Today’s Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 7-8; Hebrews 11: Amos 5; Luke 1

  Such a contrast in two encounters with the angel Gabriel are found in Luke 1.  First there was Zacharias.  Now Zacharias was a priest and it was his turn to serve in the temple.  While he was alone in the temple an angel of the Lord appeared to him with great news.  Apparently, he had been praying for a child as he and his wife remained childless.  Now here is Gabriel coming to him to share the news that his prayers have been heard and his wife Elizabeth will have a son.  A son they shall name John. 

“You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.  And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.  It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

What amazing news!  But this is Zacharias’ response: 

Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” 

Let’s think for a moment about that.  Has God ever done anything like it before?  Well, yes He has, and as a matter of fact it is in our reading for today in Hebrews 11:11. 
 
"By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised."

And yet here we have Zacharias, in a similar situation as far as age goes, and he basically asks: How will I know God will actually do this?  He was just told by an angel of the Lord what God is about to do and he does not believe.  We know this is a question of unbelief because of how God responds-Zacharias will be unable to speak until his son is born-the son he has been promised by the Lord God Himself.

 “And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

Next we have Mary.  Just like Zacharias, she receives a visit from the angel Gabriel with amazing news.

And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”  But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

On the surface, Mary’s response sounds quite similar to Zacharias’:

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

But there is a significant difference in the two questions.  Mary does not doubt what God has said, but rather wonders how it will happen.  While there have been incidents in Israel’s past of women giving birth “past their time” this is a first-a virgin birth.  So Gabriel goes on to answer her question of what is going to take place and concludes with this very important line we all need to remember: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”  And how does Mary respond to this pronouncement?  The way I hope I always respond to God

And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”

The contrast between these two people is in what they believed about the God whom they served.  The impossible is possible because of who God is-Mary believed this with all of her heart.  Zacharias sadly did not-but God still did the impossible through him, and He gave a sign to Zacharias (his inability to talk) that He was the Almighty God.  Perhaps this was God’s way of helping Zacharias’ unbelief.
 
Grace, Peace, and Mercy,

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 5-6; Hebrews 10: Amos 4; Psalms 148-150

  Honestly, it can be such a drudgery to read through genealogies as we have in 1 Chronicles.  But every once in awhile there is a little gem hidden within. 

 The sons of Reuben and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, consisting of valiant men, men who bore shield and sword and shot with bow and were skillful in battle, were 44,760, who went to war. They made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab.  They were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hand; for they cried out to God in the battle, and He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him.  They took away their cattle: their 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys; and 100,000 men.  For many fell slain, because the war was of God. And they settled in their place until the exile.  1 Chron. 5:18-22

Did you catch it?  They cried out to God in the battle, and He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him.  I have been thinking much these days about what it means to trust God.  As a mom I sometimes really struggle here, I want to jump in and solve their problems and often times I cannot-not now that they are grown and out on their own.  And then worry sets in…worry would seem to be the opposite of trust. 
Do I think God has not heard my prayers?  Not at all?  So, can I trust Him with my kids? 
Of course I can!  Do I trust Him?  I want to! 
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When I think about who God is and what He has done I can be assured that my trust is well placed in Him.

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
 Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters that are above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.
He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which will not pass away.
Praise the Lord from the earth,
Sea monsters and all deeps;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills;
Fruit trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and winged fowl;
Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His glory is above earth and heaven.
-Psalm 148:1-13
 
The God who spoke all of this into being, the God who holds it all together even now…This is the same God in whom I place my trust…so why worry?  I cry with the man who came to Jesus that day, Oh, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
 
Grace, Peace, and Mercy,

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 3-4; Hebrews 9: Amos 3; Psalms 146-147

 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;  and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? -Hebrews 9:11-14

The phrase I really want to focus on this morning is that last half of verse 14: “cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”  There is a cleansing work of God going on in my conscience that will remove everything that keeps me from serving God.  I find it interesting that my conscience is not being cleansed here of sin, but rather dead works.  It is not the “evil thoughts” but dead works that are being cleansed.  It has me wondering what that means.  Is it speaking to the things I think I need to do to have a clean conscience?  Coming in a paragraph about the priests and the tabernacle, about the animal sacrifices that had to be offered over and over again by the nation of Israel it makes me think of how futile any attempt to serve God is apart from the cleansing blood of Jesus sacrifice.  I can never be good enough on my own-just full of “dead works.”  Well, of course…and yet, let me really consider for a moment how my conscience holds onto guilt and shame for sins of my past.  I know very well my salvation is not works based and yet I catch myself thinking I need to earn favor with God somehow.  I am rather shocked this morning that my conscience is still acting as if I do not believe the work of Christ on the cross was sufficient to cleanse me from ALL unrighteousness.  It is hitting me this morning that I am often still stuck in a works based salvation-one that wants to offer to God various things to try to somehow remove the guilt and shame I still feel over my sin.  I need to be cleansed of those thoughts-they are dead works.  With them out of the way I will find a new freedom to really serve the living God.  And I love that He is the “living” God in contrast to those dead works. 
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Grace, Peace, and Mercy,