The Mary Series: Life isn't easy

(originally published November 11, 2009)

Remember the song, "I Never Promised You A Rose Garden"? Ouch 1973.

As I have studied and prayed over this passage in Luke 1 concerning the angel's announcement to Mary of her favor with God, and then the plan that is put before her, I get the feeling poor little Mary must have been one frightened little gal. The angel made a point to say "Fear not" to her. If I was met with a large spiritual being while I was making my bed, or doing the dishes, I would have to say that I definitely would be a little surprised and a lot nervous. But more than just for the momentary excitement, I think the angel needed to let Mary know that what he was about to say to her, could cause her fear.

God had a plan. This was His Big Plan, and He needed someone that trusted Him, loved Him, and revered Him. God needed someone who was willing to lay down their own plan, and pick up the plan that God was laying before them. Mary was just a young teenager, 13 or 14, I have heard. She had met and was engaged to a young man named Joseph. They had a plan. They were going to get married and live happily ever after.

Most young women have a plan similar to that. I know I did. Whether it's a career, or a marriage, or travel (or all of it) we all have dreams and aspirations, that's just part of our human nature...and it's good that we have that. Plans and dreams motivate us. Our plans and dreams may have slight variations, but most include a love story, a family, and a white picket fence. Youth sees things through those rose colored glasses that maturity often requires us to remove.

Version: NAS
Luke 1:30-34

30. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end." 34. And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

Luke 1:37-38

37. "For nothing will be impossible with God." 38. And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.


Now, back to The Plan. When we become a Christian, we not only ask Jesus into our hearts, spiritually, but in turn we should be willing to hand over our hearts to Jesus. I have said before that when I became a Christian I made Jesus my "Lord and Savior", but it took a long time for me to allow Him to become "Lord of my Life".

Read it again please, not just Saviour but The One Who is in Charge.

So here is Mary with her own plan, and now she has to be willing to say "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."

My life didn't change a lot until I finally got to the place where I said, "Lord, I am willing to put aside what I think and want, and let You show me what You want." That was not an easy time for me. It was a process of letting go of some things. It wasn't a rose garden, but if we do use the analogy, then there were some mighty big thorns and a lot of manure that I had to be forced to deal with.

Mary "signed on" as I said before. She agreed with God for His plan. Now, I'm not spouting doom and gloom here. God has good plans for us.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

11. 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12. 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13. 'And you will seek Me and find [Me], when you search for Me with all your heart. 14. 'And I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

He has good plans, they may just not always be easy. Remember when James and John's mother came to Jesus. She asked what she thought would be a good question. She asked Jesus if her two son's could sit with Jesus in Heaven. She really didn't know what she was asking.

Matthew 20:20-28

20. Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down, and making a request of Him. 21. And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left." 22. But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to Him, "We are able." 23. He said to them, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on [My] left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father." 24. And hearing [this], the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25. But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and [their] great men exercise authority over them. 26. "It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27. and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28. just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Mary signed on to become a "servant", a bondslave of the Lord, she was "indebted" to Him. So, even though we may have to lay down our own plan for our life, wouldn't you rather be doing what God has planned for you? I know I would. I'm shortsighted and don't know what's best. I've gotten my own self in lots of ditches over the years. I have found that God has good plans. They may not always be easy, but they are best, and His best for me (and you).

Romans 12:1-2

1. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship. 2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

I would love to hear from you all. What has God asked you to lay down for His plan for your life? How has He taken "your plan" and given it an "overhaul"? I know you all are out there, I'm asking you just to leave a short (or long) comment on these posts, if you feel God nudging you. Let's hear what each other has to share. :)

Be Blessed, Everyone.
love, Debra

Who do we please?

What a mouthful Paul spoke when he asked the question "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?" How do we know if our motives are God-centered or man-centered? Knowing the difference can make a huge impact on our everyday life and the ultimate fulfillment of our purpose.

Version: NAS

Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

One of the main concepts of this verse, other than who we are seeking approval from, is the idea of the term "bond-servant". This has more of the concept of a person who is "indebted" or "obliged" to someone else, and not so much as "ownership" by someone else. In Bible times people might have a debt of property that needed to be paid off and so they would contract themselves to another for a period of time to pay off that debt. In today's ideas many of us would be bond-servants of the mortgage company, Sears, and Macy's. (Just a little humor here!) But in those days, not only were you indebted, but it was a personal relationship and often one with gratitude and affinity attached.

So do we stop and examine our motive in situations and relationships?. Are we God-Pleasers or Man-Pleasers? How often do we take something on because we have a need for approval of other people? I know I've been guilty of this, as most of us have been at one time or another. I really care about other people's opinion of me, sometimes more than I should. As I've matured and gotten older I've learned the value of balancing this need. If we are always doing things for the approval of others we can soon find ourselves hurt and disappointed... and exhausted.

Taking things to God in prayer has really helped me sort out a lot of this. Knowing what God's will is and His plan can save us a lot of confusion. I've mentioned this before, but it's a key in my life. Don't do things on a whim; ask for God's approval and direction.

In Paul's case, before his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus to kill and imprison believers, he truly felt he was doing "God's will". Unfortunately he was wrong. What may appear as the right thing to do, our sincerity, and enthusiasm, aren't always good indicators of the will of God. Neither are they an indicator of God's approval. As a Jew, and a Pharisee, highly educated and wealthy, Paul was gung-ho on putting an end to all these traitors to the Jewish faith. It was his personal mission to get rid of and/or persecute as many of these "Christians" as he possibly could. Paul was gaining the approval of the Jewish councils and higher-ups. He was a young man on the rise and making a pretty big name for himself. You want to get rid of some pesky Christians? Who ya gonna call? Paul, known at that time, as Saul. He was at the stoning of Stephen and and in full approval of that dreadful decision. Acts 7:54-8:3

When God first called me, He had me "out-there" in the founding of a church start. It wasn't particularly easy being a woman in the landscape of ministry in the denomination I was in. Let's face it, it was like walking on eggshells of ego, the buddy system, and the "traditions of men". The dominant word here being "men". There was a phrase jokingly put, that coming to the alter to pray or confess, was the closest any woman would ever get to the pulpit. Sad but true.

They all liked what God was saying through me as long as it wasn't rocking their boat. I could keep my spot in the semi inner circle of this small church start, as long as I agreed with everything they said and did. In the natural I wanted to be accepted because I knew God was moving mightily in the midst of our congregation and He had some powerful things to do there. What initially had started out completely Spirit-led soon disintegrated into the man-made rule book way of doing things.

Well, I guess you can catch my drift. No matter how much I wanted to stay in good standing with the "group" there, God was asking me to stay true to Him; not any one person or denominational "handbook". I didn't last long there as I couldn't go along with it, so my husband and I excused ourselves.


Version: RSV

2 Corinthians 5:9-10
9. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.(God) 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.

God has a way of asking us to do things at times that goes against the grain of "mainstream" religion. He's not particularly worried about what others might think of us. I'm not talking about rudeness, or craziness, or "show-offy-ness". (my own word here). I'm talking about following the Holy Spirit in our words and actions. Being true to what God is asking and saying, and not bowing down to pressure...not following the crowd to gain the approval of others. Ultimately, on Judgement Day, we will have to give an account of what we have done here on Earth; good or bad, lasting or inconsequential, God directed or man directed.
God once showed me a little mental picture (a small vision, if you will) of the "reserved seating" pews that we find in many church sanctuaries. It's usually up close to the front, to one side, for visiting speakers or clergy. He said to me, "This is where they want me to sit."  They didn't want Him to be front and center; in charge of the service, but just to take His place to sit and not say anything until called upon. Just visiting.

I don't know about you, but I don't want Jesus to be in the "just visiting section" in my life. I want Him fully in charge, directing my life, and in control. And to get that I need to be a bond-servant. Grateful and indebted to Jesus for my salvation AND my life.

Seeking God's approval over man's. You'll never be able to please everyone, so better to just try and please God. He'll let you know if you just ask.

love, in Jesus,
Debra

Blessing follows Favor

Favor and blessing. How do these two things connect? What exactly does "blessing" look like? Let's see what the Oxford Dictionary has to say about "blessing". noun: invoking favor, a gift of God, favor of God, advantage, good fortune.

Version: NAS
Luke 1:28-33


28. And coming in, he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord [is] with you." 29. But she was greatly troubled at [this] statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. 30. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end."

Version: NAS

Luke 1:34-38


34. And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35. And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. 36. "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37. "For nothing will be impossible with God." 38. And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

I keep hearing the phrase, "Blessing follows obedience." It's a concept that I have learned over the years. Not always in an easy way. I'm a pretty bullheaded, stubborn person, in the natural. I have tendency to do what I think is best. I make up my mind and then I can steamroll right over you; that is part of my nature. It is a quality that can be good, especially when things need to be done, but sometimes it doesn't particularly set well with God. It's been a hard lesson for me to be "submissive" to the Lord, He and I have gotten in a tangle of two over the years. Believe me, He is loving and kind, but there are times, He has had to sit on me to get me to pay attention. He's a good parent; a much better parent than I could ever hope to be. I lose my patience, get mad, give in, compromise, (but not in a good way), be harsh, be neglectful,etc. You know what I mean. I'm a human being and sometimes not a glowing example.
 
I believe Mary was a young woman who had learned submissiveness, which resulted in favor, which resulted in blessing. When we talked about the Samaritan woman, I mentioned the scripture from Matthew 11:28-29, concerning taking the yoke that Jesus offers us. If we get in step with Jesus, and go where He wants to go, the "burden" is lifted off of us and we let Him shoulder it.

Jesus wants us to get in step with Him, not running off on our own. How many times that has happened to me, and unfortunately I have paid a heavy price. This is where many people that don't know God would scream that they don't want to become a mindless zombie and be like everyone else. That is a good point. God appreciates our individuality, but He's not asking us to become like everyone else. He's asking us to become like Him. Then our individuality shines through in His likeness.

When we submit to Him and get in step with Him, He can work with us. He takes us under His arm and says, "Great, OK, now we can start to get somewhere. I'm showing you my favor because you are looking to me."

 Version: NAS

Proverbs 3:1-6

1. My son,(and daughters) do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; 2. For length of days and years of life, And peace they will add to you. 3. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. 5. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. 6. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

Mary was a young woman who kept His commandments in her heart, wore truth around her neck, allowed Him to write them on her heart. The result was that she found favor with God, and man. She trusted in the Lord with all her heart, even though she did not understand how all this could be. She acknowledged Him and the result was He made her path straight.

When we do these things, God "obliges" Himself to watch over us. He favors us, and then blesses us with His powerful Presence. He walks ahead of us on the path, and Blessings follow.
 
Mary had a lot to go through. She had "signed on" for a path that would not be easy. She trusted God, no matter what, and because of that she ultimately received the highest Blessing any woman could seek. She received God's presence in a way that none of us will ever fully know. We may not be able to carry the Son of Man in our "womb", but we can all carry Him in our hearts.
 
And that's where the blessing lies. Not just in material goods, happiness, or fulfillment of our desires, but the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Then, and only then, will we find our highest and best. Sometimes that includes all the things we reach for in our life here on Earth. Sometimes wealth, fame, and happiness, but true Blessing only comes when it is attached to the Favor of God.

Today, may you each find

 God's Blessing in your life,

 

If you haven't read the last two posts on Mary
please do, they relate to one another,
in this little series of posts.

I'm going to step out here and ask a little
"favor" of you who read this regularly.
This blog is not promoting "me", but hopefully Jesus.
Some of you have this blog listed on your sidebar or blog roll.
Would you please prayerfully consider adding it.
Not as a favor to me, but to spread the Word of God.
Many people come through these blogs everyday.
Sometimes they are searching.
 If even one person finds Jesus in these posts,
it would be such a "blessing".Thank you all,

Debra