Grace Notes - Matthew 1 v 24

Matthew 1:24,

 "Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife."

Trust is a concept that most of us know and say we possess but in reality it is often the last action we take.

When problems rise up and try to distract us the last thing we do is trust in the promises of God.

I often try my hardest to do everything I can to make the situation work to my advantage and if that does not seem to be working, I worry.

In the Christmas story Mary had a unique problem she was told by God that she would be made pregnant by the Holy Spirit when she was not married. How would she tell her betrothed?

She could have tried to convince him, she could have bombarded him with her version of events, but she put her faith and trust in God.

Trust in the work of God through Christ should be the solid rock on which we build our lives, he provides everything by his grace and he is working everything out for us.

Andrew Wommack explains:-

Much attention is given to Mary and her piety, but Joseph was quite a man of faith, too.

Verse 18 says that Mary was "found" with child, implying that the pregnancy was observed by Joseph, not explained to him by Mary. And this was after Mary had been away visiting Elisabeth for three months! Certainly Joseph was tempted with the same thoughts that you or I would have been. How could she expect him to believe that this was a virgin birth?

As special as Mary was, she had an equally special young man for a fiancé.

How many men would have believed such an incredible story even if an angel had told them in a dream? It took more faith on Joseph's part than it did on Mary's.

This is the way it always is. Those who hear of the vision or call of God second hand have to exhibit an even greater faith than the person who received the word from the Lord directly.

The scriptures don't mention whether or not Mary ever attempted to convince Joseph of the truth. What would have been the use? Only God could make someone believe a story like this. It is to Mary's credit that she trusted God and to Joseph's credit that he believed God. 

Today, do as the Lord bids you and trust God to take care of the rest.

From A Park Bench - Matthew 1:21

Matthew 1 v 21

"And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus means the ‘Lord saves’.  The prophet Isaiah writing in the Old Testament predicted the saviour’s birth and called him ‘Immanuel – God is with us.’  Jesus was God in the flesh, the very God, the creator of the universe, birthed into the world he created, as a baby.

The good news is that Jesus came to pay the price, to redeem us, and stop God’s wrath upon sin. Jesus ended the war between God and man.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that God is no longer counting men’s sins against them. By His death on the cross he reconciled man back to God and all sin, for every human alive, is forgiven at the cross. All sin, past, present and future sin was placed upon Jesus and he died in our place and took our punishment. The truth is that before you were born, your sins were forgiven.

Sin separates us from God, but Christ died to end the separation and bring us into the royal family of God.

His death saved us from all sin and by his resurrection he gave us new life. Today the only thing that keeps man from God is unbelief. No matter how good I am I cannot make the grade, my works and performance mean nothing. The only way to God is by saying thank you to Christ for all he did at the Cross and resurrection and receiving and living in the abundance of his grace.

Christ has provided all I need and I am united with Him through the Holy Spirit. He lives in me and I am alive to him.

The Lord Saves, my sin has been eternally forgiven.