LET IT BE TO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD

According to the record of the birth of Jesus, in the book of Luke chapter 1, an angel visited Mary. The angel told Mary that she would have a child who would be the Son of God and that Elizabeth, who had been barren, was pregnant. The angel also stated, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” I can’t imagine what all must have been going through Mary’s mind at the time. To be visited by an angel would be a little overwhelming. Then to be told she was about to have a child that would be the Son of God. What must she have been thinking!?!

Yet Mary’s immediate response was, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” What an amazing response!

Right after this angelic visitation Mary went to visit Elizabeth and when she greeted Elizabeth the child within her womb leaped. This unborn child, we know as John the Baptist, recognized the living God within the womb of Mary. And Elizabeth by inspiration of the Lord began to speak concerning the child within Mary’s womb. Elizabeth also stated, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

May we, like Mary, be quick to respond in faith to the word of the Lord. God may speak to us directly, through another person, through the Scriptures, or even through an angel. May we respond in faith, even when it seems impossible, for as the angel stated, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” And may our response be, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:35-38 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

Delight Not Surrender

Several months ago I was sharing with someone about some things I was struggling with.  Their answer to me was that I just needed to surrender more.  Each thing I shared they said, “You just need to surrender more.” It felt so hard and heavy, not all encouraging.  I even said to them, “I don’t know how to surrender any more than I already have in these areas.”

 A few days later as I was waking up in the morning, Psalm 37:4 was on my mind.  (Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD and He will give the desires of your heart.) As I began to meditate on that scripture I heard the Lord say to me, “It is about delight not surrender.” I knew He was referring to what was said to me a few days before.  So I asked the Lord to teach me how to delight myself in Him. Since that time I have been learning more and more to delight myself in Him and have been finding that the struggles have become less and less of an issue. 

There are times when surrender is the key, but in this case for me at that time it was about delighting myself in the Lord. 

Embrace The Fire

 

Around the time of Pentecost/Shavuot I was worshipping the Lord and began to sing about the fire coming down on Sinai at the giving the of the law which was the first Shavuot and about the fire coming down at Pentecost.  As I did I began to think about the previous blog post about not abandoning the ship when God pours out His fire.  As I did I heard the Lord say, "If you embrace My fire and let it do its work, you will no longer be afraid of Me, but you will walk in the fear of Me."  So I encourage you once again to embrace God's fire and let it do its work.  

Our God is a consuming fire.  I believe that fire is the fire of His love.

Hebrews 12:28-29 NASB

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

 Song of Songs 8:6-7 The Passion Translation 

Fasten me upon your heart as a seal of fire forevermore.
    This living, consuming flame
    will seal you as my prisoner of love.
    My passion is stronger
    than the chains of death and the grave,
    all consuming as the very flashes of fire
    from the burning heart of God.
    Place this fierce, unrelenting fire over your entire being.
7 Rivers of pain and persecution
    will never extinguish this flame.
    Endless floods will be unable
    to quench this raging fire that burns within you.
    Everything will be consumed.
    It will stop at nothing
    as you yield everything to this furious fire
    until it won’t even seem to you like a sacrifice anymore

Don’t Abandon Ship

I saw myself with Yeshua, as a Lion, walking down a sunny beach. I could hear the waves coming in.  As I looked to my left I saw sand dunes.  When I looked up I saw what looked like a kite coming over the sand dunes.  Initially it looked red. Then I saw that it had some yellow on it and was more like a flame of fire.  It broke loose and flew out over the ocean to a ship that was near the shore.  It set the ship on fire. 

 It was a good fire.  As the fire began to burn on the ship, many people jumped overboard.  But many other people stayed on the ship and embraced the fire, letting it purify them until they were transformed to look like pure white light. 

I heard the Lord say, "Don't abandon ship in the coming outpouring of the fire of My Spirit."

 In the coming outpouring of the fire of the Holy Spirit, many will abandon ship.  But others will embrace the fire and be transformed.  As the fire of God falls don’t abandon the ship embrace the purifying, transforming fire.