My Simple Point of View

The Birth of Jesus
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Luke 2:1-20 (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,

which means ‘God is with us.’”

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph awoke and obediently did what was naturally against his own flesh. He even had the religious law on his side, yet he chose to ignore human logic and reasoning. Why does it seem, even in the church that we must apply logic and syllogism to most everything?

Has anyone ever tried to explain with absolute certainty and logic how and why you must have faith in Christ? Hmmm…

1 Corinthians 1:27

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:26-35

This is an amazing story. God sending the angel Gabriel to invite Mary to birth and too rear up the Salvation of the world. She freely accepted with question, concern and even doubt, yet none-the-less accepted the offer.

Have you ever taken some serious personal time to reflect on how she must have felt and the questions that she may have had? Questions such as:
How do I explain this to my husband to be?
Will my family and friends think of me a harlot?
How do you get pregnant and not have sexual intercourse?

Personally, I think those question where thought about, but not for long. I’m certain a deep overwhelming calm came upon her and in that calm new questions arose:
What will my child look like, will he be tall and muscular?
Will he look anything like Joseph?
I will be the mother of the King?
At what age will he take the thrown?
Will we also live in the palace and be given the honors of a King’s mother?

Now imagine with me the stark contrast of what she must have thought as her son died on the cross?
Why Lord, what did I do so very wrong?
Why did he have to die?
Why didn’t you take me instead of my son, he was so young and yet had so much to offer the world?
WHY?

Just take sometime and ponder the life of Mary. How her life must have been a roller coaster ride of questions, events and challenges. Yet to the cross she stood by her son and savior.

I leave you with the song Mary did you know.

The Sign of Immanuel

10 Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”
12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
Isaiah 7:10-14

O come, O come, Emmanuel our heart cry out to you.

6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

Isaiah 9:6-7

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him
so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
Isaiah 30:18

I leave you with this thought today. Men do not mirror themselves in running water—they mirror themselves in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of other things. – Chuang Tzu

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
2 Peter 3:8-9

I am so thankful that the Lord does not work in the cosmic frame of time and space that I do. He continues to shown patience for my sake, time and time again. For this and much more I am humbly thankful.

Friends, this season for me has certainly been a much needed time of honest reevaluation of priorities. A time of preparation and expectation mixed with the overwhelming desire to align myself closer to His will.

I invite each of you to struggle with me as we purposely move closer to God. But I warn you friends, the sea’s can be treacherous.