Hello,
One of my favourite aspects God is that He encounters us, initiates and breaks into our lives often in surprising ways. He delights in us and desires to lead us in ways and purposes he has prepared for us. This has happened so many times in my own life. In our relationship with Him the one thing we need to receive these gifts is faith.
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you’ve never seen.
Faith is the currency by which we receive, and like Hannah and Mary as we meet them today our Faith is released by the word God himself speaks to us. God is always true to His word, even when we have a hard time trusting Him.
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| Painting by Karen Way – Water colour Sunrise & Silhouette tree |
Luke 1:37 “So the impossible is possible with God.”
The Old Testament tells the story of Hannah, a God fearing woman who was barren and desperately wanted a child. She suffered great shame, then in the temple God meets her and the impossible becomes possible for Hannah, her shame is removed and she receives the gift of a son.
She sings “My heart exults in the Lord, my Saviour.”
You can read Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel chapter 1.
Many generations later, when God meets Mary, she is overshadowed by the most high. In her heart she believes that the impossible is made possible and sings
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour!” Luke 1:46
We read Mary’s story from Luke 1 in The Voice Bible.
26 Six months later in Nazareth, a city in the rural province of Galilee, the heavenly messenger Gabriel made another appearance. This time the messenger was sent by God 27 to meet with a virgin named Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David himself. 28 The messenger entered her home.
Messenger: Greetings! You are favored, and the Lord is with you! Among all women on the earth, you have been blessed.
29 The heavenly messenger’s words baffled Mary, and she wondered what type of greeting this was.
Messenger: 30 Mary, don’t be afraid. You have found favor with God. 31 Listen, you are going to become pregnant. You will have a son, and you must name Him “Savior,” or Jesus. 32 Jesus will become the greatest among men. He will be known as the Son of the Highest God. God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David, 33 and He will reign over the covenant family of Jacob forever.
Mary: 34 But I have never been with a man. How can this be possible?
Messenger: 35 The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Most High will overshadow you. That’s why this holy child will be known, as not just your son, but also as the Son of God. 36 It sounds impossible, but listen—you know your relative Elizabeth has been unable to bear children and is now far too old to be a mother. Yet she has become pregnant, as God willed it. Yes, in three months, she will have a son.
37 So the impossible is possible with God
Hannah and Mary each received the impossible gift of God by faith through the word He spoke to them.
In John’s Gospel we read
In the beginning was the Word
And the Word was with God
And the word was God.
And the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
John reveals to us four steps showing us how God works His word into our lives and brings change and transformation.
In the beginning was the Word – God initiates into our lives through His Word. Put another way We hear God’s voice as He speaks to us through His word.
And the Word was with God – Jesus is Living Word and He is with God. John reveals to us that ‘through Him all things were made’ taking us back to Genesis and the account of creation.
And the Word was God -Jesus and The Father are One. As God speaks, Jesus is present with Him creating according to his purpose
As we hear, we respond in our hearts – this is the seed of Faith. We learn from Hannah and Mary this is a moment of decision. Each responds to God in their own words, accepting that God has spoken and He will create in them according to his word to them.
The response we make in this moment is crucial. We can ignore, dismiss or accept and receive the word God is speaking.
And the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us – This step is about the word being created in us, becoming part of us. As we accept it, it begins to grow, shaping our beliefs and values until we see and live from God’s perspective or world view.
We are invited to receive Christ in us who transforms our hearts and lives.
He dwells in us to make the impossible things possible!
This is so powerful and means there is hope for change by the power of God through His word. See what happened for Hannah and Mary!
If you could choose one thing in your life to be changed and transformed today what would it be?
Ask God to fill your heart with courage so like Mary you too can dare to believe.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me; Holy is God’s name!
The song ‘Oceans’ depicts this journey for us, calling us out upon the waters into the great unknown. As we call on his name God himself meets us with extraordinary grace. This is the place of intimacy and transformation where our souls find rest in His embrace.
Trust grows and Holy Spirit leads us to even greater faith.
“Oceans” by Hillsong United
