Day Nine
What a difficult task Joseph had to endure. He took on the responsibility of raising a child that he did not sire. He submitted to the rumors about his unfaithful wife. “A Heart Prepared: Savor the Story of Christmas Advent Legacy Journal” tells us how we should have that same level of obedience when God calls.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:21-24)
God speaks to me in dreams, visions, in my head, through people, and circumstances. When He speaks I have learned to act immediately because my disobedience or delayed obedience always results in negative consequences.
At one time in my life I was the owner of Juel’s Travel and Cruises. I love to travel and love to help others make their travel dreams come true. In 2005 God made it clear He wanted me to close the company and stop being a travel agent. During that time I worked as a full time IRS Agent, was attending Kent State University part time, a mother, wife, and served in various community roles. It was my dream to retire from the government and sell travel forever. I whined and complained to the Lord. This could not be what He wanted me to do. I deceived myself in believing I misunderstood.
God allowed two years to pass in my disobedience. I was working on the largest group sale I ever had. The commission was going to be huge! However, shortly before this group’s final balance was due, I discovered I had made a huge mistake in calculating their cost. I forgot to include the cost of transfers. Asking the customer to pay the additional cost was not an option. This meant, that huge commission would result in a debt to the supplier of the trip. To this day I do not understand what God did but His math is different than mine. Instead of me having a debt, I receive a tiny commission. What?! At that moment I threw my hands up, “I give! I surrender!” A huge burden lifted off of my shoulders that I did not know I was carrying. I left that role to move into God’s direction. You can read more about that here.
From then on anytime God calls me to do something, I ask “how soon, how high you want me to jump, where do you want me to go” no matter how crazy the call is.
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Juel A. Fitzgerald has a degree in English and is a Toastmaster trained public speaker, loves to travel, and walk long distances with friends. She writes in four blogs and is the author of “Lives of a Gem! God’s Treasured Possession”, “Bible Trek: Reading the Bible in Thirteen Weeks”, and “The Twelve: Fishers of Men”.
These are her four blogs:
- Heart Emissions – weekly spiritual devotionals.
- Juel’s Travel Beacon – travel information and tips.
- Walking For God Challenge – one year blog to raise funds for HOPE worldwide.
- Writer’s Blog – writer’s journey, news and other information
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