Publication | ‘Article’

by Noreen Tjindra

When Christians are so filled with the Spirit of God in them, they would have a strong desire to give unto God. It is an anticipated response to the love of God in our hearts. There is no exact amount of how much we have to give back to Him but we are told that our giving should be done because out of cheerfulness, we are willing, secretly, generously, unselfishly and unconditionally give to Him.

Willingly & Cheerfully - Giving to the Lord or the formal term, tithing, means is to give one-tenth of your income to God. Many churches emphasize about tithing to their congregation. However, to tithe is to give unto the Lord out of willingness and with a cheerful heart. The Bible says, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7) If you are to tithe, make sure you do so because you want to do the Will of God and to be obedient to hear His instructions. Never ever allow any man to persuade you into giving out of your desire. If it is so, then it is better for you not to give at all.

Secretly - “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Mat 6:1-4) When you give, make sure it is not to be seen by men. Give secretly or as low key as possible because God sees our heart and rewards us. Never be concerned about pleasing men or impressing them because this is all between just you and Daddy God. From this verse too, we understand that prayer, fasting and giving are all governed under the similar principles; no sounding of your trumpet, it should come from your heart and unto Him alone. His approval alone is what we should seek for.

Generously & Unselfishly - “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Cor 9:6) Ok, this is the trickiest part! You should read this verse very carefully and pray that you are lead by the Holy Spirit. The teaching of ‘law of reaction’ has blinded many Christians that they think that every good thing only comes when they tithe. So, they rush to be the first one to give a load of money to the church. This is so wrong. When we tithe, we should be careful whether our desire to give results from walking after the Spirit or after the flesh.

Unconditionally - “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ (Luke 17:10) Do you know that we are bought at a price? Everything that we are and we have, are blessings that come from Daddy God. He has richly blessed us with the riches of the Heaven. And, we have a relationship of being more than just the “unworthy servants” towards Him but as quoted from the Bible,” Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the Living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” (1 Tim 6:17) So, be wise with the belongings that He has trusted us with. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10). So as we receive much, also give much. Be conscious that we are also the stewards of it. Therefore when we give, it must always be without any expectation to receive again.

http://www.just4kidsmagazine.com/stvalentine.html

Valentine’s Day is one of our favorite holidays. Actually it is right behind Christmas. It is a day that we Celebrate our love for one another, and God’s love for us. Craig and I were married on Valentine’s Day so we Celebrate our becoming a blended family on that day too. In our house Love has always been very special, and always will be. Even as a little girl I always looked forward to our family Celebrating Valentine’s Day. My Mom and Dad would always buy us something special, and I always looked forward to receiving their gift and love.

Many years ago I read a story about St. Valentine that really caught my attention. And I want to pass it on. In the Bible John 15: 13 reads “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” And that is just what St. Valentine did.

St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor was imprisoning Christians for not worshipping the Roman gods. During this persecution Valentine was arrested. Some write that he was arrested because he was performing Christian marriages, but others say it was for helping Christians escape prison.

During the trial they asked Valentine what he thought of the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury. Valentine said they were false gods and that the God that Jesus called Father was the only true God. So the Romans threw him in prison for insulting the gods.

While in prison Valentine continued to minister. He witnessed to the guards. One of the guards was a good man who had adopted a blind girl. He asked Valentine if his God could help his daughter. Valentine prayed and the girl was given her sight. The guard and his whole family, 46 people, believed in Jesus and were baptized. Because these people had come to know Jesus, Valentine praised God right there in his prison cell. When the emperor heard about this he was furious that Valentine was still making converts even in prison, so he had Valentine beheaded.

Valentine knew that he might get caught in his Christian activities. He knew that if he told the court the truth about the Roman gods that he would be thrown in prison. And he knew that if he continued to witness to Christ in the prison he would make his captors angry. But he continued, because he loved the Lord and his fellow humans. He was willing to risk his life to free the prisoners and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who needed to hear it.

The Bible Says: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”(John 15:13) God showed us this love by coming in Christ to die for our sins. And St. Valentine demonstrated this love when he died for his friends. This is the kind of love that Valentine’s Day is really about.

By Francis Chan

There is an epidemic of spiritual amnesia going around, and none of us is immune.

No matter how many fascinating details we learn about God’s creation, we still forget.

Most of us know that we are supposed to love and fear God; that we are supposed to read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know Him better; that we are supposed to worship Him with our lives. But actually living it out is challenging. Shouldn’t it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again.

It may sound “un-Christian” to say that on some mornings I don’t feel like loving God, or I just forget to. But I do. In our world, where there are hundreds of things to distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.

We are programmed to focus on what we don’t have, bombarded multiple times throughout the day with what we need to buy that will make us feel happier or sexier or more at peace. We forget that we already have everything we need in Him. Because we don’t often think about the reality of who God is, we quickly forget that He is worthy to be worshipped and loved. We are to fear Him.

A. W. Tozer writes: “… Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself…what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”

If the serious question before us really is what God Himself is like, how do we learn to know Him? We have seen how He is the Creator of both the magnitude of the galaxies and the complexity of caterpillars. But what is He like? What are His characteristics? What are His defining attributes? How are we to fear Him?

God is eternal. Most of us would probably agree with that statement. But have you ever seriously meditated on what it means? Each of us had a beginning; everything in existence began on a particular day, at a specific time. God is all-knowing. Isn’t this an intimidating thought? He knows our thoughts before we think them, our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down or sitting or walking around. He knows who we are and what we are about. We cannot escape Him, not even if we want to. When I grow weary of trying to be faithful to Him and want a break, it doesn’t come as a surprise to God.

God is all-powerful. Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” God is fair and just. One definition of justice is “reward and/or penalty as deserved.” If what we truly deserved were up to us, we would end up with as many different answers as people who responded. But it isn’t up to us, mostly because none of us are good.

by Simon William Prasetyo

Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Many people write things about faith, sing songs about faith, and even bible also mention many things about faith. Many people in our church are often write something about faith on their Facebook, MSN Messenger, Skype, etc. However, many people still think that faith is acting like something is so when it really isn’t so, and if we do that long enough, then it will become so. But that’s not it at all. Faith is real. God’s Word daily. Speak and confess them aloud to yourself. Then act out whatever the Word says. God moves when you move—in a faith that is active.

This is saying that faith is real. It is the evidence of things not seen. Notice it didn’t say “things that don’t exist.” They do exist. They just aren’t
seen. Now, do you want to experience that faith? Before that, you should know that faith without deeds is nothing. In bible, James 2:14-26 explains this by emphasizing on:

James 2:20, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

I believe you will see that faith really works. However, you must do your work diligently with pure heart and fully rely on God. I believe that God is a faithful God. He never abandons us.

In our consumer society where fast food commercials try to convince us to instantly satisfy our every craving, a fast is a countercultural statement. Add to that the fact that it’s a rich and biblical part of Christian tradition. If you are undertaking a fast, and it is your first time here are a few tips to help you succeed.

Remember to Pray

This sounds simple, but it’s amazing how sidetracked you can become when you’re thinking about your stomach. The whole point of fasting is to focus on prayer. You’re not engaging in a starvation diet. Every time you start obsessing about food or how hungry you are, pray. When a Subway commercial comes on TV, PRAY!

Ask for Support

While Jesus tells us not to go around bragging about our fasting, there’s nothing wrong with asking a couple friends to hold you accountable and pray for you. Hopefully, they’ll also be kind enough not to eat massive amounts of food in front of you.

Don’t Tempt Yourself Unreasonably

You don’t want to isolate yourself while fasting, but it’s important to be smart about what situations you put yourself in. For instance, in the midst of my fast I went to my favorite barbecue restaurant with a group of friends and watched them eat. One of them tried to convince me that if I drank baked beans they counted as a beverage. It almost made sense. Stay away from situations that are going to put unreasonable strain on your fortitude.

Drink a Lot

Chugging a lot of water will make the hunger pangs less severe. Also, going without food for a while can make you extremely lethargic. Water will boost your energy. You may also want to think about drinking juice. It will keep your blood sugar from plummeting too much. Stay away, however, from caffeine and alcohol. Without food in your stomach as a buffer, caffeine will have you bouncing off the walls and alcohol will probably put you in a coma.

Fasting is tough. There’s no way around that. But it can be an incredible learning experience. During my fast, I realized how much of my life was centered around immediate gratification. Fasting and prayer are often mentioned together in the Bible. Prayer takes on new meaning when you’re weak enough that you sometimes feel the wind might blow you over. It is a physical manifestation of a spiritual reality: We are husks of nothingness without God.

We run into problems when we make the soul all-important and the body totally insignificant. When we forget that our bodies matter, we live lopsided lives. We forget to rest. We forget that our very cells are holy and that the clearest word God’s ever spoken came to us as a body with red blood and breakable bones. The spiritual intersects profoundly with the physical.

Our souls are all tangled up in our bodies, and when I fast, I know this. I become more aware of each small physical thing and each small spiritual thing, and that they are not so separate as I once believed.

by Kong Hee - www.konghee.com

For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes,
I shall be made well.” Mark 5:28

One time, as Jesus was moving through a huge crowd, there was a certain woman who had been sick for 12 years with a hemorrhage. She had many bad encounters with doctors who could not give her a cure for her disease. She was not getting any better; in fact, she was getting worse. By now, her huge medical bills were pushing her toward bankruptcy.

Then one day, somebody told her about the wonderful miracles Jesus did. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The Greek word for “hearing” is in the present continuous tense. That means you need to hear God’s Word spoken to you again and again. That is also the reason why listening to good, faith-building sermons is so important. You can hear them in church, from an audiotape, through a radio or television broadcast, through the Internet, or simply by reading the Bible aloud to yourself.

So this woman heard about Jesus. She then started saying to herself, “I can be healed. If I could only touch His clothes, I know I can be made whole.” Again in the Greek text, it indicates that she rehearsed and confessed this to herself again and again. Faith is speaking out—again and again. Jesus says, “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).

Then this woman acted out what she believed. She came behind Jesus in the crowd and actually touched His garment. Immediately, power left Jesus and healed her of her affliction. Jesus felt the outflow, she felt the inflow.

Jesus commended the woman for her faith (Mark 5:34). What was her faith? She heard. She spoke. She acted. This woman didn’t just trust God passively. She translated her faith into positive, physical action.

Don’t be a passive Christian. Decide to hear God’s Word daily. Speak and confess them aloud to yourself. Then act out whatever the Word says. God moves when you move—in a faith that is active.

By Dr.  Bill Bright

If you do not already know of the power and importance of fasting, here are some very important facts:

• Fasting was an expected discipline in both the Old and New Testament eras. For example, Moses fasted at least two recorded forty-day periods. Jesus fasted 40 days and reminded His followers to fast, “when you fast,” not if you fast.

• Fasting and prayer can restore the loss of the “first love” for your Lord and result in a more intimate relationship with Christ.

• Fasting is a biblical way to truly humble yourself in the sight of God (Psalm 35:13; Ezra 8:21). King David said, “I humble myself through fasting.”

• Fasting enables the Holy Spirit to reveal your true spiritual condition, resulting in brokenness, repentance, and a transformed life.

• The Holy Spirit will quicken the Word of God in your heart and His truth will become more meaningful to you!

• Fasting can transform your prayer life into a richer and more personal experience.

• Fasting can result in a dynamic personal revival in your own life-and make you a channel of revival to others.

• Fasting and prayer are the only disciplines that fulfill the requirements of II Chronicles 7:14:
• “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

If you fast, you will find yourself being humbled as I did. You will discover more time to pray and seek God’s face. And as He leads you to recognize and repent of unconfessed sin, you will experience special blessings from God.

Receiving God’s best blessing from a fast requires solid commitment. Arranging special time each day with God is absolutely crucial in attaining intimate communion with the Father. You must devote yourself to seeking God’s face, even (and especially) during those times in which you feel weak, vulnerable, or irritable. Read His Word and pray during what were mealtimes. Meditate on Him when you awake in the night. Sing praises to Him whenever you please. Focus on your Heavenly Father and make every act one of praise and worship. God will enable you to experience His command to “pray without ceasing” as you seek His presence.

As you enter this time of heightened spiritual devotion, be aware that Satan will do everything he can to pull you away from your prayer and Bible reading time. When you feel the enemy trying to discourage you, immediately go to God in prayer and ask Him to strengthen your resolve in the face of difficulties and temptations.

The enemy makes you a target because he knows that fasting is the most powerful of all Christian disciplines and that God may have something very special to show you as you wait upon Him and seek His face. Satan does not want you to grow in your faith, and will do anything from making you hungry and grumpy to bringing up trouble in your family or at work to stop you. Make prayer your shield against such attacks.

My major reason for fasting is for personal revival, revival for our nation, for the world and for the fulfillment of the Great Commission by the end of the year 2000. But praying for our own needs and interceding for others are also important reasons to fast and pray. Bring your personal needs before the Lord, intercede for your loved ones, your friends, your church, your pastor, your community, your nation, and the world. By your prayers of humility, as you fast, you will help the Great Commission be fulfilled.

However, do not become so caught up in praying for yourself and others that you forget about simply reverencing and praising God. True spiritual fasting focuses on God. Center your total being on Him, your attitudes, your actions, your motives, desires, and words. This can only take place if God and His Holy Spirit are at the center of our attention. Confess your sins as the Holy Spirit brings them to your attention and continue to focus on God and God alone so that your prayers may be powerful and effective.

A renewed closeness with God and a greater sensitivity to spiritual things are usually the results of a fast. Do not be disappointed if you do not have a “mountaintop experience,” as some do. Many people who have successfully completed extended fasts tell of feeling a nearness to God that they have never before known, but others who have honestly sought His face report no particular outward results at all. For others, their fast was physically, emotionally, and spiritually grueling, but they knew they had been called by God to fast, and they completed the fast unto Him as an act of worship; God honored that commitment.

Your motive in fasting must be to glorify God, not to have an emotional experience, and not to attain personal happiness. When your motives are right, God will honor your seeking heart and bless your time with Him in a very special way.

A discussion on prayer would not be complete without including a subject that is an important companion to prayer in the Bible: fasting.
Combining fasting with prayer can result in a spiritual atomic bomb that pulls down spiritual strongholds and releases the power of God in your life and the life of your church, its pastor, its leaders, and its members.

How you begin and conduct your fast will largely determine your success. Permit me to suggest steps to take that will help make your time with the Lord more meaningful and spiritually rewarding, while at the same time enhancing your physical health.
Set an Objective
The first step is to set a specific objective. Why are you fasting? Is it for spiritual renewal, for guidance, for healing, for the resolution of problems, for special grace to handle a difficult situation? Keeping your goal in focus will help you sustain your fast when physical desires and life’s pressures tempt you to abandon it.

I personally believe the Holy Spirit has given all believers an urgent call to humble ourselves through fasting and prayer so that He may stir our souls, awaken our churches, and heal our land according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. I urge you to make personal, local, national, and world revival and the fulfillment of the Great Commission your primary purpose for fasting.

Lay a Spiritual Foundation
The second step is to prepare yourself spiritually. The very foundation of fasting and prayer is repentance. Unconfessed sin will hinder your prayers. In Scripture, God always requires His people to repent of their sins before He will hear their prayers.

As you begin your fast, I encourage you to confess every sin that the Holy Spirit calls to your remembrance. Include the obvious sins and those not so apparent, such as leaving your first love for the Lord, worldly-mindedness, self-centeredness, and spiritual indifference–being unwilling to share your faith in Christ with others, unwilling to help at church, unwilling to spend time in God’s Word and prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in your heart that is not pleasing to God and claim the promise of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (NKJV).

Make Physical Preparations
The third step is to prepare yourself physically. Do not rush into a fast. If you plan to go without food for several days, you find it helpful to begin by eating smaller meals before you abstain altogether. This sends your mind a signal that you have entered the time of the fast, and it helps to “shrink” your stomach and appetite.
Preparing yourself physically makes a drastic change in your eating routine a little easier. Then you can turn your full attention to the Lord in prayer.

Plan Your Prayer Time

The next step is to set aside ample time to be alone with the Lord during your fast. The more time you spend with Him in fellowship, worship, and adoration and the more you read and meditate on His Word during your fast, the greater your effectiveness will be in prayer and the more meaningful your fast will be.
Seek God in prayer and as you meditate on His Word each morning before you leave home or go about your daily routine. Return to prayer at lunch, and come before Him again in the evening for unhurried times seeking His face. Of course, you should practice His presence and continue to have fellowship with Him constantly as your pray without ceasing throughout the day.
There is not set formula for how to pray when you fast. You may wish to pray aloud or silently, asking the Lord to grant specific requests. I suggest you make a list and add to it daily as needs come to mind. Pray earnestly for your family, your pastor, your church, your community, and our nation. Pray for revival in our land and a great worldwide spiritual harvest. Pray for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
You may wait before God in quiet meditation as you invite the Holy Spirit to minister to you and bring to mind those things He wants you to pray about.
You should go about your daily activities mindful that your are still fasting and seeking the Lord. Some of my deepest spiritual insights have come as I continue my ministry responsibilities while seeking His face and practicing His presence.
If you do not know what to pray for, or you feel “prayed out,” wait quietly before Him. Turn to the psalms or other favorite passages of Scripture and pray the Word of God back to Him. For example, pray each verse of Psalm 23 aloud, thanking Him for performing each of those promises in your life. Worship and praise the Lord. Tell God how much you love Him and want to serve Him. Invite His presence into your life in a fresh way.
You may wish to approach God with the Lord’s Prayer recorded in Matthew 6:9-13. Generally, this prayer covers everything we could possibly ask or say to God. As an introduction to this prayer, Jesus reminded His disciples that “your Father knows the things that you need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8 NKJV).
Now that you have an idea of how to go about fasting, it is time to fix your gaze upon the One who sees you and knows you–the One who delights in you and is waiting for you to come before Him.

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions goes back over 3000 years to the ancient Babylonians. There is just something about the start of a New Year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. In reality, there is no difference between December 31st and January 1st. Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31st. The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. However, if a Christian determines to make a New Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or she make?

Common New Year’s resolutions are: to quit smoking, to stop drinking, to manage money better, and spend more time with family. By far the most common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, in conjunction with exercising more and eating healthier. These are all good goals to set. However, 1 Timothy 4:8 instructs us to keep exercise in perspective: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” The vast majority of New Year’s resolutions, even among Christians, are in relation to physical things. This should not be.

Many Christians make New Year’s resolutions to pray more, to read the Bible every day, and to attend church more regularly. These are fantastic goals. However, these New Year’s resolutions fail just as often as the non-spiritual resolutions, because there is no power in a New Year’s resolution.

Resolving to start or stop doing a certain activity has no value unless you have the proper motivation for stopping or starting that activity.

For example, why do you want to read the Bible every day? Is it to honor God and grow spiritually, or is it because you have just heard that it is a good thing to do? Why do you want to lose weight? Is it to honor God with your body, or is it for vanity, to honor yourself?

Philippians 4:13 tells us, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” John 15:5 declares, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

If God is the center of your New Year’s resolution, it has chance for success, depending on your commitment to it.

If it is God’s will for something to be fulfilled, He will enable you to fulfill it. If a resolution is not God honoring and/or is not in agreement in God’s Word, we will not receive God’s help in fulfilling the resolution.

So, what sort of New Year’s resolution should a Christian make? Here are some suggestions:

1. Pray to the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5) in regards to what resolutions, if any, He would have you make;
2. Pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you;
3. Rely on God’s strength to help you;
4. Find an accountability partner who will help you and encourage you;
5. Don’t become discouraged with occasional failures; instead allow them to motivate you further;
6. Don’t become proud or vain, but give God the glory. Psalm 37:5-6, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

Recommended Resource:

Read the Bible in One Year.

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

As the tall, stately angel rose and walked toward the front of the chapel, there was a buzz among the cadets. Gabriel was a living legend. He cleared his throat.

I’ve been asked to speak to you today about what I’ve learned throughout my career. Foremost is this: we are servants of the Most High God. This lesson I learned not during my days here at the academy, but from a human being, a girl.

I had been summoned before God to be briefed on a new mission. He told me:

“Gabriel, you have a most delicate assignment. I am sending my Son to redeem the earth. To do this he must become a human himself. Your mission is to announce this plan to the young woman I have chosen to be his mother.

“Her name is Mary. She lives in the village of Nazareth in Galilee. She is betrothed to be married. That means that she is already considered a wife, though she is living at home until the final ceremonies a few months from now. And Gabriel … she is a virgin.”

He went on to describe my role and brief me on the various contingencies, concluding with these words. “Gabriel, by all means, be gentle.”

I arrived one spring morning as Mary was climbing the path from the well and came to where I was sitting on a large boulder.

She’s only a child, I thought when I first saw her — only twelve or thirteen. Betrothed at that age? But such were the customs of that place and I was assured that the Father knows what he is doing. As she approached, I stood, dressed as I always dress — long white robe, golden sash, and so forth.

“Greetings, Mary,” I began.

She gasped.

“Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!”

All the color drained from her face. I motioned for her to sit. She carefully removed the full water jug from her head, set it down, then eased herself onto the far end of the rock.

“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” I said. “You have found favor with God.” I waited a moment for her to calm down.

“You will conceive in your womb and bear a son. You are to name him Jesus.” She appeared stunned by these words, but I continued.

“Your son will become a great man. He will be called the Son of the Most High God. What’s more, the Lord God will give him the throne of David his ancestor. And he will reign as Messiah over Israel forever. Of his kingdom and reign there will be no end!”

I paused. The message shocked me; I couldn’t imagine the impact it must have had on her! She was quiet for a time. Then she asked in her young teenager voice:

“How will this happen, since I am not yet married?”

I answered:

“The Holy Spirit will come to you,

The Power of the Most High will overshadow you, Therefore your son to be born will be holy, He will be called ‘Son of God.’”

Amazing! The Father was prepared to rest his entire Christ-enterprise on this young girl — her response, her whim, her decision. She was to be the mother of God’s own Son — so young. I continued to reassure her.

“And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son.”

Mary murmured, “Old Elizabeth? Really? Oh!” I could see just a glimmer of a twinkle return to her eyes.

“Yes, they called her ‘barren,’ but she’s already six months pregnant.”

Mary was almost grinning for a moment. Then I saw her smile fade. I couldn’t read her thoughts, but could only imagine what she must be thinking.

How could she ever explain this to anyone? Who would understand? Who would ever believe her? Her father would be furious, her mother deeply hurt. And Joseph? There would be no wedding. Her dreams of marriage and family vanished in an instant. And the town fathers? Would they try to stone her?

I had been given one sentence by the Father with which to respond: “Nothing will be impossible with God,” I said. “Nothing!”

She was quiet a moment longer, lost in her thoughts. Then she looked up at me with clear eyes and said intently: “Here I am. I am the Lord’s servant, his handmaid. Let what you have said come to pass.”

She stood up. As she began to lift the heavy water jug to her shoulder and then hoist it up to her head, I reached to help, but she shook her head and lifted it up herself. As she made her way up the path to the village, her steps were assured, almost a spring to them. At the top of the hill she steadied the jar with one hand and waved to me with the other. Then she was lost from view.

And that is how I met Mary. She taught me what it means to be a servant when it’s hard to obey, when there seems to be no hope except God’s promise. Mary took the words, “For nothing will be impossible with God,” and believed them. Whenever I struggle with obedience, I think of this young girl who began a servant’s journey with the words:

“I am the servant, the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be! Let it come! I am His servant.”

The tall angel touched the corner of his eye for a moment, then stepped down and took his seat. Gabriel had learned servanthood from an even greater servant than himself — a young virgin from Nazareth named Mary.