Friday 4/27/2012 Promises From God 9

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Good Friday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Friday and the day we pray for all those who are working for our Lord Jesus in His Fields of Harvest. Please include your pastors and also all those you know who are working those mission fields, and remember those fields do not need to be in a foreign lands. Your mission field for God might just be across the street from your home, or even, and hear me on this, even under your own roof. Many families have members of the family who believe and some that don't or who are just playing with being a Christian. To be a Christian in my opinion you must have Jesus in your heart, and you must be living to please Him. Christian means to me, to be Christ like. As we pray for God's workers I ask you this question again today, ARE YOU ON THIS PRAYER LIST? Also please keep Vicki in your prayers today as she has knee surgery. Let's get to the message.

4/27/2012 Promises From God 9 Matthew 1:20 - But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (NIV)

Let's talk about Joseph for a minute or two. First, Joseph was a carpenter by trade, but he was best known because he was the earthly father of our Lord Jesus. I want you to think about this, this man, because he was engaged to be married to Mary, is given the responsibility of bringing up Jesus in those tender years. I am sure that when God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus that she was found to be in favor of God, but I think that Joseph had to be looked over also. Joseph did not just come along for the ride. Man, according to God, heads the household and that means when Jesus was a child, He had a great mother, but He also had a great father here on earth. He did not turn away, like so many dads of today, he raised his Son.

As I look at the scriptures and read over them I find that Jesus was afraid, maybe thinking what has Mary done, was she unfaithful to me, as she is in the motherly way and I did not do it. Then God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to set the record straight. Even with that, what must have gone through his head, first what do I tell our friends, as they might think either she was sleeping around (today's wording from me) or she was with me before we were married. I would think once he got past that, then he thought about how God has trusted not just Mary, but also him. What great trust.

Now I want you to think about yourself for a few minutes, I want you to think about this, would you be worthy the way you live today of being picked to be the father of Jesus? Ok, back up a minute, MEN, and this is for you MEN. Are you worthy of taking care of your earthly family and are you doing it? I think for some males, and I refuse to call them men, but some males find it like a joke to see how many children they can make with different women. MEN, there is more to being a MAN than just making a baby, that is the easy part, it is how your raise up those kids that counts, and I must confess when I was younger I messed up on this. I could have done much better, and my problem was, you might guess this, my problem was, I was not saved, I was not walking with Jesus, and MEN, when you are not walking with Jesus you are walking with Satan, for there are only two sides and they are good and evil. I know MEN who are so good with their families, and then I know some males, who again I just cannot call them men for they have made children and do not do anything for the kids..

Here we have Joseph and, MEN, let's look at Joseph for right now as an example of how we should be involved with our kids in their tender years. Joseph could have walked away but he did not, and Joseph was even told what to name this child, who is going to be the Christ child, and He will grow up and save people from their sins. There are a lot of lessons in this scripture and I talked about Joseph most of all, but let's just pull out a few of the promises.

One, the angel of the Lord told Joseph not to be afraid and who the Father of Jesus was, God made that promise to Joseph that the Father of Jesus was the Holy Spirit. The main promise in these verses I find to be this. "You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS."

And this promise goes on today, and please notice the scripture tells us that He will save HIS PEOPLE from their sins. To be one of HIS PEOPLE, you need to be born again. Are you born again this day, and yes, I am going to close with a salvation word, are you saved today? Jesus will take you Just as you are... Men, are you doing your job as a father, or are you just a "sperm donor" as Doctor Laura would say? Let's go to Christ right now, and men, let's ask God to help us do a better job as fathers, as dads. Even if our families are out of the nest, we can still be a father, for this job never ends. In our family, I am now the one on the top rung of the ladder just under God, who is on the top of the ladder. If I would have lived like this years ago, I am sure it would have been different. But I know Jesus now and it is my job to get the message to others... Right now, will you join me in renewing or if you have never come to Christ, will you do it today?

Dear Father in Heaven, Please, dear Lord, forgive me of my sins, for I confess I am a sinner, and need Your saving grace. Help me, please, for I know You, Jesus, I know You came to save the sinners, and I am indeed a sinner. Save me, Lord, Save me Lord. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Now go forth and share those blessings and share please the word of the Lord... AND MEN, STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND FOLLOW JESUS AND HIS EXAMPLES AND ALSO THE EXAMPLES OF JOSEPH, the earthly father and leader of the family, under God of course, of Jesus... Love ya, Pastor Dan.