Journey to Bethlehem

Luke 2:4-5

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

As I was reading through this account, I started thinking about my last pregnancy.  Around this time, four years ago, I was seven months pregnant with my first born son.  Now not all pregnancies are rough, but mine with my son was horrible and by seven months, I was so huge, I felt like I could hardly move some days. 

Here was Mary, who was clearly very pregnant.  Even with the best of pregnancies, I just cannot imagine what she had to go through, traveling all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Most doctors today would advise you against such travel in your third trimester. 

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to take simple passages, such as this, and help us to visualize being in the situation.  While not all of you can relate to Mary in her pregnancy, I’m sure you’ve all known women at the end of their pregnancy and just how miserable they get. 

As you get to the very end, they tell you to go walk the mall or something like that.  Mary sure did a lot of walking at the end of her pregnancy!

Now for you guys that have had a pregnant wife or friend and have been around toward the end, I’m sure you can only imagine what Joseph was going through.  He needed to go to register, needed to take Mary with him as she was pledged to be his wife, and here she was probably miserable throughout the trip.  He was probably slowed down because of her pregnancy and probably felt helpless in taking care of her. 

I know that my husband often felt this same way when I couldn’t move very quickly and would complain about something that he really couldn’t fix. 

Today I hope you can simply imagine what that journey would have been like for Mary and Joseph.

Our Journey to Adoption, Part II - Choices

In 2010, Joe went back to school for a master’s in psychology (after financial constrains led to his job loss as a youth pastor). So, I thought maybe God was going to wait to give us children until after Joe finished his masters and got another job. However, we did eventually see a second fertility doctor, who again didn’t find any issues.

Joe graduated in 2012 and got a full-time job at a treatment facility in 2013. No pregnancy ensued, though. We didn’t sense any direction from God regarding adoption, either.

Then, in 2014, we were led to again call the Department of Human Services about attending a foster orientation. They were no longer hosting orientation classes, but contracted with Orchards Children’s Services to conduct in-home orientation classes. So, a lady came out to our home. (We let her in and didn’t lock her out! J) After orientation, we could choose any agency to go through to get our foster license. I didn’t know which agency to pick. Even after prayer, it wasn’t clear. Joe thought we could go with Orchards as they did the orientation, so that’s what we did.

God knew it didn’t matter where we got licensed. He knew the unique circumstances that would connect us with James and Sarah. It only mattered that we got licensed and not who licensed us. I had worried about selecting the “right” licensing agency when God knew it didn’t matter.

Sometimes any of the choices before us are the “right” choice. I often want God to specifically direct me to a certain choice. I don’t want to make a mistake. However, He is Sovereign!! He will accomplish His plans even if I do make a mistake.  

Job 42: 1-2 Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.

Have you ever been stuck in a situation where any choice could be the “right” one? Besides prayer, we should also check our options against God’s Word. Do any of the choices violate any of His commands? If not, we don’t need to keep sitting and waiting but can move forward in faith with any choice.    

James 3:13, 17-18            If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom… But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Are you in a situation where many options seem good? After much prayer and checking your options against God’s Word, you can move forward in faith with any of the choices. Then, be open to God’s confirmation or redirection as you take one step of faith after another!

Alice  

Focus And Do

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.  For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  James 1:21-25

My youngest daughter is a master of diversion.  When she is in trouble, she will try to quickly acknowledge what has happened and been done wrongly.  However rather than focus on what was the poor behavior, she tries to quickly change the subject.  She realizes that the place of punishment and consequences is not where things end well for her.  So she moves quickly to things like, “Dad, I did really well in school today,” or, “Mom, do you know what happened in cheer?”  Of course, we direct her back to where the focus should be, but nonetheless, she will keep trying.  Her determination and persistence is a great thing.  However as parents, we have to channel it where she focuses on the right things, and then does the right thing.  In thinking of the big picture as a Christian, that is our challenge as well.  It’s a lot more challenging though because we may tend to focus on the stuff that seems important instead of on Christ.  Today, I want to encourage you to focus and do.

If we trust in God, we will walk closer to Him with each step.  In each action where we read His word and act on it, we move closer to God’s plan for our lives.  Here is the interesting part.  If we are truly focused on God, it is not to say that every step will be in the right direction.  In fact, we may very well fall off course.  My life is filled with errors and missteps where I knew the right pathway but made the wrong step because I might have wanted something more than what God wanted for me or got distracted and hastily made a decision without trusting God.  In the end, these were choices I was neither proud of nor happy with.  Yet, they were key moments of learning where God through either His discipline or revealing to me His plan allowed me to move forward.  In the end, the steps still moved me closer to Him and not further.  There’s a reason the Bible is called ‘The Living Word Of God.’  It is not a vacuum that we read and say, “Ok.  That makes sense.”  It asks us to focus on it, reflect, and then act.  It is how it manifests itself from just being words on the paper to as James wrote the living “word God has planted in your heart.”

We live in a world that is built to ensure that we are disconnected from God.  The thing is that it can be so subtle, we often lose sight of it.  Hebrews 12 states, “(L)et us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”  That is why it is important that we focus on Jesus Christ for if we do, our actions (or walk) will be on God’s right side and our faith found ‘perfect.’  What is stopping you from converting God’s word into action?  How can we be better doers than readers?  My prayer is that we not only pause to adjust but also focus and do.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Checkup

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (NASB)

Hello,

Have you ever stepped back and evaluated your thought process leading up to a decision of where to spend your time, or how much effort you are about to (or about not to) put into prayer or reading your Bible? While I am not advocating talking to yourself ( J ) I would recommend slowing down some and forcing yourself to think on a step-by-step level as you approach your walk with God when you have big personal moments coming in the near future, and evaluate your decision making process.

Are you letting the big personal moment impact how you approach God and your choices through the day?

Now, I am all for letting things have a positive impact on our walk with God – but we need to be aware of how we view our relationship with God. If we get caught up in changing our behavior based on something big coming up – how are we really treating God? Do we still view Him as our Savior – deserving of our unconditional love and commitment as He has secured our eternal future? Or, are we looking to superficially and temporarily look good while we have something on the line that is visible and temporary?

Again, I am all for improving our walk with God and doing better on a daily basis – I just think it is worth an introspective look by all of us as to our motives for decision making. When we catch the motive starting to slide, just pause for a moment and adjust. Thank God for who He is and what He has done for you, reminding yourself of what your true motivation should be.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill