Mary the Mother of God

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about : His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit."
Matthew 1:18

 ²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
 ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² 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, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
 ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
 ³⁵ 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. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
 ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
-Luke 1: 26-38


     When things happen in our lives that we don't understand, it can be very scary. Imagine how terrified Mary must have been when she found out she was going to birth the SON of GOD. She had to be confused, horrified, and scared for her life.
     It's easy to think that it would be the greatest honor to be chosen by God for Mary's job...but think how incredibly difficult it was. I don't think she jumped for joy, or felt lucky in any way. I think she felt exactly how we feel when something new and scary comes into our life and we can't understand why.
     Hopefully we can take example from Mary and say "I am the Lord's servant", even when we don't like or understand what He is asking of us. God doesn't promise to make things easy, but He promises to sustain us and He has proven Himself faithful.  So as I was thinking, "Why God? Why is this happening? I don't understand..."  I thought of Mary - pregnant, scared, scorned by others.... She trusted the Lord, and I can too.

My best friend and I rely on this verse throughout the ups and downs of life....

 ¹³No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it

-1 Corinthians 10 : 13

A Cool thought from Max Lucado...

"When my daughter was a toddler, I used to take her to a park not far from our apartment. One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached us. I purchased her a treat, and when I turned to give it to her, I saw her mouth was full of sand. Where I had intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt. 

Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was she any less of my daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I loved her right where she was, but I refused to leave her there. I carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth. Why? Because I love her. 

God does the same for us. He holds us over the fountain. "Spit out the dirt, honey," our Father urges. "I've got something better for you." And so he cleanses us of filth; immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. We don't enjoy the cleansing; sometimes we even opt for the dirt over the ice cream. "I can eat dirt if I want to!" we pout and proclaim. Which is true—we can. But if we do, the loss is ours. God has a better offer." 

-Max Lucado

  (just like Jesus)

Have Fellowship with One Another

As iron sharpens iron,
   so one person sharpens another.
-Proverbs 27:17


     Fall Out 2010. What an awesome weekend full of God's glory and power. I was reflecting on the verse above because I witnessed at Fall Out how much we influence one another. We need to sharpen one another in our faith. I believe that is one of the many things that occurred this weekend. There was laughter, music, dancing, and games. All of the "fun" parts. But I think maybe those are most important....because friendships were built. Trust was created. Because those relationships were solidified, they existed when the important times come....The time to make a decision for Christ. The time to have the courage to stand up. And stand up they did. I watched 12 kids accept Jesus and give their lives to Him. It was pretty cool. But it took a lot to get them to that point....A lot of learning, a lot of love from friends. God used the people around them to lead them in the right direction. We need to be willing to do our best to sharpen others, and we need to consider that God may be using the people in our life to teach us something.
      I'm lucky enough to have made an awesome new friend lately. Sometimes we forget what true friendship and fellowship is until we experience it again. Comfort. Laughter. Strength. Love. Unconditional love. A true friend puts others' needs before his or her own. To find a person like that in this world is a rare gift. If you've found one, hold on. Spending time and growing with fellow believers is such an awesome experience. I am thankful that I got to do just that this past weekend.
     I was supposed to be there for the girls in my cabin; talk to them, teach them, love them. And I did...but they had no idea how much I learned from THEM. God works in mysterious ways. It was awesome to see and experience.

He is Above All

"I know our culture will sometimes understand a love for Jesus as weakness. There is this lie floating around that says I am supposed to do life alone, without any help, without stopping to worship something bigger than myself. But I actually believe there is something bigger than me, and I need for there to be... I need someone to put awe inside me; I need to come second to someone who has everything figured out."    - blue like jazz