Lord God, Father of all creation, Holy One, we come this day to praise You, to worship You , to come to know You more closely. You O Lord, are worthy, Worthy to be praised, Worthy of all Glory, Honor, Power and Praise. Blessed be Your Holy Name, Blessed Be You O Lord. We open our hearts, our minds, our lives to You. Grant us knowledge and understanding as we seek Your Truth. Holy Spirit take control, lead us, guide us, teach us. We magnify You O Lord. We lift our hearts, our hands, our minds to You and ask that You write Your message on our hearts, to dwell forever in our lives. We come in one accord, one mind to Your Saving Knowledge. Work in us Lord, purifying, cleansing, renewing our faith, our minds. Draw us ever closer to You. In the name of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior, I rebuke you, satan, I bind you from interfering in this study, in your pitiful attempts at distraction. I, a bondservant of Christ, take authority over you, cast you out of the minds of those gathered in the name of Jesus. I cast you out of this place, you and all of your workers, Be gone in the name of Jesus. For every head shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. I rebuke you, satan you are DE-FEETED and have no power here! God is well able to maintain peace and harmony in this place. Father, we invite Your Presence...We ask that You would cover this room, these puters, all of the wiring and connections. Lord steel our minds against distractions, so that we may focus on You, on Your word. Cover this room, we, Your people, our puters in Your Precious Blood, Let Your Holy Spirit take control and teach us O Lord. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts that are open to You..to Your truth. In Your Holy name I pray. Amen. Well...last time we were together we were talking about the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy in Is.7:14...14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Immanuel....the translation....God with us.... Tonight, I want to add verse 15 into the discussion...15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.. ...reject the wrong and choose the right.... The prophesy came to pass as seen in Matthew 1:18-25 ..18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. Matthew said that Joseph was a righteous man....what does that mean?? What is righteous?? OldTimer brought to light the fact that Joseph, being an upright and moral man, could have chosen to have Mary stoned instead of marrying her.... Why??.. Because she was unwed and pregnant... just punishment.. death... Righteous...according to the dictionary means..morally good, just.... according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, righteous is an adjective coming from the greek dikaios signifying “just”, without prejudice or partiality. Righteousness...dikaiosune...is “ the character or quality of being right or just”...it was formerly spelled ‘rightwiseness’ which clearly expresses the meaning. It is used to denote (describe) an attribute or characteristic of God. God is a God of rightness, of order, He is just and true...So... to say that someone is righteous....we are saying that they are in rightstanding with God...Joseph was a righteous man... not self-righteous, doing what he wanted or thought best, like quietly divorcing Mary beacuse she was with child...or having her stoned to death... but living in God’s right order...just ... honorable... fair...right...doing and living in alignment with God. Joseph made a choice...he was concerned with the fact .. ‘afraid’ as Matthew says...that his soon to be wife was pregnant...he could have called off the wedding and gone on with his life... but Joseph chose to listen to the angel the Lord sent him in the dream ...and follow the command of the Lord....telling him to marry Mary and to name his son Jesus...the one who would save his people from their sin. Now in Luke, as Luke describes the events leading up to the birth of Jesus, we are told...Luke 1:28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God." ...Whoa!! Gotta stop on that verse!! Look at that....For nothing is impossible with God.... ....NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!!.... Alleluia!! Look at this in Matthew 19:26...Jesus was speaking to His disciples concerning a rich young man who wanted to know about getting into heaven.... 23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" 26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." With God...ALL things are possible!!! Possible for a virgin to give birth to the Son of God??...YES!! ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!! Again Jesus tells us in Mark as the father of the boy who has been possessed of a deaf and mute spirit since birth says...Mark 9:22b-23 But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." 23"`If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM WHO BELIEVES!!! Praise God!! Thank You Jesus!! OK...what does possible mean?? Does it mean “might” ? or “maybe”?... no...the definition of possible is ... That which can exist, happen or be done...in VIne’s the greek translation of the adjective possible is this...”strong, mighty, powerful, able (to do) can..dunami in the greek...means able... so...possible means that which is able to exist, able to happen. So, we can read Everything is possible to him who believes...as... ...Everything is able to happen for him who believes... Dunamis in the Greek not only means ability, but power, might, enablement. It is the root word for dyanmite - explosive power! The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that we receive from the Holy Spirit - power to believe, power to witness, power to overcome! And whatever God calls us to do, He gives us the power, ability, might, enablement to do it. 1Thessalonians 5:24 The one who calls you is faithful and HE will do it. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 24 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come & help; Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm. Now what does believe mean?? I believe...does it mean I think it might?? No...the definition of believe is 1.the conviction that something is true or real. 2. Trust, confidence, faith in someone or something as good. The greek translation of believe is pisteuo... “ to believe”, also “to be persuaded of”, and hence, “to place confidence in, to trust”, it signifies reliance upon ....believe then means to have confidence in, to trust in, to rely on. And who do we believe in, trust in, rely on, have confidence in?? Why God of course!!! So, “Everything is possible to him who believes” means Everything is able to happen for him(or her!!) who relies on, trusts in, has confidence in God! Praise God!! Everything is able to happen for him/her who relies, trusts and has confidence in God!! ...All things are possible for God... God is able to do anything!!! Back to Mary in Luke 1:28-38...although Mary was basically shocked that God would find favor with her to bless her with the honor of giving birth to the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world... she answered the angel of the Lord with this statement....38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." And so it was!! Mary gave birth to Jesus...the Son of God... Immanuel.. ...God with us...our Savior!!! You see, Mary also made a choice as did Joseph...that even tho it may have seemed impossible... she chose to believe that God wanted to use her...she chose to rely on, to trust in God and His plan....both Mary and Joseph chose to rise above their own knowledge and understanding of how things were... and step out in faith, in belief, in complete and total trust in God and His plan to bring Jesus to us to save us from our sin...to bring salvation and eternal life to all those who BELIEVE... ...for as the angel said to Mary in Luke 1:37 Nothing is impossible for God!!! All things are possible with God!! Our God is Great and Mighty!!! He is well able to do anything He so chooses!!! My questions to you tonight are...what is God wanting to do in you?? Are you believing as Mary and Joseph did....that our God is able!! Are you relying on, trusting in, having confidence in God and His plan for you?? Are you believing God for those things in your life that seem impossible to you?? As Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 19:26 "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."... ...and Mark 9:23 "Everything is possible for him who believes." ...Our Lord says it ... so ... SO BE IT!! Back to the beginning here...in Isaiah 7:14-15 ...14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. What is God trying to “birth” in you?? What sign(s) is He giving you?? Are you believing?? Are you rejecting the wrong and choosing the right? The righteousness of God...living in God’s right order...just ... honorable... fair...right...doing and living in alignment with God? Remember...Matthew 19:26 With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!!... We can (we ARE ABLE) to live in God’s righteousness... Mark9:23 Everything is possible to him who believes!!! We ARE ABLE when we rely on Him, trust in Him!! Mark 10:27 With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." His plan for our lives IS ABLE to happen!!! Our God is ABLE!!! Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God. No matter what we think ...no matter how things look ...or how impossible things appear... or how many people (including ourselves) try to discourage us... Our God is a God of the Possible!! He is Well Able!! His Righteousness and Truth Prevails!!! He is the Author and Finisher of our faith!! Oh Thank You Lord!!! Blessed Be Our Lord and Savior!! O Lord, I thank you for this night , Your Word, Your truth!! May Your word tonight be forever written in our hearts ... May You bring this truth to mind whenever we even have the slightest doubt. You ARE our Hope!! You ARE our Strength!! You ARE our I AM!!! Bless You O Lord!! Thank You !! Thank You!! Thank YOU!!!! Alleluia!!!! and AMEN!!!