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We continue in our Finishing Well study of “RED LETTER RECALL” on the words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew….but this week there’s no red letters! Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty soon enough! MONDAY…”the GENEALOGY of Jesus the Messiah” (1:1-17)
Now in order for this to be doable, you’ll need to keep your bible close by because on some occasions it’ll be more expedient for you to look up the reference yourself. This is one of those times! Some of the many details of background I’ve gotten from the QUEST Bible (the perfect gift for A.D.D. folks like me). And as you read this genealogy of Jesus, you’ll notice a few things….. One is Matthew makes sure his readers can see Jesus was born into a “traceable” family. The Jewish lineage was always traced thru males. Jesus was the fulfilment of promises thru Abraham and David and the covenant God made with them. Now did you notice other cool things like Jesus’ lineage thru his earthly father, Joseph, mentions familiar folks like Ruth and Solomon’s mother “who had been Uriah’s wife”. Her name? Bathsheba. People knew that story! And God reminds us all that He forgives, blesses and incredibly uses ALL people who surrender their life and story to Him! You might be wondering what the significance of the #14 is….it simply is a multiple of the #7, which represents “completeness” in Jewish thought. 14 generations from Abraham to David….14 more to the exile….14 more til Jesus. It has a hint of Galatians 4:4, which says, “in the fullness of time” Jesus was born. So even though there are no RED LETTERS today, reflect with me how God has brought YOU into existence at the right time, with the right parents and for the right purpose that you were called to live out and fulfill. Now it might not feel like everything was “providential” in your life at the time. But believe me, God put you on the timeline of history right where you were supposed to be according to Acts 17:26 (which is also reflected in a Stevie Wonder song entitled “As”….yep, you heard it here first!). As you pray today, thank God for sending Jesus at the “right time”…and bringing you into existence at just the right time, too! TUESDAY…”the CONCEPTION and BIRTH of Jesus (1:18-25)
It probably won’t feel much like Christmas today apart from this devotional passage (unless you’re watching a Hallmark movie at some point….they have Christmas year ‘round!) Matthew records the beautifully condensed account of Mary & Joseph’s engagement, consideration of divorce, angel visit, affirmation of prophecy in Isaiah. And to appropriately add to that, Matthew mentions that Joseph really “manned up”…in other words, he WOKE up from the dream, STEPPED up and married Mary, and to top it all off, Matthew indicates his sexual purity by “keeping his hands to himself” until after Jesus was born! Oh yeah….and he named Jesus, “Jesus”, as he was told to do. He had probably heard the story from Zechariah & Elizabeth about the angel visit concerning their miracle birth son, John the Baptist and how Zechariah had emphatically declared the name of his son as well. Now for Matthew, there is no mention of the shepherds, no Hark the Herald angels sing, no drama recorded of there being “no room at the Inn”. But perhaps the Jewish people didn’t need all the details in this gospel record. Matthew has 28 chapters to cover and he will fill in many a detail, trust me. But I find it interesting he was basic and to the point and we’ll see tomorrow that he moves right to the Wise Men bringing their gifts. So in a simple reflective & devotional way today, think with me….what was being tested in Joseph’s life? His faith? His integrity? His trust that God could speak to him in a dream? Pretty much all of the above, in my opinion. Now think about where you are in your “finishing well” journey…What is God testing in you? Your faith…your integrity…and perhaps your willingness to trust Him, maybe not in a dream, but in the PROMPTINGS of His Word, His Spirit and/or His People. James 1 says to ask God for wisdom if and when you need it. And when you ask, believe that He will provide with guidance! Our main areas of focus in this “finishing well lane” we are in are typically about health, wealth and relationships. Joseph’s big decision was about TRUST in relationships. With Mary. With God. There were implications of health & wealth for him, but the essence of his decision came down to trust. Let me simply encourage you to trust today. Trust God in all He leads you to and who He brings alongside with you. Trust what He’s told you and taught you all these years….and trust Him with your present moment! And hey… please let me give a shout out to one of the many faithful of our FW friends….JOHN HOPPES….today (the 24th ) John turns 99 years old! I baptized John only a few years ago when he was 94 I think….followed by a 10 year old boy who was in the water and next in line. Let the young and the old come unto the Lord! Happy birthday John! You’re a blessing! And we hope to see John & a whole lot of you at the GRAND for the Christmas Finishing Well December 10th ! WEDNESDAY…”The VISIT of the MAGI” (Matthew 2:1-12)
Wait a second….we skipped the shepherds! I love that story! Well don’t worry, Luke picks it up so our Christmas Nativities can be complete at churches with kids borrowing Dad’s bathrobes. Remember that years ago? Ok, let’s ask since we’ve always wondered…who were these guys and were there 3? First of all, some scholars say they were from a priestly tribe of Medes, while others say they were Persian elders from Babylon, schooled in philosophy, medicine and science while being devoted to astrology, divination and the interpretations of dreams. They might have even been from the same order of astrologers serving Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar in Daniel’s day. While divination was forbidden for Jews, it appears they discovered a rare celestial configuration that seemed to have a divine message announcing the birth of a king. Now notice that God did not exactly “bless” these men but led them thru their knowledge and curiosity to perhaps in an early way show that the King of Kings is also Lord of not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well! And as far as were there 3 Wise Men? There were 3 gifts….that’s the only connection to the #3. Notice how Herod was troubled….his pretense of caring….his goggling of Messianic prophecy concerning the birthplace….his secrecy….his sending them and requiring them to return. Notice their joy when they followed the star and found the child….their bowing, their worship….their gift-giving….their warning….their rerouting home another way. One thing I noticed in today’s reading was that THEY OPENED THEIR GIFTS in verse 11. You can tell where I’m headed……So have we opened our gifts for Him today? What are we bring to the King of Kings today that might benefit Him? Whatever He has given us, would we be willing to give back to Him as devoted and developed? Might not be precious gold, although financial blessing acknowledges Him. Might not be frankincense or myrrh, but our lives lived for His glory could be a fragrant offering unto the Lord. The Wise Men brought gifts fit for a king, but so are our gifts to Him. Our hearts, our focus, our relationships. Open your “gift of today” to Him….you will go on your way rejoicing as the did! THURSDAY…”The ESCAPE to EGYPT” (2:13-15)
Hosea 11 and Numbers 24 both mention the prophecy of God’s Son being called “out of Egypt”. The angel gets right to the point in telling Joseph to hightail it out of there for their own safety. His message is crystal clear…..it’s a matter of life and death….so Joseph got his family on the road in the middle of the night. They had just gotten settled. They had just had an incredible visit from 3 Wise Men from the east. They were seemingly doing well. But when things are going good, the devil ain’t happy. Our Enemy will go to any length to dishonor the name of God, People of God and Son of God. And he will interrupt God’s plan of redemption at any cost. Husband warned. Family evacuated. Messiah “witness protection plan” in place. Prophecy fulfilled. And now they wait….until further notice. Are we there in our lives maybe as well? In this “Finishing Well” season, does it seem like we’re on hold, waiting for further instruction? Waiting on a Dr’s call….test results….our kids’ or grandkids’ or even our parents’ situation to resolve….waiting to hear back from a friend….waiting to get out of the donut hole in Medicare? Yep… just landed there myself! I wonder what the discussions were like, that Mary & Joseph had during that time of “waiting in Egypt”? How long is this gonna take? Are we really in eminent danger? Talk about leaning into being “over protective”….when your child’s life is threatened, you’ll do whatever you need to in order to protect them! Did they wonder about Simeon’s words (although they are recorded in Luke’s gospel) where he tells Mary that because of this Child, a sword will pierce your own soul”? They’d dealt with Mary staying with her cousin Elizabeth during her pregnancy, leaving their hometown, and now going into hiding. Will we ever get to live a normal life? No, not really. But it will be an incredibly BLESSED useful, significant life that will lead to the salvation of all who would believe! If you’re in hiding in your own type of Egypt today….take heart. God will bring you out into the open when the time is right. When your heart is healed. When it is safe. And when He does…be ready. FRIDAY…”King Herod Slaughters Babies” (2:16-23)
The essence of insecurity and paranoia is found in King Herod’s behavior today. He’d been fooled by the Wise Men. But he had deceived them into thinking he would honor the “coming King”. That doesn’t matter to people who are evil. Ask any sociopath if they really care and at best they’ll give you a blank stare. Another prophecy is fulfilled, this time from Jeremiah 31, saying that a woman named Rachel is weeping over her children because they are no more. What puts such evil in the hearts of people or governments? A better question is WHO puts that evil there. The spirit of killing the newborn and the unborn has been around a long time. Moses was a very fortunate survivor, while many other Jewish boys weren’t. The devil has worked overtime on this one. And may God’s people take a stand unashamedly over BIBLICAL convictions that have POLITICAL implications! (please check out Bob Russell’s blog on Sept 15th …click here) God protected His Son. So did Joseph. And although we haven’t had any RED LETTERS yet, we will soon. But even before Jesus spoke a word, God was speaking loudly from heaven with warnings and blessings. And for now it is safe to return. Notice Joseph’s radar is up as he looks with holy fear that Herod’s son is now reigning after his father’s death. Could there have been a last request by Herod to finish the murdering of small Jewish boy born about that time that look suspicious? God affirms his fear in a dream and send Joseph to Nazareth. Not the most popular or respected place to raise kids. But again, it fulfilled a prophecy. While there is no exact Old Testament prophecy, the passage in Isaiah 11:1 is commonly referred to as fulfilling this, since the term “shoot” and “branch” in Hebrew letters (there are no vowels in Hebrew…can’t even buy one on “Wheel of Fortune”). So the word appears as NZR, which has an implication of Nazareth, scholars say. So now they’re back raising the Young Messiah in His home country. What will happen next? Time will tell. But we close this week with it being safe to resume public and normal activity. Matthew skips the “lost in the Temple” scene when Jesus was 13, but it is recorded in Luke 2. Jesus has some “RED LETTER WORDS” for His parents then that we’ll skip for now just to remain tied to Matthew’s account. But when He starts to speak (and He will next week to John the Baptist and His early followers), we’ll let those red letters jump from the pages to our hearts. My hope and prayer is we can “RECALL” most of what we already know….be reminded of His life-changing words….be re-shaped by the authority with which He speaks and reveals the heart of God to us. So today…..let’s get out of Egypt if we’ve been stuck there and back to where we belong! No longer afraid of the Enemy and his lies about the goodness of God. Haver a great weekend of worship at your Church! Join us next week as Jesus’ EARTHLY MINISTRY begins in Matthew 3…. Love you guys, george
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