- araratchurch
- Dec 9, 2022
- 2 min read
“And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.””
Luke 1:46-55 NKJV
There is no way of knowing what kind of life Mary had lived up until the time of the Lord‘s calling her to be the mother of the Savior of the world. We can guess that she was a respectable person in her daily life and was probably devoted to the Lord. We don’t know much else about who she had been up until the moment Gabriel delivered that awesome message from the Lord. Her previous life may have been uneventful or one peppered with turmoil and sadness. What we do know about Mary is that she was chosen by the Lord to be the mother of the Christ.
Make no mistake, from the moment that message was delivered to Mary by Gabriel and she accepted the call, what her life had been before would be overshadowed by what her life was now as the chosen of the Lord.
Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s praise of her was a beautiful song of praise back to the Father. Whatever Mary’s life song had been to this point, she now had a new song and nothing would ever be the same again.
My mind goes to the words of David:
“I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, The One who gives salvation to kings, Who delivers David His servant From the deadly sword.”
Psalms 144:9-10 NKJV
For today meditate on this question: what is your life song? Is it a “somebody done somebody wrong song”? Is it a sorrowful song? Is it a song of regrets or of hurt?
Remember, no matter what your song was before saying yes to the Lord’s call, it should now be a song of gratitude and joy for the great things God has done.
Additionally, our life song should look forward to those great things God has prepared for us as we rule and reign with Him throughout eternity.
Don’t allow the enemy of your soul to have you still singing the song he wrote for you. Allow the Lord to fill you—as He did for Mary—with a new song of praise for the great things the Lord has done!
Peace to you.
- araratchurch
- Dec 9, 2022
- 3 min read
“And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.””
Luke 1:41-45 NKJV
After saying yes to being the mother to our Lord, Mary goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth, in the hill country of Judah.
The greeting of Mary to Elizabeth causes Elizabeth to be filled with the Holy Spirit. As well, the child Elizabeth was carrying (John the Baptizer) leapt with joy inside her womb. Elizabeth then makes a statement of simple, but powerful, truth:
“Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
The catalyst for this part of the plan of God to redeem the world and to reinstate our sonship, was the simple act of Mary believing what had been said to her by Gabriel.
I can’t help but wonder what any of us may have missed out on in our lives because we would not believe the word of the Lord. Now, some people get confused with statements like this because the question occurs: “If it is God‘s will for something, will it not happen, regardless?” I would answer that question this way: God‘s will will be done, but through whom it is performed depends on the willingness of His people or the agendas of those who are not His.
Let me explain. That our will must co-operate with God’s will for us is clear. However, another aspect of the irresistible nature of God‘s will is that He also uses the agendas of evil people to perform His plan (we will see this happen in our further examination of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth). You see, the Lord doesn’t override anyone’s will, but He will work His will through those who are doing things out of their own agenda. For example, think of how many times the children of Israel were disciplined—even punished—through their adversaries when the Lord would lift His protection, allowing the enemy to do what they wanted to do anyway.
With those who belong to the Lord, He will present His will and give us an opportunity to accept or reject. Then, it is also our part to believe that God will perform whatever He needs to perform to make what He has said come to pass.
Now, some may wonder why someone would say yes to the plan of God, then fail to believe. To explain I have need only to direct you to Peter who—after answering the call of Jesus to come out on the water—allowed the storm to cause him to doubt his safety (Matthew 14:22-33).
For today meditate on whether or not you have missed out by failing to believe that what God has promised is true. Life happens, but we must make sure that whatever happens in our life does not keep us from believing what God has said.
Additionally, even if you—to some extent—believe that the Lord will return for us and then rule and reign on the Earth forever, do you have an expectancy or an excitement about that happening? If you do not have expectancy and excitement concerning His coming again, your level of believing is not where it ought to be.
Yesterday we discussed saying yes to the word of the Lord. Today we are reminded that to see the plan/promise fulfilled, we must also believe.
Peace to you.
- araratchurch
- Dec 7, 2022
- 2 min read
“Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
Luke 1:34-38 NKJV
Mary gets the starling revelation that she has been chosen to bear the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Her question to the angel Gabriel was not one of unbelief, but one of practicality. Mary knew the facts of life; she knew how babies get here. It was therefore legitimate for her to ask by what means this would take place. For all she knew, the reference could be to the child who would be born from her future union with Joseph, her betrothed. Rather than the Messiah being a child born from a natural union, she is told what must have been unfathomable to her: this Child would come from the Holy Spirit of God!
Next, Mary learns that Elizabeth, her relative, is in the 6th month of pregnancy with John the Baptist. Then Gabriel says something we often hear quoted with few knowing the context: “For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Extraordinarily, Mary accepts the word from Gabriel without any further questions. She doesn’t even ask what she should say to Joseph, her betrothed. She trusted the Lord to work out the details, and He did.
For today meditate on what your reaction might be if an angel spoke something unbelievable to you and asked your participation. Is your heart ready?
We already have many great and precious promises available to those who will believe and surrender their all to the plan of the Lord.
The Lord will soon come again. Perhaps you are being asked to give flesh to the message of the Last Days ministry: “Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!”
Will you say yes to the Lord’s call to allow your flesh, your life, to help birth to the last call for others to enter the Ark of Salvation?
Peace to you.