Author: Faith

In order to understand Joseph’s Great Faith, one has to understand the times in which He lived. Men did not marry women who were already pregnant. At least not in this particular type of situation. For example, if Joseph had exposed Her pregnancy publicly, Mary could have been stoned to death! Thankfully, Joseph, a descendant of the House of King David, was a good man and unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace.

Blessedly, an Angel appeared to Joseph telling him to be Mary’s husband. And telling Him to name the baby Jesus. Joseph did both!

Joseph had a second dream some years later, in which an angel told him to flee to Egypt. Joseph awoke in the middle of the night and fled with Mary and Jesus.

Personally, I stand in awe of His faith. He didn’t hesitate; he just obeyed! Would that we could all be more like him 🙂

But there were also other incredible gifts that Joseph gave. He took care of Jesus in the way an earthly father would. He loved him; he supported him and he protected him. And he did the same for Mary! He was an emotional and physical shoulder for Mary to lean on. He was there. Mary could depend on him, in all ways. And Mary loved him 🙂

And Joseph Loved Mary & Jesus 🙂

By Chris Moen

“Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in the ancient city of Sodom up until the time of its destruction (Genesis 14:12; 19:1). Sodom and Gomorrah were among five cities of the lush Jordan valley (Genesis 14:2). The region “was of extraordinary beauty and fertility. … Its appearance was then so attractive as to bear comparison with the garden of the Lord and the land of Egypt” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Genesis 13:10-12).

In spite of the beauty and abundance of good things in those cities, Sodom and Gomorrah were also renowned for their wickedness. Rather than living by God’s instructions, “the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD” (Genesis 13:13).

So God investigated “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah,” and He decided to destroy them in Lot’s day because their sin was “very grave” (Genesis 18:20). It was in God’s perfect judgment that He destroyed these cities, letting them serve as sobering examples for all mankind to learn from.

Jesus Christ said that societies at the end of the age would parallel those in the days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30). Regarding the time of Lot, Jesus said, “They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (verses 28-29). The discerning individual will look further into God’s Word to comprehend what Jesus meant.

Paul called the period just before Christ’s return “perilous times.” He said they would be filled with pleasure-seeking, materialism, immorality, violence, idleness and rejection of the things of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Sodom’s evils described

From the creation, Paul explained, mankind quickly began drifting away from God’s ways (Romans 1:20-25). As mankind went astray, men and women began to exchange the wholesome, God-ordained use of sex for vile and shameful passions (verses 26-27). Paul also listed a number of other sinful behaviors that humans began practicing as they turned from God (verses 28-31).

Likewise addressing sexual immorality, the apostle Jude said that Sodom and Gomorrah, “having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7).

What Jude called “strange flesh” (“unnatural lust,” Revised Standard Version) is often called “alternative lifestyles” in our modern age. The term sounds so innocent in our culture, but this denotes sexual behavior that is unnatural and offensive to God (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Jude 1:7).

When we read Genesis 19:1-8, it becomes easy to see that this is what both Paul and Jude had in mind. Sodom’s society was steeped in widespread sexual immorality, including homosexual acts and vicious rapes (verses 4-5). The residents of Sodom had become so evil that God could not find even 10 righteous people among them (Genesis 18:32).

More sins of Sodom

In the book of Ezekiel, God listed some of the other sins of Sodom in the context of showing how Judah had become much like Sodom. God told Judah, “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they [the Sodomites] were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Ezekiel 16:49-50).

God also compared the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem with the people of Sodom. “They commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:14).

When the leadership of a society doesn’t set a good moral example and evil is allowed to flourish, the population will generally decline toward the same bad behavior (Ecclesiastes 8:11). To learn more about the similar societal conditions before the Flood in Noah’s day, read “As in the Days of Noah.”

Signs of the times

In his book Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline (1996), former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Robert H. Bork explained the roots of American cultural decline and degeneracy. He cited increased violence in and sexualization of mass media, the legalization of abortion and the decline of religion, among other factors. These societal ills are contrary to God’s laws that bring peace, success and strength to any nation.

This is clearly a sign of our time. Our Western societies today are following this same trend of flaunting sin openly and publicly.Before God destroyed Judah for following the same pattern as Sodom and Gomorrah, He warned His people that they were becoming boastful and unashamed of their blatant sins. God said, “They declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves” (Isaiah 3:9).

This is clearly a sign of our time. Our Western societies today are following this same trend of flaunting sin openly and publicly.

God spoke about Judah’s moral decline, asking, “‘Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 6:15).

We should pay attention to this warning today!

Could disaster strike again?

God preserved the biblical record of Sodom and Gomorrah for every generation to read and take warning. Today the world is heading recklessly toward the edge of a cliff, like a runaway car down a winding mountain road. As humans reject God’s laws of sexual morality and cast off all restraint, without large-scale repentance, eventually disaster will come.

God does not enjoy punishing people (Ezekiel 33:11). God truly desires everyone to repent and turn toward Him, seeking His mercy (Isaiah 55:6-7). But God also does not change His abhorrence of wickedness. Eventually, God will punish everyone who hears and then rejects His laws.

God offers people and nations a way to avoid punishment, saying, “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it” (Jeremiah 18:7-8, emphasis added).”

For more by Chris Moen: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/authors/chris-moen/

A very dear friend of mine shared this with me and I wanted to share it with you 🙂

“Thousands of years of fervent, desperate prayers to God and pleas for deliverance were answered the day Christ was born. It was the absolute shaking of the spiritual and physical realms when God Himself was incarnated – becoming one of us in order to carry out All His Promises He had given through the ages. His Word shares with you, “they shall call His name IMMANUEL, which translated means GOD with us.” Truly, this IS the foundation upon which every hope and joy rests. It IS the Truth that God IS with you!! For some find Christmas a difficult time of year because their focus is on relationships, possessions, activities and disappointments, instead of keeping their eyes on the One who has given them All things. One looks to what they don’t have instead of what cannot be taken from them.

Your Heavenly Father, Son and Holy Spirit IS with you! He Loves you. He listens to the cries of your heart. When you are hurting, He IS near to you and cares for you. When you are powerless, He gives you His Strength. When you are in despair, He brings His Promises to mind and reveals His Blessings He has planned for you. When you feel disrespected, worthless, or inadequate, He reminds you that you are His, that He died for you, that He adores you, that He IS your adequacy and that He will NEVER let you go. He IS SO Good!!

Encourage you this Christmas to focus on the Hope of every heart: Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Unwrap the Gift that was first given so long ago on that Extraordinary Night in the town of Bethlehem. Do not be distracted by the presents, the food, the activity, or the trimmings. Just look to Immanuel, God with us. Focus on His Presence no matter where you are. Rediscover the Absolute Wonder of Christmas. You will also see how Jesus meets your every need. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be Done. Amen. Peace”

May you have a Happy and Holy Christmas Season as you prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth 🙂

In Isaiah, God warns us of what will happen if we do not listen and obey:

“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

⁵ Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” – Isaiah 66:4-5

Why it is so hard for some to believe the teachings of God, but so easy for some to believe the lies of this world?

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!

While praying the Rosary, I saw a young man dressed in an air force uniform and he told me his story:

“I flew planes and shot down other places, but never saw anyone actually die. It was all so far way.

One day, my plane was shot down and I managed to parachute down, but landed in the midst of fighting. I saw a man get shot and ran over to help him.

As he lay dying, there was not much I could do to help him physically, so I prayed. As I knelt beside him praying, I also was also shot.

And as I lay there dying, I realized that none of us really had a choice in this war and I prayed that God would forgive us both.”

How we live is not governed by a country; it’s governed by God! And fortunately for us, He shared exactly how we need to live in His Word. For God is the ultimate decider of right and wrong!

Children and Parents

“6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: ³ “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

⁴ And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

⁵ Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; ⁶ not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ⁸ knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

⁹ And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that ^[a]your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[b]wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ^[c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A Gracious Greeting

²¹ But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; ²² whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.

²³ Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.“ – Ephesians 6