The King Is Coming Luke 1:5-80 Read In the sixth month of Elizabeths pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 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. Dont 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. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 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 this happen? 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 to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-35) Reflect Gabriel appeared not only to Zechariah and to Mary but also to the prophet Daniel more than 500 years earlier (Daniel 8:15-17; 9:21). Each time Gabriel appeared, he brought important messages from God. Mary was young, poor, female—all characteristics that, to the people of her day, would make her seem unusable by God for any major task. But God chose Mary for one of the most important acts of obedience he has ever demanded of anyone. Gods blessing on Mary, the honor of being the mother of the Messiah, would lead to much pain: Her peers would ridicule her; her fiancй would come close to leaving her; her son would be rejected and murdered. But through her son would come the worlds only hope, and this is why Mary has been praised by countless generations as the young girl God favored. Her submission was part of Gods plan to bring about our salvation. Respond You may feel that your ability, experience, or education makes you an unlikely candidate for Gods service. Dont limit Gods choices. He can use you if you trust him. If sorrow weighs you down and dims your hope, think of Mary and wait patiently for God to finish working out his plan.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 05:14:56 +0000