Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: Matthew 1 and Psalm 1

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20 NLT)

Devotional Thoughts

Today’s New Testament chapter certainly contains a very inspiring example for us to follow. Joseph must have been devastated when he discovered that his fiancé (with whom he had not had sexual relations) was pregnant. He must have been battered by feelings of betrayal, pain, anger and confusion. It was all too much for him and the only option he could see was to break the engagement. Remarkably, he was such a godly man (so much like the Lord) that even in his pain he intended to treat Mary graciously and not shame her publicly!

But then, out of the blue, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him to believe the seemingly impossible – Mary had not betrayed him after all. In fact, the angel declared, the Holy Spirit had overshadowed Mary and the baby to be born was God’s own Son. The angel encouraged Joseph not to step away out of his fear of being hurt again, but to move forward in faith, to marry Mary and raise the baby as his own. To his eternal credit, Joseph exercised great faith, rose to the occasion and did exactly what he knew God required of him.

Life-Application Challenge: Think about a situation in your life where you know what God wants you to do, but your feelings of fear or insecurity are holding you back. Take time now to pray, and ask the Lord to fill you with courage and with enough faith to step out in obedience (like Joseph did). And as you pray, perhaps the following verse from today’s Psalm will give you strength:

⁶ The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord … (Psalm 1:6 Good News Translation)