Philippians 1:20-23

"as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better."

Keep your hands to the plow. 

Joseph, Did You Know?

The Christmas Story today is usually accompanied by the song, "Mary, Did You Know?" and it is a powerful song. As much as Mary had to ponder during her pregnancy about the life Jesus would lead, Joseph had a pretty heavy weight put upon him right from the beginning. 

Imagine your fiancé coming to you and announcing she was pregnant and then added "by the Holy Spirit". (Matthew 1:18-19) Would you have even heard the best part (God has decided to use your fiancé to become human!) or would your mind begin racing to every man you thought may have had the potential to have done this? Joseph, by all accounts, loved God and loved Mary. Even the man whose walk with God was sound would have trouble with what Mary announced…initially. 

His character didn't allow him to fly off and go into a jealous lovers rage, yet I can't help wonder about his mind ( He did consider these things afterall - Matthew 1:20) the irrationality of this situation, how could God impregnate my fiancé?, that guy Mary was talking to last week at the market, what about the guy at the Temple, etc. He has read the wreckage of David's affair, about Amnom and Tamar, Samson and Delilah and Proverbs. He knows his own thoughts and his own desire for Mary. 

Yet, here is Mary and her story about being pregnant. I have read some accounts implying Joseph (and people before the enlightenment regarding pregnancy) didn't really have a problem because back in those days, people didn't really know how babies were made. Rubes just went ahead and consummated marriages and before you know it, the maiden's belly was big and round and oh, here comes a small, living creature out of the birth canal! Even Mary, who no doubt had the talk and probably giggled once or twice during it, knew exactly what this meant (Luke 1:34). 

No, men and women knew about sex, desire, biology and gestation. Joseph was no rube and he knew full well the ramifications of this event. He knew the law, too (Dueteronomy 24:1 & Dueteronomy 22:21) and what was required of him. He and Mary were both from the line of David (from the tribe of Judah) so we could assume both families have an intimate knowledge of God. 

In Joseph's case, it didn't take long for him to get on board. (Matthew 1:24-25). His character was rock solid and his love for God stronger than any shame or embarrassment he may encounter from family and friends. Can you imagine the conversation with them? 

Friend- "And you believed her!?"

Joseph- "Well, yes, I mean, she has walked with God for awhile and an angel told me..."

Friend- "Ha! Plenty of God-fearing couples have ended up pregnant before marriage and sometimes I've heard it wasn't even with the person they were engaged to! Remember Bezek and Vizat?"

Joseph- "All I know is I've never even kissed her and I know she hasn't kissed another.  I'm with her almost every day. I don't know how she could find the time. I trust her!"

Friend-"Famous last words from many a man. You weren't the first and you won't be the last"

Joseph, did you know your baby boy would save our sons and daughters? 

Prayer from Truth Project Devotional

Lord, I stand amazed at Your wisdom and might. You hold all things together by the power of Your matchless love. As Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are distinctly Three, yet indivisibly One. I praise You for the beauty of this great mystery. I see it reflected and manifested in every aspect of the world You have created and the structures You have established for happy and harmonious human relations. Grant me the grace to live my life and order my interactions with others in such a way that I, too, may proclaim the glory of Your triune majesty.

Pleasures

How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose … ! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. … O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation. Confessions, p181 (IX.1)

Provided the thing is in itself right, the more one likes it and the less one has to “try to be good,” the better. A perfect man would never act from sense of duty; he’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of other people), like a crutch, which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it’s idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits, etc.) can do the journey on their own!

Lewis

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Which means they are finding that their desires, not just their decisions, really matter. The glory of God is at stake.

Emotion is for Emoters or Something

Mark 14:32-36 captures the emotional state of Jesus vividly. It also grants us a window into the importance of where we ought to go when in despair - to The Lord.

Jesus was...

Distressed

Troubled

Sorrowful, even unto death

Fell on the ground - complete mental exhaustion & to a degree, physical. 

He finishes this with a simple prayer and in the end submits his will to God. John 12:27

Psalm 42:5-6, 11 is one of many Psalms where despair is present as well as the remedy for the despair. A safe place for a person to go when despondent is to God. 

Dennis Prager Introduction on Ten Commandments