Author: Ron Moore

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus. Matthew 1:24-25 HCSB

I never served in the military, but it is my understanding that when an officer or high ranking official gives a command or order it is not questioned but immediately obeyed. The same is true in a company when the CEO or President makes a decision; others carry out the mandate to do what has been decided. In a local church, the pastor is the ultimate authority and sometimes has to make a final decision on what is going to be done concerning an activity or procedure.

Joseph did not question the angel or what he was commanded to do. The Scripture says that Joseph immediately followed through with doing what he needed to do, even though it may have brought ridicule or questions from friends and family. Joseph was not concerned with with what others thought as much as he was concerned with following God’s plan and direction for his life.

Challenge: Sometimes we make decisions based on what others will think rather than on what is right. We must follow Joseph’s example and obey God and do what is right, regardless if others disapprove of what we are doing.

Now all of this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet. See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” Matthew 1:22-23 HCSB

bibleprobe.com reports that there are over 360 prophecies foretold about the coming Jewish Messiah – hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus fulfilled all of those prophecies. Of these 360 prophecies, there are 109 that only Jesus could have fulfilled. To mention a few: Micah 5:2 predicts that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. Isaiah 7:14 predicts He will be born of a virgin. Malachi 3:1 predicts that the temple will be standing when the Messiah comes. Isaiah 35:3-5 predicts that He will perform many miracles. Psalm 78:2 predicts He will speak in parables.

The odds of Jesus fulfilling just eight of the prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies. This verse in Matthew is referring to the prophecy made by Isaiah stating that the Messiah would be born of a virgin and He would be called Immanuel or “God is with us”. God came to earth in human form through Jesus Christ and He continues to be “with us” every day through the presence of the Holy Spirt.

Challenge: Every believer has access to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Christ is with us through the good and the bad times of life. He is near to help us and guide us in the right direction. Thank God for providing Jesus as your Savior and for “being with you”.

Note: God was with me during prostate cancer surgery. Thanks to all who were praying for me. I am home recovering. I appreciate your continued prayers for a quick recovery.

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21 HCSB

As I write this devotional I am facing prostate cancer surgery. I have had five surgeries in my lifetime. There is a bit of fear of what will happen during and after any surgery. I have had many people say they are praying for me and some have actually stopped and prayed with me for peace and that the surgery will go well. These prayers have helped calm my fears.

Naturally, Joseph was afraid and did not want to proceed with the marriage. God knew what Joseph was feeling and sent an angel to tell him to not be afraid. The angel confirmed what Mary had told him concerning why she was pregnant. The angel also told him that the Child would be a Son and to call Him Jesus. Additionally, He would save His people from their sins. Put yourself in Joseph’s shoes and try to imagine what he was thinking and feeling. Mary had told him she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, then an angel appeared and told him to go ahead and take Mary as his wife. Next he was told that the child would save His people from their sins. That is a lot to comprehend. The angel helped calm Joseph’s fears and doubts.

Challenge: Trust God when you have doubts and fears. He is in control and knows exactly what you are going through. You may not understand the why, but you can always trust God to do what is best in every situation, even when it does not seem to be good at the time.

So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. Matthew 1:19 HCSB

There were three steps in a Jewish marriage. First, the two families agreed to the marriage. Second, there was a public announcement of the engagement. Third, the couple was married and began living together. The engagement period is similar to today’s engagement but unlike today’s engagement in that the relationship could only be broken by divorce or death. An engagement was much like being married, but the couple did not live together or have any intimacy until after the marriage ceremony.

Unfaithfulness carried a severe penalty. Mary was pregnant and had seemingly been unfaithful to Joseph and their engagement. Joseph had the right to divorce Mary, and the Jewish authorities could have had her stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). Joseph decided to divorce Mary secretly and not disgrace her publicly. I can only imagine the thoughts that Joseph had when Mary told him she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Challenge: When has God put a difficulty or problem into your life that was hard to believe? How did you handle it? Follow Joseph’s example and do what is right in every situation, even when it is difficult to do so.

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 HCSB

While in college I wrote a paper titled, “Jesus as God and Man”. There are some religions that believe that Jesus was all God in human form while others argue that Jesus was fully man and was supernaturally empowered by God. I believe that Jesus was both God and man. I cannot fully explain how Jesus could be both, but I believe He was 100% God and 100% man. Our human minds cannot comprehend that concept any more than we can understand the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was the small baby born of a human mother. He had to experience everything that we experience as humans (temptation, fears, doubt, sadness, grief, happiness, joy, etc.) He had to be fully man to take our place on the cross and die for our sins. On the other hand, Jesus had to be fully God to perform the miracles of feeding 5,000 people with only two fish and five loaves of bread, walking on water, healing the sick, and bringing people back to life from the dead.

He was the Son of God so He had no trace of sin in His life. Since Jesus was without sin, He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He was without spot or blemish in any way. He died in our place so that we might have forgiveness of our sins and gain eternal life as children of God. Only Jesus has the power to deliver us from death. Because He was human we can share our struggles and feelings with Him and He understands.

Challenge: Thank God for coming to earth in human form and paying the penalty for your sins. Read Hebrews 4:15-16 and Colossians 2:13-15 to gain further insight into how Jesus was both God and man.

“His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.”. Matthew 3:12 HCSB

While my garden is growing in the summer I water it, fertilize it, weed it, and pick the vegetables for cooking and eating. As summer comes to a close, the brisk cool winds of fall begin and the leaves begin to turn their brilliant red and yellow colors. The plants in my garden may still have green leaves, but they produce fewer and fewer vegetables until they no longer produce anything. At this time I pull them up and put them in a pile to be burned or thrown away with the trash.

Matthew uses the winnowing shovel, threshing floor, wheat, and chaff to paint a very vivid picture of Judgment day when Christ will judge everyone and will gather His children (those who have believed and accepted Him as Lord and Savior) to come into His kingdom and will discard those who are unrepentant and unworthy to do God’s work. Those who are discarded will be burned with an everlasting fire that will never end.

Challenge: Are you ready for Judgment Day? If not, it is as simple as A-B-C to know Christ as your personal Lord. A – Admit you are a sinner. B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, He lived a perfect life, died on the cross, was buried, and raised from the dead and lives today. C – Confess Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Do not be part of the chaff that will be burned in the everlasting fire. God wants you in His kingdom and is preparing a place for you.

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. Matthew 3:8 HCSB

I typically enjoy having a small garden in our backyard. Last year we had an over abundance of tomatoes. This year the tomatoes did not do well, but we had a good crop of okra. In the spring we select small plants from the nursery that we cultivate with the hope they will grow into larger plants. When we planted the okra, each plant was only about two inches tall, but by the end of the season the plants had grown to approximately five feet. I even had difficulty pulling them up at the end of season because their roots were so big. I planted okra and enjoyed the harvest. Naturally, I expected the okra plant to produce okra instead of tomatoes.

John the Baptist encouraged his listeners to live lives that reflected change. He challenged them to change their behavior. He was basically saying, “Prove by the way you live that you really have turned from your sins.” God looks beyond our religious activities and our words to see if our conduct backs up what we are saying. We will someday be judged by our actions.

Challenge: Do your actions speak louder than your words? What type of fruit are you producing?

John himself had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. Matthew 3:4-6 HCSB

I was one of the co-leaders of the Follow-Up Committee for the Billy Graham Crusade in Nashville, Tennessee. Each evening people from the area would flock to the stadium to hear Billy Graham speak. At the end of the message he would challenge the people to get up from their seats and come forward to the platform to confess their sins and accept Jesus as Lord. The people who came forward were counseled concerning their decision. It was our committee’s job to process the information gathered by the counselors, send a letter to the one making a decision, and send a letter to a local pastor so he could follow-up with the person making the decision to help him get involved in a church and be baptized.

Many people flocked to hear the message of the “crazy man” in the wilderness. John wore different clothes and ate unusual food. John lived differently from other people to show that his message was new and different. He not only preached God’s law, he lived it. Certainly, some people came to hear John just out of curiosity but ended up turning from their sins as they listened to his powerful message. Baptism was used as a symbolic expression of repentance and forgiveness. The people were turning from their sins, changing behavior, and turning to God. The Jews used baptism to initiate converts, so John’s audience would have been familiar with the ritual.

Challenge: Baptism does not save a person, but it is used as a public expression of what has happened inwardly in the life of a person. Have you confessed your sins and accepted Christ as your Lord? Have you been baptized as an expression of your faith?

For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight! Matthew 3:3 HCSB

I just finished watching the movie, “Killing Kennedy” based on the book by the same title written by Bill O’Reilly. The movie portrays that the plans for President Kennedy to visit Dallas, Texas were put in place months prior to the President’s visit. The secret service even discussed the tall buildings surrounding the motorcade and were hoping for rain so they could use a bubble on the President’s car. The weather cleared up and the bubble was not used, therefore exposing the President to the danger of a sniper’s bullet. The point is that it requires extensive preparation for the President of the United States to travel to any location.

John the Baptist challenged people to prepare the way for the Lord. John was the forerunner, preparing the way for Jesus to come. This verse in the Gospel of Matthew is based on Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah was one of the most influential prophets in the Old Testament, just as John the Baptist was an influential prophet in the New Testament. Both Isaiah and John the Baptist called on people to repent and turn from their sins. Those who listen, obey, and seek God’s forgiveness will find healing and the forgiveness of God.

Challenge: Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord need someone to prepare the way for them so they might understand and accept Jesus as Lord of their lives. Someone you know may be open to the Gospel of Christ. What are you doing to help prepare the way for him to know and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior?

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” Matthew 3:1-2 HCSB

Our church recently added an additional exit from our front parking lot. The state would only allow for the access to be an exit because the lane is only wide enough for one car. We have put up signs that say “Exit Only” and “Do Not Enter,” but inevitably cars come in the exit going the wrong way. None have yet stopped and turned around when they encounter a car going the right direction. The drivers usually drive off of the lane into the grass to get by. It seems they are determined not to follow the signs even at the risk of running into another car going in the right direction.

That is the way that many people approach life now and in the day of John the Baptist. They are determined to go against the laws and do what they want. They don’t seem to care that they are going in the wrong direction. Frequently when people are confronted with their sins, they continue to be self-centered and indulge in ungodly behaviors even though they know such actions are wrong and against God’s laws. John the Baptist was calling for people to repent (to turn from from sins) and go in the right direction.

Challenge: The first step of repentance is to admit that we have sinned. The second step is to turn 180 degrees and go in the opposite direction from the ways of our sin. The third step is to begin following God’s way of living by His Word. God does not expect us to clean up our act before coming to Him. We will still fail from time to time, but we must recognize we are sinners and strive to live in a way that would be pleasing to God.