Monday 11/26/12 The Story 5

Dear Father in Heaven, Thanks for another night and a good night's rest, and thanks for yesterday and all the blessings that You lent to all of us.  Please teach us to share them.  Dear Father, we love You and give thanks for this line.  Please keep watching over those on our prayer list, for Mary Kessler who has cancer, for Dick Mowery who has cancer, for those with kidney problems, and please watch over all those who come in for food, that they might locate jobs and go to work.  Please keep watch over Matthew and those others in the hospital in the unit where he is.  Thanks again, Lord, for all You do, and please keep my mind focused on the story of Jesus as a baby.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Good morning, my dear brothers and sisters.  I pray your weekend went well and that you are up and about this beautiful morning.  It is indeed a great day to be alive and alive in our Lord Jesus.  In fact, dare I say this today, if you are not alive in our Lord Jesus, you are NOT ALIVE AT ALL.  AMEN.

Let me get back to the story, and let's see what the angel of the Lord might be up to today.

The Story (Day 5)

Matthew 1:18 -  This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:  His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  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 of Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."  22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  23 The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel which means, "God with us."  (NIV)

The Angel of the Lord sure does get around, first talking to Zechariah, then to Mary, and then he is off to appear to Joseph and make things understandable to him.  Again I want you to think about how you would react to having a messenger of the Lord appear to you, be it in a dream or in person.  Not just what you might think, but how would you respond to what the Lord wants you to do?  In our Bible there are many things quoted that are really direct messages from the Lord.  Do you know any of them?  Come on, brothers and sisters, God does talk to us when we pray if we listen, but He also talks to us and it is in the written word written right in our Bible for us to read.  Words straight from God.  You say you can't think of one place where God talks to us and asks us to do things ... Let's take a look at a few of them today.  Now remember this scripture as we start out today, and yes, I use this one a lot, folks.

Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.  (NIV)

Here is the very first thing that was told to us, and it is recorded in the Bible:

Genesis 3:1 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'"  2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, of you will die.'"  (NIV)

So brothers and sisters, you can see right from the start, God spoke to His people and sadly, His people did not always listen, and so started sin.  Then we can also dig into our Bible and take a look at those things called Commandments, and we have the original ten.  Plus the two great commandments.  Throughout the Bible we have been given orders and commandments.  Love our neighbors, be forgiving of others, be kind, be nice, honor our parents, and I could go on and on and on.  We have been ordered to take the good news to all the corners of the world, and folks, are we doing all these things that are in the Bible?  No, no, I am sure we are not doing all we can do for our Lord.

So let us start today and tell God we want to do better and ask Him to help us.  Then let us dig into the word and ask God to help us listen to Him and to not just wait on an angel of the Lord but to look for the orders in the Bible.  Are you with me today?  So starting today when we pray, and we all agree, when we pray we will take time to listen for our orders from Him.  Let's start right now.

Dear Father in Heaven, we love You and starting right now, we want to listen more often, we want to hear from You and obey Your orders, and we want to dig into Your word and seek out orders.  Lord, it would be nice to see an angel of Yours, but Your word and Your talking to us is just as good, and we want to be in good standing of You.  Help us to stay in line and be faithful to You.  In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings.  Love ya, Pastor Dan.