"THE FORETELLING OF JESUS' BIRTH"

Good Evening to All!

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, (27) to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (28) And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"

(29) But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. (30) Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. (32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. (33) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

(34) Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (35) And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-35 NKJV)

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Christ Is Born

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. (2) This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. (3) So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. (4) Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, (5) to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. (6) so it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. (7) And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I feel so small every time I read the account of Jesus' birth. I think about how many times I have felt the Lord nudging me to do something, and yet I dismiss it for one reason (excuse) or another. Whether it's God telling my spirit I need to go up and talk to a complete stranger about something, or to praise Him in a different way than what I am accustom to doing and me not wanting to look silly in front of other people and so on.

I can't help but feel small because I think to myself "how Mary must have felt when the angel talked to her and told her about Jesus. First of all I would have been scared to death to see an angel standing in front of me, and secondly, to have the stigma of getting pregnant before I was married not to mention by whom! I'm sure they had to conjure up some excuse as to why Mary was leaving town for a while and it must have been hard on Joseph as well.

That took a lot of faith and strength on both Mary's and Joseph's part. I would love to think that I have that kind of faith, yet I have trouble stepping out of my comfort zone on small things let alone something as big and important as bearing God's Child. As humans we are too consumed with thoughts of "what will my friends and family think of me. How will this look? We forget that God is not "out to embarrass us, or cause us pain in any way, so why not listen to Him in the first place, do what He says, and stay in obedience to His will?

I can tell you why. We are of a sinful nature. Sin comes easy to us. This is why we need the Holy Ghost to guide us. It teaches us How to live For God. This is why it seems that it is easier to "pick up" bad habits than good ones. It usually takes a conscious effort to learn good habits.

These are just a few of my thoughts about Mary and Joseph's experience. I definitely could not put myself in her shoes no matter how hard I try. I thought about that a lot tonight. As much as I love God, I don't know if I could step up to that level of faith. Especially in today's climate. I do hope I could, but I just don't know.

Could you women do that? How about you men? Could you go through what Joseph did? Give it some thought and leave me a comment, OK?

Good Night to All and May God Bless!