Mary’s marvelous song of praise stirs hope in our hearts. How could this young woman express such confidence in God under extreme circumstances (have we mentioned that she was pregnant and unwed?). How did she have the strength of spirit to say “yes” to God under such challenging circumstances? We have discovered that her yielded heart enabled her to surrender to God…
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“And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.” Luke 1:56 We join Mary as she calls her Uber and heads home to Nazareth. Just kidding! Wouldn’t that have been convenient? Mary has just spent three months with her cousin, Elizabeth, and I’m sure it was comforting and soothing to Mary’s soul. I can imagine Elizabeth being more…
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If you thought we would be leaving Luke chapter one just yet, think again! We are just getting to the part where we see and hear a first-hand account of the beautiful relationship between Mary and her relative, Elizabeth, an older cousin who is “advanced in years.” After Mary’s encounter with Gabriel, she decided to make the trek seventy or…
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The very eyes God gave us have the greatest ability to steal our faith by what we see. It happened to Peter on the water when he saw the boisterous waves, it happened to me in the hospital when I saw the reality of a tragic situation, it will happen to all of us. If the ability of what we…
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Before we leave the scene — you know, the one where the angel Gabriel has just told Mary she will birth the Son of God — and move on in the story, let’s just sit here a little while longer and ponder the magnitude of this encounter. As I read the words of Gabriel, I come to a screeching halt…
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Mary believed that God had overcome the world, but how did she have such a steadfast confidence in Him? What condition of heart enabled her to trust God to invade her body (“I’m pregnant!”), to threaten her reputation (“What will they think of me?”), to possibly sabotage her marriage (“Will Joseph still marry me?”). And what about the honor of…
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