Blog to Blog to Blog, Blogging.... lol Return to Love : Getting Back to the Teachings of Christ

8MAY/10

this message came just in time for me, it talks about God's timing vs our timing. It made me think about how often we try to force our timing on God instead of just letting things play out how He wants it. I suppose we get so caught up with "staying on the path" "keeping on our path" "walking the right way" that we forget WHOS PATH it really is!

 After all we are all just trying to stay on HIS path - lets not forget that. 

be blessed, and a blessing.

R. Calloway 

God’s Timing

It is interesting to see the lineage that takes place between Abraham and Jesus in Matthew 1.  The number 14 is used 3 times to define specific points of reference in the lineage.  In verse 17, Matthew tells us that there were fourteen generations between Abraham and David.  Once again, between the time of David until the carrying away into Babylon is another 14 generations.  Then, Christ is born 14 generations after the carrying away into Babylon.

God’s timing is perfect and irrefutable.  In saying this, I think we can all relate to situations in our lives where it seems that timing could not have been any more perfect.  I believe that God is a God of order, and his order is a way of showing us what it means to be on his path. Sometimes this means that chapters of our lives come to a close, but whenever a chapter closes a new one opens.  We can look back and say, “If it weren’t for this chapter coming to a close, I would have never arrived here.”

Do not let past experiences get you down. Repent and be free through Jesus Christ.  God has a plan for you, and every experience you have is to build your character.  Grieving will only get you down. Push forward because you are a victor.

Christ’s Birth

Matthew goes on to describe the birth of Christ.  Mary was espoused to Joseph, but not yet married when she became impregnated by the Holy Spirit.  How awesome is our God that he would choose an unwed virgin to carry the Son of God.  To the eyes of man this would have been a very bothersome situation.  I can only imagine the religious leaders of Mary’s day had known of her pregnancy.  Such a child would have been strictly forbidden by the Law of Moses.

Deuteronomy 23:2 says this “No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation.”  If Jesus had been born today, would anyone have believed Mary, or would they have condemned her for violating the law? Fortunately, God is faithful and gave Mary a husband who was “just and upright,” and he was “not willing to expose her publicly” (Matt. 22:19).  Joseph was considerate in his actions, and did not go around shouting, “My wife is pregnant!” Rather, he moved “quietly and secretly.” Joseph left room for God to move.  Rather than starting a fire by disgracing Mary, Joseph chose to move with caution.

As Joseph waited and prayed about his circumstance, an angel of the Lord appeared to him.  The angel tells him to not be afraid, but to “take Mary as his wife because that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”  Rather than jumping to conclusions and passing judgment, Joseph chose to wait on God.  Since he chose patience over condemnation, the Lord revealed to him the truth.

Joseph could have pulled out his Torah, and used it to condemn Mary.  He could have read her the verse in Deuteronomy 22:23-24 which states “If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death.”  However, he chose to let God speak to him.

The question is “Are you letting God speak to you?”  Do you jump to condemn people before opening yourself up to God? Do you ask God for fresh revelation? What he reveals to you, may be the last thing you expect. We are all limited by our perspectives, and it takes an encounter with the Almighty to reveal to us the bigger picture.