RickJW

Great joy, I would say, is missing in my life. While I am happy and joyous when in worship or reading and studying the Bible, most other times I don't really live a life that exhibits joy. Praise, I do praise the Lord many times every day, though we all need to do more! Curiosity is one that abounds in me, and has led me to want to delve deeper into the Bible. Amazement is a response that I often have, both to God's word, and to my own life in general. Telling others, or evangelizing, is another response that I do not often do. Thoughful meditation is something that I do on a regular basis. I am in one of those situations where it is easy to say 'I just don't have the time to ...' for many of the above responses, my quandry is that I know that by allowing myself to feel that way, and not making the time to meditate, or pray, is only making things worse.

The angels call Jesus 'Savior, Christ (or Messiah), and Lord' - this tells us that Jesus is our God incarnate, come to live among the people.

Jesus came not in the glory that would certainly be deserved by God, but to be servile - to even the lowest of the low. The 'hired' shepherds were among the lowest class among the Jews of Israel at the time. Adding to the picture of humility, first Mary and Joseph had to endure the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, then they could not find lodging, and were forced to stay in a barn with the animals. Their child then had to be laid in the animal's food trough, wrapped in rags. God is certainly starting out his life with a very humble begining. He is the living example that 'you who wish to be first must be last' that Jesus would teach later in life.

The trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a four-day journey, they were not a wealthy couple, so, most likely, it was Mary, Joseph and one donkey on which she rode. Being late in her pregnancy, I'm sure she was very uncomfortable to say the least. I don't think that our experiences in our earthly lives are in a direct correspondence, or a measure of, God's will for us. He has a plan for each and everyone of us. Since we are mortal men, we need to develop certain strengths in order to carry out His plan for us. The only way for God to give us what we need to follow His plan is to put us in situations where we need to use those strengths. I think that on the surface, 'being a consistent Christian causes more hardships ...', but if we look at the longer view, these perceived hardships lead to greater rewards. As Paul said in his letters, while we may endure hardships in this life, the rewards in heaven by far out-shine any of them.

Luke names the rulers of the time to give a historical footing to the birth of Christ. This makes the point that Jesus was, indeed, a person that lived during a definite, verifiable time in history.

The fact that Joseph accepted Mary as his wife, shows that he has faith and trust in her as well as in God. It shows his compassion, commitment and righteousness. In the custom of the times, the fact that Joseph named the Son, showed that he was claiming him as his own son. This would give Christ the link back to David required by the prophecy, as well as establish Joseph as a righteous, faithful person.

The virgin conception of the child of the Holy Ghost fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, in that this is a second fulfilling of that prophecy. The first virgin birth, possibly in Isaiah's time, was in itself a prophecy, or type, of the ultimate fulfillment that came with the birth of Christ to Mary.

The name Jesus has been translated to mean 'Yaweh saves', God wanted His child to have this name on earth, to remind Mary and Joseph who they were raising. The angel came to Joseph and Mary separately to instruct them to name the child Jesus, so that they could share with each other this common, though separate experience. That they both had visions, and were both instructed to give the child the same name, adds credence to the notion that this vision was a visitation by an angel of the Lord.

Mary had few, if any options, and was, in fact, in great danger - it would have been quite legal for her to be stoned to death in this situation. Joseph shows great compassion first in his plan to divorce her quietly - in his mind she could possibly live out her life with her family, although she most likely would never marry, and would have the stigma of this child to deal with. With the visitation of the angel, Joseph shows great faith and agrees to raise God's child. Even though they will now go through with their marriage plans, Joseph and Mary will certainly be viewed as a couple that 'had' to get married.

In addition to the skills of carpentry, Jesus would learn how to deal with people in a business setting, from negotiating contracts to collection of debt, he would have the full experience of running a business.

Mary was blessed with the opportunity to bear the most important Son that man has ever known. As with many of God's blessings, this could easily have been seen as a great burden for Mary. Firstly, there was the fact of her being betrothed to Joseph - how would she explain this child which he had no part in? Secondly, these were not wealthy people, raising a child would not be an easy task for them. Since she was willing to commit to this lengthy process, the title Mother of God is appropriate for her - Jesus was fully human and at the same time, fully God. I think that we are hesitant to exalt Mary due to the Lord's commandment that we are to 'have no other God before me'. It is difficult enough to deal with the Trinity, given that we are to worship the one true God, to add to that what could be interperted as worship of Mary is very perplexing to me.

The essence of Mary's response is that she accepts that God wants to use her to bring His eartly incarnation, Jesus, into the world, and consents to her part. She shows herself to be a willing servant of God, therefore showing great faith. Her questioning of the angel's announcement, 'How will this happen?' is not a 'challenge' to God, but an innocent expression of amazement, I think both in reposonse to her wonderment at how can she have a baby without the normal human process of conception, and also, how did she come to be chosen for this greatest of honors. We should feel so honored when God asks for our consent. When we respond to God, we are consenting to accept His unconditional grace, we are granting Him the privilege of giving to us the ultimate possible gift in the universe - eternal life at His side.

The virgin-birth of Jesus Christ confirms for us that His coming is a divine miracle, this child is 'of God the Father'. It is the very cornerstone of the Christian message. Many times in the Old Testament, God has intervened, and made it possible for barren 'couples' to conceive and have children, however, in those cases, God made it possible for the two humans to join together fruitfully - the child was not 'of God'.

Mary - (KJV) "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? " Zechariahs - (KJV) "Whereby shall I know this?" Mary asked out of wonderment, amazement at Gabriel's announcement, and at the same time, showed that she had faith that God could do such a thing. Zechariah's response was more of an 'I will have to see this to believe it' or 'how will I know this is true?', challenging God to do what he has said.

Gabriel says that Mary will bear 'the Son of the Highest' and 'the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David'. Thus, Mary will bear the son of God, a direct descendent of David, to whom God had promised an everlasting reign over Jeursalem.

The perils of the early Christians, and, indeed, those of today are similar in many respects. Even today, there are many places where Christians are killed in as barbaric fashion as in the early centuries. There can also be much subtler persecutions today, in supposedly tolerant societies. We are reasurred here, that even though we may suffer humiliation and death, the one constant that we can always look forward to is God's love - it is there, always ready, always powerful, just waiting for us to claim it. How hollow the victory must be, as in Polycarp's case, when a very powerful leader puts frail, elderly people to horrible deaths for confessing their faith in and love of the Lord.

"If God is for us, who can be against us" - God is the most powerful force in all of creation, He is the soverign ruler - what He says goes, and he has the power and strength to back that up. Our enemies are really only one- Satan, he is the cause of all that is evil in men. The evidence that God is for us is that he gave his only Son as a sacrifice for all the wrongs of man, who could do more than that for the love of a sinful people? This gives me great hope and conficence, that in all things I do, I will have the blessings of my father, God. He will always be there, ready to pick me up when ever I fall, all I need do is ask Him in prayer.

To 'be conformed to the likeness of his Son' means to live the life that Jesus lived, in terms of being free from sin, loving our neighbor, living according to the will of God. In our lives, we should strive to be free from sin, and be loving toward our fellow man. Paul acknowledges that man is sinful by nature, as well as that some men have been chosen by God to live christian lives. Jesus was the first, and only sinless man. Our brotherhood with Jesus requires that we live as Christians, and promises the reward of glorification and eternal life at His side in heaven.

The actual promise is that for the elect, for those who love God, he will make 'all things work together for good'. I like the example used in the lesson, of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. God makes this thing work for good, by Joseph being raised up to rule over Egypt. The qualifications that distinguish recipients of this promise, are that they love God and be chosen by God. This verse gives me hope as a further promise that God watches over and takes care of His elect, those who love God.

We expect to rise up to heaven, into a wonderful light. Our bodies will be 'like new' - lost limbs will be restored, cancers will disappear, though I'm not sure that grey hair will be darkened! The suffering we have been through on earth will be forgotten in the joyful eternity we will enter. Our spirits will be lifted higher than ever possible on earth as we take our places with God in heaven.

A person without hope will appear dejected and lost, they will withdraw into themselves. They may sleep a lot, and may even try to end their life. This person would probably work at a minimal job, just doing enough to get by. As Christians, we set our sights on the life beyond this on earth. As bad as things may get for us today, we look forward to tomorrow, believing in God's plan for each one of us - we have read in the bible how treacherous times can be followed by very rewarding times, even on earth. This hope inspires us to be godly people here on earth, and gives us a vision for the future to set our sights on.

The spirit intercedes for us, the spirit guides our prayers. Jesus, in the verses from John, tells the apostles that when He is gone from us, we will have the Holy Spirit to dwell with in us. It is hard for us finite beings to understand the body-less spirit, since we don't really understand the concept, it is easy for us to say 'Oh, yeah, the Holy Spirit' without really knowing what we are saying or depending on.

Jesus had to suffer because of His mission on earth, which was to make payment for all of man's sins, past, present, and future. We are also suffering, because of our sin and the fallen condition of man. The coming of the end of this suffering will be with the return of Christ. In this life, we need to live as Christians, and know that in death we will receive life.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. I count about 8 times that the idea of us being sons or daughters of God is alluded to. We are promised that we will be heirs in the kingdom of God, and co-heirs with Christ, we are promised eternal life with Christ and God, and we are promised that 'all things work together for good' in this life. We are promised not only suffering in this life, but glorification to come. Our future is to share in the glorification of Christ, at the right hand of God.

We should realize from this verse, that whatever we have need of, it is already within us, just waiting for us to ask for it to be released. We also need not be afraid to ask God for anything, if we limit God, we make Him a liar, and become worthy of His wrath. By letting His spirit fill us, we can get past this failing, and continue our growth in Christianity.