The Women of Christmas #2
Calm down.
Luke 1:13
The translation of this verse is fabulous! I've printed it off and placed it in a frame.
When the key players in the Christmas story had their angel encounters the angel always said, "Do not be afraid" but in this particular translation that was "calm down."
Liz Curtis Higgs refers to Mary as "the virgin mother kind".
Her name is synonymous with innocence, purity, devotion. Her calling was like no other woman before or ever since: she gave birth to the Savior of the world.
“Young, chaste, submissive”. Higgs says "I’m none of those things.”
“…Greetings, Peace be with you.” (Calm down.) From the start it was clear that Gabriel came bearing good news. “..you who are highly favored!” Luke 1:28
We have had several angel encounters in our family. That will be a post for another time, but they were very real.
In this chapter the author helps us put things into perspective. The perspective of God first!
“Mary was full of God’s grace simply because God chose to bless her. We have no description of her being holy or pious or deserving. She is a virgin, yes, but not perfect, not without sin…What made Mary worthy of her calling was not her virtue; it was God’s virtue….God takes us as we are and uses us as he will, for our good and for his glory.
…The Lord is with you. Luke 1:28
Not just on Sunday at church, not just when you are on your knees praying or serving Him some way. He is WITH you always. It’s a promise, a statement of fact.
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This is one skilled angel who knows just what to say to lay out this amazing plan from God.
Greetings,
You are highly favored,
The Lord is with You.
Don’t be afraid
Again, You’ve found favor with God and now here’s the big news…
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and call him Jesus, He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and reign forever.
Mrs Higgs references Mary’s honest and humble response… Not, “Say what?”
She didn’t ask for proof, she just wanted to know how.
How can this be…I am a virgin. Luke 1:34
This testimony is just fabulous! “Mary didn’t ask for clarification or press for details. She believed the angel because she believed in the One who had sent him. Our compassionate God sweetens the situation. “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age…” They can share in these miracle pregnancies together.
Here’s the promise For no word from God will ever fail. Luke 1:37
Hallelujah is one of my very favorite words and that’s just what I want to say at this point.
“Mary carried Jesus in her body. By the same Holy Spirit, we ‘carry the risen Lord in our hearts.” Liz Curtis Higgs
Do we have Mary’s surrendered spirit in us …I am the Lord’s servant. Luke 1:38
Then when she was at peace the angel left this young teenage girl.
At 3:20 each day my reminder on my phone dings and I remember Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Mary had no cell phone, but she had enormous faith and trusted God.
The Song
"Mary Did You Know"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE Pentatonix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF9GwomhKzs Mark Lowry
