joseph

So I am thinking that Joseph def. makes it to the Top Ten in Faith-filled men of The Bible, don't you think? Can you imagine? Joseph was engaged to Mary when she told him her news of being pregnant through God's miracle. Pretty sure that this news was hard for Joseph to digest.....but still being a good man and not wanting to disgrace her in public, he decided to break off the engagement to her secretly.

Thankfully, an angel visited Joseph in a dream and told him about how Mary truly was blessed by The Holy Spirit and it was God's plan for him to marry her and be Jesus's earthly father. Joseph woke from his sleep and did exactly as he was told, knowing and believing that he was part of God's will. Now *that* is an amazing testimony of faith in The Lord.

Not sure if Joseph had all these tools "back in the day".....but we thought this was a cool representation of a carpenter.

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. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.~Matthew 1:20-21

mary

God needed a strong, smart and loving earthly home for his Son. He chose Mary, a young virgin from Galilee (who happened to be Elizabeth's cousin). When the angel Gabriel came to her and told her about how she was chosen for this difficult and most important job, of course she was startled and confused. "How can this happen as I am a virgin?" she asked.
Gabriel told her about how God had blessed Elizabeth which definitely was a miracle based on her age, and proved that God could do anything. So being a faithful servant of God, she said "let this happen as you say".
This is a cool ornament we had as part of my collection....thought it would work well for The Virgin Mary

....The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
~ Luke 1:35

john the baptist

Tonight's reading is about Zechariah and Elizabeth's son, John. The story jumps ahead to the New Testament and confirms that John was chosen by God to tell everyone about Jesus. Although not everyone listed to John, I am pretty sure he had no problem getting people's attention. Talk about a radical Christian! This guy wore clothes made from camel's hair and wore this crazy leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.....woah.
But even though he was a wild sight.....there was quite a few people who did listen to John. He preached about Jesus, the Savior that God had promised the people so many years ago. He wanted people to confess their sins and turn away from their old ways. He baptized them in the Jordan River.


We snagged this shell out of Nev's collection. :)


People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River ~Matthew 3:5-6

zechariah and elizabeth

Zechariah and Elizabeth honored God.....and they really wanted a child. One day, an angel appeared to Zechariah and gave him a message from God, telling him that Elizabeth was going to have a very special son. The angel Gabriel told him that they were to name him John and that he would bring joy and gladness to many people.
Zechariah was a little doubtful and questioned Gabriel, as he and Elizabeth were quite old. This apparently was not the right thing to do.....as God took away Zechariah's voice as a sign of His power. (we read later that he did indeed get his voice back shortly after John was born)



But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. ~Luke 1:13-15

habakkuk

In tonight's reading......from what I am trying to figure out (this is a tough one).....it seems that Habakkuk is questioning if God truly cares and/or is fair with all the injustice going on in his time. I guess there are many Habakkuk today as well. We then learn that God assures us that He does hear our prayers and promises that He will deliver us (answer prayers) in His timing. We also read that God promises He will judge all evil in the world. We just need to stay faithful and keep watch.

So here is my lovely watchtower, made from that foam craft stuff. It does look more like a thimble that has seen better days.......but at this point, (just like last year...it's Dec 19th and I haven't even finished with my Christmas cards) we are going with it :)

The Lord replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. ~Habakkuk 1:5