After the Beth Moore simulcast at church on Saturday, I picked up a copy of "Jesus: 90 Days with the One and Only." It's a really neat book chronicling the life of Jesus and interspersed with places for you to write out your thoughts and prayers about what you are studying. Today's lesson was entitled "How Can This Be?" and took an in depth look at Mary's reaction to finding out that she was going to be the mother of Jesus.
When I read that passage (Luke 1:26-38) in my own Bible (ESV), I was struck by the wording of this question...not "How can this be?" but "How will this be?" To someone who always just assumed that Mary was asking if this miracle was, in fact, possible (a.k.a. me), it was a totally new concept to consider this adolescent girl realizing that God was going to do the impossible and not doubting it at all, but simply wondering how exactly He was planning on doing it.
If we as believers all chose to (with God's help) dwell in this state of mind rather than wondering if God would choose to work in the world today or not, imagine the incredible power of our combined faith! I have to believe that this is the kind of faith that Jesus seeks to draw out of His followers, and the kind that will bring Him unprecedented amounts of glory. Join with me in praying to remember this as we go through our day-to-day lives!
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9 years ago
Good thoughts Nikki. Today I was reading in Matthew 17, where the main emphasis seems to be faith and doubt. Peter, John and James witness Jesus transfigured, and several verses later are unable to drive out demons due to their "lack of faith." Amazing that they who had seen Jesus face-to-face still struggled to believe. "Lord I believe; help my unbelief!"
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