Advent Thoughts #15 - December 14

Yesterday, Luke's gospel led me Luke's other book, the Acts of the Holy Spirit, and in particular the life-changing, transformation of one named Saul, turned Paul. I loved the Lord's words to Ananias about Paul. Ananias was a little skittish when God came to him and asked him to go and lay hands on the man so that he might regain his sight. Rightly so, Ananias had heard much about the him, and how much evil he had done to God's saints, his brethren. So, God jumps all over Ananias for his doubt! (Of course not, I'm just checking to make sure you're really reading). God assures Ananias with these words, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name (Acts 9: 12-16). 

The words spoken are interesting enough, but one word in particular is intriguing. It's the word "carry," which means "to bear" (as in a woman "bearing a child"). Paul's call on his life was to be pregnant with the name of the Lord. And, just as a woman would "suffer" in child-birth, Paul would suffer the pains of bearing the name.

I've often related my salvation transformation to Paul's. I know, that sounds a bit prideful. Believe me, I recognize mine wasn't on the magnitude of Paul's (and I hadn't been quite as evil), but my life, my desires, my behavior all changed overnight. Most of all, I believed that night of my salvation, that God had placed a call on my life to "carry the name of the Lord" and to present Him in a way that others might KNOW HIM as I had come to know Him. That call is still vivid and clear. So, like Paul, my mission, our mission, as believers, is to "bear the name of Jesus" -

Where's this going? All that background to say this: Like Mary I am called to bear the Savior, to bring Him forth, the Savior of mankind. That led me to thinking back to Mary's response to her call: Mary's Magnificat. A call that important requires a proper response!

Tomorrow: MY MAGNIFICAT!

I'm wondering...have you ever written yours? What a great time of year to do so, don't you think! Advent is near!

Advent Thoughts #14 - December 13

One (ahem!) should clean out their files every 20-years, or so. It's pretty amazing what one (meaning, me!) might discover. I did just that this week. Driven to it by my husband, who had finally decided to stain the desk to match the cabinets overhead in my office/family room, I found this little gem (see below). I don't remember who gave it to me, and, yes, I'm reprinting it without permission (so, if you know the artist, please forgive). Since, I've been thinking about Mary, it just seemed so appropriate to add it to the blogosphere...

Yet, the focus this morning is on Mary's Magnificat. What a song of praise! Although her immediate words to the angel, were words of submission ("I am the Lord's handmaid, let it be unto me as you have said."), it seemed to take Mary a while to process all that was happening with her. Seriously, would the fulness of the angels declaration to YOU be in the moment? Of course not! But, then again, that's what I love about Scripture; and, what I love about the people of the Bible. They were HUMAN - just like us. Reading between the lines, we recognize just how similar we all are. So, between the angels departure (in Luke 1:38) and Mary's Song of Praise (Luke 1:46), are several days, many miles, and, a lot of walking. That's when I do my best thinking...over several days and a lot of walking (even many miles)...

Upon arrival, Elizabeth greeted Mary with these words, "Why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed (Luke 1:44-45)..." By this time, Mary was full to overflowing, and that fulness poured forth from her mouth. Things often pour forth from my mouth, but I gotta admit, they aren't always praise worthy. God says to us, "Out of the heart, the mouth speaks." That tells me the difference between Mary's heart and mine! It speaks to me of several things regarding Mary -
Her heart was humble.
Her heart desired to serve.
Her heart was courageous (not necessarily absent of fear-of-the-future, nor without questions, but Mary had an uncanny willingness to move forward in spite of the fear and the questions).

Most of all, Mary's heart was filled with faith! Her song proves that she believed in a BIG God for LITTLE people! That's what struck a chord with my heart as I looked into the Magnificat. Twice Mary references her "humble estate," and calls herself the Lord's servant. She saw herself as a "little one." Then she goes on and magnifies her Lord. Her words are an exemplary model of putting EVERYTHING IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE. By the time she finishes, even I'm reminded that this BIG God is for me! By the time she finishes, I'm in total agreement that my Lord is the God of the impossible-made-possible. Mary's Magnificat is worth reading every time we face something that is bigger than we think we can handle. It's not just an Advent/Christmas piece of literature. It's for everyone and everyday.

I want a Mary-heart that looks at the future with humble courage, ready to serve, because I know THE Big God who is for Little People who believe! After all, Advent is near!

Advent Thoughts #13 - December 12

Yesterday, I left off asking myself a question, "Peg - what do you know?" I've thought A LOT about that for twenty-four hours.

Mary had no Bible.
Mary had no resources.
Mary had no teachers.
Mary wasn't allowed to be educated in a traditional sense.
I have a Bible; no, correction, I have many Bibles of different translations.
I have resources - bookshelves full of them, as well as a Kindle app filled to overflowing.
I have the internet, filled with teachers of high caliber and quality scholars.
I have total freedom to increase in wisdom and knowledge.

What do I know, though?

It almost seems the more "food" available, the less the hunger. What a sad indictment on myself in the midst of scholarly wealth and availability.

What do I know? And, why is it important? Because, Advent is near! Jesus will come again. As the time draws nearer, the more the enemy wrestles to divert attention, to close our minds, to hide the truth, to kill Peace. Just as he did the first time. This we should know, in the end times there will be more trial, tribulation, and persecution than ever before. We could easily find ourselves in a situation where Biblical information is as hard-to-get as other resources. The enemy fears his future, so he will attempt to increase fear in God's people, attempting to destroy in His wake for one last-ditch-effort to control.

Do I have a Mary-heart? A heart that ponders and longs for Truth? A heart that listens, and puts the pieces of the puzzle together? Not just to ponder, but to remember? Not just to reference, but to HIDE away forever? Not just to have available when needed, but to know and to have - to hold onto for future courage and perseverance?

May I never fear the future, but meet it head on, because I have faithfully studied to that end.
Advent is near!

Advent Thoughts #12 - December 11

I keep wondering about Mary...and I keep wondering about what the Lord God opened her eyes to know. I went back to read Isaiah 53. It's all in black and white. Yet, the teachers of the law seemed to miss it. God the Father had allowed their eyes to be blind to the idea of His Son being the Suffering Servant, in order that His plan of salvation be fulfilled. So, I'm guessing Mary didn't know just then what was in store for the Messiah, her babe. Isn't that a good thing, though? What mom wants to see her newborn son shadowed by a cross over his cradle? (That's one of the great gifts of God...He often shelters us from the KNOW until we NEED TO KNOW!)  So, it was a gift of grace these words weren't ringing in Mary's ears that night in the manger:

He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, 
best friends with grief.
He was one from whom men hid their faces; 
He was despised and un-esteemed.

He has borne our griefs 
and carried our sorrow;
Yet he was stricken, 
and afflicted,
Pierced for our transgressions;
Crushed for our iniquities
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace!
His wounds healed ours.

He was oppressed,
like a lamb led to the slaughter....
(Isaiah 53:3-7, paraphrased)

Yet, I'm so thankful this was God's plan. There in the midst of anguish is the gospel. God's Good News for mankind. He was pierced, crushed, chastised, wounded...that I might be made whole, healed, set free, and given peace....through His so-great-a-salvation!

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who would receive Him, who would believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:10-14)

Mary may not have known that night in the Bethlehem stable, but Mary was a ponderer. Mary had a teachable spirit. As her child grew, and she began to see things, and hear more things, I have to believe the Lord opened her eyes slowly to the PLAN for ALL MANKIND. The pieces of the puzzle began to come together. Grief and hope mingled...and peace. I have to believe that as Jesus grew, Mary DID KNOW that her Son would soon Deliver her; and, in the midst of life, Mary surrendered her son to death. 

There's a lot for me to learn from this woman of faith, this human mom, who is not unlike any of us. The question now is, "Peg - what do you know?" Advent is near!

Advent Thoughts #11 - December 10

The following link has been all over Facebook, so you may have clicked on it already, but if not, take a listen to this remix of one of my favorite Christmas songs - Mary Did You Know (Pentatonix):

The song alone is worth pondering today as we reflect on Advent. However, as I listened, the question kept begging an answer in my mind - Exactly what did Mary know? I think the question seemed even more looming this morning. Last night, Bay and I watched the old movie, Yentl, with Barbara Streisand. If you've not seen it, the story highlights a young Hebrew woman who longed to study, to increase in knowledge, to have her questions answered, but she lived in an era when "it was a man's job to do the thinking and the learning, and a woman's job to marry, to cook, and to have babies." For a woman to read and study the Torah was illegal. Yet, bless his heart, Yentl's father taught her to read, to study, to discuss, and, even argue the Holy Writings...until he died, and Yentl was left with nothing. So, she cut her hair, dressed like a young boy, and set out to a new community where she might enroll & live among the male population as a student, and satiate her greatest desire.

Mary lived in such a society, perhaps a bit worse than Yentl's. Life for women in Mary's world was not easy, nor free. Women were no more than property owned by a man. As in Yentl's world, what Mary DID KNOW was that she wasn't allowed to think, to have a voice. What Mary DID KNOW would have been caught, as others talked, but she was NEVER taught. What Mary DID KNOW was that there would, one day, come a Messiah, and all young girls, who lived to marry and have babies, hoped that they might be the blessed woman to birth that child. Their belief was this babe would grow to manhood and rescue Israel from Roman reign. What Mary DID KNOW was limited to what the men knew, and even their picture of the Christ-to-come was skewed. The men expected a victorious warrior, a ruler to sit on the throne of David - a King who would release them all from persecution. Perhaps Mary was looking forward to a throne, not a tomb; a castle, not a cross.

I know one thing - Mary didn't know Isaiah-the Prophet's words that it would be a virgin who would conceive, for her first question to the angel (after he settled her fears) was, "How can this be when I have not known a man?" If she was blind to that explicit truth, to what else was she blind? No one saw the Messiah as Isaiah painted Him in chapter 53: a suffering servant. So what did Mary know? All we know for certain is that Mary DID KNOW what the angel told her, and every word built one upon another until they crescendoed in her mind: I will be the Mother of the Christ. Advent is near!

Here is what Mary DID KNOW:

Jesus

Savior of Sin

Miraculous Birth

Ruler over Jacob's House

Son of the MOST HIGH GOD

Exceedingly Great in Importance & Authority

A Gift of Jehovah, Yahweh, to one day Reign Over David's Throne

Messiah

Holy One

Luke 1:26-38

At this season of Advent, I am particularly thankful for the opportunities I have to learn and to increase in knowledge, and with that knowledge to grow in grace and mercy. Advent's fulfillment opened a whole knew world of hope for me!

Advent Thoughts #10 - December 9

Still reflecting on peace, I happened to read this prayer from an old book of prayers, this morning, Prayers Ancient and Modern - Primary Source Edition (Mary Wilder Tileston). Making this prayer mine today as a part of my Advent reflection:

Grant unto us, Almighty God, Thy peace that passeth all understanding; that we, amid the storms and troubles of this our life, may rest in Thee, knowing that all things are in Thee, under Thy care, governed by Thy will, guarded by Thy love; so that with a quiet heart we may see the storms of life, the cloud and the thick darkness; ever rejoicing to know that the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee. Guide, guard, and govern us even to the end, that none of us may fail to lay old upon the immortal life - Amen

-George Dawson-

Guide, guard, govern...I like that! It made me think of this verse, regarding Christ's Advent:

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Advent Thoughts #9 - December 8

After yesterday's Advent thought, I remembered a poem I'd written in a FOCUS Ministries Christmas letter year's ago. I had to go digging to find it. I'm no poet (not even close). Yet, it speaks to the concept of peace, and the notion that while angels proclaimed peace on earth, even Jesus, during his ministry said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword... (Matthew 10:34)." Yes, there will be divisions and strife in relationships that are close to us, as well as between nations, but, what Jesus did come to bring was individual peace for those who sought Him. A common thread runs through Jesus' miracles; a thread similar to this one, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace (Luke 7:50)!"  or this prayer from the Apostle Paul (Romans 15:13): May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing (emphasis mine).  Here's the message of peace at Advent: The peace of Jesus is the peace that ceases the wars that rage inside of me!

So, here's that poem to ponder today:

"Peace on earth; goodwill toward men,"
The angels declared that night.
But where was the peace they promised?
It seemed nowhere in sight.

No peace to be found in Ramah.
Rachel weeping for her child.
For they all sought an absence of strife.
A political climate so mild.

They did not understand the truth,
Their eyes, in fact, were blind.
They weren't to look for conditions,
But a Peace of a different kind.

It wasn't a what, but rather a WHO,
Had arrived on earth that night.
A soft sweet babe in a manger,
Not a king with powerful might.

A simple child of parent's poor,
No national wars would He cease.
But there, wrapped in swaddling cloth,
Lay the Sovereign Prince of Peace.

He'd come to seek and save the lost,
To set the captives free.
To proclaim good news to every man,
And cease the war in me!

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,"
The Scriptures make it clear.
Let's not make the same mistake,
This time seek His Presence here.

No peace will be found 'til Christ returns,
And on the Mount of Olives stands.
Then Peace will reign o'er all the earth,
As this Prince, His peace commands.

Peg Forrest (c) 2003