Weekly Devotional: Gems From Pastor Jim 11/11/2019

by Jim Hughes

Luke 1: 26-29 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

In these verses we see that Mary’s heart was troubled. Wouldn’t your heart be? Think about it. Out of nowhere Mary had a visit with an angel. Being visited by angel was probably the last thing she would ever imagine happening to her. God had not made himself known in Israel for the past 400 years. In the midst of the silence Gabriel paid her a visit. Why Mary? She was just a common young woman, probably in her teens. If God were to pay a visit to anyone, you would naturally think it would be to one of the religious leaders of the land. But no, He choose to visit Mary.

Notice the unexpected greeting she received from Gabriel. She was highly favored by God. Mary was no one special to anyone other than perhaps Joseph, her family and her closest friends. Yet God noticed her and declared that she was highly favored by Him. I wonder how many of us would be greeted in a similar fashion by God if He were to pay us an unexpected visit. If that were not enough, Gabriel told Mary that she was not alone, that God was with her. Now, that is news that every child of God wants to hear. It is something that Mary had to know, because what was going to happen next would be impossible to handle without knowing it.

Mary was going to have a baby, and not just any ordinary baby, he was going to be the Messiah! She was going to be the mother of the Son of God! But before she could let that sink in, she had to deal with being pregnant. Now what? She was a virgin and everyone who knew her knew it and respected her for it. How would she explain this to everyone? Her parents? Joseph? Her friends? How would people treat her? In Israel at that time she would be deemed to be worthy of being stoned to death. Favored by God and now facing almost certain death?

Yet, in spite of all the issues that confronted her, Mary had an unshakeable confidence in God. She believed what God said and believed that He would see her through this. She was willing to let God have His way with her, even if it meant her death. In verse 38 Mary readily yielded to the will of God for her. Even if she would never understand it all, she understood enough to know that God was with her and it would be alright.

Do you have such confidence in God’s goodness and love for you that you are willing to trust Him with your very life in order for His will to be done in your life?

About the Author:

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one's self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn't broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.