Latest / The Daily Word / April 14 – Don’t Decide Without God
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well, hello there. It is Pastor Jennie and it is Tuesday, April 14th. And as we continue in our Daily Word podcast, we are beginning today the book of Matthew. And I am excited to share with you today a few scriptures that the Lord highlighted for me. ⁓ Now, I'll be honest, the first 17 scriptures from chapter one is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. And I'm sure some of you read this, you thought, what in the world could, why, why does, why do we put these things in here? And of course, there's always a purpose for every scripture. And ⁓ there have definitely been times that the Lord has spoken to me deeply through the names, the genealogy, believe it or not. Today is not one of those times though. So sorry for you. Don't get to capture one of those. But I am going to read to you just a couple of verses regarding the birth of Jesus Christ. So let me share that with you today. It says this, now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. So we're all pretty familiar with that, the Christmas story. And verse 19 says this, 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, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. And all of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. In verse 24, when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. So as I was reading this, of course, again, I think very familiar passage to us, especially as we come off of, I'll say, the Easter holiday, which can often, ⁓ for many of us, associate ⁓ Christmas and the birth of Jesus, thinking about the death and resurrection of Jesus. But what really stuck out to me in this passage was verse 19. And that's when it said, It was this word right here, or this line, It was so interesting to me. that Joseph just, he saw a situation. He made a decision though. He had a reason, not just a decision, a resolve within himself on what he was going to do. It was to him, the answer was obvious. Of course they lived in a culture and he didn't, he didn't want Mary to be shamed for what had taken place. And he knew what he hadn't done to make, marry pregnant, and so he thought, I don't want anything to do with this. And so to him, the path forward was clear. The situation arises, and it's like, well, it's obvious what I need to do. At least it seems would be clear in what the Scripture kind of puts forth at least. I'm sure it wasn't that simple in Joseph's mind. But I say it like that because I think I know for myself and I'm sure you can relate, can maybe find yourself in Joseph's shoes where we find ourselves in situations, whether personally, ⁓ it's us going through something, maybe going through something in the midst of with our family, a friendship, a work dynamic, or perhaps someone around us has done something and we, need to admit whether we need to remove ourselves from the situation or whatever it may be, but the path forward to us, it seems clear. Like, ⁓ this is obviously the next step. It's what we need to do. ⁓ Because typically, perhaps maybe culturally, that's what would be the next step. Because essentially, that is what Joseph was looking to do. That's what the scripture tells us. He was just, he didn't want to shame her. And so he was just going to do What would have been typical? Divorce her quietly. That would have been the typical thing to do. But then the next verse says, as he considered these things, ⁓ then an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. And then the Lord spoke and gave him directive. And I feel the check in my spirit as I read through this is just a really good caution and warning and reminder that we have to be so careful not to just assume. what our next steps are, especially, especially when facing such difficult things. Joseph was in a very ⁓ difficult position ⁓ with what had happened. It wasn't necessarily for him for someone to be engaged and suddenly a woman to come up pregnant. What would have been foreign was would be for that woman to say the Holy Spirit is the one who impregnated me. So Joseph was certainly presented with a challenge of what do I do here? What is going on? ⁓ But we all have things in our life where we're presented with things that come to us that maybe no one else has faced. But at the end of the day, whether someone has faced it or hasn't faced it, in all things, we should always be seeking the Lord. Even if it's something we've done before, whether culture or we've done it before, we should always be seeking the Lord in what we do. And just as the Lord was faithful, even though Joseph had already made a resolve, the Lord was faithful to come to Joseph and to speak to him. And what is key here is Joseph was humble enough to receive that word and to hear from the Lord and to move forward with the word of the Lord. So the things I'm reminded of today as I read this scripture is A, to pursue the Lord in all things, to be very cautious. to not just make a resolve, but I am not immune to it and I certainly have and so to repent of the times that I've made a resolve in myself to check myself when I make when I do do that ⁓ I'm very thankful to the Lord for the times and His mercy that He's even despite my resolve He's come to me on the backside and said Jenny or it's decisions Brandon and I are making together Jenny Brandon Hey, need to talk to you about this. You've made a decision without me. I'm so thankful for his that his mercies are new each day and he's faithful to come to us. But in that we have to remain humble to receive that correction. But to also continue to try and be sensitive to try and not have to get those on the backside, but to try intentionally on the front side, seek him for his wisdom and guidance so that we know what to do. So let me pray for you and pray for myself that will continue to lead into the Holy Spirit who promises to lead and guide us into all truth ⁓ and that He is our helper. And so thankful for that today. So Lord, thank you so much, Jesus, that you have given us your Holy Spirit, that He is our great helper, that He will lead and guide us into all truth. And so Lord, thank you for your word today. Thank you for reminding us that we ⁓ are susceptible that we can even in good ways with good intentions come to decisions and resolves on our own. But it's important Lord that we lean not on our own understanding as Proverbs tells us in Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, but in all our ways that we would acknowledge you. And as we do that, that you would make our path straight. So Lord help us to do that day by day and step by step. And as we do that, Lord, I thank you that you're faithful. to watch over us, to lead us, to guide us and protect us in all that we do. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.