What Joseph went through just before Christ was born.

Joseph and Mary were what is called "Betrothed" Like an engagement in today's culture, but a little more final. It was the first main and significant step towards marriage.
The betrothed couple were for all intents and purposed married, but they kept themselves from having marital relations, ( until they were fully married ) So, they had not come together as the text says in Matt 1:18.

Joseph would have been excited and happy about his betrothed wife Mary, waiting for the final stage of their engagement to take place.

At some point, it became clear to Joseph that his future wife was pregnant. We do not know how he found out. But he did. It's apparent from the text also, that no mention was made of how she became pregnant, or who was the man etc. He just knew that she was pregnant.

Under Jewish law, Mary could have been stoned to death for this pregnancy. Joseph had every right to put her away, divorce her, and also make her a public example.

Imagine what others may have thought seeing her carrying the baby in her womb. Clear to all, this woman is pregnant, but not yet fully married.

But, Joseph did not want to make her a public example, and so, he was going to put her away secretly. We don't know the details of his plan, but he did have one

It would have meant that his plans for a marriage to young Mary were dashed, and gone. How sad and disappointing this must have been, along with the shame of it all.

But, he was a just man. He was a righteous man. He was upright, he tried to act in accordance with what he knew to be the will of God for his life. That's who he was. Mary was very fortunate in that sense, to have such a man in her life.

I do wonder if he asked her, who the father was, and if she told him, "it was an angel from heaven"
What would his reaction have been?

But, here was this man, facing now a serious disruption in his plans, a just man, and he was thinking about all of this, dealing with it, pondering it, and trying to figure out what he was going to do about it all.

He went to sleep, and he had a dream, and in the dream, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, and told him a number of things.

1. Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.
2. For the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
3. She is going to have a son.
4. You are to call Him Jesus.
5. He will save His people from their sins.

I would imagine that if Mary had told him how she had become pregnant, that the dream would have been a confirmation of her story. If she had not told him, it would have begun to explain to him what had happened.

Matthew explains that all this ( what was just mentioned above ) was done to accomplish and fulfill the prophecies given by Isaiah. See Isa 7:14. His name was also "Immanuel" meaning, God with us.

Wow what a dream this must have been for Joseph. He went from being made aware of her pregnancy which in his mind had brought he and Mary's relationship to an end, to being made aware that God was at work bringing the Savior into this world.

So, in the midst of a very, very difficult situation to say the least, God spoke to Joseph and led him into the will of God in this matter.
Joseph had the distinct blessing of being the step father of Jesus Christ if you will.
What a blessing it must have been for him, having Jesus as a son.
God blessed Joseph through Christ.

God will bless you through Christ as well.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

Don't give up. God has not. He can and will work with you and through you.

The Bible is truly about Jesus Christ. His own family history and lineage is given to us in chapter 1 of Matthew's Gospel.
He came through the line of King David, going all the way back to Abraham.
Then from Abraham moving forward in time, the people in Jesus's earthly family line are listed.
This listing goes on for about 16 or so verses.
It ends with Joseph who was the husband of Mary.
Jesus came from Mary, but not by the normal natural means.
No, she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.
After Jesus's birth, Joseph and Mary had other children, who were in essence the half siblings of jesus.

A couple of quick thoughts at this point.

God used imperfect people to bring about the line of Jesus's family leading up to Joseph.
Abraham, while the father of our faith, had some of his own personal issues and problems.
He lied two different times, and the result was that it endangered his wife Sarah's well being.
But, the Lord got it worked out, and God's plan moved forward.

Tamar who is mentioned in verse 3, was at one time, be it for a short time, a prostitute. Her profession is not being affirmed as good, but simply stated that she was. And, that she was part of the line that led up to Jesus Christ.

King David, while a man after God's heart, had an extra marital affair, and actually murdered the husband of the woman involved, her name was Bathsheba. Thus, another spiritual and moral blip in this line of family members.

Manasseh, was one of the worst kings ever. Yet, he was also in the family line.
Perhaps a lesson through him, is that even at the worst and darkest of times, God is still at work, carrying out His plans and purposes.

There are others in this list as well. And, then if you were look at the list given in another gospel that traces Mary's line, you would find the same thing.

Point...........No one is perfect, except God.
Man's imperfections are indeed something man is responsible.
God is not encouraging us to live that way.
Yet, God is not bound by our sins, and our mistakes etc.
He is going to carry out His plan, by His own power and wisdom.
So, in the darkest of times, take comfort and courage, because God is still at work.


A few more thoughts from the rest of the chapter.

The birth of Christ was indeed a miracle itself. She became pregnant through a working of the Holy Spirit in her womb. Unexplainable, to our minds, yet, nothing hard for God. God creates, and He created in Mary a child.

Things could have gone very wrong right from the time that Joseph realized she was pregnant.
But, God worked this problem out also. Directing Joseph as recorded for us in the chapter.
Not to be overlooked, Joseph was a person of great and Godly character.
And on a practical level, God sent an angel to direct Joseph at a very critical moment in this entire story.

The tail end of the angels message tells us the main truth of the Bible and the main truth about Jesus Christ, and why He was born into this world of ours. "He will save His people from their sins"

Saved from sins, is something needed, lest a person leaves this world without God's forgiveness in their lives. So, no mistaking here. This is the primary thing. This is why Jesus came. It was to save, to rescue man. To change the eternal course of man's future and of his present life while here on earth.

The mission of Christ, was not an afterthought by God. It had been planned out as mentioned in the book of Isaiah and other places in the OT.

Another aspect of Christ's birth that so wonderful, is that His name is also Immanuel, which means that God is with us. He is in fact, with every person who has opened their heart to Him for forgiveness of sins.

Last little thought. Joseph "did as the angel of the Lord commanded him etc, "
He is an example to all of us, to follow the direction of the Lord in our lives, especially during critical times. Crisis, often become stepping stones in the future plan of God for our lives. It was so with Joseph for the next 3 decades or so .

Many blessings to you this Christmas season

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

God tells us the future, and speaks of the present. Rev 1:19-20

See Rev 1:19-20

When the Lord told John to "write the things which you have etc, " He is referencing that John wound up putting into what we call the book of Revelation.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of God, is that God has the ability to tell us the future with precise accurate detail each and every time. The book of Revelation for the most part is just that, it's a preview into the future, very extensive, very detailed, and incredible to read and understand.

This is God's Word to us about the future.

Additionally, the book of Revelation includes two other things. One of those being the vision the Lord gave to John of Himself the Lord. That is what we have been looking at in the earlier verses in this chapter.

Secondly, we have in Revelation "the things which are" which is no doubt referencing the state of the church, that is, at the time of John's life, and is also a picture I believe of the state or condition the individual christian can find themselves in, and is no doubt as many believe also a picture of the church down through the ages, from John's time, right up till the coming of Jesus, or the church of the last days.

Thirdly, as mentioned earlier, "the things which will take place after this" That is, the events that will unfold at the end of the things which are, or after the church age, or at the end of the church age. This is the major part of the book of Revelation.

On a completely different note, the Lord Himself explains to John and us as to the "mystery of the seven stars" John had seen them in the right hand of Jesus, and then there were the seven goldend lampstands:

They are as follows. The seven stars are the angels, or the messengers, or the pastors of the seven churches. It's very comforting to know the place of these pastors. They are in His hand.

Not only as children of God are they in His hand, but as leaders they are also. The hand is what is used in life to help, to guide, to support, to give strength, to affirm, to comfort, etc, etc.

And, the last thing that is explained, are the seven lampstands, which are the "seven churches"
So, the Lord is in the midst of His church, with His hand upon the pastor's.

How the Lord loves His church. It's not a sideline or background, or secondary matter of importance to Him.

It's His bride, and it's His own body. It's why He came to the cross, to call people out into His kingdom.

The church is loved by Jesus Christ, and is what He alone can truly build up to and increase it.

So, this first chapter in Revelation helps set the stage and outline in many ways for the rest of the book.

We are promised a blessing for just reading it.

May God richly bless you.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

What happened when John saw Jesus in Revelation.

Rev 1:17-18

John tells us what happened to him when he saw Jesus.

First of all, John did see Him in this vision given to him by God.

Secondly, John fell down as dead. He was so impacted by what he saw, it was like it took the life out of him, and he lay at the feet of Jesus like a dead person.

Thirdly, at this point, Jesus took and laid His right hand upon John, and spoke to him in the following way.  "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

It is interesting and encouraging to me, to hear these words, "Do not be afraid" It seems that this is one of God's most commonly made statements to His people, through both the Old and the New testaments. And, it would seem that the reason for his repeated statement by God, is that His people were afraid. They were in some situation that brought fear into their lives. Fear can render a person paralyzed as it were. It can make them unable to move about in life as they ought to and would like to.

And, it's also interesting to see the reason behind this statement by the Lord to John. It was Christ's own declaration of who He is, and who He was, and who He will be. It's what He is. He is God, and as God He is eternal. He was here long before any situation that has come about and is upon someone. And, He will be here long after that situation is a thing of the forgotten past.

He is God. I am alive He says to John, and to you and me. I'm eternal, I'm here, I'm the giver of life. In fact, beyond those truths, here is something else. I am the Lord of Lords I hold the keys of Hades and of Death. Hades is a place of punishment for those who choose to reject God's love and grace.
And, death, is that reality of separation from God. It's the separation that Christ came to remove.

He is the bridge between sinful man, and Holy God. He is the door, He is the way, He is the truth, He is the life. No man can come to the Father but by and through Him

Anyone can receive Him, and if they do, He will make them a child of God.

Well, more tomorrow.
May God's blessings be upon you today

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

How Jesus looked........and looks today

See Revelation, 1:14-16

1:14
His head, hair and eyes are described here. First of all, it's important to realize that what John was seeing was indeed, the actual person of Jesus Christ, in His current state. This is what He will look like when we see Him. This is how He looks at this moment, seated at the right hand of God.

Three things here. Head, hair and eyes. Both His head and hair are said to be "white like wool" Speaking of, or reminding us of His spotlessness, and His purity. He is the pure, righteous one, in whom there is no sin. His eyes were like " a flame of fire" This speaks of power. Fire gives light, and is powerful. Jesus is the light of the world of course, and is the most powerful person we know. He is pure, and He is powerful.

1:15a
Now, to His feet. "like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace" Brass is commonly seen throughout the Bible, and is often associated with the judgment of God. God has judged our sins at the cross, and they are now gone and forgotten. Jesus will bring judgement when He comes again.
The pure, powerful, judge is the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:15b
His "voice as the sound of many waters" John was trying to describe what His voice sounded like.
We will one day hear for ourselves, but here it's said to be like "Many waters" Or a massive and powerful roar. That's what we hear when we are near the ocean, and the waves are coming upon the shore. There is a tremendous and powerful sound. A roaring.

1:16a
Here's what He had in His right hand. Seven Stars. The stars here in this section of Rev, seem to speak of the leaders in the churches. And, here we see that they are being held by Jesus Christ. What a comforting and encouraging thought to know that they are in His hands. If you are a leader in the church ( in fact, every christian can say this about themselves ) they are in the hands of Jesus Christ. He has a firm grip on you.

1:16b
Out of His mouth "went a sharp two-edged sword" This again is John's description of seeing and hearing Jesus talk. Swords are used both defensively, and offensively. Jesus is the Word of God. He is our defender, and He is our victor in battle over the enemy of our soul. His Word cuts and pierces to the depths of our being. His Word is creative, it's powerful to destroy. We have heard His voice in the Holy Bible, and we will one day hear it with our own ears right in His visible presence. We will hear Him speak to us personally, and throughout all of eternity. For all we know, we may have what would be very private and personal conversations with Him, where we become very familiar with the sound of His voice.

1:16c
The last thing in this verse, "His countenance was like sun shining in it's strength" Very massive, and encompassing is what the sun is like. You walk outside, and the sun is so powerful you can't even look directly at it, and in a sense you don't have to, to be affected by it. It light's up the world, at least the half that is in the daylight time. Countenance, is a word in the Bible speaks of the  face, or the outward appearance, the look. So, this is what the look of Jesus will be like, or when we look at Him, it will be bright like the sun.


There are numerous things that have already been said about Him, and will be said throughout this letter. These are but glimpses of what He looks like. John was affected by what He saw, as we will see in our study tomorrow. We are affected by seeing Him through the eyes of faith.
Seeing Him, leads to the transformation of our lives.

As we read the Bible, we see God revealed to us. The book of Revelation, is just that, an unveiling, a revealing of Jesus Christ. He is pure, powerful, piercing and is the Lord of Lord's. He is coming back to the earth, bringing judgement upon it, and then will rule on it for 1000 years, before taking us into the eternal future with Him.

May God's grace, mercy, peace and love be multiplied in our lives this very day.
In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

Rev 1:10-13......Hearing God's voice and finding His help.

See Revelation 1:10-13......the scriptures are down at the very bottom of this page.

The Lord's day in the NT is a Sunday. So, it was on a Sunday, and John heard what seemed like a loud trumpet behind him, only it was a voice.

And, the voice said, " I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last" Here the Lord is identifying Himself as being God, the eternal one, the start and the finish if you will. The Greek alphabet starts with Alpha and ends with Omega.

The Lord went on to tell John, what you see, ( and of course, John was being given this vision, ) write it in a book, and then send it to the seven churches which are located in what would be modern day Turkey.

So, what we have written down for us in this book known as "The Book of Revelation" is a record in great detail of what John was given to see by God.

It was at this moment that John turned to see the voice that was speaking with him. Thus what had happened was just like when someone comes up behind you and starts talking, and you hear them, and you then turn around to see the person who is talking to you, That's what John did, and what we have next, is what John saw.

By the way, sometimes God speaks to us in a very direct, focused, distinct manner also. And, we hear Him, and we can turn to Him as it were, and we can see Him ( by faith ) and we can focus our lives upon Him, and seek to understand Him etc, etc. He is speaking, and wants to speak to us today, and every day, and He wants us to know Him.

I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of them was "One like the Son of Man "
The lampstand was used in the OT to symbolize the nation of Israel's function of being a light. Lamps give light, and the lampstands ( 7 of the ) represent the 7 churches mentioned, and the 7 churches represented are also believed to represent the complete period of the churches history, from start to finish. So, Christ is in His church.

The Son of Man, Jesus Christ was clothed with a garment down to His feet. He was completely clothed if you will. And, We are completely clothed with His righteous also. What He is, we are. He is holy, and so are we. He is God Son, and we are also God's children, He is accepted by God and so are we, etc, etc.

He also had a golden band that He was girded with. This band was around His chest. What could this possibly mean, or symbolize? Gold is a favorite color of the Lord. He used it in the OT creation of the Tabernacle, and the Temple. It's used as pavement in heaven for the main street that runs through heaven. But, here it is upon or around the chest of Jesus. Girding in the NT was used to help make movement easier. One would gird or pull up their robe and tuck it in under the belt and thus be more able to move and to walk to work and to run, to fight etc. So, it was function you might say.

It's possible that this might speak of the function and help that God has for each of us. He wants to gird us up day by day, to help us in whatever we do. He has and does provide all the heavenly resources we need in order to function in His will for us.

One other thing about this robe. It reminds of the priests and the judges in the OT among God's people. Jesus is of course the High Priest of our faith, and He is the Judge into whose hands all judgment has been committed.

A few other devotional/applicational thoughts.

1. The Lord's day is a great day to hear God's Voice.
2. We gather to worship in song, to fellowship, and to hear His Word.
3. He wants us to see Him, and hear Him.
4. Strength is given to us by God's Holy Spirit.
5. He has work for us to do.
6. We are running in a race to heaven if you will.
7. God's strength and power make it easier to walk, work, run, and battle.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia

1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

1:11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

1:13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

Gleanings from Jude.......

Here are some short little thoughts by way of explanation and application taken from the epistle of Jude.

1:1
Families can serve the Lord together. Jude was the half brother of Jesus, and full brother of James, who led the church in Jerusalem. Let's pray that this year, families would come together serving the Lord.

1:2.
God never forgets His mercy, peace and love towards us. We have them from Him, and can have them day by day till we get to heaven

1:3
Being led by God is His will. Jude was intending to write about one important subject, but was compelled to write about something else. While Jude did not specify that the Lord was leading him to write about what he did, I believe it's there in the background. The Holy Spirit was leading Jude, and he was responding. May it be so Lord in our lives as well.

1:4
There is a real demonic enemy who creeps into the church from time to time. These enemies are in league with Satan himself, and they seek to pervert and destroy the work of God in the lives of christians. They take God's precious truth and twist it around to suit their own fleshly and ungodly desires and ways. O Lord, protect us from them.

1;5
Being reminded of what we know already is a common way for the Lord to encourage us. It's what Jude was doing here. His readers were well steeped in the truth of the OT stories, ( They aren't just stories of course, but records of God's dealings with Israel and others ) But, they knew these accounts, and were able to see the truths of these accounts applied in their situation currently. Lord, may we this coming year, grow in our knowledge of Your Word and be encouraged and built up in our faith.

1:6-7
God has and will judge the ungodly. We have a record of it right here in Jude. The Lord is the saviour at this time, but will be the judge in the days ahead when He returns to the earth. Oh Lord, save now we pray, and rescue the lost in our midst from the coming Judgement.

1:8-16
God explains in great and specific detail who these creepers into the church were, and what they were up to, and how they operated.
Try to count if you will the number of specifics that are given to us here about them. This is what is called ungodliness

1:17-25
Once again the memory is called to action. Simply, "remember the words spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ" That's a reference to what we have by way of the NT today.
The NT is filled with Bible Prophecy about what was happening with these "creepers"

And, the NT is filled with encouragements about God's beloved as well. See if you can count up the many blessed exhortations and promises in the remaining verses in this letter, there are many of them.

Here's a sample......

1. You can be built up and made strong
2. You are beloved by God.
3. You have holy faith.
4. God will use and hear your prayers.
5. God loves you.
6. God's love is where He wants you to keep yourself. In His love
7. God has mercy.
8. God wants you to give you His mercy, and to look for it.
9. You now have eternal life ( union with God through Christ )
10. Be compassionate to the lost.
11. You are no longer headed to the lake of fire as are many today
12. God is able to keep and preserve you.
13. Jesus will present you one day to the Father.
14. May God receive all the glory in our lives.

There's actually more in those verses, but the sample above, was just that a sample. It's a rich section of Jude.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia