What has God promised you? Have you been waiting a long time to see it come to pass? Does it feel like it may never happen?
I've got good news for you. Well, the Lord does! Today in my quiet time, I was asking the Lord to speak to me through His Word, as I do each time. Today, especially was encouraging because so many verses leaped off the page at me - to encourage, strengthen and reinforce ALL God has spoke to us.
When you are believing for a God's size dream... one that doesn't match your wallet, you come across lots of critics, "border-bullies" as Bruce Wilkinson calls them in his Dream Giver book. Often, they don't mean to be critical - what we have found is that sometimes they can't understand our walk. Well, that's true for us too at times. Our walk is just that, it's our walk. We walk it out the best we can with the words God speaks to us and with His written word to increase our faith. Occasionally he sends a prophetic word to confirm what we are hearing. I know this passage I have posted is a long one, but there are so many good nuggets. I've bolded them, but will highlight them again at the end. Before you read it, would you stop a moment and ask God to speak to you, to give you an answer to prayer and direction for something you need His wisdom on? His Word is living and active and can come to life in your heart, if you allow it.
Be encouraged.
Luke 1:5-80
5-7 During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.
8-12 It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. Zachariah was paralyzed in fear.
13-15 But the angel reassured him, “Don’t fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you—many will delight in his birth. He’ll achieve great stature with God.
15-17 “He’ll drink neither wine nor beer. He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb. He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.”
18 Zachariah said to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.”
19-20 But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.”
21-22 Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. When he came out and couldn’t speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people.
23-25 When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, he went back home. It wasn’t long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!” she said.
A Virgin Conceives
26-28 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
29-33 She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.
He will be great,
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”
35 The angel answered,
The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
will be called Holy, Son of God.
36-38 “And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”
And Mary said,
Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
just as you say.
Then the angel left her.
Blessed Among Women
39-45 Mary didn’t waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight to Zachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,
You’re so blessed among women,
and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
believed every word would come true!
and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
believed every word would come true!
46-55 And Mary said,
I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.
The Birth of John
57-58 When Elizabeth was full-term in her pregnancy, she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives, seeing that God had overwhelmed her with mercy, celebrated with her.
59-60 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. But his mother intervened: “No. He is to be called John.”
61-62 “But,” they said, “no one in your family is named that.” They used sign language to ask Zachariah what he wanted him named.
63-64 Asking for a tablet, Zachariah wrote, “His name is to be John.” That took everyone by surprise. Surprise followed surprise—Zachariah’s mouth was now open, his tongue loose, and he was talking, praising God!
65-66 A deep, reverential fear settled over the neighborhood, and in all that Judean hill country people talked about nothing else. Everyone who heard about it took it to heart, wondering, “What will become of this child? Clearly, God has his hand in this.”
67-79 Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he came and set his people free.
He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,
and in the very house of David his servant,
Just as he promised long ago
through the preaching of his holy prophets:
Deliverance from our enemies
and every hateful hand;
Mercy to our fathers,
as he remembers to do what he said he’d do,
What he swore to our father Abraham—
a clean rescue from the enemy camp,
So we can worship him without a care in the world,
made holy before him as long as we live.
And you, my child, “Prophet of the Highest,”
will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways,
Present the offer of salvation to his people,
the forgiveness of their sins.
Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,
Shining on those in the darkness,
those sitting in the shadow of death,
Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
down the path of peace.
he came and set his people free.
He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,
and in the very house of David his servant,
Just as he promised long ago
through the preaching of his holy prophets:
Deliverance from our enemies
and every hateful hand;
Mercy to our fathers,
as he remembers to do what he said he’d do,
What he swore to our father Abraham—
a clean rescue from the enemy camp,
So we can worship him without a care in the world,
made holy before him as long as we live.
And you, my child, “Prophet of the Highest,”
will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways,
Present the offer of salvation to his people,
the forgiveness of their sins.
Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,
Shining on those in the darkness,
those sitting in the shadow of death,
Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
down the path of peace.
80 The child grew up, healthy and spirited. He lived out in the desert until the day he made his prophetic debut in Israel.
Some key points I got from this are:
1. Unannounced - God can show up in a split second and turn your world upside down in a good way. Often referred to as a suddenly! We are believing for this!!!
2. Your prayers have been heard - that's a huge relief to know that when we pray, God hears us.
3. You're going to leap like a gazelle - well I don't know about you, but I know that when God answers our prayers, I will be leaping, dancing and laughing in fullness of joy!!!
4. Every Word God has spoken will come on time - God's time - this is the hardest one and the one because of the long wait and the detours along the way, where we get discouraged....but His promise says - it WILL come true! Praise God!
5. Mary relished in her pregnancy - this hasn't been so easy for us, but it brought new perspective for me. We are pregnant. We are pregnant with a vision God has given us and we should be ecstatic that someday, soon, we will birth it.
6. God has a surprise for you - Ha! This is a word God spoke to me last January. And I know His ways are not ours....so when the promises come into fulfillment, we will be surprised. He has our best interest at heart and we have to trust that we only see a small picture of what He is showing us.
7. Nothing you see is impossible for God - That's a promise YOU can take to the bank! Think about these two stories here. Would you have believed it if someone told you about it, outside the Bible? I'm pretty sure, I would have been skeptical! But God is good and our little brains (ok maybe just mine is little) cannot fathom HOW God will do what He is promising, but I do know, He will do it!!! Nothing is impossible!!!!
8. Let it be with me just as you say - this is to be our confession - speaking His Word over our promises! Simple faith, believe!!
AND OUR RESPONSE WHEN THESE PROMISES COME TO PASS
9. What God has done will not be forgotten - Praise His holy name! The Lord is good!!! Remember all He has done for you.
10. A deep reverential fear settled in over the neighborhood - I've been hearing in my spirit for quite some time, that when this next move of God comes and promises are being fulfilled, the world will take notice. They will know that there is a God and one that can be trusted! This will bring in the greatest harvest of our time!!!!!
11. Clearly God had His hand in this - Exactly! That's what you, your family and friends and even the border bullies will finally know! The enemy will even know! God's name will be glorified and greatly praised!!! Aren't you excited! I can hardly wait. What a joyous time this will be!!!
12. So we can worship Him without a care in the world - It's interesting that this falls as #12 on my list - as 12 means governmental authority. Setting this in place and order! Whoohoo!! What a beautiful thing - to be able to worship Him, the only true God, Jesus Christ without a care in the world! His bride, will rise!
I pray that as you read that passage, God blessed you with some encouragement and strength to continue on the path He has for you. Keep believing, keep contending and don't give up! Oh, I know its hard not to want to.....I've been there more often than I can count. But God is faithful!!! He will bring forth ALL He has promised!!!
Prayer requests:
Ken - his back is hurting more and more from the heavy lifting and up/down on ladders at work. Please pray for healing. Please pray for sleep - the work schedule, early hours, has really taken a toll on both of us and now his hours are reduced to 15 a week. Please also pray as his car is now having some serious issues - and the repair costs are far greater than the car is worth and so he'll drive it until it drops. Please also pray for GRACE to continue until such time God moves us.
Michele - please pray for my sleep mostly. I really think if I got consistent sleep, I would feel better and have energy and ability to do more. I still need healing in my right knee as I can't bend it much and my lower back limits me in so many ways. Please pray that things I post for sale would sell!
Ministry - We are so close, we can feel it...... not sure how or when exactly.....but sensing soon! please pray for the crossover into destiny.
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