Category: Devotions

Mary laid him in a manger.

Then we come back to Joseph, “And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1 v 25)

Saviour. Why? Because he will save his people from their sins.

Every time you use the name Jesus either in prayer or song you are calling on the one who saves you from sin.

It was the most common name at the time, there were many with that name. Their parents all hoping their son would be the true Messiah perhaps.

It is incredible that God would choose such an ordinary name or a name that had been used by the many.

The truth was no one could save the people from Roman oppression.
No one could save the people from burdensome religious laws and duties.
Not one person could save.
Except Jesus. This Jesus. The Incarnated, virgin-born, Jesus.
It would be difficult perhaps to look at the Christ-child and see a Saviour. A baby does offer hope and a future but no one knows its true potential.
People still struggle to see the Saviour in this season.
How can this Jesus save me?
But just as in that first Christmas in order to see a Saviour one had to bow down and worship, in surrender and by faith to say, “I need a Saviour, I believe you are the Saviour, you are my Saviour” nothing has changed. We still need to come that way.
The Saviour is here. And we bow down.

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2 v 6-7)

Look at what you have. See what can be created from what is in front of you. Use imagination. The manger was a feed box for domesticated animals.

Many are leaving their dreams out in the cold to die because they lack initiative. They see a manger they don’t see a cradle.

Nothing is too unclean or worthless. Jesus is ready to be placed into your shame.

“Grace makes beauty out of ugly things. Grace finds beauty in everything. Grace finds goodness in everything” (U2)

Initiative needs grace.

In our world of hatred, pain and division, the answer is initiative and that means grace.

To see God in a fallen yet created world.

To see God in a manger.

To see God on a cross.

These are the starting points of finding and stepping into grace.

Whatever happens today from the moment you rise it is all because of His grace to look upon you, bless you, love you, favour you and He does that through every single thing around you. You may be the manger, imperfect in many ways. But the Spirit of Christ is placed within you.

The more you understand that every part of your physical world is both the place where God is revealing who He is and where He also hides to be searched for, then you will begin to understand the initiative of God to move with grace to you.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. (Luke 2 v 1-5)

At a time when world leaders were flexing their muscles, Jesus came.

At a time of Empires and World powers such as Syria, Jesus came.

At a time when people were being forced to comply to rules of control, Jesus came.

At a time of mass movements of people, Jesus came.

At a time of personal, hidden and difficult life-stories, Jesus came and was the centre of one of them.

It could have been 2023. It could still be!

The world is noisy and God quietly moves in.

The world is distracted and God slips in unnoticed.

There is nothing that can stop Him.

No walls that He can’t break down or mountains He can’t take down.

To come to us.

Unto us a child is born.

⁶⁷ His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁶⁸ “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
⁷¹ salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—
⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³     the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child grew and became strong in spirit and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. (Luke 1 v 67-80)

As with the Magnificat of Mary this outburst son of Zechariah is filled with beauty, wonder and truth.

Here is the centrepiece (underlined) as Zechariah turns his attention to his own son, John, in v76. He came second to Jesus in his song and Zechariah is clear on what his role would be in life.

The prominent One is Jesus.

John was an answer to prayer, he was a miracle child for sure, but he was not the prominent One.

It is the Lord.

The Bible tells us who He is. My prayer is that as you are reminded of these descriptions and titles of Him that your heart is stirred in worship and you are greatly encouraged.

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He is Almighty One (Rev 1:8); Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13); Advocate (1 John 2:1); Author and Perfecter of Our Faith (Heb. 12:2) and Authority (Matt. 28:18).

Are you understanding? It is Jesus.

He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35) and the Bridegroom (Matt. 9:15)

He is the Chief Cornerstone (Ps. 118:22)

He is the Deliverer (1 Thess.1:10)

He is the Faithful and True (Rev.19:11)

He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:1) and the Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14)

Who is most important? It is Jesus.

He is the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22) and the Holy Servant (Acts 4:29-30)

He is the I Am (John 8:58); Immanuel (Is. 7:14) and the Indescribable Gift (2 Cor. 9:15)

He is the Judge (Acts 10:42)

He is the King of Kings (Rev. 17:14)

Who is the most prominent one? It is Jesus.

He is the Lamb of God (John 1:29); Light of the World (John 8:12); Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5); Lord of All (Phil. 2:9-11) and the Loved Son of God (Matt. 3:17)

He is the Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5); Messiah (John 1:41) and the Mighty One (Is. 60:16)

He is the One Who Sets Free (John 8:36) and Our Hope (1 Tim. 1:1)

He is Peace (Eph. 2:14) and Prophet (Mark 6:4)

He is the Redeemer (Job 19:25); Risen Lord (1 Cor. 15:3-4) and the Rock (1 Cor. 10:4).

He is the Sacrifice for Our Sins (1 John 4:10); Saviour (Luke 2:11); Son of Man (Luke 19:10); Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32) and the Supreme Creator over All (1 Cor. 1:16-17).

He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

He is The Door (John 10:9); The Way (John 14:6); The Word  (John 1:1); The True Vine (John 15:1) and the Truth (John 8:32);

He is the Victorious One (Rev. 3:21)

Have you got it yet? It is Jesus.

He is the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6)!!!

So the world doesn’t revolve around you nor does it revolve around your hero or bully. Jesus is the centre of it all.

When Jesus is Lord then you can survive any kind of wilderness (v80) that you may enter.

^“When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, ⁶⁰ but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” ⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” ⁶² Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” ⁶⁴ Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. ⁶⁵ All the neighbours were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.” (Luke 1 v 57-66)

For 9 months Zechariah had not been able to speak. Gabriel had silenced him and probably made him deaf because the people had to make signs to communicate to him.

Imagine with me, God placing you into a silent world for 9 months.

It is easy to just see this silence as a punishment from Gabriel to Zechariah for his questioning unbelief. But I think it is so much more than that.

Imagine with me 9 months of no noise, of another world, probably one where he is aware it is just him and God now. A season where there was time to meditate on who God is and what He has done. Realising that God is a covenant keeping God.

Imagine God filling the silence with His presence.

Imagine God filling his unbelief with faith.

Imagine the intimate moments of prayer and worship of his heart towards God. This was a productive silence and I know that because of what would come out of his mouth as soon as his voice came back and his ears were opened. Out of Zechariah came the name of his son, which was given to him by Gabriel and then an amazing song of praise.

The verse in Isaiah 30:15 was certainly true for Zechariah, “in quietness and trust is your strength.”

We are approaching now this fun-filled, loud, festive noise of songs, cheers and anything but silence!! Activity has increased, our minds are flooded with ‘to do’ lists, we have been shopping, planning, discussing, creating and at the same time we are getting more and more fraught, anxious and restless.

But it doesn’t change. We will then go into a new year and we will be doing the same. Our lives are filled with anything but silence. And for us Pentecostals well, silence can appear a dangerous thing, so we fill the gap with a song, a superlative or a story anything but silence!

Maybe someone needs to hear today that they are facing a huge decision, a game-changer for their life, they don’t know what to do but a decision will have to be made and yet the one decision that is of utmost importance is to be silent.

For in the trust of silence there is strength.

Maybe the silence of Zechariah is not a punishment but an invitation. It certainly can be for you and me today. There are things God can only do in the silence. Enter it today.

Mary is immediately welcomed and blessed and prophesied over. It is overwhelming. Out of the depths of her heart come a song. It is a song of God coming to His people. A song of hope and power. A song of courage to believe that His presence is everything. It is often known as the Magnificat which is the Latin translation of the first word ‘magnifies’.

Magnificat anima mea Dominum

Luke 1: 46-55

Forgive this longer than usual devotion but the Magnificat is beautiful and it needs meditation. So choose whichever verse you want or if you have the time the whole and let God speak to you.

⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord

My soul magnifies the Lord! With all my heart I praise the Lord! My soul exalts the Lord! My soul is ecstatic, overflowing with praises to God! Yes, my soul magnifies the Lord! My enemies may be pressing in, my body may be weak, my mind may be anxious, my circumstances may be impossible, but MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD!

⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

Mary knew she would be known as a law-breaker. She had become a sinner. Mary would be accused of being an adulterer. Hers was a ‘dirty’ miracle. Her divorce was looming even before it had culminated in the marriage ceremony. Mary doesn’t rejoice in God, but God her Saviour! He is not a Saviour, but hers! He is my Saviour. Your Saviour today. He is a saving God!

⁴⁸ for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,

Mary from now on steps into her blessing and it will be the next 3 decades that remind her constantly of what that blessing means entails.

⁴⁹  for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.

Mary doesn’t announce her planned strategy for what is now coming through her. Rather she acknowledges what God has already done in her life. She looks back. The God who had always been there for her, watching over her, will continue to make a way.

His holiness calls to any apathy and duty and to return to the significant and all-consuming influence of His presence.

⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

This song bursting out of young Mary’s soul now moves from what God has done for her to what He will do for the world to come. She has understood and probably knew that when God moves it is not only for now but for the future.

Mary says in the next generation to come and the ones beyond there must be fear.

⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

Who were the proud that Mary was thinking of? Was it the neighbourhood gossiping about Elizabeth? Was it the Gentiles? Was it those in power? The Pharisees? Caesar? Herod? Even if it was, would they be concerned of a little unknown girl prophesying from a backwater of Judea?

Who has He strengthened? Mary herself? Elizabeth? The poor all around? I think all those and more.

⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

Here is a young teenage girl who may not have been educated but knows her Scripture enough so that when she is pouring out her soul to God she is able to use it to form her own prayers.

Job 5:11 “The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.”

⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Mary lived at a time when the Herodians taxed the Jews heavily for the building of their own lavish palaces and homes for the gentry, hunger was very familiar to most.

But Mary also lived during a time when the Jews were hungry for God to once again step in and end the suffering of His people which historically was seen to have been caused by their wandering from Him.

Psalm 107: 4-9 “Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

Was Mary in fact quoting this Psalm? Probably.

⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful

Mary had already been told that her son was more than just a child. That it was God coming to the world for a throne, to reign and to build a kingdom. She understands that He is firstly coming to her nation and she chooses descriptive words that are used by the earlier prophets: “But you, Israel, my servant … from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; … I will strengthen you and help you.” (Isaiah 41:8-10)

He is coming to help in remembrance of His mercy.

Mercy is more than sympathy, pity and forgiveness. It is that but it rushes past and out of those expressions. Mercy needs an act for it to be mercy.

Those who show mercy look weaker in our aggressive culture. Mary knew this is what was inside her. She was hosting His presence and this was mercy. This was the help coming to Israel and to the world.

⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

After 400 years of no prophets bringing any messages from God, all they had were fading promises and many would have forgotten them completely.

Mary says, “These are the days of the Abrahamic promises coming to fulfilment.”

She will later see (and suffer) that God who spared Abraham’s Isaac will not spare her own son – His Son. But what does it mean if everything is fulfilled, all the Law and the Prophets is found in Christ? If all the Abrahamic promises are now in Jesus do we just study them? No.

We live like the Mary generation, but even better.

The Magnificat, how has it blessed you today?

“At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!” (Luke 1 v 39-45)

See the timeline: “After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion”v24. “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee” v26. “Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home” v56.

Mary found someone who was also a carrier.

Mary had been told Elizabeth had also received a miracle promise and she only had 3 months left of her own pregnancy. Do you have someone who is ahead of you in the faith path? Be with them.

When carrying His presence or His promise in your life don’t sit with the mockers. Don’t fellowship with the bitter and the cynical they will abort your dream. Wisdom is knowing who to leave behind.

Mary chooses Elizabeth before Joseph. She leaves her future husband to God.

Mary was focused.

The translators use the words hurried and in haste she travelled to Elizabeth. She is eager and enthusiastic and in her excitement I can visualise her running the 100 mile journey to Judea! Less haste more speed is common sense but not here. When you are waiting for your miracle and when you are carrying His promise you cannot afford the luxury of taking it easy. You have to be focused continually. You have to become fanatical and everything else falls into insignificance. Other responsibilities take a back-seat to what you know you have to do. You have a ‘baby’ inside you and everything surrenders to this. What you have to do and where you have to go must happen.

Mary was available for God to use her.

The presence of Jesus in Mary moved the presence of John in Elizabeth and she also was filled with the Holy Spirit. His presence and the promise you are carrying can powerfully impact the miracles that are laying inside others and can bring an encounter of the Holy Spirit to them.

Mary understands the power of blessing

Elizabeth blesses Mary’s miracle. Filled with the Spirit she prophecies about ‘my Lord’. Mary receives her first confirmation of what Gabriel had said to her. To bless is to protect the miracle in another person’s life. How many have lost their dreams through someone’s words!

If today you have experienced a fresh experience of His presence in your life or maybe you are carrying a promise of God for a situation, for you or for others: Choose carefully who you walk with, be focused, be available and hold on to words of blessing for your life.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1 v 20-24)

Joseph take Mary as your wife, into your home.

Joseph believe what Mary has told you.

Joseph this son is not yours, it is of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph you must act like his father and name him as any parent would.

Joseph you need to believe in this son’s destiny of salvation.

Then Matthew inserts a link back to the prophecy of Isaiah.

“All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).” (Matthew 1 v 22-23)

For Matthew’s Jewish readers they know instantly the context of that prophecy. It is set in a tough time. The nation of Judah is under threat. This is the nation that held to the royal line of David, the Messianic line. The threat to Judah was from the northern kingdom, Israel and its ally, Syria. This was an anxious time for everyone in Judah. The prophet Isaiah encourages King Ahaz to remain strong and not be afraid. God will give Ahaz a sign. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 NRSV) The Hebrew word describes a young woman who is assumed to be a virgin and the Greek word used to describe Mary means virgin.

Isaiah says that before the son, Immanuel, grows up those that oppose King Ahaz, the kings of Israel and Syria will be dead. Who was the young woman? Who was the Immanuel that Isaiah was speaking about? Some suggest it might have been his wife and his own son. But was it also Jesus?

All prophetic fulfilment happens in the life of the prophet, or in the future, or in both.

Within Joseph’s dream Matthew is describing to his readers that what happened in the year 740BC when God told Ahaz not to be afraid for God will step into the messy world is now happening again. The Immanuel born in 740BC would die but the one born to Mary is different. The previous Immanuel would save Judah but this Immanuel would save the whole world.

These are definitely tough times that we live in. For many Christmas will be tough this year more than at any other. Seven hundred years before the first Christmas Isaiah saw something which would have a greater fulfilment in Christ. God with us, Immanuel, will come and Matthew’s gospel will tell us he came to save the world through his death but he never stayed dead and he is very much alive today.

Your Christmas may be difficult this year but during these tough days remember Immanuel has come, God’s rescue act, God with us. God is with you.

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[d]: 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. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1 v 18-19)

This is how it all came about. What? The most amazing happening God ever did, the incarnation of Christ, happened because of a set of circumstances that were unpleasant, challenging, offensive and dangerous. God took hold of these circumstances of life and used them as tools in his hand. Don’t ignore or rubbish your circumstances. It may look so wrong but it can be so right.

It can look to others like God is no-where near and not involved with what He has in fact actually caused.

Mary was so available to Him that she was willing for God to seriously mess up her future? Are you? …

It can be difficult when the natural evidence is convincing.

Sometimes the wrong thing in people’s eyes who don’t know the full story is actually the right thing.

In these 2 verses we see Joseph has a long mental and spiritual journey to make in a short time.

Have you ever decided to do something that was wrong, incorrect or inappropriate knowing that actually it was the right thing to do in the circumstance?

Joseph was faithful to the Law of Moses and yet … think about these words for a moment.

He decided to break the Law of Moses and divorce Mary quietly. This was wrong. Every Jew would say so. Whatever interpretation of the Law the rabbi’s would hold to at the time of Joseph, one thing was sure, judgment on Mary was needed.

Other translations use the word ‘Just’ to describe Joseph’s faithfulness to the Law. But justice for Joseph was more than keeping the Law of Moses.

In one of the four Suffering Servant songs in Isaiah 42 the words are, “A bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.”

In the song, justice is not retributive or keeping the rules but it is compassion for the weak and the exhausted, the downtrodden and the outcast.

His decision to divorce her quietly reveals that His righteousness according the Law of Moses (the rules) would not become a stumbling block to what was the right action.

This ‘justice’ embedded in Joseph’s mind was instrumental to the miracle.

How do we develop such justice?

Joseph made decisions based upon grace. The divorce was the gracious door out of this terrible situation. Grace is the safest place to be. We need more grace.

Joseph’s wisdom knew what to fight for. What he could not understand or accept (miracle conception or a man involved?) he was prepared to dismiss rather than contend. We need more wisdom.

Let’s make sure our rules for life don’t trap us from doing the right thing.

“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 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. 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. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1 v 29-38)

Most women would be delighted to hear news they are pregnant, but not Mary.

I think I have spent the majority of my life listening to people believing God will use them mightily, praying that God will take them and do great things and announcing that they are stepping out into God’s great plans with a great awesome future in faith to do great exploits, sometimes leaving me wondering which character is the great one.

I don’t blame them because I have preached many a good sermon from that stance.

But what if being chosen isn’t like that at all?

What if being chosen actually sounds perplexing, anxious and leaving you greatly troubled?

What if being highly favoured means you need an angel to tell you ‘Don’t be afraid’?

What if the reason why you are being instructed not to be afraid is that what you are being chosen for would scare the life out of most people?

What if being chosen is the worst thing that could have happened to you?

What if being highly favoured means that you cannot see how you will be the most blessed of women but the most scorned, insulted and slandered?

It can look to others like God is nowhere near and not involved with what He in fact actually caused. Don’t expect everyone to be thrilled with the miracle that is inside you. They do not know that the miracle was planted in you. They do not know your encounter with the Divine Presence. Keep your eyes off people and their reactions and responses will not hinder you.

If you know all the answers then maybe what God is about to do isn’t God after all? God acts and blows our minds. That’s how it is.

It is easier to believe in miracles when you don’t need one.

To step into all He has purposed for your life will mean that at various stages you have to change. You will need to leave the person you was behind. You will have to change what you believed perhaps. You will need to ask, ‘do I want to become this new person that I am going to have to become?’ Others will have to embrace that change also as they relate to what God is doing in your life. There may be a need to lose some precious things to you:-

• Your reputation: If reputation is more important than His plan then all you will have to talk about is the past.
• The battle. How is she ever going to explain virgin and pregnant? There are times when you need to silence your mouth and lose the argument. It will be another 30 years when people will realise that this child is the Son of God and for some they will never believe it anyway.
• The desire for vindication. God’s plan may seem unfair full stop.

God is waiting for your submission to the miracles He has for you.

Have you ever prayed this prayer? “I will adjust to what you want for my life God.” Mary did.

Have you ever prayed this prayer? “I am yours. My mind understands. My heart receives. My body is ready, use me.” Mary did.

Have you ever prayed this prayer? “YES I agree with that. I believe that to be true. I want that to be so.” Mary did.

Finally, see what happens after Mary submitted to her miracle.

Heaven leaves. The angels work is done. Mary is left alone.

The conference is over. The event has finished. The intercessors, worshippers and followers dispersed. And it is you left on centre stage with the hope of a miracle.

What will you do now?

It takes courage to remain when everyone has left.

It is a little easier to believe when Gabriel is in front of you.

Surrounded by the divine we can all submit to the plans of God.

When all you have is you then it is not so easy.

If this had happened in other times or places Mary was definitely holding her own death warrant. Maybe she feared of the possibility of a stoning returning. She knew at least she would be slandered, scorned and maligned. But she definitely held the divorce papers. Gabriel had said nothing about Joseph. She had tried to raise the issue when saying she was a virgin but she surrendered without knowing how Gabriel thought Joseph would be with this. “Why didn’t I ask?” “I should have got that sorted!”

Gabriel leaves. But actually we read it wrong. It is an assumption that Mary is alone. Just because we cannot see any more characters doesn’t mean there isn’t the important one there with Mary. Gabriel had spoken of the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowing her. That’s all we need when the angel leaves.