“I Know that You are with me”
Exodus 33:12-14 God has come among us. That is the meaning of "Immanu-el"-God with us (Matthew 1:18). That is a truth you can count on. How do you move from…
6. Escape to Egypt
Starting a Journey with Jesus, Day 6 (Matthew 2:13-18)
When [the Magi] had gone, suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up and take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, and this fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, he was enraged and gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and the villages around it who were two years old and under, in line with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:13-18)
When traveling how do you stay on track? How do you avoid danger? Prayer and communication with God is the best way I know to do both. (more…)
3. Misgivings, Grace and Name-giving
Starting a Journey with Jesus, Day 3 (Matthew 1:18-25)
Jesus’ birth took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, being righteous, did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he planned to put her aside quietly.
While he was thinking it out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Marry as your wife. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus–‘God saves’–because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring to fulfillment the prophet’s message given by the Lord:
Watch–a virgin will become pregnant and bear a son; They will call his name Immanuel (it means in Hebrew “God is with us”).
Joseph woke up from his sleep and did just as the Lord’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not know her intimately until she had the son. He named the baby Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)