The Lord is With You {Week 5}

A Study of Luke 1 & 2

The Lord is with you, and He is here!

What an exciting week of study! Jesus is born! As I write this, I’m coming off a super exciting weekend as our church hosted our outdoor, socially distanced Christmas program I got to be a part of. It was so fun to sing again as a choir, distanced across a large outdoor stage, tell the Christmas story, see the dancers and drama team, and share the gospel with so many from our community. It is with these recent memories in mind that I write this week’s devotional.

Before we get to Jesus’ birth, let’s go look in Matthew chapter 1 to see how Joseph responds to the news that the one betrothed to be his wife is now pregnant.

TRUTH #1: God’s plans often look very different from our own. But God is still good. {Matthew 1:18–25}

Last night, a friend asked how things were going in a current tough life circumstance and I immediately started to cry. How could I not? There are some areas of my life right now that are tough, that bring me to my knees as I choose over and over again to leave them in God’s hands. Before she left me, she said, “Remember that God is good.” We’ve seen this in scripture time upon time but we must be reminded of it again and again as our lives move and shift in ways we never imagined.

Imagine being Joseph. He was betrothed to a woman who was godly — someone that was described by the angel as one “favored” by God. And yet, suddenly this woman was pregnant, and Joseph knew it wasn’t his baby. I’m trying to process what Ryan would have done or thought had I gotten pregnant while we were engaged with him knowing there was no way he could be the father. As Joseph considered, he likely would have said we needed to call off the wedding because, in human terms, this relationship would not seem to be working out. In their culture, Joseph could have demanded Mary be stoned to death for such an act, so for him to just be planning to secretly put her away was a kind act towards her.

But God stepped in… He sent His angel to tell Joseph it was His will for him to take Mary as his wife, even though everyone would know she had gotten pregnant outside of marriage.

I found a few other facts about Joseph interesting…

• From this point forward, we see the angel appearing to Joseph, not Mary, to give instructions, such as when God told them to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. God had a special plan for Joseph to care for His Son as an earthly father.
• We see the ultimate respect for Mary, and God, by Joseph in Matthew 1:25. Even though he took her as his wife, he kept her pure until after Jesus was born.
• It seems Joseph may have passed away at some point in Jesus’ life. On the cross, Jesus told John to care for His mother, as though he were her son, indicating that Mary was a widow.

I want you to ponder something with me for a moment. Jesus, God’s Son, knows what it means to be a step child. Jesus knows what it means to feel displaced by a long distance move. Jesus knows what it means to lose a parent. Jesus has felt the pain of his own mother being a widow.

Mary and Joseph undoubtedly did not include “travel 90 miles while pregnant” to their birth plan (distance from Galilee to Bethlehem). I found an interesting article about the trip from Galilee to Bethlehem and it was no walk in the park. The dangerous and treacherous conditions in likely freezing temperatures would have been quite arduous for the young couple to traverse, especially this pregnant.

Before you go…

• What are you struggling through in life? Take it to Jesus. He knows your struggle. Let Him walk with you through it.
• Also, let God’s people walk with you through life’s struggles by choosing to be honest and open with others.

“Remember that God is good.”

TRUTH #2: As with Zacharias, Mary, and the Shepherds, seeing God work often leaves us feeling “terribly afraid” {Luke 2:1–20}

Take a moment to read Luke 2:1–20. Don’t let the familiarity of the passage strip away the blessedness of it.

Something I have been struck by while doing this study is how frightened, afraid, and terrified each individual was when they encountered God’s messenger, and the message he brought— and how each individual responded to this feeling of terror. Mary said, “may it be to me,” Zacharias said “how will I know this for certain?” and Joseph got up and obeyed. We see this terror arise again in our passage today as the angel appears to the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth. The angel then tells the shepherds, “fear not,” “do not be afraid.” But why? Why does the angel say the shepherds don’t have to be afraid?

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10–11

At first glance, I imagine you would answer the question above as I did: “they don’t have to be afraid because the angel brings good news and great joy!”

Yes, this is true. But what is this news? Who is this great joy? Why do we not have to fear what has befallen us? Because we have a Savior, Jesus, Emmanuel which literally means that God is WITH us! Fear not, my friend, God is with you! Because of Jesus and because of the Holy Spirit we are never alone. God is with us. Not like “He’s around here somewhere” but literally, for all who know and believe in Him, God is walking right there alongside us, picking up the broken pieces, mending the broken mess, sitting with us in the dead of night.

While I have never knowingly encountered an angel or had a vision from God, I have seen God work. I have seen Him take a relationship so busted up it seemed unredeemable and turn it into something beautiful. I’ve seen Him work millions of mini-miracles to shape my life into what it is today. This year has held a lot of moments where I have seen God move and work and my response has often been fear to traverse the path unknown. When we face this type of fear, we have a choice. As Mary and the shepherds did, we can choose to open our mouths with praise to God, trusting Him to walk beside us through the treacherous path. Or we can choose to doubt, to question, to allow bitterness to blind our eyes to the God who is walking alongside us. It is a choice.

Before you go…

• Where is God calling you to take a step of faith? As with Mary, do you need to say “may it be done to me?” Or as with Joseph, do you need to obey? As with Elizabeth, is God calling you to minister to someone around you? As with the shepherds, is it time to go to Jesus and worship Him?
• Think upon the tough spaces you find yourself in right now. How can you practically trust God by praising Him today?

Fear not, my friend, God is with you!

TRUTH #3: Along with Mary, take time to treasure and ponder the things God has done in your life this year {Luke 2:19}

“But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

There is really no time in life quite like the days before, during, and after having a baby. Everyone loves to see a new baby and the comradery is palpable. I know the photos of the nativity normally just include Joseph, Mary, Baby Jesus, and some animals but I just cannot imagine there weren’t some helpers. I am trying to imagine a situation of myself being in a hotel and hearing a baby was born there the night before and me not trying to go get a peek! I can’t imagine Joseph didn’t at least try to get some help from local women or midwives. Then the baby was born and these shepherds came. But they didn’t just come to take a peek of this new little one — they literally worshipped Him. Next week we will see how others responded to this miraculous birth.

Even though she was uprooted to go to Bethlehem, then uprooted again later on to travel to Egypt, Mary kept her heart in a state of pondering, treasuring all the events that took place. She treasured her moments with her Savior. The early days with a new baby, especially your first, while exhausting, are so unique as you literally just sit there with this little one, feeding for half to one hour over and over all throughout the day. I would gaze into my newborn’s eyes and wonder what they would become, who they would grow up to be. Today I ponder how different that time would feel if I knew this baby was God’s Son. Or if I understood the prophesies that this child was going to die before I did. That He would be dying for my own sin.

Before you go…

• Today, I challenge you to ponder and to treasure what God has done for you this year.
• Create a list of God stories and use the hashtag #Treasure2020 to share and treasure what God has done for you this year. This has been a year of trials and heartaches but through it all God has been working — let’s showcase the amazing things He has done for us this year.

Mary kept her heart in a state of pondering, treasuring