Bethlehem

Joseph Chose Faith

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But as he considered these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20 ESV

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.   Luke 2:4 ESV

Sometimes I lie awake the night before a trip, turning over in my mind whether we have enough food, clothing, and money for the days ahead. On those nights I remember the story of Joseph the carpenter and husband of Mary.

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  1. In spite of the hardships he trusted instead of complained

Amazingly in spite of so many things Joseph might have worried about, we don’t hear one single complaint from him.  The Bible is quite clear that Mary and Joseph were not super-heroes. They just trusted God.

 

  1. No matter what anybody thought Joseph chose God’s plan over his own

But Joseph also had to choose to say yes.  He had to decide if he would accept the angel’s message and accept Mary as his wife.

 

  1. When change was difficult and painful he traveled in Faith instead of fear

Later as he and Mary prepared to go to Bethlehem, he also had to trust God to protect them along the road where thieves often lay in wait. Where would they stay? Should they return to Nazareth or make a new life in Bethlehem? But he traveled in complete trust that God would handle all the details.

As Christmas approaches and this year draws to a close do you some fears about your future? Do you wrestle with doubts about God’s plan for your life? If we want to travel on in confidence then we need to bring all our questions to God; just like Joseph and then trust Him for the answers. God knows the road ahead just as He understands our doubts and fears. God has not chosen us to become super-heroes out to save the day. He has chosen us because we are ordinary and God loves to save every plain ordinary person who will trust Him with all our hearts!

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Keeping Our Eyes on the Star

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After listening to the king, they went on their way and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. Matthew 2:9 ESV

A funny thing happened to the wise men on their way to Bethlehem. Though they had followed God’s star for hundreds of miles across deserts and mountains, when they got close to their destination they decided to ask King Herod which way to go. “Now why would they do that?” we might ask. The fact is that all of us do the same thing at times. We begin in the right direction on something we know is God’s will in our lives, but somewhere along the way we begin to waver. Maybe we begin to wonder what in the world we were thinking about when we started out. No one else seems to be able to see the star we are following. Then when we doubt a strange thing happens. Our star disappears for a while.

But the same God who revealed His star to the wise men in the first place was willing to show it to them again. As soon as they left Herod’s palace the star appeared on the horizon and led them directly to Jesus Christ. So if your world seems dark and frightening the good news is that same star is still shining over the place where Jesus is today. The only difference is that the God’s star is not shining in the sky but from the pages of a book called the Bible. His promises now don’t depend on us wandering across a wilderness trying to keep it in view. Now we can trust God’s promise that He loved us so much that He sent us His Son. All we need to do is follow that star and it will lead us right to Him!

In the middle of your Christmas preparations maybe this quiet carol can bring a bit of the gentle calm of His presence for you today.

God’s Reason for Christmas

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 ESV

Long before I became a Christian I was once stopped on the streets of Boston by a preacher who had a very simple message for me. He said, “I want to tell you about Jesus: That’s J-E-S-U-S Jesus!” he shouted, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t understand how God could love me and even less why this man was almost shouting as he told me. But now, almost 50 years later, the lines that penetrated my heart that night remain lodged wonderfully in my memory. Sometimes around Christmas I hear, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  But is Jesus, really God’s reason for your Christmas?

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In the Gospel of John we do not hear a traditional telling of the birth of Jesus. His story begins far earlier than Bethlehem. John looks back to before the dawn of time. He tells us of when Jesus, the Word of God, was already with the Father. Then he says that the first Bethlehem night was special because in the manger, God’s Word became flesh.

If Jesus had never come He would have only been the word not spoken. If no child was laid in the manger that night we could never see God’s glory. If no news from angels had been given to shepherds how would we have ever known the grace and the truth He came to bring? But God did speak. Jesus did come! He came to be with us and die for our sins so that we could have eternal life!