Countdown to Christmas - Day 2: A Just Man | Aggressive Life

This is day two of our Christmas countdown, giving us a little devotional thought every day to push you closer to having spiritual fulfillment in Jesus over the holiday season. Today we're going to talk about a just man. We also talk about how white I am. My gosh, I got this white t-shirt on and it's the middle of the winter and I am freaking white, like too white. Dirt, I didn't even get into a tanning bed. Do you have any spray stuff I can spray on me here? I think it's just the white t-shirt. Man, talk about whitey. My gosh, I am white. All right. I need to just color myself in with green and red or something like that. So let's get started with Matthew 1, 19 to 20 and 24. Here's what it says, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put Mary to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. How would you respond if you found out the person you were engaged to was pregnant and you'd never had sex with her? Mary's excuse? Well, it was God's. It was God's baby. How would you feel if the guy you're dating, you found out that there was another woman who was impregnated and it must be him. And he tries saying, no, no, it wasn't me. God visited this girl. It's just really hard to believe the virgin birth.

Yes, yes. We know it's hard to believe. Joseph didn't believe the virgin birth. We have to understand that if there is a God, he can intercede and suspend the natural order of things at a moment's notice. That's the prerogative as God. And whatever you think about God, if you want God, I know you want that. Because that means you're having something that you can't generate on your own. God thought it was important for his DNA, his literal DNA, to be in this Christ child and for this Christ child to not have a human DNA father. When Joseph hears from Mary that this is God, she's like, yeah, come on, no, no. The Bible knows these things are outlandish, that they're outside of reason and outside of nature. It's why it's called supernatural. The Bible knows this. This is why the characters oftentimes don't believe it, even when they're experiencing it. Joseph doesn't believe it. No, Mary, you're lying. You're unfaithful to me. Even though we're not officially married yet, you are betrothed to me. You're unfaithful to me. And I got to end this. I got to do it in a way that's not going to be as humiliating to you as it could be. Because you just don't end up betrothal in the ancient world unless you've got a really good reason. But Joseph, as it says here, he was a just man. He wanted to do right by Mary, even when he felt like he was being slighted. A boy would not have done what this just man does. A boy just emotionally reacts.

Sometimes I hear people talk about, well, you know, women are much more emotional. No, they're not. No, they're not. No, no. Meaning, I meet men who are incredibly irresponsible emotionally and are incredibly prone to emotional outbursts and filter data emotionally the same or more than women do. Sorry, that's just not true that women are more emotional than men. Now, men may hide it a little bit better. Men may hide it more as far as I'm not going to publicly cry if I can help it. Maybe there's some things like that public display of emotion. But no, men are prone to emotionally make purchases that they shouldn't make. Men are prone to be vindictive and tap something out in social media that's hurtful at a moment. Men are prone to vengeance. They are. I say men. Men, I'm sorry, boys, males. Males are prone to all those things as much as women are. It takes a man, a just man, to operate with mercy and grace and offer as little harm as possible, which is what Joseph wants to do. Whether you're a male or female, be a just person. Honor the people who are around you and in your life. If you're afraid of seeing that family member or person at that party because you've got something that you're just upset with them, but hey, hey, just be a just person.

Be an honorable person. Hold your tongue. Don't say the thing that a lesser version of you would say. If there's a way for you to have vengeance and so on, no, stop, stop, stop. Take a cue from Joseph the just man and be a just person offering grace, understanding, mercy, and maturity. You do that, you will be in the minority. Let's pray. God, we don't hear much about him in the scriptures, but Joseph was an incredible man. I wish I heard more about him. I wanna know more about him. He mattered to your plan, and I wanna believe that I and all the rest of us matter to your plan as well. He was good and just, and we wanna be good and just. He hit his marks and laid down his life for Jesus in a way that we all benefit from today. Help us to have the vision to see what he saw, to do what he did, and to not do what he didn't wanna do in his human flesh. Help us to feel your prompting and be known as just people. We will move towards that. Amen. So, a couple things for you to get moving on. One, who's been a just man in your life or a just woman? Why don't you give them a little encouragement? Hey, you could've done this, you could've done that.

I wanna reach out to you. Give them a little gift. Give them a little encouragement. In fact, you might wanna do it in front of other people. It's great to give encouragement in front of other people. Thank them for their influence in your life and the model they've given you. Two, a just man or a just woman is considerate of others. They protect, they work hard, they don't fly off the handle. Which of the things come most naturally to you? Emotionally responding or being in control and doing the right thing? What's the biggest space where you need improvement? Ask God to give you an opportunity to do something that you wouldn't normally do, like go out of your way to be just or go out of your way to shut your yapper and to not inflame the situation. Look for opportunity to do the opposite of what you want to do, which happens to happen to be the just thing to do. We'll talk tomorrow with Christmas on the Aggressive Life. Thanks for joining us on this journey toward aggressive living. Find more resources, articles, past episodes, and more at bryantome.com. My new book, a 60-day devotional called The Five Marks for Man, 60 Days to a Powerful Life,

along with all the other books in the Five Marks Library are open right now on Amazon. Be sure to leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Then send an email to dirt, that's dirt, at bryantome.com to get a free Aggressive Life sticker. Find more on Instagram at bryantome. The Aggressive Life is a production of Crossroads Church, Cincinnati, Ohio.