And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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… When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…
--Matthew 1:19-24
I want you to picture this: You’re a man who’s just been engaged to be married. You and your bride-to-be are wholeheartedly devoted to God and are committed to maintaining purity in your relationship with one another.
Then one day, your fiancée breaks the news that she’s pregnant. You know you’ve never had relations with her, so she must’ve slept with another man. Then, she has the audacity to tell you she didn’t cheat on you, but God got her pregnant!
That’s the dilemma Joseph was facing. No doubt, he didn’t believe her at first. Who would have? But an angel appeared to Joseph and reassured him that Mary was telling the truth. Now, his problems were worse. The honorable thing to do would be to quietly divorce Mary. But now, the world would look on his family with scorn.
It’s impossible to really know what life was like for this family. But we do know that because of Joseph’s faithfulness to God, to Mary, and to this new little baby, his family endured the hardship. What an example of faithfulness in the face of hardship!
God will often call us to face difficulties because of our obedience to Him. But it’s in those times that we must remain steadfast in our faithfulness and, like Joseph, trust God to bring us through it. Face any hardship with faith and trust God!
The Bread of Life
Monday, December 02, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.”
Micah 5:2–3
Some seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, God revealed to the prophet Micah where the promised Messiah would be born. The little town of Bethlehem, just six miles from Jerusalem, held a special place to the people because it was where Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel had been buried after she died in childbirth. It was also where the great king David had been born. Though the city remained small, it was central to Israel’s identity.
The name Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” The region was fertile ground for crops, and as Ruth found when she accompanied Naomi home from Moab, there was much wheat and other grain in Bethlehem to be gathered when harvest time came. And there in the “House of Bread” Jesus was born. He described Himself using the metaphor of bread. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
In sending His Son, God has given us all that we will ever need. As David put it centuries earlier, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). When we have Jesus, we have everything that we need. We lack nothing in the spiritual bounty that He provides, and He has promised to meet our physical needs as well. Only a Divine Saviour can provide sufficient bread for all the people through the centuries who trust in Him.
Today's Growth Principle:
Christmas reminds us of the birth of the “Bread of Life” and God’s promised supply of all our needs.
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