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.

As I read this passage of Scripture, I am struck by Joseph’s faith.  Upon the angel appearing to him in a dream, he obeyed the Lord, but to have continued to have obeyed over those long 9 months must have been very much a faith walk for both he and Mary.  Plainly, they had “evidence” before them that something amazing had happened – Mary’s growing belly.  But I wonder how many times in that 9 months that Joseph had second thoughts or how often he questioned whether he had really heard from God.  I don’t imagine that there was a lot of family support for either of them – in fact their parents are not mentioned.  I’m sure friends and relatives were aghast at what had “apparently” happened – except for Elizabeth & Zechariah.  Pregnancy during betrothal was an absolute no-no, so I imagine that there were many times when Joseph and Mary felt that it was “them against the world”.  And yet, they stayed true to what God had called them to do.

How often do we hear something from God that appears absolutely crazy, that calls us on a faith-walk that we have never experienced before?  How often do our friends and family not understand?  May we take courage from Joseph’s example of a man who, despite the weirdest of circumstances, chose to believe and obey God.

Lord, may I always have the courage to make those faith walks when you call me to make them.  And may you place around me at least one “believing” person, just like Mary and Joseph had in Elizabeth.

Written by Ps. Jen Irving

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary goes to Elizabeth her cousin’s house.

Both women are pregnant, Elizabeth with John the Baptist, Mary with
Jesus.

Elizabeth, with seemingly no prior knowledge speaks to Mary telling her
of the blessing her child will be.

Her final statement “You are blessed because you believed that the Lord
would do what He said” is a statement of transforming power.  Think of
it, blessing comes as a result of obedience.  Straight forward, powerful,
principled and essential for us.

Father, help me to live a life of obedience to your Word, for then I am
in the place of blessing.

Written by Ps. Richard Botta

1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. 12 After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, 15 Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

This passage contains the genealogy of Jesus: tracing Jesus’ heritage through the sons and fathers that came before him. I can imagine the value of knowing the family that you have come from, and it giving you a sense of who you are. It reminds me that I belong to God’s family, and I can be encouraged by the men and women of faith who have gone before me. Abraham, David, Esther, Ruth, Peter, Paul and the Marys that served Jesus…. I belong to the same family.  I can be encouraged by their stories and how God used them, and I can learn from their triumphs and weaknesses. Sometimes I feel isolated in my walk, or at times grow weary in the battle, but I am challenged as I read this that I too will leave a legacy. Will I be like Abraham, David and Esther, inspiring faith in God, a heart after God, and absolute trust in God?

Lord, please help me to remember the family of faith that I belong to. Help me to draw encouragement from the people that have gone before me, and to remember that I too will leave a story for those who come after me. Help me to live an inspiring story, as I put my trust in you. Amen.

Written by Beth Waugh

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

I’ve found that putting on new clothes generally works best if I take the old ones off first.

Putting to death these nasty sinful things lurking within me is an essential part of stepping into the wonderful, eternal life God gives me. Stripping off the old nature is a necessary part of putting on the new one.

I think it’s significant that these things describe my heart more than my actions. Of course the harmful, hurtful actions inevitably come from these things in my heart. But it’s a lot easier to change my actions than my heart. My heart can be very stubborn.

So how do I change the very nature of my heart? As always, God achieves what I can’t. I’m becoming a new creation. My old nature died when Jesus died, and when I received him I received my liberation too. But God doesn’t do this against my will. I must willingly and consciously put it to death too. We do it together.

And the best way to avoid the old nature coming back is to put on the new nature. The best way to avoid those sinful earthly things worming their way back into my heart is to fill it with the Holy Spirit, to fill it with the good things he describes in the following verses. Fighting sin in my heart is hard. Filling my life with Him makes it much easier.

Father, I want that new nature to be my nature. Every day I want to take off that old one and put on the new. Renew me. Fill my heart. I want no room in my heart for that harmful, hurtful sin.

Written by David Cornell