Joseph and Mary

Joseph Chose Faith

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

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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All is Bright?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

Silent night Holy night / All is calm all is bright      Josef Mohr 1818

I am not sure of the exact inspiration for Josef Mohr when He wrote the words for Silent Night. What strange word are these? What Silent night? What holiness could be seen? From the braying donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem to her cries piercing the night as she gave birth; there was no silence or holy place given her. ” All is calm all is bright.” Yet it would be hard to imagine Joseph being calm when there was no better place for Mary than a stable or cleaner spot to lay her child than a feeding trough for the cows! Yet the oddest of all these lines is “All is bright.”  All is bright? I have memories of milking our cow at 4:45 a.m. in a barn without electricity. My only light was a candle stub which I placed on a beam. There was nothing at all especially bright about those cold early mornings in the barn.

And yet by faith we sense the deeper reality of the silence of angels, stooping low to see the Savior. We recognize the holiness of the child conceived by God’s Holy Spirit. We feel the calm assurance of Mary and Joseph’s hearts as everything happen

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ed just as the angel had foretold. We see the brightness as the first flicker of God’s light in our dark and waiting world. From that first Christmas till now, the darkness has never put it out!