Verse of the Day 12/27

Verse of the Day 12/27

Matthew 1:21  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  English Standard Version (ESV)

Today's verse is part of the Christmas story and Joseph's dream which led him to take Mary as his wife and revealed to him, the significance of the child.  The focus today is that He came "to save his people from their sins".  I want to take some time to think about that today and what it means for us.

He came to offer forgiveness for our sins that we have and will commit.  We now have a way to avoid the penalty of our sins before God.  He offers His Spirit to guide and direct us, giving us grace that we will avoid the consequences of sins that we would have committed if He wasn't "with us" as we realize the prophecy fulfilled, "Immanuel, God with us".  Through repentance, turning from our sins toward God, we can have peace with God that can be with us, that can carry us through this life and into  eternity.

Matthew Henry writes:  "The Christian life is a life of . . .

continued repentance, humiliation for and mortification of sin,

continual faith in, thankfulness for, and love to the Redeemer, and

hopeful joyful expectation of a day of glorious redemption, in which the believer shall be fully and finally acquitted, and sin abolished forever!"

1 John 1:8-10  If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.   The Message (MSG)

That statement about "forgiving and purging" reminded me of the old hymn "More Like the Master", we'll close with that today.

More like the Master I would ever be,
More of His meekness, more humility;
More zeal to labor, more courage to be true,
More consecration for work He bids me do. 

Chorus:
Take Thou my heart, I would be Thine alone;
Take Thou my heart and make it all Thine own.
Purge me from sin, O Lord, I now implore,
Wash me and keep me Thine forevermore.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Matthew 1:21-23The Message (MSG)

^20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").