Joseph's Love

Joseph's Love

Even though Christmas is over and I'm putting up our Christmas decorations, Christmas seems to keep on happening.  We know that Christmas is about the Christ Child being born unto us, but if you think about it, Christmas really happens all year long.  When a person becomes a Christian something happens, He becomes born again.  The Christ of Christmas is born in His heart.

 The Spirit of Christmas lives in our hearts.  I'm not talking about Jolly Oh St. Nik - but Christ becomes alive in our hearts and we become children of God. The day star arises in our heart.  The light of the world lives within us.

Even though the Christmas lights are being put away in a box.  The trees , the garlands the bulbs and bells are being gathered and stored.  God's glory continues to shine.

Today I was reminded of God's mercy and how He willingly came to earth to be our Savior, our comforter, our dearest of friends.  We are loved and accepted because of His merciful love towards us.

Joseph came to my mind today, I thought of how He must have felt hearing that Mary was pregnant with a child.  His love was tested.  His faith was tested.  He was then faced with a question.  Should I tell all or show mercy?  Would He keep it private or cause her shame and even death?  Would it be considered a lie if He held back that information or would it be merciful?

There's a verse that has often come to my mind when making hard decisions.

Proverbs 10:12 ¶ Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

That's exactly what Jesus did for us.

Joseph questioned whether or not Mary was lying to Him.  He was a godly man or God would not had chose Him to be the earthly father of Jesus.  He was a praying man and open to God's will.  God sent an angel to tell Him not to fear but to take Mary for his wife.

Matthew 1:20

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

If we want a picture of love and how we should treat other people I think of Joseph.

He really loved Mary and sought to put her away privately.  She would have been stoned to death otherwise.

But he believed and He willingly became the earthly protector of God Almighty's only begotten Son.

He could have become angry and carried gossip all over town and watched her die while being stoned, but He talked to God.

That is when God sent him the answer He needed.

Devotional: Susan Nikitenko © January 2018


A verse to think about and memorize ...

James 5:20

Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

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