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Humble Beginnings.

One of the things I love most about Christmas is the innocent humility of a story about a faithful man and a young woman who had become pregnant by miraculous means. Rumours and slander would have spread like wildfire when young Mary, from a town that was infamous for immorality, was heard to be bearing a child.
The one man who had every right to reject and abandon her was the man she was engaged to marry. He elected to quietly divorce her rather than expose her to public disgrace. Yet after an encounter with an angel in a dream he became her closest friend and protector. Joseph would stand by the girl he loved, even if it meant moving away to shelter his bride from the ridicule of the crowd. He would stay true to the promise that the baby in her womb was sent by God to save his people from their sins. He was to be named Jesus.

Often times in life you and I will be called upon to stand out like a fool in the crowd for the sake of what we believe. When God calls us to take steps of faith it will not always make logical sense. Obedience can sometimes mean becoming an outcast to the way things have always been done. God is not interested in rituals and regulations. He doesn’t need our sacrifices. He wants our hearts and our unconditional obedience to His perfect plan. You know…. there is usually a greater purpose to pain that we cannot see while we are going through it. That’s when we need faith.

Hebrew 11:6 tells me that “it is impossible to please God without faith”.

So when I reflect on the Christmas story, I want to honour a young couple who stood their ground and ignored the accusations and glares of the crowd. By faith they trusted that God was with them in those uncertain final months of Mary’s pregnancy. They believed that the Messiah was about to be born as a man in the most humble of circumstances.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

As we prepare for a new year let us expect that great accomplishments come from humble beginnings. Expect miracles for the year ahead.

Thank God for Jesus!!

Godspeed,

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