Daily Bread 12-8-18
Luke 1:49-50
49. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
ref. - Ex 34:6,7 - And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Mary was just told that she would conceive from her womb the Son of God. In many ways she could and should have been scared, doubting, upset. But rather she saw what a great blessing it was and that she, of all women, had found favor in the Lord to the point where he chose her to carry his Son! She honored and glorified God and knew, not wondered but knew, that this blessing would carry on from generation to generation. And it still does. To this day we are still given his mercy if we fear him. Let us put it this way, if you didn't fear the outcome of your wrongdoing in a court of law, you would never ask forgiveness or admit your guilt. If the punishment for crime was a reward rather than punishment you would never admit what you were doing was wrong. But you fear the outcome so you say you were wrong and you repent. Just as with the Lord. He won't forgive you for something that you don't repent of. If you didn't fear him you would never need mercy as you would not believe in the promise to those who are caught in sin. You see, if we look at it, we must be open and honest with him and he will bless us. He is merciful and gracious to those who will repent and turn from their wicked ways. As for those who do not? The reference is quite clear, he will by no means clear the guilty. If we are to be as Mary was, spiritually not carnally, we will be given the Son of God to carry and conceive in our souls. We will need to fear God and be faithful to him. Believing in him and obedient to what he puts in us. We will be saved and that Spirit will be put in us when we have sanctified our lives. The birth of this Son is how we represent ourselves and God through our daily lives, our actions, and our beliefs. So, you see, when we compare Mary's carnal blessing to our Spiritual blessing it is not that far different. Today, through faith, we must carry the Son of God in our hearts, minds, and souls, and then we must let his Spirit to work through us to the point where the world sees Christ in us! It is possible, it is for us, and it is God's will!! This is something that has been carried on from generation to generation and will continue on until Christ comes again. It is why we were created and why God chose us to dwell on this planet. So let's be blessed and carry his Spirit, letting it exude out to all who see and hear us! Lets have the same gratitude and honor that Mary had towards God in that he has created a miracle that man could not make in us!! God is good and Jesus Christ is to be feared and revered forever!! Have a great day!!!