[Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations…from
everlasting to everlasting Psalm
90:1-2
During this season of reflection and renewal, join me, and let's
explore God’s Presence, our dwelling place. Are you dwelling in the presence of
God? ~ Donna Howell Oswalt]
“This is the
record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of King David and
Abraham:” Matthew
1:1 NLT
For centuries, prophets deliver the Lord’s decrees to
prepare, instruct, discipline, and encourage the people of Israel. In times of
disobedience, crisis, war, famine, captivity, and in times of celebration,
peace and abundance, God’s presence dwells with to those who seek Him. Then, a
period of 400 years of silence passes as the people continue to wait for the coming
of the promised Messiah. In the decades leading up to the Messiah's birth, Rome controls Jerusalem, and its own Herod the
Great rules Judah, while Cleopatra rules Egypt. Matthew’s record of the ancestors from Abraham to the Messiah reveals God’s
Promise arrives through a diversity of peoples, generation by generation.
Some of the ancestors are heroes of faith while others
are outcasts; some are simply ordinary people, and others leave a trail of
sinfulness. God is not limited by time or place, race or gender, nor is His
work limited by human frailty. He is a God of forgiveness and new beginnings.
God calls each of us to be a part of His Master Plan. God, sometimes I must wait through the seemingly endless silence. When
I want to rush ahead, give me patience to endure, faith to trust, and wisdom to
listen. Count me alive in Christ. Give this ordinary person extraordinary possibilities.
-dho
All rights
reserved ~ used with permission of the author
Copyright 2014
by Donna Oswalt/Co-Founder of Mangrove Ministries/Christian blogger and author
For more information
about this ministry visit ~
“May you be
blessed by the Lord Who loves you best!”
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