Lessons from Christ's Step Father- Joseph

Text: Matthew 1:18-19 (NIV) "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly."

In the beautiful story of the miracle birth of Christ, One of the key characters,Joseph is often over looked and Mary seems to be the one in the spotlight. Not that I want to remove anything from Mary, but I think Joseph equally did a lot of things and we can learn some things from his character.

From the text we find Joseph in a very difficult situation that required him to make a painful and tough decision.

• The first option he had was to expose Mary and according to the law (Deuteronomy 22:23-24) she would be stoned to death. That was lawful.

• The second option that was less drastic was to divorce her secretly,that was also allowed. He would then start his life afresh without Mary.
• But he did neither!

The action that Joseph took revealed among other things 3 character traits that we can learn from.

• The first one is that, Joseph exhibited righteousness by his desire to please God rather than do what was legally allowed. He yielded to higher calling, and we too must at all times consider what God's will is even when we are legally allowed to take a certain course of action.

• The second is that he showed a deep compassion and sensitivity toward Mary. In spite of the eminent humiliation he would have been exposed to if the community discovered that Mary was pregnant with someone's child, he had concern for Mary. He empathized with her situation and chose not disgrace her publicly.

• The third is his obedience to God. When was instructed by angel of God, he obeyed without question. He supported her all the way even when it appears he did not have a lot of wealth, he put in his all.

I think we should emulate this wonderful example set by Joseph when we are face with situations that don't go according to plan in our families and lives.

I pray that God can give us wisdom and power to achieve this!

Crocs

Crocs

Married for 50 Years: Love Ever After

Married for 50 Years: Love Ever After

Taken for Granted: Intimate Collaborators - Science Careers - Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers

Taken for Granted: Intimate Collaborators - Science Careers - Biotech, Pharmaceutical, Faculty, Postdoc jobs on Science Careers

Understanding marriage, is understanding the plan of redemption

Ephesians 5:25-28 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless”.

When Paul was writing this he defined the role of a husband in full and husbands must match up to this standard.
The bible say’s “for God so LOVED the church that he gave…..” (John 3:16in part). Husbands must not be selfish; they must be generous to their wives, because love is expressed in selflessness.

The wife did not leave her parents place to be living in the house alone (house, money, car... te nsansa). She did come to join you for food, what she needs is someone to love her and be with her. Women can leave in shark as long as there is love, and women can leave a well furnished house to go for a worker or a poor man’s house that shows her love. Please if you are not ready to love, don’t marry. Men have hindered women from knowing the love of God; this is why women are defiant and un-submissive today

1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”
The women only respond to the love that the husband gives her. If the woman experiences the love from her husband and responds to it, it is “explosive”

They must be ready to die for their wives, and put their necks on the line for the wives.
Husbands must look after their wives “Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25)

Christ died to protect the church, so men must protect their wives. Attacks from your sisters, mother, friends and anyone must be shielded by you. This is so because no matter how much you love your mother, sister or brother, you can’t be one with them, and even if you wanted you are not allowed.
Clothe your wife with good clothes and good words. A woman must have more clothes than a man; men must not compete with their wives for clothes. Your wife must look good and beautiful. You must also complement her every time, and not wait for other people to complement her. Women are made to look beautiful and attractive and you wife mus stay attractive otherwise you will leave for someone else’s.
Complement you wife in front of your children and your relatives, so that they know you love your wife.

Appeal, is that all men should love their wives like Christ did, and this world would be a far much better place to live in.

2010

2010 is many things to different people and yes, it has become a cliché. It has become a notion to chase and not just another year. They say things will happen in 2010 and yet they are almost halfway through. Much hype is into the world cup that is coming to Africa, but to others it is:
i. Opportunity to make a break in life
ii. Symbol that
iii. Africa has arrived on the world stage and must be considered in many aspects
iv. Revolution, yes we can
v. Patriotism to being African
So 2010 is a now or never thing, and things will be referred to as before 2010 and after. Stories will be inspired by it.
2010 for me is the time I take my 30th trip around the sun, I have done is 29 times before. Some of these trips I remember vividly while some are bleak and hazy. Calamities, family tragedies, milestones, successes, challenges have come and gone but by divine intervention I have survived.
I ask myself, what will this trip be like? What posterity will have to say regarding this trip?
The year I become a dad
My second year of marriage
The year of working for God
The year I went back to finish my Masters degree after a three year break
The year I will have a deeper understanding of life
Will it be the year I launched my writing career?
Will it be the year of academic excellence
The year of investment
Then as I remember the last world cup in Germany, I was in watching it from SA (Marco Materazzi the player you could never miss in that final game) and now four years later, I am in SA and the world cup is here. How will it be?
The after all this reflection and introspection, my ask myself. What is the reason for my exsistance, still alive, survived all the odds and still going strong enjoying a good health with a very promising future ahead of me despite the mistakes I have made in the past.
What do I have to do to pay back what God has done for me?
All I can do is to praise Him for what he has, is and still yet to do in my life.
I look to His scriptures and find assurance that
He will be with me all the way (Mathew 28:20)
I can do all things through Him because he gives me strength (Philippians 4:13)
Nothing can separate me form His love (Romans 8:38-39)
And lastly that I can ask anything from Him (John 15:7)
Then I say:
He is my (Cell C) Woza 2010 Woza whenever (and whatever)
He is my (MTN) I am with God everywhere I go
He is my (Vodacom) With God, it is guaranteed awesomeness
He is my (Nedbank Cup) Ke Yona! (The one)
He is my (SPA) good for you and me
And my (Jet) good for life

Birthday Reflection

The Advent of Michelo Simuyandi

The events of history were controlled for my coming to this world

No less than for the coming of the savour

The time had to be ripe….

The place just right….

The circumstances ready….

Before I could be born

God chose the parents of his son and endowed them with the personality they needed for the child that would be born

I speak to God about the man and woman that he chose to be my parents…

Until I see that they had to be the kind of humans they were

If I was to become What God meant me to be…

The Christ child comes to the world, like every other child

To give the world a massage

What massage have I to give..?

I seek guidance from the lord to express it in a word Or image…

Christ came into the world to walk a certain path

Fulfil a certain destiny.

He consciously fulfilled what had been ‘written’ for him

As I look back and see in wonder what is written and has thus far been fulfilled in my own life…

And for each part of the script,

However small,

I say ‘thanks’

To make holy with my gratitude

I look with expectation and surrender

At all that is come…

And like Christ ….

I say, “Yes. Let your will be done”

Finally, I recall the song the angles sang when Christ was born…

They sang of Peace and Joy

That gives God glory

Have I ever heard the angles song when I was born?

I see with Joy what has been done through me

To make the world a better place

And I join the angels in the

Song they sang to celebrate my birth

And for the rest of my life on earth I will sing

“Now unto him that is able to keep ‘me’ from falling, and to present ‘me’ faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God ‘my’ Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever.

Amen.”