Tag Archives: baby jesus

Just a Simple Carpenter

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Mary and Joseph. Joseph and Mary. The parents of the God-child.

But they are just people like you and me.

That amazes me.

My last post focused on Mary. Today, Joesph gets the spotlight.

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

This block of verses is from Chapter 1 of Matthew. The underlined portions are my doing. These will match the points that I will make about Joseph.

Alright. Ready, set…Go!

  1. Joseph had Divorce in his mind. And I agree with him. From his perspective, he was doing the right thing, at least culturally speaking. How difficult would it be to believe that God really made Mary pregnant?! It seems that divorce was his only option. According to the text, he was not mean or vindictive about it. He cared, even loved, Mary and did not want to hurt her. But pregnant…any other news might have been an easier pill to swallow. What was God doing here?
  2. Joseph had Dreams in his sleep. Do you dream? Typically, I don’t remember the details of any of my dreams. There have been a few times when I had a dream that was divine. For me, day dreaming is also a thing. I just hope I am not driving at the time! Joseph goes to bed one night, perhaps feeling concerned about his situation. Then, an angel shows up in a dream. The angel speaks and Joseph remembers. I could imagine that he would have been amped-up the next morning! He now had a plan. God had been faithful!
  3. Joseph had Discipline in his actions. No doubt there was still some apprehension about Mary. People were bound to rumor and speculate about these two teenagers. But Joseph had discipline enough to follow the orders given to him. If we were to read the rest of the chapter, this dream-followed-by-action pattern would be repeated a few times. God entrusted Joseph with this situation and Joseph passed in exemplary fashion!

Where Mary treasured and pondered, Joseph had to listen and act.

Two very different approaches.

I really enjoy the creativity of our God when he communicates to us.

There are times to move forward and act upon His word. Other times require solitude and rest.

Whether we relate to Mary or Joseph it does not matter. Just be ready to listen to God.

He just might have something for you.

Feeling the pressure…

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If you have been following me this year, you have been going through the alphabet with me. I call it Alphabet Soup. The first post of 2017 was on the letter A. You can read it here.

My math tells me that I could post every other week and that would get me to the letter Z by the end of the year. Well…I am only at U! Pressure!!!

No worries though. I am excited to finish this series so I can begin to look ahead to 2018.

And without further delay…

The Word – Underestimate

The Worth – The Christmas story can be found in Matthew and Luke. And it was in Luke’s writing that the inspiration for ‘underestimate’ hit me. Here is Luke 1:26-38:

“26In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be calledb the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37For no word from God will ever fail.” 38“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.”

Dwell on this angelic visit for a minute. An angel comes to speak to Mary. Mary is probably around 15 years old. She has never had sex. She is also engaged. The angel tells her that God’s son will be born of her. I personally cannot fathom what types of thoughts were racing around in Mary’s brain.

I do know one thing though, Mary underestimated God. How do I know?

Let’s look at two verses.

Verse 29, “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”

Verse 34, “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 

Mary was questioning the purpose of God (v. 29) and the ability of God (v. 34).

Have you and I ever underestimated God?

Why is God doing this or that?

Why isn’t God moving?

Will you ever hurry up, God?

Why me?

And the list could continue.

We know the rest of the story. Mary did not, however. She questioned and the angel replied. Something happened in verses 35-37. And then we get to verse 38.

Mary comes around. She may still have doubts but her faith is bigger than her fear.

The Work – We need to come around like Mary.

I don’t always see the why, when, or how of God. And that is cause to be joyful.

I am not God! I do not have to know everything!

Be encouraged that God really does have everything under control. There is a current of Godliness that continually flows. It is an ever-moving river.

I say we jump in that river and enjoy God and what He is doing today!

can saying

 

 

Could or should?

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2016 is almost finished. I would think that most people would reflect and look back on what the year has been for them. Not a bad thing to do.

Unless you stay there. Unless you get stuck wishing you should have done things differently. The mud of the past is very sticky.

“I could have given more this year.”

“I could have read more books.”

“I could have sent more thank you notes.”

“I could have…”

The past is past and there is no changing it.

I hear a song recently. The title is All is Well. There is link to the video as well after the lyrics. Here are the lyrics:

 
All is well all is well 
Angels and men rejoice 
For tonight darkness fell 
Into the dawn of love’s light 
Sing A-le 
Sing Alleluia 

All is well all is well
Let there be peace on earth 
Christ is come go and tell 
That He is in the manger 
Sing A-le 
Sing Alleluia 

All is well all is well 
Lift up your voice and sing 
Born is now Emmanuel 
Born is our Lord and Savior 
Sing Alleluia 
Sing Alleluia 
All is well

Christ has come to earth as a baby. All is well.

He then lived, died, and was resurrected. All is well.

jesus-will-be-right-back

Sorry the image is blurry. This picture is of my page-a-day calendar. The white square in the middle says “Jesus will be coming back soon.”

And then all will be well again.

Don’t waste time think about what could have been. Instead, think about what you should be doing for 2017.

2017 is full of great things! God is good like that.

Happy New Year!

Come back next week for the start of a new series; Alphabet Soup.