Leaving the Familiar to Give Birth to God’s Promises

Luke 2:4-7

⁴ “So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register with Mary, who was betrothed to him, and was with child.⁶ While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth, ⁷ and she gave birth to her Son, her firstborn; and she wrapped Him in [swaddling] cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no [private] room for them in the inn.” AMP

It is interesting to see that when the time came for Mary to give birth to her child, God orchestrated for her and Joseph to have to leave the area that was familiar to them in order to have what He had promised her through the Angel Gabriel. In Luke 1:28, the Angel greeted her by acknowledging that she was favored and that the Lord was with her. This is important to highlight because at the time that she and Joseph were going through their process that led them to the birth of the child, they ended up having to go to a stable, a place a few animals called home. It smelled there, and was full of animal refuse which made that scenario the least desired to give birth to a baby.

At that time, when they could not find a civilized place to stay where they could be more comfortable and have the sanitized amenities necessary to give birth to the child, it looked like they were far from being favored and where was God for them? That question probably went through their minds because they were being rejected everywhere they went, but God was with them all along, leading them away from their familiar surroundings in order to show Himself like the God that makes all things possible and the One who can make of a situation that seemed less than desirable, turn out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to them. Verse 35 of Luke 1 also says,

³⁵ Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God.” AMP

This birth came  by the power of the Holy Spirit and it could not be done in Mary and Joseph’s own strength and abilities. The Holy Spirit overshadowed her so this birth could take place and the child Jesus, the Son of God, could be holy, pure, and sinless throughout His time on earth. It is amazing to see that what was impure at the time of His debut on earth was the beginning of a life of purity and holiness, necessary for Jesus to overcome the enemy that rose up in His generation and for which He eventually allowed the Father to take Him through His own process that would help Him give birth to His victory over the enemy and the salvation of humanity in many generations after His.

But His process in the Garden of Gethsemani, where everything was less than comfortable, is where He had to face His own fears and weaknesses and exchange them for the Father’s grace to overcome. This was also a way that was contrary to the ways of man. For this, His process meant going to the Cross and die for three days in order to set many captives free and give men the gifts necessary to have a balanced spiritual nourishment that would help them reach the same spiritual stature, fortitude, and fullness He had reached. 

This way, He was also giving us the example that it takes going through the wilderness of testing and be in environments that are less than desirable for us to become strong in Spirit and obtain the levels of authority and power necessary to defeat the enemy that rises up in our generation and for which God will use us to fulfill His oath made to Moses in Exodus 17:14-16 which says,

¹⁴ “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this in the book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek [and his people] from under heaven.’ ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord Is My Banner; ¹⁶ saying, ‘The Lord has sworn [an oath]; the Lord will have war against [the people of] Amalek from generation to generation.’” AMP

In this passage we see that God Most High made an oath and swore that through His people in every generation, He would fight the generation of the Antichrist spirit represented through the people of Amalek. This is a spirit of idolatry and rejection of God and His ways. The spirit that rules this world and influences many away from living in purity and holiness which are required to overcome this spirit. 

This process for every believer allows God to take them through the wilderness of testing and trials designed to remove the influence of the spirit of this world from us. It also helps us learn and understand our life’s calling and purpose, as well as total dependence on God and His unfathomable ways just like Mary and joseph learned when they were led by the Lord to place the child in a manger instead of a crib.

Likewise, because God led them to a situation that they were not familiar with, they had to cling to Him totally and acknowledge Him in all their ways (Proverbs 3:5-6) to be enabled to see a victorious outcome that was supernatural in its nature because they served a supernatural God. To this stable and not to a luxurious hotel is where the Shepherds were led to go and pay honor and the magi came to bring gifts to the child that would grow up to be great and accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God. Luke 1:32-33 says about Him,

^32 “He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’” AMP

Moreover, the birth of the child Jesus also arose persecution from those influenced by the Antichrist spirit and this is something that we will see in our times in the wilderness, but those times serve for us to work out our warrior muscles that will help us become like David who was a worshiper but also a warrior. So too, in conditions such as persecution we also learn to worship the Lord as a lifestyle and partner with Him to see the fulfillment of His promise in Exodus 17. This fulfillment will first be on our behalf and then, through us, God will perform a great deliverance on behalf of those we are called to set free and influence for the Kingdom. 

Lastly, one more fact about how God takes us outside of what would be more comfortable and familiar to us in order to bring us to the place and time when we will have encounters with Him and see Him in new ways, is found in John 19:17-18, 

¹⁷ “And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, ¹⁸ where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.” NKJV 

Golgotha or Place of the Skull is where we see that Jesus was crucified. He had to carry His Cross by Himself and sometimes with help, but He was not crucified in Jerusalem which would have been the obvious place. He was led by God outside of the city in order to see the fulfillment of the prophecy about Him of becoming the King of the Jews, but in a manner that was contrary to the ways of man because the wisdom of God is not like ours. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).

To God alone be all the glory. ▪

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