Christmas Devotionals (22 of 25) by Jason Major

Read MATTHEW 1 (NEW KING JAMES)
 

Father, what do You want to tell me about the Nativity Story today?

“Walk to the gates of Christmas Mountain again; and come closer to the Father’s house.  Come, come inside the house, and see the fire burning.  You see Me coming to you, and you sitting down back on the sofa, to hear more about the story of the Nativity; to see things you’ve not seen before.”

“Let Me open up the Scriptures once again to the Book of Matthew.  Joseph has just had his dream, in which he is told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife; and that the baby born will be Jesus.”

“I want you to meditate right now on that moment after; when a teary-eyed Joseph went back to apologize to Mary for all the nasty accusations that he had said to her.  There was reconciliation in that moment; and a wave of emotions over what was next.”

“The decision had been made: to marry Mary; and later; to go to Bethlehem for the census. What emotions do you think they would have felt, when Mary was still very young in her pregnancy and did not what was going to happen next.  She was carrying the vision of salvation inside of her; she was carrying the dreams of the world inside of her.  There was no exciting day to day moment; there was preparation to be made for the baby’s birth; then there was preparation to be made for the long journey ahead; so that they would be ready for the day when a dream was born.”

“I want to give you a cool glass of water to drink, be refreshed, it is cold with ice.  Drink up, and be refreshed.”

“You see, you too feel like Joseph.  You believe that you have been given dreams from the Father and they have been placed in your heart. Now, you have to choose and understand how to prepare for the long journey ahead.”

“In Joseph and Mary’s case; they would have had to pack to leave their hometown to go on their journey, they would have to say goodbye to their friends, they would have to get ready then take the first steps to get to Bethlehem.”

“In your case, you cannot just assume that the prophetic words over your life will one day happen in the sweet bye and bye.  They are real, and they are for you; despite what you have or do not have.”

“Remember, I am asking you to meditate on the moments after Joseph and Mary reconciled with each other; and how they must have been overjoyed at their reconciliation but had so many questions about how salvation was going to come; and what they would need to do and what they would not need to do.”

“They did not say to themselves ‘well, the theological message that most people interpret the messiah is going to be a warrior- therefore we need to start training for war!’ No, they did not join the zealots, they did not ascribe to their present day interpretation of ‘messiah’. Many thought the Messiah would be another deliverer, another Moses.”

“They had faith in their heart to go forward, not knowing the entirety of the future.”

“I want you to take those first steps of faith in the dreams that I have given you; that means for you spending the time that is necessary to get things ready for the journey, and the preparation; not listening to the advice of man. That is what Joseph did that I want you to do – he chose to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit rather than what reason and logic were trying to push him to do.”

“So, I want you to bring your life and your plans for this coming year to Me; to say to Me ‘here are dreams that are inside Me that I would like to see happen in these next few months’, and to hear My voice showing the way to make those dreams into reality.”

“Let My life touch your heart.  Here is the exercise that I want for you- to breathe in My presence, to rest in My heart; and to feel security in My love.  I am here with you; and as you take one step forward, I will show you the next step and the next step after that of the dreams that I have placed within your heart.”

Journal Entry: What are the dreams that You have in my heart that you want me to prepare for?