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Listen to the devotional here: https://bit.ly/37cECS4
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth 27 to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. 28 Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her: Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. 29 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. 30 But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: 31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, be called 'Son of the Highest.' The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; 33 He will rule Jacob's house forever - no end, ever, to his kingdom." 34 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man." 35 The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God. 36 "And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months' pregnant! 37 Nothing, you see, is impossible with God." 38 And Mary said, Yes, I see it all now: I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. Then the angel left her. Blessed Among Women (Luke 1:26-38 The Message)
Happy Monday, dear and wonderful ConCafe Family! And a special day of joy and blessings for you, dear Friend! I thank you all for your prayers and we rejoiced in the way prayers were answered. I ask that we add the name of The Rev. Mike Albert, a chaplain at Methodist Hospitals in San Antonio, as he underwent a heart procedure yesterday afternoon. May the Lord bless him with a complete recovery. Also, prayers for the father of The Rev. Michael Dobbs, our pastor in Mathis and Alice, TX; his dad is having some medical issues and we pray for his health and for his family. Our continued prayers for the Lopez and Gaytan families on the death of Mrs. Socorro Gaytan de Lopez in Mexico.
I believe many of us have been visited, blessed, protected, defended, or surprised by the visit of angels, and most of them unbeknown to us. Many are those who have "It had to have been an angel" story, but this one, dear one, is a visit in person by an angel to a person, in this case, Mary the soon-to-be mother of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus. This is a supernatural event, and it happened to fulfill the prophecies surrounding the coming of the Messiah. The angel's name was Gabriel and he visits the small village of Nazareth and comes to the home of Mary, a virgin betrothed to be married to a descendent of David by the name of Joseph. The greeting from Gabriel was a tender, sent-by-God message; yet it scared her. After all, a visit in person by an angel would have all of us a bit shaken. But noting what God knew and what the angel could see; Mary was "beautfiul with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out!" Awesome. And, as happens in most Biblical call stories, someone divine has to say, "Do not be afraid!" And he follows this with "God has a surprise for you," and what a surprise that was! She was to become pregnant and would give birth to a son who was to be named Jesus, Who would be given the throne of His ancestor, King David, and to His kingdom there would be no end.
Mary has doubts for she was engaged but not yet been with Joseph, so the idea of a pregnancy was terrifying; it could mean an end to the relationship, and under normal circumstances, would mean the end of her life. Gabriel assures her that this was all God's doing, for the child she was to birth was the Son of God. To better his case, Gabriel tells her that her ancient cousin, Elizabeth, was also pregnant, though she was known as being barren, but here she was already six months into this pregnancy. And the line that gave our devotional our title, "Nothing, you see, is impossible with God." Indeed. Mary replies, "Yes, I see it all now; I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say. The angel leaves her, "Blessed Among Women."
A visit from God never leaves us the same. Either we have been called into service, or we have received word of a task we are to perform or a visit we are to have; ours is to trust, expect, and obey. The world around us may not even be aware of the visit we have had, and they may never know; but our lives inside, would never be the same; our world would never be the same. We have seen and experienced that which very few will ever know, and onward we go to doing and completing that which blesses God. It further reminds us of the key and title verse of today's devotional; Nothing, you see, is impossible with God. Amen!
PRAYER: Loving Father, as our lives are blessed, let us continue to bless You and those in need of a blessings. Set us on the path to visit those who need words and actions that show the presence of God is near, and use us to be or bring that blessing. Help us to further Your kingdom by being a blessing to many; this we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a supernatural blessing to someone today!
Receive my blessings of joy and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
