Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Wednesday, 20 December 2017 "God Keeps His Promise—He Came!" by William R. Carlson - Matthew 1:6-9, 17-25

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Wednesday, 20 December 2017 "God Keeps His Promise—He Came!" by William R. Carlson - Matthew 1:6-9, 17-25
Matthew 1:6 Yishai was the father of David the king.
David was the father of Shlomo (his mother was the wife of Uriyah),
7 Shlomo was the father of Rechav‘am,
Rechav‘am was the father of Aviyah,
Aviyah was the father of Asa,
8 Asa was the father of Y’hoshafat,
Y’hoshafat was the father of Yoram,
Yoram was the father of ‘Uziyahu,
9 ‘Uziyahu was the father of Yotam,
Yotam was the father of Achaz,
Achaz was the father of Hizkiyahu,, 17 Thus there were fourteen generations from Avraham to David,
fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian Exile,
and fourteen generations from the Babylonian Exile to the Messiah.
18 Here is how the birth of Yeshua the Messiah took place. When his mother Miryam was engaged to Yosef, before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Ruach HaKodesh. 19 Her husband-to-be, Yosef, was a man who did what was right; so he made plans to break the engagement quietly, rather than put her to public shame. 20 But while he was thinking about this, an angel of Adonai appeared to him in a dream and said, “Yosef, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miryam home with you as your wife; for what has been conceived in her is from the Ruach HaKodesh. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,
23 “The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El.”[Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14]
(The name means, “God is with us.”)
24 When Yosef awoke he did what the angel of Adonai had told him to do — he took Miryam home to be his wife, 25 but he did not have sexual relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Yeshua.
---
When a child is told something special is going to happen, it is not unusual to hear them say, “Do you promise?” A childlike excitement and joy gets expressed in this way. It’s okay if you have some childlike faith in God today.
Isaiah shared a sign with Ahaz (see Isaiah 7), the same person who appears in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1. Ahaz was told that a “virgin will conceive” and that she would give “birth to a son” and He would be called “Immanuel” (v. 14). The immediate fulfillment of the prophecy related to God’s judgment on that king, but there was to be a greater fulfillment of this wonderful promise; it took place when Jesus was born. God keeps His promises in His way and His time.
The Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NLT). When we are tempted to say, “Do you promise?” We are reminded that we already know that He keeps His word. Jesus was born, He is Immanuel, “God with us.”
---
Hymn for Today: "Go, Tell It On The Mountain" by John W. Work, Jr.
Refrain: Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.
1. While shepherds kept their watching
o’er silent flocks by night,
behold, throughout the heavens
there shone a holy light.
Refrain: Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.
2. The shepherds feared and trembled
when lo! above the earth
rang out the angel chorus
that hailed our Savior‘s birth.
Refrain: Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.
3. Down in a lowly stable
the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation

that blessed Christmas morn.
Refrain: Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.
---
Thought for Today: 22 All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,
“The virgin will conceive and bear a son,
and they will call him ‘Immanu El.”[Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14]
(The name means, “God is with us.”)(Matthew 1:22-23)
---
Please pray: That many people in Greece will come to know Yeshua as their Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
---
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
---