When God changes all your plans
Samuel Acevedo
(: )
: The message is about being open to unexpected changes in life, just as Joseph had to accept Mary's pregnancy, which was unexpected but part of God's plan. The speaker encourages taking time to hear from God and not resisting what the Holy Spirit has given us. He reminds us that God is with us, supporting and guaranteeing our victory, even in difficult times. The message encourages us to trust in God's plan and be open to unexpected blessings.
Joseph is a spiritual hero because he was faithful and obedient to God's commands, even when it was difficult and no one else understood. We should also be faithful and obedient to God's plans for our lives, even if we are the only ones who understand. Joseph was given the privilege of naming his firstborn son Jesus, and we should trust that God's plans for our lives are good, even if we are uncertain or fearful of the future.
Joseph is a spiritual hero because he was faithful and obedient to God's commands, even when it was difficult and no one else understood. We should also be faithful and obedient to God's plans for our lives, even if we are the only ones who understand. Joseph was given the privilege of naming his firstborn son Jesus, and we should trust that God's plans for our lives are good, even if we are uncertain or fearful of the future.
Happy New Year, Lion of Judah Congregation! Congratulations on the year 2011. I hope that everything that comes into your life this year is blessed and prosperous. The expected and the unexpected. May everything be a blessing to your lives.
And that's what today's message is about. Let's open our Bibles to Matthew, Chapter 1, please. My brothers, I almost have to apologize to you because here you are going to hear José, María, Jesús again. I got discouraged this week walking down my block seeing Christmas trees on the sidewalk and I don't let go of Christmas that easy. I love this time of year.
But, brothers, I assure you that, well yes, it can be called a Christmas message, but the truth is, the Lord gave me this message for this particular day, this day. This first day of a new year. The first day of a new year that begins a new decade, you see? And if you are like me, many of you will be starting a new beginning. Maybe tomorrow they will return to their jobs, maybe after a space, many of the students here, maybe with pain in their hearts they will detach themselves from their home and return to the university and their studies. And how many have made plans for the year 2011? Amen.
That, we encourage you. That has been preached many times here. We want to make plans, have goals, amen, we want to achieve ambitious things before the Lord. We have requests that we have before the Lord, dreams that we long to fulfill this year. And at the same time, if you, like many of us, as we have just prayed, we want the Lord to open heaven over us at the same time.
How many long for that? Lord, I have my plans ahead of you, but above all I long for the spirit of God to visit me this year, right? is that your prayer? Lord, I want a visitation from your holy spirit. And even as we plan and make our plans, we ask the Lord to pour out his grace on our lives and he has to look at our lives upside down. How many have asked the Lord for that? Do it. We want God to have us in his sights. Whatever we plan or not, may the Lord have us in his sights and use us in the way that gives glory to him.
We want to be part of something of him, we want to be part of his divine purpose, right? This is how we pray on Friday. Lord, we want you to break gaps in our life, something spectacular. Father, may you pour out your grace and your spirit on our lives.
One question my brothers, when the spirit of God visits you like this, this year, will you recognize it? When the spirit of God visits you in the way you just asked, how will it come? How will you announce your coming?
Most important, my brothers, when the spirit of God visits your life and visits your home, how will your plans fit in with God's plans? Those plans you just made. And even before this message, my brothers, I leave you this advice. Do not be afraid to receive, do not be afraid, my brother, to accept and cover and be a steward of what God has for your life this year. No matter how unexpected it may be, no matter how bitter or uncomfortable it may seem at first, do not be afraid to receive your Mary this year. It may be that in this way the Lord fulfills his purposes in you and glorifies himself through you.
Let's go to the Lord and then to the word. Lord, I add myself to the voices of the brothers, of the saints who have just sung before you. Open the heavens for us. Spirit of God, breathe on this word. Over and over again, Lord, he has declared himself on this altar and even this morning, without reservation, Lord, our lives are yours and so we have to declare it. Lord, with fear and trembling, perhaps not even realizing all that it represents, take these lives, our lives, our days, this year and visit us with your spirit. We ask you in the name of Jesus.
Verse 18 of Matthew, Chapter 1:
“….The birth of Jesus Christ was like this. When Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together it was found that she had conceived of the Holy Spirit. And José, her husband, as he was fair and did not want to slander her, wanted to secretly leave her. And thinking about this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him; “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary, your wife, because what is begotten in her is the Holy Spirit, and she will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Jesus because he will save the world from its sins. ” All this happened so that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, when he said, "Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call his name Emmanuel, which translated is God with us." And when Joseph woke up from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and he received... that this magic mirror was shattered."
I don't know how he found out. I imagine it was Maria herself. I have news for you, don't get upset! This is from God. It is of the Holy Spirit. I'm in state. Aha. Aha. And one sees, at the moment that mirror was shattered. His plans, everything he had in mind. And brothers, it's so easy for our magic mirrors to shatter.
Last Friday, the Friday that we said goodbye to the New Year here, at one point the pastor made an appeal to all those who have lost someone in the year that we just said goodbye to or something serious: jobs, homes, serious losses. As many of you have heard, I lost my dad on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I was the first one that passed with Marina by my side, but I didn't go alone. And he wasn't alone for long. At the moment I felt a hand on my shoulder and I saw Sister Carmen, whom I love very much, and that she also lost a sister this year. And behind Sister Carmen I saw a crowd of brothers around me. I can't tell you how many, but dozens of brothers around me. All of them, all of us had something in common. In 2010 we lost someone or we lost something this year.
An assembly of the walking wounded, there in the presence of the Lord receiving healing. Thank God for that call. But one question, brothers, what does one do, what decision does one make when the mirror of your life is shattered like this, or when you have a loss like that? And brothers, I think the truth is that we have two options. At that moment one can or decide to resist this change to your plans, one can try to reject the plans you have made with your life. There are many who try to do that. And for the rest of his life, go rejecting these changes. Or you can choose to receive them, receive them.
Receive him as Joseph received Mary. Brothers, how is that done? First of all, and it is not surprising, that is the option that I recommend to you, to the Church of Jesus Christ. Firstly, how does one receive those changes? First, take time to hear from God before anything else and before you act. José, in a moment, as you will see, José is a determined man, a man of action, and he had already decided what he was going to do. I imagine hearing it, “the desire I have is to kill her. I could kill her. I have every right to kill her, I'm not going to kill her, I can kill her. No, no, I'm not going to kill her. Quietly we divorced, there will not be much." But he withdrew, fell asleep, and in that dream the angel of the Lord spoke to him.
And brothers, I recommend to you, our first instinct many times is to act in a certain way. Make a space, make a space, my brother, to hear from God. The more serious the loss or the more violent the changes to your plans, the more time you need alone to hear the voice of the Lord, and to discern for what and why. Because the unexpected comes, my brother, the unexpected is inevitable.
And in those moments, take time to be alone with the Lord. Now, my brothers, our culture does not celebrate solitude or silence. Maybe that's not normal for you. It is not normal to take quiet time to be apart with the Lord, to process your life, to carry before the Lord, Lord, this was my plan, this other thing completely changed everything I had planned for my life. Because? Have you done that, my brother? I recommend it to you because, my brothers, the Lord wants to hear from you too.
I don't think the Lord would have been offended if the Lord had heard, I imagine Joseph saying Lord, I am a just man. It says it right there, José was a just man. I don't deserve this, this is not what I had planned. They were plans... you had delivered this girl, you had given me these dreams. Now then what?
Have you said those prayers? I'm glad if you did. That's healthy. Come before the Lord, pour out your heart before him. I'm talking about time alone with the Lord. I'm not talking about us becoming hermits. That's what we're going to talk about right now. But we do take time to hear the voice of the Lord and that the Lord sheds his light and orders our steps and declares why.
And he just answered Joseph through an angel. And the Lord said to him through this angel, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary, your wife. Do not be afraid to receive it because what has been engendered in it by the Holy Spirit is.
Brethren, be careful not to resist God's creation for you. Beware of hastily rejecting what the Holy Spirit has unintentionally conceived for you. You know, many times we reject things that are not conceived by us. And from that often comes our instinct to resist or reject the changes that the Lord has placed in our lives or he has dictated in our lives.
There is an element of pride in that. Because we are determined that whatever the Lord does, He will do precisely as we have determined that He should do it. And that everything is carried out as we have planned it. In other words, we insist that what is carried out be the thing that we have conceived. And perhaps we reject what the Lord has given us, perhaps sometimes out of fear or shame, or because we cling to our plans or illusions. We unknowingly reject what the Holy Spirit intended for us, for a purpose we cannot even imagine. Unknowingly, the spirit of God visited you and you rejected it. Without finally knowing the spirit of God, he heard your prayer, he visited you where you were, perhaps not in the way you wanted, or in the way you dreamed, but it was him. Is he. This is the moment, the moment for which you were born, precisely the way in which God has to glorify himself in your life and we do not realize it, by clinging to our own plans. We do not realize it, for resisting what was not conceived by us.
Brothers, what the Holy Spirit conceived for us is a thousand times better than what we can conceive, a thousand times better. Well, be careful not to reject what the Holy Spirit gives you.
And third, my brothers, just as we receive the spirit of God, the Lord tells you, look, this being to be born, Joseph, is for the salvation of many including you, including you. And don't be afraid to do precisely what you have to do at this moment, receive Mary, for one reason if only for one reason: God is with you, Emmanuel.
And that's one of the reasons why I love Christmas. I love the concept of the Emanuel. I don't know how many remember a message that I preached last year at this time of the year, but there with this whole idea of God with us. Brothers, with that, you have all the baggage you need, all the tools you need to face whatever comes your way. God with us.
God is not far away, God is a God who is close to you, wrapped up in your things. He is in this drama. God with us. It means that he is a God who is for you, he is not against you. He loves you. He wants to see you win. He wants to see that over this thing, the Lord lift you up and use you in a mighty way and glorify Himself through it.
God is with you. God with us. That means that there is a God supporting you, a God lifting you up, a God opening paths before you, a God who not only wants you to have victory, he is there to guarantee it. Emanuel. God is with you.
My brothers, we can lose everything or like Job, for a moment. The fact that God is with you should give you the security that your redeemer lives. Your redeemer is the one who guarantees that the same one who gave you these desires and these dreams, can bring them to you again.
And this brings me, my brothers, I believe that the main reason why these unexpected events are many times the most precious gifts that God gives us. But for that to finally happen, brothers, we have to learn one thing that is the most I admire about José, his fidelity, his fidelity.
Brothers, verse 24, "... and Joseph waking up from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and received his wife..."
Brothers, if you are going to receive Mary, whatever your Mary is this year, the Lord sends you a Mary and tells you, receive her. If you are going to receive your Maria, some advice: receive it. Don't do it halfway. Do you know what that word means? That word is to marry, to become steward of, to take responsibility for, to celebrate the fact that Maria is your wife. No, you're going to accompany me, but you know it's reluctant. Or yes, I'm going to do this, but you know, I know that boy is not mine. Or, yes, I'm going to but if I have to spank him, he knows I'm going to.
Do not receive your Maria scoldingly. If the Lord has just told you, this is conceived by the Holy Spirit, celebrate it. If this is what the Lord has sent you, open your heart, open your imagination, open your possessions, take your plans, burn it in the Christmas fire, take it out with the tree if you have to, so that it can be picked up the next day. , do what you have to do with those plans, brothers, those plans. Change them for what God has conceived for you. Receive your Maria, if you will.
My brothers, José is one of my spiritual heroes. And one of the reasons why he is one of my spiritual heroes is because at least the word records it, that he never commanded fire to come down from heaven, the word never records that the Lord used to heal anyone, so As far as we know he never preached a sermon to a crowd. What's more, it's not even that he preached a message. In the entire word not a word to Joseph is recorded. Not one.
Well, we'll see, maybe a very special word soon. That was not so. But he was a determined man. I love that about this guy. I love this about this man. He was a man of action. At the time that he received the word of God through this dream, and this is seen over and over again in this story, this is the first time it has been seen in this story, but over and over again we see this pattern. Joseph in a dream, the angel of the Lord visits him. The angel warns him, tells him, reveals him. The next day, the next morning, many times he would not even arrive until morning, in the middle of the night, he would get up and obey.
Brothers, that is what the Lord is calling us to do, faithfulness. In the midst of being faithful, don't be surprised if you are the only one who understands why you are being faithful. In the midst of faithfulness, don't be surprised if no one else understands the mission to which the Lord has called you. In the midst of fidelity, do not be scandalized if no one ever applauds you, as the pastor shared on Friday. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Do not rush, there is a heavenly choir applauding you, watching this drama.
There is a Lord interceding for you. Well, Samuel, so what did José get out of this? What did he get? You know, so many times when I read this passage and this year these words stood out more than ever. The last verse of this Chapter of Matthew declares: "... yes, but Joseph did not know her until she gave birth to her firstborn son and named him Jesus..."
Do you know what that means? In English it is even clearer. And he, in other words, José, he, and I ask that the musicians please accompany me at this moment, and José named him Jesus.
Now think about this. This is your firstborn son, a Jewish man, whose privilege in Jewish culture was it to name the son? From dad, from father. Of course, he wasn't going to call him Jacinto, he wasn't going to call him Samuelito, he wasn't going to give him whatever name he wanted. The Lord had already dictated to them, he will call him, this is the only thing I ask you to do, take him, that this woman gives birth, and the moment she is born you will name her Jesus. That is your assignment, simply, simply. We trust you.
At that moment he is born and I imagine this scene. They lift up this newborn boy. They give it to their father and ask him, José, what is this boy's name? And for the first time in human history a human being declared that name for the first time, Jesus. Joseph had the privilege of being the first human being to invoke this name before which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess as Lord. But Jose was the first.
In the scene of my mind I see an earthquake, something has to happen the moment he declares that name, Jesus.
Let's stand up. The pastor declared before the message that all of God's plans for your life are good, they are good. And at this moment, brothers, I first ask the Lord for those who are still looking in their rearview mirror at the year 2010. Brothers, give that to the Lord because there is something precious, powerful, beautiful, conceived by the Holy Spirit for you. in 2011.
Thank God for 2010, but what God has for your life in 2011 has no name. Perhaps there are some brothers here who look at the year 2011 and there are many things, perhaps, that are uncertain and they fear, they fear what has not happened yet, they fear the unexpected, also brothers, I assure you, if God is with you what coming for you is good. And the Lord will be glorified through it. Amen.
And that's what today's message is about. Let's open our Bibles to Matthew, Chapter 1, please. My brothers, I almost have to apologize to you because here you are going to hear José, María, Jesús again. I got discouraged this week walking down my block seeing Christmas trees on the sidewalk and I don't let go of Christmas that easy. I love this time of year.
But, brothers, I assure you that, well yes, it can be called a Christmas message, but the truth is, the Lord gave me this message for this particular day, this day. This first day of a new year. The first day of a new year that begins a new decade, you see? And if you are like me, many of you will be starting a new beginning. Maybe tomorrow they will return to their jobs, maybe after a space, many of the students here, maybe with pain in their hearts they will detach themselves from their home and return to the university and their studies. And how many have made plans for the year 2011? Amen.
That, we encourage you. That has been preached many times here. We want to make plans, have goals, amen, we want to achieve ambitious things before the Lord. We have requests that we have before the Lord, dreams that we long to fulfill this year. And at the same time, if you, like many of us, as we have just prayed, we want the Lord to open heaven over us at the same time.
How many long for that? Lord, I have my plans ahead of you, but above all I long for the spirit of God to visit me this year, right? is that your prayer? Lord, I want a visitation from your holy spirit. And even as we plan and make our plans, we ask the Lord to pour out his grace on our lives and he has to look at our lives upside down. How many have asked the Lord for that? Do it. We want God to have us in his sights. Whatever we plan or not, may the Lord have us in his sights and use us in the way that gives glory to him.
We want to be part of something of him, we want to be part of his divine purpose, right? This is how we pray on Friday. Lord, we want you to break gaps in our life, something spectacular. Father, may you pour out your grace and your spirit on our lives.
One question my brothers, when the spirit of God visits you like this, this year, will you recognize it? When the spirit of God visits you in the way you just asked, how will it come? How will you announce your coming?
Most important, my brothers, when the spirit of God visits your life and visits your home, how will your plans fit in with God's plans? Those plans you just made. And even before this message, my brothers, I leave you this advice. Do not be afraid to receive, do not be afraid, my brother, to accept and cover and be a steward of what God has for your life this year. No matter how unexpected it may be, no matter how bitter or uncomfortable it may seem at first, do not be afraid to receive your Mary this year. It may be that in this way the Lord fulfills his purposes in you and glorifies himself through you.
Let's go to the Lord and then to the word. Lord, I add myself to the voices of the brothers, of the saints who have just sung before you. Open the heavens for us. Spirit of God, breathe on this word. Over and over again, Lord, he has declared himself on this altar and even this morning, without reservation, Lord, our lives are yours and so we have to declare it. Lord, with fear and trembling, perhaps not even realizing all that it represents, take these lives, our lives, our days, this year and visit us with your spirit. We ask you in the name of Jesus.
Verse 18 of Matthew, Chapter 1:
“….The birth of Jesus Christ was like this. When Mary, his mother, was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together it was found that she had conceived of the Holy Spirit. And José, her husband, as he was fair and did not want to slander her, wanted to secretly leave her. And thinking about this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said to him; “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary, your wife, because what is begotten in her is the Holy Spirit, and she will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Jesus because he will save the world from its sins. ” All this happened so that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, when he said, "Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call his name Emmanuel, which translated is God with us." And when Joseph woke up from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and he received... that this magic mirror was shattered."
I don't know how he found out. I imagine it was Maria herself. I have news for you, don't get upset! This is from God. It is of the Holy Spirit. I'm in state. Aha. Aha. And one sees, at the moment that mirror was shattered. His plans, everything he had in mind. And brothers, it's so easy for our magic mirrors to shatter.
Last Friday, the Friday that we said goodbye to the New Year here, at one point the pastor made an appeal to all those who have lost someone in the year that we just said goodbye to or something serious: jobs, homes, serious losses. As many of you have heard, I lost my dad on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I was the first one that passed with Marina by my side, but I didn't go alone. And he wasn't alone for long. At the moment I felt a hand on my shoulder and I saw Sister Carmen, whom I love very much, and that she also lost a sister this year. And behind Sister Carmen I saw a crowd of brothers around me. I can't tell you how many, but dozens of brothers around me. All of them, all of us had something in common. In 2010 we lost someone or we lost something this year.
An assembly of the walking wounded, there in the presence of the Lord receiving healing. Thank God for that call. But one question, brothers, what does one do, what decision does one make when the mirror of your life is shattered like this, or when you have a loss like that? And brothers, I think the truth is that we have two options. At that moment one can or decide to resist this change to your plans, one can try to reject the plans you have made with your life. There are many who try to do that. And for the rest of his life, go rejecting these changes. Or you can choose to receive them, receive them.
Receive him as Joseph received Mary. Brothers, how is that done? First of all, and it is not surprising, that is the option that I recommend to you, to the Church of Jesus Christ. Firstly, how does one receive those changes? First, take time to hear from God before anything else and before you act. José, in a moment, as you will see, José is a determined man, a man of action, and he had already decided what he was going to do. I imagine hearing it, “the desire I have is to kill her. I could kill her. I have every right to kill her, I'm not going to kill her, I can kill her. No, no, I'm not going to kill her. Quietly we divorced, there will not be much." But he withdrew, fell asleep, and in that dream the angel of the Lord spoke to him.
And brothers, I recommend to you, our first instinct many times is to act in a certain way. Make a space, make a space, my brother, to hear from God. The more serious the loss or the more violent the changes to your plans, the more time you need alone to hear the voice of the Lord, and to discern for what and why. Because the unexpected comes, my brother, the unexpected is inevitable.
And in those moments, take time to be alone with the Lord. Now, my brothers, our culture does not celebrate solitude or silence. Maybe that's not normal for you. It is not normal to take quiet time to be apart with the Lord, to process your life, to carry before the Lord, Lord, this was my plan, this other thing completely changed everything I had planned for my life. Because? Have you done that, my brother? I recommend it to you because, my brothers, the Lord wants to hear from you too.
I don't think the Lord would have been offended if the Lord had heard, I imagine Joseph saying Lord, I am a just man. It says it right there, José was a just man. I don't deserve this, this is not what I had planned. They were plans... you had delivered this girl, you had given me these dreams. Now then what?
Have you said those prayers? I'm glad if you did. That's healthy. Come before the Lord, pour out your heart before him. I'm talking about time alone with the Lord. I'm not talking about us becoming hermits. That's what we're going to talk about right now. But we do take time to hear the voice of the Lord and that the Lord sheds his light and orders our steps and declares why.
And he just answered Joseph through an angel. And the Lord said to him through this angel, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary, your wife. Do not be afraid to receive it because what has been engendered in it by the Holy Spirit is.
Brethren, be careful not to resist God's creation for you. Beware of hastily rejecting what the Holy Spirit has unintentionally conceived for you. You know, many times we reject things that are not conceived by us. And from that often comes our instinct to resist or reject the changes that the Lord has placed in our lives or he has dictated in our lives.
There is an element of pride in that. Because we are determined that whatever the Lord does, He will do precisely as we have determined that He should do it. And that everything is carried out as we have planned it. In other words, we insist that what is carried out be the thing that we have conceived. And perhaps we reject what the Lord has given us, perhaps sometimes out of fear or shame, or because we cling to our plans or illusions. We unknowingly reject what the Holy Spirit intended for us, for a purpose we cannot even imagine. Unknowingly, the spirit of God visited you and you rejected it. Without finally knowing the spirit of God, he heard your prayer, he visited you where you were, perhaps not in the way you wanted, or in the way you dreamed, but it was him. Is he. This is the moment, the moment for which you were born, precisely the way in which God has to glorify himself in your life and we do not realize it, by clinging to our own plans. We do not realize it, for resisting what was not conceived by us.
Brothers, what the Holy Spirit conceived for us is a thousand times better than what we can conceive, a thousand times better. Well, be careful not to reject what the Holy Spirit gives you.
And third, my brothers, just as we receive the spirit of God, the Lord tells you, look, this being to be born, Joseph, is for the salvation of many including you, including you. And don't be afraid to do precisely what you have to do at this moment, receive Mary, for one reason if only for one reason: God is with you, Emmanuel.
And that's one of the reasons why I love Christmas. I love the concept of the Emanuel. I don't know how many remember a message that I preached last year at this time of the year, but there with this whole idea of God with us. Brothers, with that, you have all the baggage you need, all the tools you need to face whatever comes your way. God with us.
God is not far away, God is a God who is close to you, wrapped up in your things. He is in this drama. God with us. It means that he is a God who is for you, he is not against you. He loves you. He wants to see you win. He wants to see that over this thing, the Lord lift you up and use you in a mighty way and glorify Himself through it.
God is with you. God with us. That means that there is a God supporting you, a God lifting you up, a God opening paths before you, a God who not only wants you to have victory, he is there to guarantee it. Emanuel. God is with you.
My brothers, we can lose everything or like Job, for a moment. The fact that God is with you should give you the security that your redeemer lives. Your redeemer is the one who guarantees that the same one who gave you these desires and these dreams, can bring them to you again.
And this brings me, my brothers, I believe that the main reason why these unexpected events are many times the most precious gifts that God gives us. But for that to finally happen, brothers, we have to learn one thing that is the most I admire about José, his fidelity, his fidelity.
Brothers, verse 24, "... and Joseph waking up from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and received his wife..."
Brothers, if you are going to receive Mary, whatever your Mary is this year, the Lord sends you a Mary and tells you, receive her. If you are going to receive your Maria, some advice: receive it. Don't do it halfway. Do you know what that word means? That word is to marry, to become steward of, to take responsibility for, to celebrate the fact that Maria is your wife. No, you're going to accompany me, but you know it's reluctant. Or yes, I'm going to do this, but you know, I know that boy is not mine. Or, yes, I'm going to but if I have to spank him, he knows I'm going to.
Do not receive your Maria scoldingly. If the Lord has just told you, this is conceived by the Holy Spirit, celebrate it. If this is what the Lord has sent you, open your heart, open your imagination, open your possessions, take your plans, burn it in the Christmas fire, take it out with the tree if you have to, so that it can be picked up the next day. , do what you have to do with those plans, brothers, those plans. Change them for what God has conceived for you. Receive your Maria, if you will.
My brothers, José is one of my spiritual heroes. And one of the reasons why he is one of my spiritual heroes is because at least the word records it, that he never commanded fire to come down from heaven, the word never records that the Lord used to heal anyone, so As far as we know he never preached a sermon to a crowd. What's more, it's not even that he preached a message. In the entire word not a word to Joseph is recorded. Not one.
Well, we'll see, maybe a very special word soon. That was not so. But he was a determined man. I love that about this guy. I love this about this man. He was a man of action. At the time that he received the word of God through this dream, and this is seen over and over again in this story, this is the first time it has been seen in this story, but over and over again we see this pattern. Joseph in a dream, the angel of the Lord visits him. The angel warns him, tells him, reveals him. The next day, the next morning, many times he would not even arrive until morning, in the middle of the night, he would get up and obey.
Brothers, that is what the Lord is calling us to do, faithfulness. In the midst of being faithful, don't be surprised if you are the only one who understands why you are being faithful. In the midst of faithfulness, don't be surprised if no one else understands the mission to which the Lord has called you. In the midst of fidelity, do not be scandalized if no one ever applauds you, as the pastor shared on Friday. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Do not rush, there is a heavenly choir applauding you, watching this drama.
There is a Lord interceding for you. Well, Samuel, so what did José get out of this? What did he get? You know, so many times when I read this passage and this year these words stood out more than ever. The last verse of this Chapter of Matthew declares: "... yes, but Joseph did not know her until she gave birth to her firstborn son and named him Jesus..."
Do you know what that means? In English it is even clearer. And he, in other words, José, he, and I ask that the musicians please accompany me at this moment, and José named him Jesus.
Now think about this. This is your firstborn son, a Jewish man, whose privilege in Jewish culture was it to name the son? From dad, from father. Of course, he wasn't going to call him Jacinto, he wasn't going to call him Samuelito, he wasn't going to give him whatever name he wanted. The Lord had already dictated to them, he will call him, this is the only thing I ask you to do, take him, that this woman gives birth, and the moment she is born you will name her Jesus. That is your assignment, simply, simply. We trust you.
At that moment he is born and I imagine this scene. They lift up this newborn boy. They give it to their father and ask him, José, what is this boy's name? And for the first time in human history a human being declared that name for the first time, Jesus. Joseph had the privilege of being the first human being to invoke this name before which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess as Lord. But Jose was the first.
In the scene of my mind I see an earthquake, something has to happen the moment he declares that name, Jesus.
Let's stand up. The pastor declared before the message that all of God's plans for your life are good, they are good. And at this moment, brothers, I first ask the Lord for those who are still looking in their rearview mirror at the year 2010. Brothers, give that to the Lord because there is something precious, powerful, beautiful, conceived by the Holy Spirit for you. in 2011.
Thank God for 2010, but what God has for your life in 2011 has no name. Perhaps there are some brothers here who look at the year 2011 and there are many things, perhaps, that are uncertain and they fear, they fear what has not happened yet, they fear the unexpected, also brothers, I assure you, if God is with you what coming for you is good. And the Lord will be glorified through it. Amen.
