Tuesday's SOAP - Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸ This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
 ²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
 ²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
 ²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
      She will give birth to a son,
   and they will call him Immanuel,
      which means ‘God is with us.’”
 ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

S(cripture) - “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

O(bservation) - A angle (the word means messenger) comes from God to encourage Joseph to not fear marrying Mary, his fiance, after she's found pregnant with a child that is NOT Joseph's. "Don't be afraid . . ." - familiar words if you read yesterday. Mary's child is from God. She will have a son - name him Yeshua (which means God saves). Then the angel quotes Isaiah - bringing to life a text that must have been confusing to all who pondered it. A virgin conceives. Her son will be God with us. Virgin birth? Messiah is God? Don't take for granted the mystery. The prophecy could only be fulfilled in this way.

And that mystery should bring us to our knees - God with us. When it was impossible for us to reach up to heaven, God came to us in the form of a baby, born to a virgin mother, to peasant parents to liberate us from sin, from the chains of death. God with us.

A(pplication) - The breath prayer of God with us becomes even more remarkable - improbable - unimagineable when Paul writes and breaths that the mystery is Christ in us. The Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, means more than Jesus beside us, but Jesus IN us. Since Jesus came into my heart. You ask me how I know he lives? he lives within my heart. Christ in us. God in us.

In this Christmas season, make this your breath prayer - "Christ is in me." The power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in you, the Spirit of the resurrected Christ dwells in you!

P(rayer) - Abba, it is easy to get distracted in this season. Help us amidst the noise to stay deeply connected to You and Your Son. Help us to realize and expereince the transforming power of Jesus though his Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Guide us into praying without ceasing, breathing the prayer, "Christ in me."     Christ, in me, here my prayer. Amen.