It's Not by Force

Hello blessed loved ones of God, I hope you’re all fine by God’s grace. I know we’re just in November, but I am already carried away by the mood of Christmas.
For this reason, I totally opt for writing a little something about Jesus every week till Christmas comes. This should help us revise what we know about Him.
So, let’s call it our “Christmas series 2017”
We may not start in the conventional order, but nonetheless we’ll learn from Him as we study His story.
We’re starting this journey in the book of Matthew.
As we all know, Jesus Christ was conceived by God’s Holy Spirit and He was born of a virgin named Mary.
Matthew 1:18,22‭-‬23 NIV

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about : His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Mary was engaged to Joseph, a God-fearing man. I guess if you were engaged to someone and found out that they were expecting a baby while you’re both supposed to be virgins, you would definitely be angry and confused. I can’t imagine how Joseph felt about it, but at least from The Word, we know that he didn’t wish evil to Mary because of that.
Matthew 1:19 NIV

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

At that time, being engaged was something so strong, not as much as being married but in that sense really profound.
There are so many things to say about Joseph, but today we’ll just focus on one thing.
We always say that “if you want to be saved, you have to accept Jesus Christ in your life” i.e. it’s a conscious decision, God won’t force you, you get to choose whether or not you accept Him.
Did you notice that two of the first people who made the conscious decision to accept that Jesus Christ-Immanuel-God with us- should dwell in their lives are Mary and Joseph?
They’re the first Christians, they’re the first ones who accepted Jesus into their lives.
Mary accepted Jesus in her life when the angel announced to her that she would carry Him in her womb and she accepted to submit to God’s will.
Luke 1:38 NIV

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

God didn’t force on Joseph the responsibility to be the father of Jesus. Jesus didn’t force Himself into Joseph’s life. With God, it’s not by force.
God will always let us choose.
His Name means “God with us” but He lets each of us decide whether we want Him or not.
Revelation 3:20 NIV

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

That’s what He did with Joseph. He was at the door of his life, being a baby in the womb of his fiancée, and He let Joseph choose whether or not he would accept Mary as his wife. Accepting her while she was carrying Jesus, was accepting that Jesus was indeed The Son of God, and also meant accepting Jesus Christ in his life forever.
Mary had already chosen Jesus, now, Joseph had to, and before they could be together as husband and wife, both of them individually had to accept Jesus into their lives. (This would make a wonderful blog post on the theme of marriage and the importance of each to accept Jesus in his life before being united in marriage with one another).
God will:

• Stand at the door of your life (at times when you least expect Him)
• Change the plans you had made for yourself and bring you into His plan for you

But God will never

• Force you to enter the destiny He has for you
• Force you into a relationship with Him

Just like with Joseph, He’ll give you hints on what He wants you to do, but you’ll be the one to decide whether you’ll do it or not.
Matthew 1:20‭-‬21 NIV

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Joseph finally got to choose what God had advised him to. He deliberately accepted that his whole life and marriage should be changed by the blessing of the presence of The Son of God Himself into his life.
Matthew 1:24 NIV

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

It was God’s choice to make Joseph the father of Jesus, but it was Joseph’s choice to accept Jesus as his son.
This is just to make you realize, that God isn’t after you to force you to obey Him. True religion shouldn’t be about forcing you and threatening you to accept Jesus into your life.

It’s about Jesus knocking at the door of your life/health/family/marriage/parenthood…in order to be with you, and it’s about you deciding whether you want Him or not.

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, but you can’t live this plan fully if you don’t accept to live in it.
God won’t force you, you get to choose the reality you’ll experience, with Him or without Him.
Prayer
Father Lord God Almighty, search me to see if there are areas of my life in which I haven’t yet accepted Jesus Christ. Help me like Joseph and Mary, make the conscious decision to live in the path You have already drawn clearly for me, today I say YES to Jesus, I accept You as King, Lord and Son of God in every area of my soul, life, being, relationships, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
God bless you all
Thanks for reading
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Victoria Eyog