Luke 1:26-38 The Love that Gives Peace The Advent Devotional Booklets we handed out yesterday at First Congregational, Gibraltar will be guiding our Advent-ures in Faith these four weeks of preparing our hearts and minds for Christs Birth. The fun thing is that we dont have to WAIT for Christs Spirit to energize us to live Christs-life. Todays Adventure in Faith gives us an intimate picture of the way God empowers US to be bearers of Gods love into the world. [READ: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgins name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. . . . . . . . . . .] [REFLECT: Read the story another time, please. Imagine what it might feel like to hear these words from an Angel. ] Just reading “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you….” warms my heart, releases peace through my whole body, making it relax. To stop and imagine God saying to me that it am not only okay but beloved and chosen, breathes even more peace into me! Gabriels words to Mary sound simiilar to God’s words to Jesus when Jesus was baptized, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. (Luke 3:22) God blessed both Mary and Jesus with similar words! And WE are baptised into Jesus baptism!! So we dont need to just imagine but to actually know God is whispering this love into us. Awe! I wonder if making it a practice to pause fequently during our days of Advent and take deep breaths to quiet ourselves to hear Gods loving words would work a peace within us that would hold us calm all through these busy weeks. Awe. And that doesn’t even take into consideration that this is an ANGEL appearing to Mary! Angels in the Scripture are known to inspire fear and awe. Their first words are often “fear not.” To have a huge, majestic, radiant, pulsating-with-life Angel greeting me that way – I would cringe and think, “Who am I to be met by such a Shining One?!” Our human ego-nature perpetually thinks, “I haven’t done anything to earn this honor! I’m not good enough for God to greet me this way. I’m inadequate. Can’t do it.” But here the Angel simply greets Mary, speaking God’s favor and blessing, letting her know how God feels toward her, whether or not she’s done anything to earn God’s favor. We can hear God say, “There’s nothing you can do that could make Me love you less. There’s nothing you can do that would make Me love you more, Child. I am Love. I love you – regardless. Just ask Me to help you to accept My love, deeply.” Do You say that to everyone? After all, we are baptized into Jesus’ baptism, and You called him Your Beloved Son with whom You were well pleased. And You spoke Your favor to Mary and she brought forth Your Son into the world. Yes, and I have put My Spirit, My word, My heart, My mind into each of you to embody Christ to the world. You are all My Beloved Sons and Daughters, called to incarnate Christ, to be His Body and to bring My Kingdom alive on earth. [Where might God be wanting to use you to bring God’s reign more fully in to the world?] Where do you want to use me to bring Your reign more fully into the world, God? Right where I’ve placed you. In your everyday life I will show you the needs and opportunities. Just keep listening. [RESPOND: How will you respond to God’s invitation to join in God’s work this week?] I will keep alert to listen and respond to Your nudge. [REQUEST: Write your prayer for this day.] Then give me Your eyes, Your ears, Your heart. It IS My heart that moves you, but your hands that I use, Child. Trust Me. Remember the Benediction that says, “As we reach out to others with Your love, Your heart enfolds us, Your mind directs us, and Your power sustains us. So we leave worship empowered by You and committed to sharing Your love with the people we meet in the coming week. That calms my anxiety. Thank You! Lead on!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 17:57:15 +0000
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