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The Christmas Experience, Pt 1

Experience God's Peace

If you would like to extend this over a week, you can easily do one of the points each day of your devotion.  Here is a printable version.
Question:  What do you do when life doesn't make sense?  _____________________________________
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Question:  Just put yourself in Joseph's shoes for a minute.  You just learned that the girl you're engaged to is pregnant.  And it doesn't make sense.  How would you respond?  _________________
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Question:  What would be your definition of obedience?  _______________________________________
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Obedience is:  LOVE + TRUST + ACTION

John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

Question:  Have you ever thought:  What stops me from obeying God completely?  ____________
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 *  The number one command in all of scripture is "fear not."  Did you know that?
  *  The great thing that marks Joseph's life is that he obeyed God.  Out of his love relationship           with God, he did what God said to do.  Even though he didn't always understand it, he    
      decided to obey God.
  *  Out of our love relationship with God comes trust.  Trust means that I believe what God says
      and I'm willing to do it.  

Joseph:  Four secrets to living a life of obedience.  

1.  You do it NOW!

  *  When Joseph heard from God, he acted.

Read:

Matthew 1:19-25 - 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 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." 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 had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the  name Jesus. 

Question:  How would you grade yourself on how well you follow God's will in your life?  _______
Is it immediate?   _________________________________________________________________________________

Psalm 119:60 - I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.

Question:  What do you think "hasten" means?  _________________________________________________
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1 John 5:3 - This is love for God:  to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome....

Question:  How does John define love for God?  _________________________________________________
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2.  You keep on TRUSTING.

  *  So you obey Him immediately and then you obey Him consistently.

Read:  

Matthew 1:25 - But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.  And he gave him the name Jesus.

  *  Joseph did not understand the whole thing about the virgin birth, but he remained faithful          to God and did not have union with her until Jesus was born.

Read:

2 Corinthians 4:8 - We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken.  We are perplexed because we don't know why things happen as they do, but we don't give up and quit.  TLB

Question:  What encouragement does this verse give you?  _____________________________________
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3.  You've got to let go of COMFORT.

  *  There are some things you have to let go of if you're going to live out this life of faith.

Matthew 2:13-15 - When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.  "Get up," he said, "and take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod.  And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet:  "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Question:  What are some things that Mary and Joseph had to give up?  ________________________
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Question:  What comfort have you had to give up for your faith?  _______________________________
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Question:  If God called you to an assignment that required you to give up all of your current comfort, would you be willing to do that?  _____________________  If not, what adjustments do you need to make in your spiritual life?  ______________________________________________________________
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4.  You take the RISK.  

Read:  

Matthew 2:19-20 - After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

  *  Think about how scary this was for Joseph and Mary.

Question:  If an angel appeared to you and you were completely honest with yourself, would you be able to be obedient to his directions?  ____________________________________________________
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  *  Often in the Bible, God spoke through angels.  In the current time period in which we live,
      God speaks through His word.

Question:  So, is there a difference between an angel appearing to Joseph, or you reading the Scriptures?  _______________________________________________________________________________________

And the answer is...NO.  Every time you open up the word of God, you have an encounter with God.

Psalm 56:3 - When I am afraid, I will trust in you.

Question:  Think of a time when you were afraid, but you trusted God anyway.  What was the outcome in your life spiritually?  __________________________________________________________________
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Read:  

Matthew 2:21-23 - So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.  So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets:  "he will be called a Nazarene."

Read:

Matthew 7:24 - "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."

Question:  What is the promise if we put into practice God's word?  _____________________________
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Question:  Can you think of some of the byproducts of a person's life who puts God's word into practice?  _________________________________________________________________________________________
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Psalm 119:34 - Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

2 John 1:6 - And this is love:  that we walk in obedience to his commands.  As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
























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