Beholding Jesus

Luke 1-2 The Birth of Jesus
I imagine being Mary-what would Mary’s journal look like? What were the thoughts she pondered as her belly began to expand and she could feel the baby kick? Did she know she was carrying God in the flesh? How did her family and her village treat her as a pregnant unmarried woman? Did anyone else believe her story? Did she have any friends who believed her? Anyone besides Elizabeth? What was her personality and character like? I imagine her a young woman, serious and devout, tenderhearted, yet strong in spirit. She loves the Lord and trusts Him. She has heard the prophecies speaking of Messiah. Does she know Daniel 7 and Isaiah 53? As she lays on her bed or goes about her chores, does she think of Isaiah’s prophecies; ‘behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son…’? How did she respond to people’s accusing glances? Did she spend a lot of time meditating on the messianic scriptures? Did she know them by heart?
I also think of the humility of God in the circumstances He chose to send Jesus. He sent Jesus to a tiny town in a tiny, weak, politically oppressed nation in the first century. There were no hospitals or doctors with ultrasounds or modern technology. Then Jesus chose to be born into those circumstances.
I imagine the days leading up to Jesus’ birth- I think I have thought of His birth as a few events… forgetting that Mary was pregnant for nine months. Mary and Joseph are two young anxious parents who have to take the trip down to Bethlehem from Nazareth. How far was it? 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem… probably a four day to a week trip. Did they both have to walk? Is it more uncomfortable to walk or ride a donkey when you’re nine months pregnant? I imagine the road is dusty- is it hot? What time of year is it? What is the weather like in Israel at that time of year? I imagine Mary is tired and uncomfortable and Joseph is anxious-what circumstances to be having a baby in! Not even in their own home in Nazareth! And then they arrive in Bethlehem. How big is the town? How many people live there? Does Joseph know anyone? Does he have family? Nevertheless, they go from inn to inn, house to house-no one has any extra room-even for a pregnant lady about to give birth. So a stable it is. Mary and Joseph went to bed in the chill and damp of being practically outside, with the smell of animals. And then Mary goes into labor and the baby Jesus is born. Was anyone with her besides Joseph to help deliver the baby and clean him up? He was born just the same as any other baby ever has been. Amazing. It’s almost unthinkable to imagine God, messy and purple, crying in the arms of a young girl. He’s totally dependent on her to be fed, changed, held. The God who formed man with His own hands is cradled in the arms of His own creation. What is more helpless and vulnerable than a baby? How the angels must have watched in awe! It’s almost hard to think about-God with tiny fingers and toes and a soft spot on His head. Like I shouldn’t imagine God that way. But it’s true. He did that. He became a baby. Oh! What kind of God does that? What humility on God’s part to leave the glory of heaven and He allowed Himself to be totally overlooked by everyone except the couple of people who were looking for Him. Nobody else even noticed Him. I was meditating about this after struggling with feelings of hurt and frustration about feeling overlooked. I hate feeling overlooked. I think if I were really honest, there are a lot of things I do with at least part of the motivation being to be noticed by people, in order to feel important or worthy of something. But He chose to be overlooked… I have not connected with that. But maybe I can bear feeling overlooked a bit easier when I realize Jesus chose to be overlooked. And how can I be more like Him in that? I realize I want to be like Jesus in His victories, in His displays of power, but when it comes to becoming like Him in death, in going low, in humility, that isn’t so appealing to me…
It’s amazing to me how God, over and over, chooses the most unlikely, the most despised things. He chose shepherds, the lowest ranking people socially, to be the first witnesses of His arrival. Oh to have been in the field that night with them, to see all the heavenly host light up the night sky with worship and praise, announcing the coming of the King! What a sight. It’s so awesome, but it challenges my way of thinking so often too. Most of the time, my instinct is not to go as low as possible, but to go as low as I can, without going too low so as to be uncomfortable, while still looking like I’m going low. But the God who created everything and has been worshipped unceasingly since creation, stopped at nothing to truly go as low as He could. I really want to connect my heart with that. I feel like I know these concepts of what God is like in choosing to be humble and overlooked, but I don’t really KNOW it. But I do want to. Does it almost feel too good to be true? I’ve never known any person like this, and I know I’m certainly not like that, so I really don’t have a grid for a God who really is the most humble being in existence. I can accept these ideas theologically pretty easily, but when it comes to really believing that’s what God is like, it’s not so easy. I really do need Him to give me these revelations of who He is and what He is like.

Luke 2:42-52

There passage is intense as divine revelation in the life of Jesus is awaked to the next level.  Mary and Joseph in their human love for Jesus feel (a little bit) what the Father of glory feels because His eternal Son is not with Him.  As I zoom into verse 42, I see that this visitation was an annual thing.  I see Jesus with each year growing in knowledge of His heavenly Father.  Each visit to Jerusalem and the temple bring Him new revelation and encounter.  This visitation, as Jesus is nearing His teenage years, brings Him into greater heights of revelation of who He is and His Father.  In verse 43 we see that they stayed for a good amount of time.  I see Jesus growing each day.  He is spending time in prayers and He is getting revelation.  While other are having a dry prayer time just their regular devotional, Jesus is beginning to know the deeper things of the Father.  He is connecting and attaching more and more to the supernatural and detaching from the natural.  This is how it looks in the natural.  Jesus’ family and relatives are doing the regular things such as going to the temple when they need to, and then as visitors for Idaho do in New York City, look around and be amazed by the city scene.  They are buying goods, eating out, visiting famous places, and taking part in the feast as the whole visit is all about the feast.  Jesus and His family are having fun kind of like the trip to Disney land once a year here in America.  As days pass though Jesus is hanging out less with His brothers, sisters, and cousins and hanging out more in the temple praying.  He is spending more time with the His heavenly less time with His earthly family.  This explains why ultimately why they did not even notice that He was not with them later at all because they we used to His declining presence to the point His non presence did not hit them at all for three days. 

The final day Mary and Joseph along with their relatives are busy on the process of packing up and preparing to leave.  They are doing the final shop around, final temple visitation all the while Jesus is in the temple seeking God.  They are caught up in the natural while He is caught up in the spiritual.  They are caught up on the lesser important things He is chosen the one thing that matter that is to be in the presence of God.  They are so lost in what they are doing they forget that their son was not with them.  They were probably trying to be on schedule.  Everyone had work the next day they were going back to their regular life.  They got lost in their regular things of life while Jesus was lost in the real life being with the Father the source of life.  He was so lost that He was completely unaware of His parents leaving Him.  I can see Him lost in prayer caught up with the Father.  Father himself is speaking with Him teaching His things.  Jesus Himself is getting to know who He truly is.  He is getting to know His inner man the Spirit.  The soul is getting somewhat caught up in terms of aligning with the spirit.  The Spirit of Jesus knows He is God but the natural man does not know it yet but is increasing in the knowledge of it.         

The things are all set everyone is on board and sense of comfort is on everyone because they are in schedule.  Then if finally hits Mary where really is Jesus.  They look around and do not find Him and decide to go back to get Him.  Mary is worried for her little boy.  Mary is being critical on herself and thing of the worst in the mean time Joseph is trying to comfort her.  All the while Jesus has been in the presence of God.  He knows more the things of God.  He is not one bit rattled because His parents are not there because He knows the Father is in control.  There probably was time He was scared I mean this is the worst possible thing that can happen to a kid that age in a city like that.  But He ran to His Father and His presence made it all better and Jesus in not worried.  He is actually confidence and calm we see this in His response to His mother later.  Finally Mary and Joseph arrive and to their surprise they see Him in conversation with the teachers and elders.  To their comfort they (teachers and elders) speak such highly of their child.  In love yet bitter Mary asks Him why you have done this.  Jesus’ respond says it all.  Things have changed and it is only a matter of time till everything breaks loose.  He has been with the Father seen Him, talked with Him.  The Father has taught Him many things and showed Jesus His business.  Mary and Joseph were not able to comprehend the things of God for spiritual things are foolishness to the carnal mind.  Jesus goes back with the foundation of who He is and will continue to grow in it.  Yet He does not get prideful on the contrary He surrenders Himself to His earthly parents.

This story is so beautiful.  Many time almost always.  I do not look for God because I am worried about the stuff of the regular life.  I put those before God.  When I think I have things under control then I look foe God.  This is not the way is should be.  The world breaks apart for little Jesus but His comfort was His Father.  This is the true comfort not when I think I am in control this is actually false comfort.  This is what I seek false comfort rather than seeking the true comfort and this need to change.  True comfort is in knowing who Jesus is (that He is in control) and His unconditional love for me.  This is the truth and comfort I shall seek.  

Luke chooses to open up his gospel differently than the other gospel writers. We start out with the story of the miraculous conception of John the Baptist. None of the other gospels put this in and I’m curious as to why not, but than again the gospels are not mainly about John, but about Jesus.
Zacharias was chosen to be High Priest for the year. How sovereign is the Lord! The husband of the cousin of the mother of our Lord was chosen to be High priest. Call it a coincidence, but “coincidences” seem to happen a lot around the things of God. Yes, I pulled that from Celebration of Discipline. The word tells us that Zacharias and his wife, Elizabeth, were both “righteous before the Lord, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” What I pulled out of this is that God loves to work through those who live blameless in His sight. Yes, He is all-powerful and can work through any vessel He chooses, but He delights in using those who choose Him without regard for the cost. And oh the thrill of being a tool in the hands of the father!
The Bible also tells us that he and his wife were “well-advanced in years”. It’s the nice way of saying, “Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were OLD!” This leads me to one conclusion about Zacharias. Being chosen as High Priest was not something that you could be honored with as a first year rabbi. Zacharias had been in the priesthood for a very long time. And because the Bible tells us that he was a righteous man, we can assume that he was one of the very few Godly priests in that time. This is another sign to us that developing a history in God is essential to being effective for Him. If we do not allow our roots to go down deep, a process which takes time, than we will be quickly swept away when the first sign of trouble comes.
Anyways, now I’m getting to the main point I saw in this story. When Zacharias entered into the Holy of Holies, an angel appeared to him. The Bible tells us that he was troubled and afraid. Some people will point out that it was because the angel was probably A) massive, and B) had a sword, which, probably, was also C) massive. This is probably very true. But lets look at it another way. Zacharias is old. When an angel appears to someone “well advanced in years”, it probably means that its time for the person to come home and be with the Lord. And, by Mosaic law, if the priest did something improperly, he would be killed instantly by the manifest glory of the Lord. Zachariah had to have been terrified because he probably feared he had done something wrong and was now going to die. I have no doctrinal foundation for this theory, but it was a bit I thought on for a while.
Anyways, the angel tells Zachariah, “Do not be afraid…” This seems to be something that the angels say a lot. Remember that. The angel goes on to tell Zachariah that his wife shall conceive a son in her old age. Lets look at the next part of the story.
The angel appears to Mary six months later. Again, the angel tells her, “Do not be afraid.” See what I’m building on here? “Do not be afraid, Zacharias… Do not be afraid, Mary… Do not be afraid, Joseph… Do not be afraid, shepards…” Yes, angels in all their might probably are terrifying beings. But I don’t think this is the entire reason that the angels would say this. Yes, don’t be afraid because of my awesome might and power, but do not be afraid of the implications of the message I’m about to tell you.
Think about it. Mary was an unwedded virgin. When she was found pregnant, it was very possible that she would be stoned to death. Pretty scary reality. When Joseph was told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, to the rest of the culture he was basically saying, “this baby is mine”. I’ve been trying to read the Bible in German lately, and what I love, in the German, is that the angel tells Joseph, “Do not hesitate to take Mary as your wife.” I’ll expound on what I believe the angel is saying here. “Joseph, don’t be afraid of what might happen to you if you take Mary to be your wife. Though the people around you will mock you and her, though you will be embarrassed of something you did not do, do not worry about it, for God is watching you and is in control.” “Zachariah. Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you. Here’s who your son will be and do not be afraid to release him into it. Don’t hold him back because you know it might cost him his life.”
We need not be afraid when called by the Lord. Yes, we might lose our friends, reputation, job, money, investments or even our lives, but the Lord sees our every sacrifice. I love how Misty Edwards puts it: (Paraphrase) our lives are the theater in which we can demonstrate our love for Jesus. The apostles rejoiced that they were found worthy to partake in the sufferings of Christ. Most of us are afraid that obeying the calling on our lives might ruin a relationship or lose us money. How quickly the church will fall away in the face of beatings and death!
The Lord both sees and honors our obedience to Him. He knows the cost of following the will of the Father, Jesus Himself died when obeying the Father! The rock to which we cling will not give way under us, will not surrender us to the waves and wind that so continually beat against us when we choose to venture out into the vast ocean of the will of the father. Mary had every right to be afraid of her calling, but now she is admired and even worshiped by many. I’m not condoning worshiping Mary. Look at how beloved her obedience has made her!
And Zacharias had every reason to fear for his son. But now, his son is a pillar in the church, an everlasting testimony to the greatness of being a forerunner.

   Imagine this man, Simeon. Luke says that he was a just and devout man. He is an upright Jew but not in the order of the Pharisees who were all for show and the outward appearances. This was a man who lived from the interior of a heart set steadfast before God, regardless of the circumstances. Luke says that the Holy Spirit was upon him. Think of this- the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon! Hadn’t it been four-hundred long dry years since the presence of God was “upon” His people? Did the other Jews notice something different about Simeon? Did things get stirred up when he came around? I wonder at what point the Spirit filled Simeon, if it was from when he was a child or if it happened when he was a young man. But, regardless, at some point the Holy Spirit told him that he wouldn’t die until he saw the Lord’s Christ, the hope of salvation for the people of Israel and all the nations.

   I mean, seriously, consider this- this man is probably well advanced in years, just doing his daily duties before God. But he has this hope and confidence in the word of the Lord to him. He has a secret strength that pushes him onward. He knows that he knows that he knows that God isn’t going to just leave him hanging on this. This is for real. He has hope in it. I think there is just so much to be learned from this man, his steadfast assurance in the word of the Lord and his certainty of seeing the fruition of this promise before he sees death. He will see eternal Life before he sees his own physical death!

   So one day, he’s just doing his business, eating breakfast or whatever he does, and the Holy Spirit burns inside of him, telling him to go into the temple. Obediently, he goes. He didn’t make up an excuse; he didn’t allow himself to be distracted by other things- but he stops whatever he’s doing and goes. Just another day in the Temple- the customs of the law, presenting baby boys to the Lord and the sacrifices of the pigeons or turtledoves. Imagine he’s there, looking around, wondering at the prompting of the Spirit. Then in walks this set of parents, holding a little Boy. Simeon sees Him and something quickens in his Spirit. His heart beats fast, his hands tremble, his eyes fill with tears. The young couple draws closer.

   Could this be the day? Could this be the day that the promise of the Lord is fulfilled in his life? Could this be it?

   He’s next to the young couple now, takes the Baby into his old wrinkled arms, looks upon the Jesus’ face, and the Holy Spirit inside him rejoices in the precious face of this Child. The Spirit of God connects with the eyes of the Son of God in the form of a child. Think of it- the Holy Spirit, in the man of Simeon, on the earth, is now gazing upon Jesus, the Son of God, in the form of man, on the earth. They’re together, but separate at the same time. How crazy is this!!!!!!

   There is a “Yes” in Simeon’s spirit and he knows Who the Baby is. The tears are tracing lines down Simeon’s face now, tears of joy, tears of a promise kept, tears of rejoicing, tears of faithfulness. He holds the Baby close and he blesses God. He declares that he can now die in peace, that the word of the Lord unto him has been fulfilled. His very eyes have seen his salvation as well as the salvation of his people. The widows, the beggars, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the fishermen, the shepherds, Israel’s children and the Gentile children now all have a hope of eternal reconciliation to the God Whom Adam walked with in the Garden of Eden. Blessed be the Lord for His redemptive mercy to His wayward Bride. The Glory of Israel come to bring light, shattering the darkness of the nations.

   Imagine Jesus’ parents standing there- staring back at this elderly holy man holding their little baby Boy, declaring things to God about the Lord in his very arms. Did they wonder about how this tiny infant, Whom Mary nursed, could bring salvation and revelation and be the glory of the nation?

   So Simeon finishes blessing God, opens his tear-washed eyes and finds Joseph and Mary staring back at him in amazement. Perhaps Simeon laughed inside his soul at the looks on their faces. He blessed them. And looking into young Mary’s eyes, his heart tore as he spoke the words, “Mary, listen to me. Your little boy will grow up into the destiny which was set before Him. He will reveal the thoughts in the hearts of the people of Israel, many will rise and many will fall. He will divide the nation in two. You will hurt, Mary, and it will feel like a sword is cutting straight through you because you will watch your Son go the way set before Him and be rejected for it.”

   Maybe the young woman’s eyes grew huge as she was reminded yet again that her Child was no ordinary child. Simeon’s heart was pained for the young woman yet elated at the same time for today they beheld their salvation, the Child Who would wield a sword to cut to the heart of a people.

   Simeon finishes with Mary and Joseph, places the Baby back into their arms. His eyes follow the small Child as the young couple depart from the temple. His day is done, his job as lookout for the Messiah complete. He can now go Home with a peace in his soul and a completion in his heart that Israel’s, as well as the nations’, salvation is at hand.

9-16-08

Gabriel comes to Mary overjoyed.  He knows her Son.  He knows Him well.  He gazes upon His beauty, glory, and wisdom often.  But he does not reveal these things to her at first.  Instead, he proclaims, “Rejoice!”  Rejoice, Mary!  God is with you!  He favors you.  You are blessed among woman and highly favored of God.  I can imagine her troubled face.  Here she considers in herself this greeting just as she would ponder the birth of Jesus following the heavenly host’s rejoicing.  Rejoice!  And yet Gabriel finds her troubled.  Indeed, the greeting was unusual and the message seemingly odd thus far.  So again he tells her, “Be glad!  You have found favor in the eyes of God!”  Then he goes on to tell her what being highly favored of God looks like.  It looks like purity perceived as immorality.  It looks like holiness surrounded by “lies” and disbelief.  It looks like ominous death because she said yes.  To carry the life of God in her very womb outweighed the imminent death of her outward life – the ridicule, the disbelief, the potential stoning.  Mary says yes.  The first thing the angel shared with her was, “The Lord is with you – Emmanuel.”  How blessed is she who first had Him.  How intimate a thing to carry a baby in one’s womb, to feel His movements, to watch one’s belly grow with Him, to marvel at the mystery of Life this way!  How kind of Gariel to comfort and strengthen her with these words:  “With God nothing will be impossible.”  How Mary must have clung to those words!  How she must have pondered and internalized them deeply.  How they must have encouraged and provoked her.

What a day in the life of Mary.  Suddenly her heart was assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was real and that He truly cared very deeply about His people.  (It’s cool that He sort of sent an angel to prophesy a little about this Baby to her.  Can you imagine??  Wow.)

The visit Mary took to Elizabeth seems to serve as a confirmation of sorts.  Elizabeth refers to her as “the mother of my Lord,” and the baby in her womb rejoices at the nearness of his Friend.  At this point, how would Elizabeth have even known the recent events in Mary’s life except the Holy Spirit revealed them to her as she spoke?  Then we see Mary rejoice.

John is born.  After his circumcision, the Holy Spirit speaks to the spirit of John through Zacharias concerning Jesus.  It’s amazing the magnitude of vision and purpose this utterance must have given John concerning his existence.

9-18-08

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  Oh, the degree of graciousness displayed here to knowingly bring forth the Son of God in such a manner – lacking any worldly glory and void of everything kingly.  Oh, the simplicity.  I love the provision of God and the trust in the hearts of Mary and Joseph.  She brought Him forth and He was her Son, and God gave the room and simple cloth He desired Joseph to wrap Him in.  Surely this is the first declaration of His kingdom and its relation to this realm of “reality.”  The Holy One comes forth of a womb scoffed at by men, is secured in pieces of cloth, and first rests His tender head in a manger.  Jesus’ first experience as a human on the earth was that exactly.  God subjected Himself to be confined by cloths – wrapped up tightly by the hands of His mother – and laid defenselessly in a manger.

There was no room for Him in the inn just as Israel had no room for and no want of Him.  Unbelievably, this first would be greater than His last.  Brought forth, He at least was covered by rough scraps of cloth.  In the end, He was shamefully stripped bare.  In the first, the wood of trees and grasses of the earth blessed Him, held His glory, and allowed Him to rest His lovely head, but at the last the wood and the grass in the hands of men demanded His life.  What tenderness and grace displayed in this humble scene.  The birth of our Lord is speculated on often, but in so many words we still do not grasp the reality, the majesty, and the apparent foolishness of it all!

Jesus had never walked the earth as a human among humans before.  The Eternal One – outside of time and space, dwelling from everlasting to everlasting – stepped into flesh and the confines of time and walked among us, grew among us, gained strength and grace among us.  He is like us!  Look, the literal personification of wisdom was necessarily filled with wisdom!  How peculiar.  The Lord filled Him with wisdom by age twelve.  Imagine the wisdom of God filling a twelve-year-old boy.  Couple this with the healthy and vivid imagination of children, and consider the holiness and purity of His heart.  This wisdom is different than knowledge.  I believe this being filled with wisdom has much to do with gaining a heavenly perspective and learning to operate from heaven.

We know well many of the questions Jesus asked the teachers of the law later in His life, but I wonder what some of His early questions were like.  Luke says He astonished them just the same.  I like how Mary and Joseph were amazed that He astonished all the teachers and the people at the age of twelve.  I mean, I probably would have marveled at Him myself, especially since it had not yet been revealed to many exactly who He was.  But from here on out, He must have provoked the question in many minds and hearts… Who is this Boy?  Who is this Man?

Luke 2:8-20-Jesus comes and Angelic Hosts Proclaim-By Maria Rogers

I can picture sheep on a hill side with a small stable. The sheep are grazing, some are sleeping. One of the shepherds is sitting on a rock, staff in hand watching the sheep. Then from behind him a light appears brighter than anything he has ever seen. The light is peering from behind a hill illuminating the sheep. Waking the sheep up. The shepherd slowly turns around and the light is getting brighter and brighter and the shepherd stands up and faces the light hand over his eyes. The rest of the shepherds come out of the stable walking with their hand shielding their eyes. As the light got brighter they became afraid Never seeing a light as bright except the sun. I picture the angel walking on the air coming closer to them, as the angel approaches he reassures them not to be afraid and then the light subsides. He begins to tell them their savior has come and where they will find the baby. Then, suddenly an army of angels appear also… I can picture this as the angel stands mid air, his back to the hill side a light still emanating from behind him but not blinding the shepherds. I picture the light singing in unison with the angels agreeing with the angel’s proclamation of the savior. Behind the Angel the army appears in rows as Far back as the horizon also in the sky as the shepherds look up there are angels peering down from heaven descending into ranks singing also… Glory to God! In the highest! Peace on Earth! I Imagine this lasting a while not just one time through And then that’s it. I imagine the angels harmonizing in ways that are impossible for human vocal chords. They are rejoicing! As they are still singing the angels begin to descend back into heaven row by row. After they left the shepherds must have been Perplexed! In Awe! I mean, it’s not everyday you see an army of angels. After the shock subsided they said lets go to Bethlehem! They went and beheld the Lord in a manger, just as the angel said. They told everyone what had happened to them and everyone was amazed. All the way home they talked about it and marveled about it. I imagine they never forgot it.

I like to wonder one thing… What were those sheep thinking? Ha, just kidding. I do wonder that but that isn’t the main thing I was thinking about. Why shepherds? Why did the angels appear to those shepards? Maybe it is some how connected to Christ being our shepherd. I don’t know. I wonder if they were forever changed by their experience. As I’m sitting here I was thinking maybe they were His first converted believers. I mean, how could they not believe after that! I also like to wonder what Mary thought when they told her about all the angels and how they were singing and giving praise and confirming that Jesus was the Messiah. I wonder if she really understood the magnitude of it all. How amazing it was and how powerful it was. It still blows my mind that God chose to partner with Mary to bring Christ to Earth. Really God can do anything, He could of just made Jesus a human, a 33 year old man from the beginning like he did Adam. Just speak Him onto the Earth. But He didn’t, He chose to partner with humanity even in His plan of bringing Christ to Earth. He wanted to know what developing from an embryo was like so that he could make intercession for the unborn. If He hadn’t became a human by the same means we do He would not have been able to relate to the unborn in their embryonic stages, their first week, second week etc…

Really, that is amazing. We are learning in Eternal Glory of an Intercessor with Corey that Christ is the perfect intercessor because He sympathizes with us in all areas of our humanity. Christ is the ultimate intercessor for the unborn because He is fully God and was fully unborn at one time, He can contend on their behalf better than we can because of His divinity. It is up to us to hear his heart on abortion and pray His heart for the unborn. I just think that God is so Amazing, I don’t know if I’m sticking to the assignment but I just really felt God highlighting that to me. “I was unborn once also, I was silent in my mother’s womb. I was an embryo, I grew like you did. I developed my toes and my fingers and my peach fuzz on my head just like you, I know what that is like. I know more than you because you can’t even remember what that was like but I do. I didn’t forget one experience I had of my childhood, of my infancy, I remembered it all. How else would I know what you are going through if I didn’t remember? I am God, I do not for get. I make intercession for the cry of the unborn now come into my heart and pray out what I have to say about it. Pray out my heart on abortion, pray out my thoughts, my feelings.” This is what I feel Him saying. I don’t know how I got from his birth to talking about intercession for the unborn. Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter, I just felt the Lord taking me there. That is really amazing how God works. I truly never thought about Christ developing in the womb I always just thought you know, He was a baby. I never explored or meditated on His life in Mary’s womb. She felt Him kick, move and probably got heartburn from the pregnancy like other pregnant women. I don’t know, He probably healed her heartburn. Ha. I am so amazed at the revelation the Lord continues to pour into me here at IHOP. I am thankful.

When I think upon the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, I think of how she had such a humble and revered revelation of the Fathers heart.  She witnessed the living God, second Person of the Trinity, growing in her womb.  Her response came with such humility and conviction.  I look at the verse where the angel of the Lord comes to her, and says “Greetings favored one!  The Lord is with you.” And I can imagine Mary looking back at the seasons of life feeling overlooked and of no real importance.  Her heart at times potentially feeling rejected, ridiculed or abandoned.  I feel the emotion of her utter shock when “she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.”  I can only imagine her life flashing before her eyes, wondering, “I have found favor in His sight?  The Lord is with me, a humble and forgotten maidservant?”  I can tenderly relate with Mary’s response, and feel her slight confusion or perplexity.  When the Lord comes in truth, so often we can respond in shock or disbelief as to how He really and truly sees us.  What must it have been like for Mary to see an angel of the Lord?  I am sure in those days it was assumed that the priests were the ones to see such heavenly things.  I can only imagine that Mary assumed, as so many of us do, that common, every day people were too low in society to be given such a privilege.  I wonder how long the angel stood before her.  It says that Mary “kept pondering what kind of statement this was”.  Was she taken up into a vision or a trance?  What was her initial thought?  Did she tremble?  Were her eyes fully opened into the spiritual dimension?  Where there sounds and smells that accompanied the visitation?  What did the angel look like for him to say to her “Do not be afraid Mary.”? 

Again she is said to have found favor in His sight!  Oh what a secret life of prayer and fasting Mary must have lived out.  Even here she was considerably young, and yet one who has found favor in the sight of God.  I ponder and question the power of a hidden life when I think upon God choosing Mary as the one to birth the Living God.  Out of thousands upon thousands of women in that day and age, what was it about Mary that caught the attention of the Father?  Oh the hidden mysteries that I long to know!  .

It makes me consider what is really valued and important in the eyes of God.  Culture tells us to strive and build and grow our own talents in the natural so that we can have more money, bigger houses and nicer cars.  But these things are only temporal, and have no value in the eyes of eternity.  What was it that set Mary apart in that day?  What were the other young women giving themselves to and what did Mary do that set her apart.  I can just picture all of the other young women searching to and fro consumed by the lust of the flesh and driven by the worlds love.  Then I see Mary searching for true love in the hidden place of her room for the zealous and passionate heart of God.  I can see the other young women frantically attempting to make them selves beautiful on the outside, consumed with vanity, trying to gain the attention of man.  I then picture Mary drawing upon the word, searching for inner beauty, and finding her identity while she sat at the feet of her Lord, receiving beauty on the inside.  I can see the other young women talking and gossiping about many things, and Mary communing with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob about One thing.  I see Mary as a humble intercessor, about to give birth to the Intercessor of the ages.

As I meditated on what it must have been like for Mary to see and hear all that the angel of the Lord had to say, I was struck deeply with vs. 37-38 in chapter 1.  We read and hear from the pulpit all the time that “nothing is impossible for God”, but in the context of what the angel was telling Mary, I saw this passage of hope and truth in such a different way.  We spend so much energy telling God why this won’t work, and why that’s not possible, and we forget these simple, yet powerfully profound words. “For nothing is impossible to God.”  I read that passage over and over letting the implications of what that meant sink into my spirit.  That the One who was before the world began, longed for someone He could share His heart with, and spoke the world into existence.  He spoke a single word, and suddenly there was created order.  He breathed into the nostrils of man, and suddenly Adam had the very breath of God living inside of him.  The Lord created a garden of delight with His very own hands, and placed man in that place to cultivate it.  When man fell, and He sent a flood to destroy the wicked, He found favor in Noah and brought forth the seed of promise through him.  He parted the red seas, and gave the Israelites a cloud by day and fire by night.  He is the God of the impossible.  And I have, as many of us are guilty for, placed the God of the impossible into a very small box, and expected Him to stay there. 

There must be so many reasons that the Lord chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus, and as I meditate on the Song of Praise in Luke 1:46-55, it clearly shows her revelation, I believe in an experiential way, of the Triune God.  Jesus was living inside of her.  I still cant get my head around that reality.  God dwelled in the flesh, inside of Mary.  This is such humility.  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  He is so tenderly acquainted with our frame, because He BECAME our frame.  In Hebrews it talks about how He “sympathized with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with CONFIDENCE draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:15-16). 

When I read this passage during my times of meditation, something just clicked inside of me about the nature of Christ.  He humbled Himself, became a Man, to redeem us all to Himself, and came through a weak and broken vessel; Mary.  This tells me that if Mary was counted worthy, then so am I!  What a revelation of the character and nature of God.  He defeated the head of Satan, by bringing forth the Seed through a woman.  He went low so that He could relate with us on every level imaginable.  He was a baby.  God actually became a baby. 

He grew in spirit and in stature.  What an amazing and profound concept.  That God the Son became a baby.  Subjecting Himself to human terms and conditions, He took on flesh, and remains that way even as He makes intercession for us in Heaven.  What must it have been like when He grew, to come into a deeper understanding of everything He saw, tasted, touched and smelled was created by His very own hands.  Yet He had no pride, and did not boast.  This is so beyond my comprehension, but I feel that as I give my attention and heart to this reality, that I will be washed and renewed by His character as He walked the earth.  The most humble Man to ever live.  Oh how beautiful is this One.

And to think that He chose a vessel like Mary.  Oh Lord, make me like You more and more each day, but I also pray for a revelation of Your mother.  Give me understanding of the life that Mary led.  Let my cry be to respond as Mary did, and “treasure up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Thoughts on Luke Chapters 1 & 2, the birth of Christ

The first verse that jumped out at me was Luke 1:35 when the Angel answers Mary saying “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power or the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to b e born will be called the Son of God “ I thought for a long time about what a young girl like Mary must have thought about the idea of the Most High ‘overshadowing her’, almost a scary thought in my mind. I’ve always read this passage with the slightest hint of envy and despair. Why Mary? Why did she get this great honor? What was it about her, that the Lord of Hosts chose her to be the bearer of his precious son? Like with many of the bible characters, I think of Mary as an impossible role model. She must have been a real golden child-passionate for God beyond what was expected in the day. Did she have a secret life in God, or was she just a real obedient kid? I’ve always thought of her as the latter (I think my mother and Sunday school teachers taught me this for their own reasons!) but the more I thought of her I couldn’t help but see myself. According to everything I’ve been learning in the last 6 weeks, the Lord of Hosts desires to encounter me in the same way he did Mary, of course not to bear him a child, but to be present with him. I was reminded of how all throughout scripture are passages that tell me the Holy Spirit will and has come upon me. As I’m sure that loaded statement full of amazing and yet frightening potential makes me nervous-it must have had a similar effect on Mary.

 
The next verse that stood out to me I need to spend a few years-more like the rest of my life meditating on. I plan to make some blown-up, very large, artistic version of it and hang it over my bed that I be forced to look at, read, and believe it every single day. I love that its in one nice neat verse, 1:37, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Wow, they could’ve stopped writing the Bible right there because that’s all the inspiration and conviction I need to realize the limitations of my faith and yet receive the encouragement I need to wake up tomorrow. I sat there and stared at a verse I’ve heard a million times and yet I think is said so flippantly we no longer believe it-I know I don’t. Well, I believe nothing is impossible with God, but I don’t believe always that he will or even wants to do what I ask him. I do believe he is capable of more that I could ask or even imagine-but my conception of answered prayer has been so bound up in inaccurate thinking about “His will” that I haven’t been much of a prayer for years now. I’ve seen others and heard myself literally brush off the responsibility of prayer with a God-will-do-what-he-wants-anyway attitude. But if I really believe nothing is impossible with him, than I can believe that he wrote scripture through fallen beings. I can believe he redeemed said beings by birthing a savior through an equally fallen young girl, and I can believe he means what he says when it comes to our hearts and prayer. If nothing is impossible with God, than it is possible for me to commune with him and see answered prayer. It is possible that a God wants to be with me and use me to accomplish his will in a way that is not controlling or losing me of my will, but joining me to a perfect one, not in a robotic manner but in a friendly one. Indeed, I will ponder these 6 words for the rest of my life. I find it especially interesting this verse and a similar one in Genesis referring to Sarah both involved impossible bodily situations. This statement is mentioned these two times in regard to these women’s bodies and what was thought to be impossible physically. How often do I think physical ailments are out of God’s reach? Too often.

 
Another thought on Mary, 2:19 says she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. I wonder if her thoughts were so different from mine, and if she cherished and treasured the things she knew of God in a similar way that I do. I picture her smiling and holding even the things she didn’t understand about her God and her son, as I often smile about the things I love of God.

 
Finally 2:40 says he grew and that the grace of God was upon him. This puzzles me as I think of grace as something required for a sinner, so how was it upon Christ? Does it refer to his favor? Verse 49 makes me wonder similarly. Jesus tells his parents he had to be in his Father’s house. This phrase strikes a new chord with me now-as I think often how I just have to go and sit in God’s presence. But wasn’t God in Jesus always? How did he have a need to be with that which was always with him? And in verse 52 it says he grew in wisdom and favor-did he not have both in completion? Was he not, as God, full of all the wisdom and favor he needed? Does this refer to his lack?

Recognition from Heaven – Luke 1-2 – (Daniel Rogers)
As I read this passage I couldn’t help but notice that Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph were all people that received incredible “recognition from heaven” and were used by God in a way that had never been done before, and that has never been done since. The favor and recognition that they received from heaven (from God) caused their lives to impact billions upon billions of people, and to have their names written in eternal history. What was it about Zacharias, Elizabeth , Mary, and John’s lives that they were highly esteemed and gained the favor of God? Was it 100% an act of God’s mercy and grace on His divine lineage and seed? Or did the character, devotion and love for God in their lives make them eligible to be the people God used to prepare the way for the Messiah and to be the ones to birth and raise the Messiah child?

It could probably be debated that God’s mercy and their character are both reasons God was able to use them to be apart of the historical incarnation. I find it notable that Zacharias was a man of prayer, and that the angel showed up while people were praying outside during the hour of incense. A life of prayer is clearly a crucial ingredient to walking in the favor of God. It also seems that angels show up to people whose lives are steeped in prayer… to deliver a word of favor and destiny from God. I think it is also fascinating to see that Mary burst out into spontaneous Spirit-filled worship. When we have a life that is pleasing to God and we see His promises come to pass in our life, I believe Spirit-filled spontaneous worship is a reality we will walk in, because our hearts will be so full and swelling with love for God.

I can only imagine the exhilaration that Zacharias experienced seeing the angel speak to him about the prophetic destiny of his son John. Like Mary, Zacharias was also filled with the Spirit of God and stepped into the flow of the prophetic, prophesying about the destiny of John preparing the way. I almost wonder if Zacharias had ever prophesied before this experience. I would be willing to bet that his faith in God had been so elevated by the angel and the amazing prophetic confirmations, that his heart was more pliable and helped him to yield to God and the flow of the prophetic in a greater way.

The blessings that come from walking in purity and love for God is just further solidified when reading about Simeon’s and Anna’s encounter with Jesus when He was a baby. God promised Simeon that he would not pass away until he saw the promised Messiah. Simeon must have been a man after God’s heart to have received this kind of promise from God.

Anna was another servant of God whose life was rooted in prayer, fasting, and waiting on God. It had to be overwhelming and exciting to see the prophetic promise of God right in front of her eyes. I can’t imagine what it would have been like in her shoes in that moment. It had been some 400 years since the Word of the Lord was widespread. It seems like it would have been hard being excited to live in her day. It probably took a lot of faith and prayer to believe in the midst of 400 years of no sign or Word about the coming Messiah. Maybe God needed to use Anna to help get the word out that His Son had come into the earth… but God was also blessing Anna for her faithfulness in prayer and fasting. Anna She had also won the favor of God, and got to see a prophetic promise with her own eyes.

Observing Luke 1 & 2 shows that when we walk in godliness and obedience there seems to be a constant string of divine reactions that spur people’s hearts deeper in God and deeper in the power of God’s Spirit. The amount of prophetic confirmation surrounding Mary and Joseph had to be overwhelming. While this passage is about the Messiah being birthed into the earth, I believe it is also a framework of promise and confirmation that we can expect when walking with God. In our holy and pure pursuit of our destiny I believe God will use innocent bystanders as signposts to let us know that we are on the right track. God sent his angels to the shepherds to let them know of the savior being born. I wonder what their theology was like before that encounter with God’s angels. And I wonder what their theology was like after truly finding Jesus in the stable. I would be surprised if the shepherds were not somehow radically changed by their encounter.

Mary and Joseph’s godliness and God’s favor had a ripple effect of blessing on many lives and innocent bystanders. I wonder how many people’s lives we can positively impact by just pursuing our destiny in God. It is like some plug gets pulled in the heavens and as our destiny is drained into our lives, there is a prophetic swirl and whirlpool that has the potential to impact and transform people’s lives. It is edifying to think that people will get be impacted in the process of seeking God. But impacting lives and seeing them saved and transformed is not only the fruit of seeking God it is obviously the end result of our pursuit of God and our destiny.