Have you ever had someone break a promise to you? I have. How did it make you feel? Did it cause you to lose hope? It did me. Did it cause you to lose trust in promises all together? It did not with me but it caused me to lose trust in the promises of the people who broke their promises. Are there any promises that you can totally rely upon? There are several that I can totally rely upon. I found that there is only one source of a promise that I can rely upon. If you can totally rely upon a promise what is the source?
I have learned that I cannot rely on the promises of politicians because they either cannot make them happen or they were telling me what I wanted to hear so they could be elected. I have found that I cannot always depend upon promises of other people because they do not always follow through. I have learned that there is only one source of truth that is truly reliable. These are the promises of God.
As we approach Christmas, I would like to focus on some promises that God made to Israel and the world, to a virgin named Mary, her fiancée named Joseph, and to Zachariah the husband of her cousin Elizabeth. I would also like to show you how those promises bring hope.
The prophet Isaiah some 600 years prior to the promises to Mary, Joseph and Zachariah said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (ESV)Isaiah 7:14 God promised the birth of His Son through the prophet which was fulfilled in Mary so that God might be with us in the person of His son Jesus.
God continued to make promises to Zachariah “But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (ESV) Like 1:13-17 This was John the Baptist who proceeded Jesus and announced Immanuel’s arrival. “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” (ESV) John 1:29-30
God makes a promise to Mary. “And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (ESV) Luke 1:30-32 The story goes on and Mary believes and trusts God though she was a virgin that she was to have a son. “Then God sends an angel to Joseph to help him understand that Mary has not been unfaithful to him but that she is carrying the baby Jesus. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel’
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” (ESV) Matthew 1:18-25
Zachariah, Mary and Joseph all believed in the promises of God and did what they were instructed to do. They had hope that the only true hope was to come and they were willing to play their part in God’s perfect plan. As we approach Christmas this year, I pray that you trust in the promises of God and accept Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord.
So, join me in trusting in the promises of God as Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth did. Trust in the promise of Immanuel, God with us in the person of Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. He promises us, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV) Then you will be prepared for anything which gives hope. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
