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.”
—Matthew 1:20-21
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
Jesus. Yeshua. Joshua of the spiritual world. Mary’s boy, God’s Son, comes to help us tear down the strongholds Satan has built in our lives. He comes to bring peace to our troubled spirits and joy to our nights of despair. He comes not only to minister to us and bless us, he comes to do what no one else could do: he comes to deliver us from our sins – our spiritual blemishes, neglects, rebellions, mistakes, transgressions, and failures. Praise God! A deliverer who actually conquered what we could not defeat to make us what we are not – pure, perfect, and holy children of God, like him (Colossians 1:22, 28-29).
My Prayer…
Thank you, Father, for your forgiveness, cleansing, and transformation given to me by Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Son poured out on me to cleanse me and make me holy.* In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.
* See 1 Corinthians 6:11 and Titus 3:5-7 for these amazing truths!
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
