Month: November 2019

Joseph the Steward

Matthew 1:18-25 – ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

Again it is quite easy to see that Joseph the son of Jacob was a steward. The dictionary describes a steward as ‘A person employed to manage or look after (another’s property).’ Joseph was a steward in Potiphar’s house, he was steward in the prison and eventually rose to be the chief steward over the resources of Egypt and managed a global crisis successfully. Stewards are very very important people.

Today, I want to continue my reflections of Joseph the husband of Mary, the Stepfather of Jesus Christ. Yes, Joseph the carpenter was a great steward. He was a steward in three main areas. I will examine each separately and draw some conclusions that we can apply to our lives.

Joseph was God’s steward. God had a most important project on the earth. It had to be executed in a specific time frame. It had to be done exactly as He planned it and nothing can go wrong. So God looked into the world and found just one man with the right pedigree (his genealogy was traced all the way back to Abraham, David and all those great men from the tribe of Judah, including Boaz), the right character and temperament to steward three most important projects.

The first one was stewardship of his own life. Joseph probably was born in Bethlehem, but at some point moved up to Nazareth. The bible is silent about this remarkable man’s formative years and all we can do is speculate. But he was in Nazareth and ran a successful business there. He was a carpenter and at the right time, he selected a wife, and was betrothed to her.

For a man to be engaged to a young lady in the Jewish culture, it required a lot of commitments. Spiritual, physical and emotional as well as financial. Do you know that during the season of betrothal, the man is required to go and build or prepare a house or make a place suitable for him and his bride to dwell in. Now you know why Jesus said to the Church that He is going away to prepare a place for us. Amazing!

John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Betrothal is a community affair. Everyone knows what is happening and everyone is looking forward to the wedding date. It is nearly never broken off, unless death or serious infidelity. In which case the offending partner is summarily executed by the whole community by stoning them to death.

That’s why I find it so disheartening to hear of men calling off engagements and breaking public promises to marry a lady and vice versa. It is just not done. It speaks volumes of the character of those individuals. It simply reveals the stuff they are made off. (Another topic for another day!).

Clearly Joseph had no skeletons in his cupboards or else he would have been deemed unworthy of such a bride like Mary. His life was lived well before all. This seems to be ignored these days, as people are quick to pass off certain indiscretions as youthful exuberance. But stewarding one’s life in a clean and pure way even if people never acknowledge this, is very important and the Lord most certainly sees this. For God to choose Joseph he must have lived correctly before him.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. God’s grace certainly covers people especially the repentant and I am the first to acknowledge God can use a person with a past, because the blood of Jesus washes away all sins and God can certainly qualify the unqualified. Otherwise people like me stand no chance. Having said this and knowing what I now know, giving another opportunity, I would certainly make different choices with my early life. Truly, I appreciate the value of living right.

For Joseph to be chosen by God, and I know he was selected, he did not just stumble into this call, he had to have been a good steward of his personal and community life.

The bible describes him as a just man. The word just is the greek Dikaios, meaning clean, upright, balanced, innocent and holy. These are all qualities one can safely assume Joseph possessed and as such stewarded his life so he became useful to God for the purpose God required of him.

To conclude, Joseph was the right man in the right place because he had the right character, value systems and moral rectitude to perform the tasks God assigned to him. He was first a faithful steward of his own life before he could steward others.

My question to you today is are you a good steward of your personal life? Are you faithful when no one is watching? Are you morally sound, just, holy and righteous before God and man? Can God count on you in the day He needs a person to act for Him? If your answer is yes, then all I can say is God’s reward is coming, but if your answer is no, I definitely need to improve, then I want to encourage you. The first thing is to acknowledge you are not the best you and you want to change. Second is to make up your mind to stop something and start some things. Whatever they are. You know them. Third, ask God for help and grace. 4. Believe you have the power to change and become much better and you will. Perhaps one more thing, find someone you can be accountable to on your new decision.

Consider Joseph!

Let’s Pray: Father God we thank you for opening our eyes to see the man Joseph and explore the stewardship of his personal life. Father in many ways we are not our best. Please forgive us and help us to be better people and more faithful even when no one is looking. We ask for the grace to be good stewards of our lives. Thank you for helping us. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen.

This is a long post, but I am sure it will bless you and those you share it with.

 

Consider Joseph.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man – Matthew 1:19

 

I know your thoughts would immediately go to Joseph the 11th son of Jacob and the first son of Rachael. The one who became the Prime Minister in Egypt and saved his family and the whole world from famine. Yes. He was a great man. But today I want to look at the other Joseph. The one we hardly talk about. The one I have never heard a sermon on. The one who history seems not to want to remember.

Joseph the stepfather of Jesus Christ. Yes this Joseph.

One of my early morning musings with my heavenly Father, He simply dropped this statement into my heart.
‘Consider a man like Joseph, the one man in the entire world I could entrust the care of my Son to.’ I had to pause to get the impact of this statement. Then as I was still thinking through this statement, as messages from heaven sometime come, my heart and mind was flooded with revelations of the Man Joseph.

Let me share some of them with you. Most young unmarried women pray to God to provide for them a Boaz or someone like that, and yes they are right, but I have never heard any woman cry out for a man like Joseph.

Why Joseph?
1. Consider the only man to meet God’s requirements for a Father figure in the life of Jesus. He was responsible for training Jesus up to perform His unique role in history. I can only imagine what type of man he must have been. He must have had an impeccable character. Consider a man like Joseph.

 
2. When he became betrothed to Mary the bible recounts that before they came together, Mary was found to be with child and he wanted to put her away secretly.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 

This man had the shocker of his life, when his supposed virgin fiancè was found to be with child. In the Jewish custom and under the law of Moses, this woman once exposed would be summarily executed by stoning. Joseph could have just exposed her and got her killed, but I believe he truly loved Mary and decided not to expose her but get her out of town secretly, so her life would be spared. Hmmm. Ponder this. A man who covered and protected his woman despite the fact that she had seemingly erred gravely. Consider a man like Joseph.

 
3. Joseph was later informed by an Angel that the child was God’s child and that Mary had not done any wrong, and Joseph believed.  

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Two points here. Joseph must have been extremely devout and committed to God for him to hear so clearly and secondly, he totally believed and did not doubt. He believed God and trusted his intended. Absolute trust. Consider a man like Joseph.

 
4. After this he looked after Mary, not mentioning anything of the origin of the pregnancy to anyone, but looked after her, cared for her and took her from Nazareth to Bethlehem to have the baby and named him according to the revelation. The bible records that he did not have any sexual relations with Mary until after Jesus was born.

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, ²⁵ and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

He was a man of conviction. He had supreme self control and he understood what it means to be consecrated. Qualities that are so rare today. Consider a man like Joseph.

 
5. Now Herod rose up to kill all the young male children under the age of two and again Joseph was warned in a dream and he took the boy and his mother and fled to Egypt. Most men will immediately see this as the god given opportunity to be rid forever of the problem. But at great risk to his life and great sacrifice he left his hometown, his kinsmen and fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. Joseph was prepared to risk it all for Mary’s son.

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

He was prepared to sacrifice his comfort and security for this young woman and her child. Consider a man like Joseph.

 
6. Now when Herod died he was informed and he was instructed to return to the land of Israel. He was going back to Bethlehem. Why was he prepared to go back to Bethlehem? I can think of two not so obvious reasons. a. Joseph was from the royal house of David. He must have a place of prominence in Bethlehem and would possibly be able to leverage his position and power to look after Mary and Jesus. b. He felt more comfortable with being in Bethlehem, because most people would not be familiar with the history of Mary. But again he was instructed to go to Nazareth and he simply took the young woman and her son there.

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

He was ready to live in obscurity for the sake of his love for his family. Consider a man like Joseph.

 
7. He trained Jesus to be a carpenter and become a very responsible man. He had taught Jesus the Torah that by the age of 12, he was able to discuss the Torah with the elders. He was a dedicated and loving father and blended his family so well. Do you know that two of Jesus’s brother wrote two books of the bible.

Matthew 13:55 New King James Version

⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James,  Joses, Simon, and Judas?

Consider a man like Joseph.

 
8. Finally, it is quite interesting to note that both Joseph and Boaz are from the city of Bethlehem and both hail from the tribe of Judah. Both are relatives of King David. Why is this important? Judah is the kingly tribe and they produce great breakthrough leaders. Judah, Boaz, Jesse, David, Solomon, Joseph and our Lord Jesus all come from the tribe of Judah. Bethlehem means the house of bread. Bread is a symbol of God’s word. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So both Boaz and Joseph were men who came from a strong life in the word of God. They were from Bethlehem. Lastly Judah means PRAISE. It is important to note that Judah was chosen to go first into battle. These men must have been men of praise. This probably accounts for David’s musical skill and his ability to play anointed music on his harp that chased away the demons from king Saul’s life. Joseph was both a man of praise and a man of the word.

 

Consider a man like Joseph!

 

 

Let’s Pray: Lord Jesus raise more men like Joseph for our daughters. We pray for all fathers and husbands that we will learn from Joseph’s life and emulate him. We ask for grace to grow in wisdom and dedication to God and steward correctly the children so they can fulfil destiny in Jesus name. Amen.

John 14:15

There is a book by Gary Chapman, (5 love languages) we all read in the 1990’s that opened the concept of love languages. The book captured 5 love languages and encouraged us to analyse and discover our love languages and even more importantly, discover those of our spouses and loved ones. The conclusion is if you understand a person’s love language, you can be more effective at expressing love to them. I recommend this book. It is an eye opener and perhaps you may be generous and share your love language with us sometime. It would help us love you better. See test link below: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/

Recently, I was studying the bible and I came across a statement Jesus made that I simply could not move from. You know those !**ping**! moments, when the Spirit of God just arrests you. I found myself running through the bible, searching and reflecting until it became abundantly clear to me, that God also has a love language and it is OBEDIENCE.

Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

It dawned on me that the one-way God knows if someone loves Him is by how much they actually obey Him.

Think about Abraham. He was called the friend of God. He obeyed God even when God commanded him to go and sacrifice Isaac the son of promise.

Think about David, in the book of Acts 13:22, God said of David that He has found a man after His own heart, (wait for it), who will do all His will. Saul was removed because of disobedience and God chose his replacement based on the heart of obedience.

It is simply amazing.

Acts 13:22 says, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.‘”

The bible refers to David as the beloved. He had such a love relationship with God, that God so honoured him. Even today in Israel, David still has a place of high honour. No one really remembers much of king Saul.

Jesus, made it clear that because He loves His Father, He does His will. In the garden of Gethsemane, faced with the impending sheer brutality of the cross, Jesus asked His Father if this cup would be taken away, but he quickly added, not my will but yours be done.
There are people who spend their lives chasing after God, but God will chase after you if you become obsessed with obeying Him.

Hear what Jesus said in John 14:21 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

And in John 14:23-24, Jesus said “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

These words are so profound. If you keep God’s word and obey Him, God will come to you and live with you. Jesus said He will manifest Himself to you.

I have decided that the paramount thing in my life right now is to obey God regardless of the consequence. I have discovered that God loves the obedient and if we really want to love Him, we should obey Him. There is no point in buying jewellery for a lady whose love language is not gifts but acts of service.

Let’s truly love God not with mere words but in the way He wants to be loved. By obedience.

Let us pray: Father I thank you for making your heart known to me. Forgive me for all my acts of disobedience to you, I am very sorry. Lord please grant me the grace to always obey you from now on. I love you. In Jesus name. Amen.