Amazing God of all people, bless and protect the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Luke 1: 26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said , Hail , thou that art highly favoured , the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be . 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold , thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be , seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold , thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible . 38 And Mary said , Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. (KJV)
This passage is known as The Annunciation or the announcing to Mary of that which God expected of her. This passage has inspired several great works of art that try to depict the visitation of the angel with Mary. The Roman Catholic Church even celebrates a Feast Day on March 25, a full nine months before Christmas, as the day when this occurred. The passage is key to us because it tells us several things: God visits us where we are. God knows our condition and abilities and thus the calls that have come upon our lives. God can take the things we have already labeled as impossible and make them doable. And sometimes God even points to others in whom we thought whatever we had labeled as impossible was, in our opinion, No Way in Heaven, and we see that they, too, are doing what we thought they nor we could do.
Such is the Advent Journey. God visiting and inviting us to service. And Advent should be our saying, Yes, Lord, with Your help in whatever You might ask, I will do.
PRAYER: Loving God, take that in my life that I had already labeled as Never and change to Now. That which I had labeled as Impossible and make doable, so that I might serve and glorify You. I pray this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
