A Heart that Believes

Luke speaks of Mary, the mother of our Saviour, as a woman "highly favored by God". I believe that Mary was a woman of faith. Luke 1:45 says of Mary, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Can that be said of us?

Life is full of surprises. Mary had an encounter with an angel and her life was changed forever.

We may find ourselves, at any given moment, with a surprise of our own. We have a friend who recently learned that she has breast cancer. Another young woman in our church lost her husband with no warning whatsoever.

Life is full of surprises and life is not fair.

The key is this - Do we believe that what God has said will be accomplished? Do we believe that God is who He says He is?

Only with a heart of faith can we endure the surprises that life brings. Only when we believe in who our God is can we walk a journey of grief and pain.

Within our family of faith, there are many who are struggling this Christmas season. Please pray for our sisters in Christ -
- in the next 7 days these women need your prayers...

Verna will have surgery for breast cancer.
Jan will have a knee replacement.
Nicole Larson will have a complicated surgery in San Antonio.
Carroll will have both knees replaced.
Ali needs your prayers as she grieves the loss of her husband.

Let's pray like women who believe that what God has said WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED!

Christmas Time is Here

Luke 2:19
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

I love the word "ponder". Ponder means "to weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care".
Can you imagine being Mary - suddenly pregnant by "immaculate conception" - the potential for chaos in her life because of this pregnancy - the looks, the whispers, the challenges that this young woman, chosen by God to mother His Son, must have faced.

Yet, as the story unfolds and Christ enters the world the scripture tells us that Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart. These were things that she hardly understood. Surely those around her were blind to the truth. Perhaps she no one but Joseph that she could share these things with. It must have a lonely time for her.

Yet, through God's grace in her life, she took these moments, experiences, snapshots in her mind and placed them in a treasure box in her heart. I am sure that through the years Mary would mentally open this treasure box - taking out one memory at a time and pondering each - surely still in awe and wonder that God would gift her with the privilege of mothering His own son.

Have you pondered the truths of Christmas - the mystery - the miracle?

Take some time today to consider this ... John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
Focus your thoughts on the majesty of our mighty God glimpsed through the Savior's humanity. Augustine, the 4th century theologian, said, "By his very natitivity he made an eye-salve to cleanse the eyes of our heart so that through His humillity we might see His majesty."

What a mighty God we have in Jesus, an omnipotent Lord who chose to limit His infinite power by clothing himself in the weakness of human flesh. Emmanuel God with us!