Good morning, Lord Jesus. Draw me close to You. Help me start this day and every day embraced by my Father, centered in Christ, and filled with Your Holy Spirit. ...
"Now after (the wise men) had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the Child to destroy Him.' Then Joseph got up, too the Child and His mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had spoken by the Lord through the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I have called My Son' " (Matthew 2:13-15).
Even the plans of God can be opposed by men. And yet, even the opposition of man is part of the plans of God. The murder of Joseph and Mary's Child was never in the heart of God, but God always knew that murder would be in the heart of Herod. So God sent His word through His angel in a dream to His children to respond in obedience to save the life of Christ and fulfill His plans.
Did Joseph have the freedom of will to respond? Did Mary have the freedom of will to gather her Child and follow her husband to a foreign land away from her family to raise her Child among a people she didn't know? Did Herod have the freedom of will to humble his soul, renounce the murder in his heart, and honor this Child who was said to be born King of the Jews according to the Word of God?
Somehow in the mystery of Your sovereignty and our freedom, You know our choices, yet our choices are real. Your very nature and the nature of Your plans for our lives require our freedom: God is love; and You've created us for a relationship of love. Love requires freedom, because love without freely choosing to love is not love at all. So You could not be who You are, creating us in Your image, for a relationship with You in Your nature without the freedom of will that love requires (1 John 4:16).
Yet in Your sovereignty and infinite knowledge that sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end, You have always known every choice we will ever make. Your prophetic words of what will take place are merely an expression of what You have known to have always been true even before the unfolding of those events in the fullness of time. Joseph and Mary's choices were real. Herod's choices were real. Even the angel's choice to go share the message of God in a dream to Joseph was real. Any could have chosen to obey or disobey the choices You set before them, but their choices and ours are a reflection of our trust in You and our love for You in the freedom You've given us in the sovereignty of Your will (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; John 15:10).
And Herod's heart to destroy Mary's Child to thwart the plans of God is also a prophetic picture of the spiritual battle for the hearts and souls of men and women throughout all generations: "The the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to His throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished .... Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated ..." (Revelation 12:4-8).
Lord, thank You for the freedom You've given me to choose to love--love that's reflected in my choices to trust and obey. You have plans for my life, and there's a spiritual battle for the destiny of my soul and the fulfillment of Your plans. The same is true for us all (Jeremiah 19:11; 1 Peter 5:8). But You will be sending forth Your word and sending forth Your angels in ways I don't always know to stir in my heart and move in my life to accomplish Your plans--plans You've always known, all in the light of the choices I will always have (Psalm 139:16). Love will allow nothing less.
Sometimes Your love and Your plans may command me to even "flee to Egypt"--to places that may seem far away from what seems like the plans for my life. But Egypt may be necessary to preserve and prepare my life for the fulfillment of my destiny. It may be that it's "out of Egypt" that You desire to call forth Your son when You call me to come in the fullness of time. You already know whatever I'll face in the journey of my life. So let me be ready to choose to flee or to come however You command out of Your love and Your plans that I choose to belief are perfect for me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
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