And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38 After receiving her commissioning and being reassured that God was at work, Mary responded with three beautiful last words. Behold (which we don't use these days) means "See! Look! … Continue reading Last Words
Author: Eva Burkholder
Reassurance and Sign
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be … Continue reading Reassurance and Sign
Question
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” Luke 1:34 Good question Mary! Yeah, angel, please tell us how will this be? Mary needed more information. After all, she was being asked to believe and participate in something that was beyond human experience. I don't think she was being belligerent. She was simply … Continue reading Question
Commissioning
You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never … Continue reading Commissioning
Command and Promise
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. Luke 1:30 The angel's preface to his commissioning, "Do not be afraid," is the most commonly repeated command in the Bible. There is good reason for this for we are people of fear. Mary was afraid of what the angel was going to ask her to … Continue reading Command and Promise
Angelic Greeting
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. Luke 1:28-29 Mary was troubled, agitated, disturbed—greatly. Yeah! Sounds about right! It's not often that a heavenly being speaks to you. But surprisingly, she wondered—reasoned, deliberated, … Continue reading Angelic Greeting
Divine Encounter
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27 Two thousand years ago, a young girl had a divine encounter that changed the course … Continue reading Divine Encounter
Hearts and Spines
"Look for tangible expressions of God's intangible love," our pastor challenged us last week. What better place to see God's love than at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in Fredericksburg, Texas. As Mark and I scanned the vistas for a sign—a heart in nature—we didn't see a thing. All we saw was a rock shaped … Continue reading Hearts and Spines
