Holy Boldness

Chapter 3 C ooperating with D ivine I nitiative : the story of M ary and J oseph

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child and bear a son and she will call His name, Emmanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

Unto us, a child is born, Unto us, a son is given And the government shall rest upon His shoulders. Isaiah 9:6 God uses men and women to accomplish His agenda on the earth. This heavenly protocol is critical to His plan. He never intended to do the job without mankind’s voluntary cooperation. God is certainly capable of forcing issues but he forces no one to play along. He always tells someone what He is about to do and enlists their cooperation. “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7) Man’s cooperation with God is what this whole grand scheme of the Kingdom of God coming to the earth is all about. God initiates; man cooperates! Those who fear the Lord will be those enlisted and empowered to discern and cooperate with Heaven’s initiative to invade the earth. The birth of Jesus was a kingdom initiative. Mary and Joseph became major players in this movement because they were steeped in the culture of the fear of the Lord. One can see it in the few stories we have about them. The birth narratives are extraordinary in their own right but they are also full of little details that reveal much about the main char acters. It is safe to say that without the fear of the Lord, those involved would not have had the moral courage to live the story. The fear of the Lord was critical to their remaining on the path down which they were led.

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