Matthew 2

I woke up this morning not feeling all that great. Yesterday was a long day, and it culminated in a small spat with my boyfriend. It really wasn't him, it was me. I was cranky and mean. Oh yeah, I also have two official looking letters on the counter waiting for me. I am sure they are past due bills.

But as I started looking at my Bible, this Hillsong song popped into my head, "worthy is the lamb". And it made me smile.  There is so much to be thankful for. If nothing else, The Worthy Lamb, his forgiveness, his embrace, the cross...the list goes on...

So, Matthew 2, Jesus' birth, Herod killing all the male children aged 2 and under, life and Egypt, and then in Nazereth.  Gee, that's a lot.

They probably had days where they wondered why God had them living in "witness protection", and they probably thought, God, we have YOUR son, why do we have to keep moving? Can't you protect us wherever we choose to live? 

But somtimes, it's not about us...

And that's a hard pill to swallow. We always think it's about us. Unconsciously even. If I really sit back and think about it, everything I do throughout the day is basically to fulfil a need/want/desire for my life. Or even my thoughts, most of my thoughts are about me--what I need to do/what I want to do/what I need to do for others so that I get something in return. Me, me, me, me, me.

It's not always about me. I feel God saying that to me in my heart. Yes, He cares for us, but what about His agenda? That's the agenda we should be most concerned about. 

Angels visited Joseph in dreams to tell him when to move. And everytime he was told, he did it. No questions asked. Because of that obedience, their family remained protected. They stayed within God's Will, and their needs (and probably more) were met. How cool is that?

The other part that stuck out to me was the importance of fulfilling the prophecies. Every move, every manuever was a calculated step set up by God hundreds (or thousands) of years before Jesus' birth, and written by men who never met and didn't live in the same region. But all the prophecies point back to Jesus.

Man, that's awesome.

And the fufilment of prophesy was for us. So that we (past and present) can know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus is the Messiah. We don't have to search scriptures for prophesy and wait for the one to fulfil them. He's already come.

Gee, I'm in awe right now.

God, I just want to thank you right now for your Word. You created this wonderful book for us and orchestrated these events to help lead us to you. I truly believe that your son, Jesus, is the savior and that he died on the cross for all of our sins.  Thank you Father for your wonderful and loving thoughts you have toward us. Thank you for your Grace and Mercy that give us chance after chance to get it right and strive to be better. I love you. I worship you. You are everything to me.

Amen