Tag: Mary

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When all you have is fear and faith.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Joseph did everything right and still he was going to thwart the plans of God. Not only was Joe going to do things right, he was even going to do them with the best motives in mind. He was going to break the engagement quietly, privately, so it would not disgrace Mary publicly.

Joe was much older than Mary and we don’t know all the details of his and Mary’s life before their pre-arranged marriage. You knew that right? This wasn’t a whirl-wind romance of Joe sweeping young Mary off her feet and promising her the world. History is fairly quiet about the couple, especially after the “incident” of being with child out of wedlock. Joseph was said to have been married before and was a widow. Mary being so young and both families living in a poorer part of Israel (Nazareth), may have had few to no suitors for her father to choose from. None of that mattered really, because God’s will, His desires, His plans before time existed was for these two, Joseph and Mary to raise the Son of God.

What do you do when a good man, a righteous man is going to break up with the woman carrying the Messiah? Who’s going to have that kind of conversation with Joseph and get him to change his mind, because clearly Matthew tells us he had already made his decision. And when a man… especially a Jewish man makes up his mind, well, you know, there’s no changing that! No worries, that too was all planned out with God.

God sent a messenger, a powerful, high ranking messenger, an angel of the Lord. The message isn’t, “Marry the girl or else!” The message is don’t fear the consequences of marrying this girl. The consequences were real. No one in those days (or these days) was going to buy the whole “virgin birth” story. Everyone knows where babies come from and how they’re made! If Joseph wasn’t the daddy, it must be another man – but who?

Gossip would have torn through their town like a wildfire, destroying everything in its path. Then there’s the whole danger of Mary being dragged out in the town square and stoned to death for adultery, killing her and the child within her womb. We couldn’t have that happen right?

No; God, Joe and Mary had to keep this whole thing on the downlow and make sure it played out well with the whole community. So the fear of consequences of what would happen to Mary and the shame that Joseph would have to bear was very real. He wasn’t the one carrying a miraculous child from God, but he would need BIG faith to believe and raise the boy as his own. Notice, even in the miraculous intervention the angel didn’t force Joe to do God’s will. He told him not to fear and then flat out told him the why behind all the mystery. For this child would save his people from their sin! Wow, gives me the chills. The angel didn’t tell Joe that he would raise a warrior, a king, or ruler to conquer Rome and put Israel back on top as a global phenomenon like in the days of Solomon. No, this child would save Israel from their sin. Joseph must have known exactly what that meant because of his own lineage and legacy. Matthew had just told us about Joe’s bloodline, a direct heir of Abraham, Boaz, David and Solomon! Joseph knew his people’s own sin story and the need for a future redeemer. Joseph would not be raising just a king, he’d be fathering the King of kings. He wouldn’t be raising a military hero, he’d be fathering the Savior, THE one and only Messiah. We know the intervention worked because Matthew writes, “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.” Great job Joe. Great job angel of the Lord. And great job God! Mission accomplished.

Prayer

Dad,
In those moments of decision, Joseph could not have known the part, the role he would play in history. He could not have known the results of his decision and how critical it really was. No, he only knew of fear and faith. He could have only known how he felt when he heard the news about Mary and the faith he had to have to believe the angel and follow through with obedience to marry the girl who was carrying our Savior. We never know how our decisions of faith effect the future. All we know is to trust you and obey. You’re the only one who knows how it all works together. May it be unto me to also believe and obey!

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Elizabeth did you know?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭41‬-‭45‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As with Mary, Jesus’ mom – yes, she did. I’m so jealous of these two women. Before Acts 2, before the general outpouring of the Spirit of God coming on all who would receive, Elizabeth gets this supernatural visitation that was rare in the Old Testament, but would be common in the New Testament and from there on. Little baby John leaped in utero and Liz was filled (plḗthō, filled to capacity)!

Ezekiel had prophesied this would happen, hundreds of years earlier, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬. The gals experienced this right at very beginning of the New Testament story. Was this infilling permanent? Or, was it a temporary visit like it was in the old days? Was it just to cover their time of carrying the child in their womb? Who knows!

Mary experienced it first, ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭35‬. Then Elizabeth. Then even Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭67‬). All three, being filled with the Holy Spirit, began to know things, Mary and Zach burst into these powerful prophetic prayers. Liz seemed to know exactly who the child was in Mary’s womb, saying “mother of my Lord,” even knowing about Mary’s extraordinary faith to believe! These three folks, in the Christmas storyline had supernatural things happening because of the Holy Spirit within them.

You realize that Luke is the author here as well as the author of the book of Acts, right? He writes in Acts 1, “In my first book I told you, Theophilus…” Luke had a particular interest and knowledge about the whole subject of the Holy Spirit and God’s ability to come and dwell not just “with” us as the Logos, the Word made flesh (Jesus), but also “within” us as the third person of what we call the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). And with God living within us, believers have both the Spirit in our heart as well as this unique and constant Spirit of God swelling up within like a supernatural eruption of power when we are also “filled” as Jesus, and the other New Testament writers speak of.

Peter watched in amazement as Cornelius and his friends were filled ‭‭Acts‬ ‭10‬:‭44‬-‭47‬. Paul asked some Ephesians believers, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Acts 19‬:‭1‬-‭2‬. They had even been baptized! In both scenes with Cornelius and the Ephesian crew, they spoke in tongues and even prophesied.

Supernatural things happen when the Holy Spirit comes flooding out from within instead of pouring out on us from above. Every believer can have, should have these experiences happening in and through them as God brings about the Kingdom of a God here on earth! Why not me? Why not you? Why not more often? These are questions for another time. Question to believers: “Follower of Jesus, did you know?”

Prayer

Dad,
I knew from the moment you flipped my heart and my life around that you live within me. I had a conscience, a sense, a new “knowing” of you and things around me. But learning how it all works and what it means has taken a lifetime to just begin to figure it out. I think the understanding and ways you work through us is sparked and fueled by faith. But as I have gotten older, I don’t like the feeling or idea of getting it wrong or looking like a fool about it. When I was young and in many ways a social outcast, I didn’t care. Now, sadly, I care too much of what others might think. I was more eager to obey than to care what others thought. Now, sadly, that has flipped around. What happened to those deep and compelling urges to obey? Are they still there? Are they just dormant? Can I change? Can I be more aware and obedient to the Holy Spirit moving in my life now?

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The impossible becomes probable.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭28‬-‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Gabriel has two assignments: visit Zechariah and visit Mary, and tell them what is going to happen. To Zach, the angel tells him about his son that will be born. Zach, being old, has a difficult time believing. Gabriel tells him, oh IT WILL happen, then removes Zach’s ability to speak until he writes out his son’s name – “His name is John.” To Mary the angel says she is favored and blessed (eulogeó: to speak well of). Luke records that Mary is extremely agitated and thoroughly confused by this visitation especially because of these unexpected, encouraging words. Gabriel hadn’t even told her the message from God! And in that moment, Mary couldn’t understand why she was greeted in this way. “Why am I considered favored and well spoken of?” she pondered in her mind. What teenage girl believes that they have a good life and reputation in their friend circles? Gabriel tells her not to be afraid while she was still struggled with a genuine compliment! Then the high ranking angel continues, “you have found grace with God!” All of this is overwhelming to Mary. The super affirmation and the declaration that God has extended grace to her – and she has done nothing but exist as an average, quite invisible teenager living in the poor, armpit community of Nazareth. Gabriel tells her not to fear, but I get the impression she was overwhelmed with the lavished kindness and attention that she could not even fathom. Maybe she felt worthless, unseen, small, insignificant and completely unimportant in those moments. She had to have asked herself… “who is this?” and more disturbing, “who am I?” She never saw herself as worthy of ANYTHING and now God has put a holy spotlight on her. Gabriel then tells her the purpose for the visit, you’re going to have a supernatural baby boy and you will name him Joshua (Jesus in Greek) – God saves. Mary, like Zach, had her doubts, but doesn’t offend Gabriel by saying, “how can I really know, know this will come true?” Instead she responds, “But how can this exist or be? I have not experienced a man.” Mary’s humility and curiosity is not offensive to Gabriel, so he tells her. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. And the power of the most high will overshadow, envelop you. And you will give birth to the holy one, called the son of God! The plot thickens up until the day Jesus is born.

Prayer

Dad,
Such a wonderful, mysterious way to announce the coming of the Messiah! I wouldn’t have expected anyone to really know how you planned to pull off such a monumental revealing. And the fact that you did so through a high priest, Zechariah, and a very average, normal young girl to bring all this about. It is still the best mid-story shocker! It’s like your jump-the-shark episode, except it was done really well. Bravo and I can’t wait for the final season!