January 17th

Faith-filled Response to God

³⁰Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."  ³⁴Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" ³⁵And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷For with God nothing will be impossible."  ³⁸Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.  Luke 1:30-38 NKJV 

Luke 1 has some great examples to teach us about faith.  For example, Zacharias was muted by the angel Gabriel when he did not believe Gabriel’s message (Luke 1:20).  In contrast, Gabriel gives Mary some awesome news in the above passage and we see that Mary’s response was different from that of Zacharias.  Her question to Gabriel was appropriate since a virgin conceiving a baby was impossible.  Mary did not doubt Gabriel.  If she had, Gabriel certainly would have addressed that as he did with Zacharias. Once Gabriel explained how this miracle would take place, Mary responded in faith, “let it be to me according to your word.”  We know that it did happen to Mary according to what Gabriel said, and her child (Jesus) changed the whole world! 

This story has excellent application to any situation you are facing in life.  God has given you amazing and powerful promises in the Bible, which is his word. Some example promises that we can claim through faith in Christ are:

• I am a new creation in Christ; the old has passed away and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• The law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)
• The Holy Spirit helps me put to death the sinful urges of my old self (Romans 8:13)
• The Holy Spirit gives me life in my mortal body, strengthening me to live in purity (Romans 8:11)
• I am a co-heir with Jesus to God’s kingdom (Romans 8:17)

Since God cannot lie, you can learn these and the many other promises in the Bible and stand on them in faith.  You can say to God, “Lord, let it be to me according to your word!”  

Questions for further thought:

• What ways can we fill our mind and thoughts with God’s word?
• How is a daily intake of God’s word helpful to building our faith?
• How does faith help us in fighting spiritual battles in our thoughts?

Prayer:

“Heavenly Father, thank you for your many promises to me as a believer in Jesus Christ.  Please show me how I can increase my daily intake of your word and set my mind on your promises throughout the day.  Help me put your promises in motion by believing in them.  Thank you, Father! I praise you and recommit myself to living for you today. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”