I wanted to write a special
Christmas message to you all and God blessed me with this one. I am
sure it will be a blessing to you as well.
God gave me the following text
verses:
"You will become pregnant and
have a son, and you are to name Him Jesus. He will be very great
and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will
give Him the throne of His ancestor David. And He will reign over
Israel forever, His Kingdom will never end!" Mary asked the angel,
"But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin." The angel replied, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and He will
be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has
become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren,
but she's already in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible
with God." Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am
willing to accept whatever He wants. May everything you have said
come true." Luke 1:31 - 38
Now I am sure you have all read
this account a number of times. But today, two things struck me.
First of all, Mary's instant obedience. Once her question on how
she was going to become pregnant was answered, she immediately
responded and submitted to God's will. Now we might think it is an
easy thing to do, but in those days it wasn't. A young unmarried
girl who became pregnant was potentially disastrous in those days.
If the father of the child refused to marry her, she would most
likely remain unmarried. And if her own father rejected her due to
this scandal, she would be forced to beg or to yield to
prostitution just to stay alive. It was almost like a death
sentence.
Luckily today women can also
educate themselves and find decent jobs to uphold themselves, but
in those days women were literally thrown to the wolves if they
were not cared for by the men in their lives. So Mary took a huge
chance to accept what the angel said and to offer her life to God.
It was not an easy thing to do, but she was obedient to God and we
still talk about her obedience today, more than 2000 years later.
And because she was obedient to God, God made it all work out for
her. He gave Joseph a dream to confirm that what she said was true,
and so he married her. God also blessed her with more sons and
daughters. And even at Jesus' cross, He still looked after her, and
asked John to care for her, which he did.
And the same goes for us today, God
might lead us unto pathways that are not easy to stay on. He might
ask us to do certain things that are totally out of our comfort
zone. And it is then in times like that that we need to follow
Mary's example and be obedient. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus
and follow Him. We need to obey even if it is difficult. And when
we take the first step in obedience, we will notice that God paves
the way. He will help us, but first we need to take the first step.
And when we do, we will see that nothing is impossible with
God.
And that is the second thing I want
to emphasize in our text today, nothing is impossible with God. He
gave Elizabeth a child in her old age without all the modern
technology that we have today. He gave her her heartfelt wish and
not only gave her a child, He granted her a leader to pave the way
for the Messiah to enter the world. John was one of the greatest
people that ever lived.
The impossible is possible with God
and if we step out in obedience, we will see it manifesting.
My wish for you all this Christmas
is that you will be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and that
you will follow Him in obedience and experience the miracle of the
impossible made possible. Hallelujah in the highest heavens!
We praise You Father! We praise
Your Holy Name! You are the God of the impossible. We are excited
to see You move as we step out in obedience. Please help us to hear
Your Voice loud and clear, so that we can follow You wherever You
might lead us. Thank you for what Jesus came to do for us, we are
eternally grateful. Amen