I read a story of a teacher who assigned her class - What I would like to be when I grow up. Everyone wrote down their child-like thoughts: a fireman, a mom (just like my Mom), a football player, a nurse, and on and on it went. Then she got to one students paper that said, "When I grow up I want to be possible". She pulled Donny aside and asked him what he meant by that. Donny shyly responded: "My Mom is always telling me that I'm impossible, and some day I'd like to grow up to be possible"!
If Advent is anything to us, I hope, it's a reminder that God makes all things possible. Remember?
Luke 1:26-37
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Mary cannot wrap her head around Gabriel's words to her...can you blame her? It is "impossible" isn't it for a Virgin to conceive and bear a child apart from the natural way. Mary's response is based on sound scientific biology. "I'm a virgin, I've never been with a man, how can it be?"
Gabriel's words take her back to the creation of the world in Genesis 1, when the earth was without form, void, and darkness was over it all...then, the Spirit of God hovered over the nothing space and God's word - the very power of the Most High God - came to say, "Let there be..." and it happened.
In our natural realm impossibilities abound. In God's realm - nothing is impossible with God.
A Broken relationship?
An injustice?
A despair and anxiety?
A child, wife, husband that is distant?
A job that one feels trapped in?
A depression?
A disease?
There are a lot of "impossibles" out there, aren't there?
Luke 5:22-25
22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
What is the mat that Jesus would speak to you and say, "rise and walk"?
Peace
If Advent is anything to us, I hope, it's a reminder that God makes all things possible. Remember?
Luke 1:26-37
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Mary cannot wrap her head around Gabriel's words to her...can you blame her? It is "impossible" isn't it for a Virgin to conceive and bear a child apart from the natural way. Mary's response is based on sound scientific biology. "I'm a virgin, I've never been with a man, how can it be?"
Gabriel's words take her back to the creation of the world in Genesis 1, when the earth was without form, void, and darkness was over it all...then, the Spirit of God hovered over the nothing space and God's word - the very power of the Most High God - came to say, "Let there be..." and it happened.
In our natural realm impossibilities abound. In God's realm - nothing is impossible with God.
A Broken relationship?
An injustice?
A despair and anxiety?
A child, wife, husband that is distant?
A job that one feels trapped in?
A depression?
A disease?
There are a lot of "impossibles" out there, aren't there?
Luke 5:22-25
22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
What is the mat that Jesus would speak to you and say, "rise and walk"?
Peace
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