you will have a personal relationship with God. That relationship is worthy of all our thanks and praise to Jesus who made it possible. Knowing Jesus will change your life! Praise and thank Him this Thanksgiving for this new life. If you know Jesus, thank Him today for His marvelous grace and forgiveness.
the den of lions.
What about you? What stops you from praying daily? Our obstacles could not be any bigger than death by lions, but we let them rob us of our prayer time and take away our opportunities to give thanks and praise Almighty God. Will you mediate on this today and ask God to reveal to you what is taking preeminence in your life that keeps you from regular prayer? Confess it to Him and start praying regularly with praise and thanksgiving.
at the last day.” Jesus’ reply to her is life changing. “
This I AM statement by Jesus gives the believer hope in the future as we know our eternity will be with Jesus. It also gives assurance that belief in Jesus and His resurrection power will one day bring us to Him. Do you believe, like Martha, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Son of God? That belief was life changing for Mary, Martha and Lazarus and is for us too. Today, ponder the hope you have in the resurrected Christ and the assurance you have of eternity with Him. Be encouraged.
As we ponder the significance of 9/11 today, what comes to your mind? This is the 19th year anniversary of that tragic attack on the twin towers in NY and the Pentagon. Many of those alive today have no memory of that horrific day and those terrifying events. The same could be said for December 7th and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Both bring extreme sadness at the unnecessary loss of innocent lives, the aftermath of the events and their impact on families, the nation and our way of life. A great sense of invasion and insecurity looms in my mind.
Many translations use the word gate instead of door, but the sheep pen used by shepherds was a rock enclosure with only 1 gate or door into the pen. They would sleep at the door preventing anyone or thing from entering and harming their sheep. This is a wonderful picture of Jesus as our protector or guardian of our safety. One we are in his ‘pen’ no one or nothing can ever take us away from Him.
from our sin-filled state of being, Romans 5:8-9 “
