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| Pastor Rhonda Roessler |
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| Into The Word with Pastor Rhonda |
"CAN YOU IMAGINE?"
Can you imagine...how Mary felt when Gabriel was sent from God to let her know she was going to conceive a son and His name was to be called Jesus? Gabriel told Mary, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end." The angel said, "Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."
How would you feel if you would have been Mary? Would you think in your own mind, "This man has no idea what he is talking about!" After all, Mary was an unmarried virgin...engaged to marry Joseph! Have you ever wondered, "Why Mary? Why did God pick her? Why was she so different from the other women?" The Bible says that Gabriel came to her and said, "Hail O favored one (endued with grace)! The Lord is with you! Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women!" She was greatly troubled, disturbed and confused at what Gabriel had told her. Mary considered in her own mind, "What manner of greeting is this? What does it mean?" Mary even asked the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?"
Has God ever asked you to do something you never imagined you would do? I'm sure we could all answer, "YES!" I wonder...did you do it, or did you let it go in one ear and out the other? Did you just ignore it? Did you put it high on a shelf, WAY back on a shelf, hoping it would never come up again? Why do we do this? Fear? Insecurity? Scared of what other people might think of you? We need to allow God to work in us as He wants to. We need to remember that all His plans for us are for our good. Even when unexpected things happen, we need to keep trusting Him!
The angel said unto her, "Fear not, do not be afraid, Mary, you have found grace (free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving kindness) with God." He told her the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her and the holy (pure, sinless) thing which would be born of Mary would be called the Son of God. He told Mary her cousin Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is now the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible fulfillment. Then Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." And the angel departed from her.
In Mary's natural mind, she had a hard time, but it was through faith she believed and it came to pass just as Gabriel had told her. We need to trust in God, be obedient and cooperate with God and HIS plans and purposes for our lives just as Mary did. Just like Mary, we should be willing to say, "Be it unto me according to thy word!"
What Mary went through...I CAN ONLY IMAGINE!
Luke 1:37 - "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Pastor Rhonda Roessler
January, 2012
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