HIS Encouragement #8

Good morning, and welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He, and He alone, is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

Today’s Thursday Encouragement comes from:

Matthew 1:21

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

I imagine Joseph in this story completely and utterly conflicted with a thousand emotions. His future wife tells him she is pregnant. He knows the child can’t possibly be his. I’m sure he was hurt and furious, but his actions tell us that Joseph was a supremely honorable man. He loved his future wife so much he was willing to do whatever it took to bow out quietly so as not to hurt Mary’s reputation. The text says that Joseph was a “just man” and was “unwilling to put [Mary] to shame” (Matthew 1:19). No wonder God chose Joseph to be His Son’s earthly father!

What a compassionate God we serve! To me, Joseph’s dream illustrates two points. First, we are God’s children, which means He knows when we are hurting. He knows when we really need to hear from Him. I imagine that God knew that Joseph was hurting, confused, and needed some answers. I believe this dream was meant to help Joseph through his hurt and confusion, and it also empowers Joseph. He gets to name God’s Son! This moment reminds me of the woman with the 12-year bleeding ailment. It is the one and only place where Jesus calls someone daughter. In that moment, Jesus knew she needed to hear that. I think the same goes for Joseph and his dream. In that moment, God knew Joseph needed Him and needed an explanation, so God helped His kid out. I love this because it proves we serve a God who truly does pay attention to each and every one of us! God knows us by Name. We are not forgotten even when it feels like it.

The second purpose of this dream is to act as a comfort to all who read it, take it into their hearts, and believe. In Hebrew, Jesus is “Yeshua.” Yeshua means “salvation.” So this verse really reads, “you shall call his name Salvation for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus, the Son of God, left Heaven and came to earth as a baby to grow as humans grow. To live as humans live. To experience the pain and sorrow and joys of being human. Jesus, who gave HIS life up for you, for me, so we could one day be with Him in Heaven. Jesus truly is salvation yesterday, today, and tomorrow! AMEN!!!

I wish you all a happy holidays. May you take comfort in knowing that salvation is yours through Yeshua! God bless you all, dear readers.

Now, it’s your turn!

What Biblical verse is encouraging you today?

And, check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:

Trisha @ Joy of Reading

Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home

Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective