Joseph, Integrity, and Listening to God | A SOAP Devotional, by Pastor Jamie
Read Matthew 1:18-25 https://www.biblegateway.com/ passage/?search=Matthew%201% 3A18-25&version=NLT Matthew 1:24- When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. Luke focused more on the involvement of Mary in the miracle of Jesus' birth as the Savior of the world, but Matthew's gospel looks more carefully at the connection of Jesus to His earthly father, Joseph. God not only intentionally selected Mary to be Jesus' mother, but He also intentionally selected Joseph to be His earthly father. Can you imagine being in Joseph's position 2000 years ago? At first he believed his dreams were crushed and he was filled with disappointment and pain. As he discovered the young woman he was to marry was "with child," without consulting God still made a choice based on his integrity to simply release her from the marriage commitment to go their separate ways. In John 8 we see the story of the woman caught in adultery w...