SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2019
11:11 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Virgin Birth Confronted”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
1:19-20
Message of the verses: “19 And Joseph her
husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send
her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her
is of the Holy Spirit.”
We
have already talked about the fact that Joseph and Mary were betrothed that
actually meant that they were husband and wife, but also as mentioned there was
nothing sexual that was going on between them as that would not happen until
after they were married, and in the case of Joseph and Mary it did not happen
until after the birth of Jesus.
Now
think of the problems that Joseph faced after finding out that Mary was with
child. First there were righteous
standards that were spoken of in the Law of God, as Joseph knew that because Mary
was pregnant that he was not suppose to marry her. There were things in the law that could have
put her to death for being pregnant before they were married. Next is that Joseph was a righteous man and
so he decided to do this quietly and not put her to shame and that is because
he loved her. John MacArthur writes “There
is no evidence that Joseph felt anger, resentment, or bitterness. He had been shamed (if what he assumed had
been true), but his concern was not for his own shame but for Mary’s. He was ‘not wanting to disgrace her’ by
public exposure of her supposed sin.
Because he loved her so deeply he determined simply ‘to put her away secretly.’
“Apoluo means literally ‘to put…away’ as
translated here, but was the common term used for divorce. Joseph’s plan was to divorce her ‘secretly’
through before long everyone would have guessed it when the marriage never materialized. But for a while, at least, she would be
protected, and she would live.”
I
think that we can see that Joseph was a righteous man because of what he was
about to do, and also that he truly was in love with Mary. He would be rewarded for his righteousness and
for his love as he lay down to take a nap as seen in verse twenty. “20 But while he was turning the matter over
in his mind an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take Mary as your wife! What she has conceived is conceived
through the Holy Spirit” (Philips). As
we look at verse twenty we can see the supernatural character of the whole
event, and this reinforces the encouraging words, as well as to verify Jesus’
royal lineage as the angel addressed Joseph as “son of David.” MacArthur adds “Even though He was not the
real son of Joseph, Jesus was his legal son.
His Father, in actuality, was God, who conceived Him by the Holy
Spirit. But His royal right in the
Davidic line came from Joseph.”
Let
us look again at the phrase “that which has been conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit,” as this is a profound statement as in these words is the ultimate
testimony to the virgin birth. What we
see here is the testimony of the holy angel from the Lord God Himself.
MacArthur
concludes his commentary on these two verses:
“One critic has waved his fist at God and called Him an unholy liar with
these words: ‘There was nothing peculiar
about the birth of Jesus. He was not God
incarnate and no virgin mother bore him.
The church in its ancient zeal fathered a myth and became bound to it as
a dogma.’ But the testimony of Scripture
stands.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I find it truly offensive to have people say
the things that this person said in the above paragraph. Without the virgin birth of Jesus Christ
there is no true gospel, there is only a phony man made gospel which many
people today believe. It all has to do
with how big your god is, and my God is very BIG.
My Steps of Faith for Today: As 2019 is fast concluding I am thankful for
the lessons that God has taught me this year so far on humility.
Today’s quotation from “Love in Action”
comes from David Jeremiah’s comments on Colossian 3:21.
“Susanna Wesley had nineteen
children. It was her habit to spend a particular
time each evening with each child. Once,
when her famous son John struggled with a difficult situation, he wrote to his
mother, ‘Oh, Mother, what I’d give for a Thursday evening!’ Most of us do not have unlimited time to give
to our children. But we shouldn’t allow
the Enemy to persuade us that if we don’t have a lot of time, we can’t give any
time. We must take the time we have and
use it the very best way we can in order to make an impact on the precious ones
God has put under our care.”
11/29/2019 11:46 AM
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