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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my
Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on
all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things
for me—holy is His name.”
“His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors.”
Luke 1:46-55
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
Mary just wasn’t any servant.
She was a servant of the Lord God Almighty. She said so herself after hearing
the proposition from God brought to her by the angel Gabriel, her words
underscoring an amazing display of faith and trust in her Lord whose plan would
change her life and the lives of all mankind forever.
Without reservation or question, Mary accepted that she
would conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a son named Jesus who would
save the world from their sins. She did so knowing that there would be social
ramifications from the public in general and Joseph, the man she was engaged to
be married to for she had no sexual relations with him or any man for that
matter but yet everyone would think that she had.
You would think all this would have left Mary a nervous
wreck as she pondered the days and months ahead but she showed nothing but calm,
blessed assurance in the wake of learning her divine, holy destiny. As we see
in today’s scripture passage, Mary was full of nothing but praise toward the
Lord for blessing her with the honor to bear and give birth to His Son. Look
again at her words here:
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God
my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now
on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great
things for me—holy is His name.”
“His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants forever, just as He promised our ancestors.” Luke 1:46-55
Note her praise was directed toward first what God had done
for her and then what He had done for others. Before she discussed each, Mary
opened a window into her heart and let us see her emotional and spiritual state
as she praised:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God
my Savior.”
We would all be well suited to adopt this as a daily life
attitude and even lead off each daily prayer with Mary’s words. For one of the
greatest responsibilities any believer holds is to conscientiously seek to
bring honor and glory to the Lord in all we do. Each day is chocked full of
opportunities to do so and we should be laser-focused to ensure that everyone
sees our spirits are rejoicing in God, our Savior. After all, don’t the
scriptures command us as follows in approaching every day the Lord grants:
“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and
be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
Through her words, we know that Mary got this principle and
as we see, she put it into action as she then went onto to detail why she was
in a spirit of praise unto the Lord:
“For He has been mindful of the humble state of His
servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One
has done great things for me—holy is His name.”
There were plenty of other Jewish virgins who were of higher
stature than Mary, a resident of the small town of Nazareth which had such a
negative reputation that a person asked once whether anything good could ever
come out of it (John 1:46). Well, as we know something very good did come from
there as Nazareth became Jesus’ hometown, all because God, the Mighty One whose
name is holy, chose a servant-centered virgin who lived in a humble state to do
a great thing and make the way for her to give birth to the Savior of the
world. Since then, indeed all generations have called her blessed and admired
her for the courageous loyalty, obedience, and resolve she displayed.
Yes, Mary had been blessed to where she praised God for all
He had done for her but she wasn’t finished because God was good to far more
than just her. Here’s how she praised Him for the way He blessed others:
“His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from
generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has
scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down
rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the
hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his
servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and His descendants
forever, just as He promised our ancestors.”
God’s blessings and His keeping of covenant promises had not
started with Mary. Not by a long shot. Rather, she was an addition to a list of
others who had accepted God’s propositions with faith, particularly Abraham who
Mary mentions. God’s favor on His people Israel began in large part through His
agreements with Abraham who He made the father of many nations. From that point
on, God had helped His people over and over again, delivering them in times of
need and disciplining them when they needed it, all out of His deep love He had
for them and His hatred for sin. A merciful God had ensured that the people of
Israel were His people and He their God, despite their history of failing and
falling. From generation to generation, He extended His grace and forgiveness
and performed mighty deeds with His arm. He did it through the time of Mary. He
did so from Mary onward.
And He is still doing it today.
Friends, God is good, not just some of the time but all of
the time and He is worthy of all our praise. Like Mary, our souls need to be
glorifying Him and our spirits rejoicing in Him, not just some of the time but
all of the time.
For we are just two days away from celebrating the birth of
a baby by a young virgin from humble origins, a baby who would be named Jesus
and one day bring salvation to all who would place their faith and trust in
Him. Through this baby, hope was born and victory over sin and death were to
follow, paving the way for us to live eternally with God and Jesus forever.
I pray you will you join me in praising God for the gift of
His Son today and every day He blesses us with through His deep mercy,
compassion, and love.
For this is the day the Lord has made and I know I am going
to rejoice and be glad in it.
Will you join me?
Amen.
Let us pray.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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