There's a New Kid In Town

The star, the shepherds, the earthly daddy Joseph, the virgin mother, the Magi, the evil king Herod. All parts of the wonderful thing we call the Christmas story. Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus, The King of Kings, and as John 1 says, the Word became flesh. God put on skin, laid in an animal trough, felt cold, hunger and pain, all out of love.
God so desired to take care of our sin problem, that he moved. He moved into a different home for 33 years.

 John 1:14

 ¹⁴The Word became flesh and blood,
      and moved into the neighborhood.
   We saw the glory with our own eyes,
      the one-of-a-kind glory,
      like Father, like Son,
   Generous inside and out,
      true from start to finish. 

(The Message)

Jesus moved into our neighborhood. 

What a reason to celebrate! A new neighbor! 

He wants not only to live in our world, our city and our neighborhood this Christmas, but He wants to move into our lives.

Into our hearts.

Into our souls.

That's why He came. Meet your neighbor today. He's generous from the inside out and true from start to finish.

Merry Christmas!

Chasing After Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Joseph-The Husband, The Father, The Man

I am so thankful that God led me to Larry, my husband. I have been blessed with an awesome man who has taken care of me, and been a tremendous father to our children. Larry takes the job of leading our family very seriously. He knows that God will hold him accountable for our family. What a tremendous responsibility. 
Which brings to my mind this morning, Joseph. 
The man, who would be responsible for the raising of the Son of God in his home. As his daddy. The man who was to set an example, for the Son of God. 
What an awesome responsibility. 
What a man.

Just and honorable before God.

Only a simple carpenter, in love with a young girl.

Secretly wanted to handle his problem, instead of public humiliation, out of love.

Engaged to the woman who would give birth to God's son.

Prepared by angel to take Mary as his wife.


He was chosen to be the earthly father of the Son of God. 

Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet 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 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 conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

 ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

 

I am thankful today for my husband. For all he is called to be by God. While I acknowledge he is not raising the Son of God, I know he has a tremendous responsibility on his shoulders.

Today, I chase after my husband's heart and show love, honor and respect for who he is, and what God has called him to be.

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

Daily Devo- Luke 20:41-47 " So You Think You're An Expert?"

Luke 20:41-47

41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
43 until I make your enemies your footstool.’

44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Jesus I see you letting all know that You are the Messiah. Physically You were born from David . Spiritually, You are David's Lord. I find it interesting that You pose a question that You do not answer. You are establishing that being the Lord of all eternity is more important than being from David's lineage.

You then transition right into dealing with the Scribes, the experts in the law. They were not the priests, but because of their jobs, they felt knew more about the law than anyone. You established with Your question about David that they did not.
These men were arrogant and demanded special greeting, special seating all while treating others badly.

As I look at this in today's realm, I do not see this as the preacher, because that would have been the priest of those days, but as someone who has so puffed themselves up with "knowledge" that they feel they know all there is to know about Your word. They become conceited and then abuse others, doing all they do,  justifying how holy they are and how much they know.

Jesus, You set it all straight by saying, " They will receive the greater condemnation."
Lord I do not want to be like the Scribes, ever. May I always study Your word, so I can know You and Your heart. I want to know how to treat people, how to live so that I can point others to You, not to me.

What I know is only worth what I can translate into love. 

You translated the Word into a sacrifice for me. I want to sacrifice all for You, without fanfare, without the best seats, without the recognition. Simply out of love and gratitude for the life You have given me. 

Today:
I will know You are the Messiah!
I will make sure I look into Your Word to be changed within myself to be more like You.
I will look into Your Word to see how you want me to treat others.
I will search my heart and see where there is pride that needs to be removed. I will come to you for cleansing of that pride.

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson