The God of the impossible


Mary--and the Birth of Jesus:

You probably know the story well--the angelic visitation in Luke's gospel.  Gabriel visits young Mary and tells her that she will become the mother of the Messiah.  Mary is confused in that she is not married--only engaged to Joseph.  Gabriel explains that the child to be born (the Messiah) will not be conceived in the normal biological way--but will be supernaturally implanted in her womb.  Gabriel's explanation of the miracle?  "Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)."

Who on earth can be saved?

A very wealthy man came to Jesus seeking to inherit eternal life.  The one thing that the man needed to do would be tough--sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow Jesus.  The rich man takes option 'b' and walks.  The disciples then ask--(paraphrased)  'Jesus--duh--this isn't working.  No one is going to get saved.  Our club is not going to grow.  Come on Jesus, how about a different plan?'  Jesus replied "What is impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18:27)

We humans have this tendency--especially as Western people--and more so of 'men'--I can fix that!  I can do that!  Once we hit a brick wall we run.  But 'eternal' things by nature are brick walls.

Ask yourself:


  • how to inherit eternal life
  • how do you heal a sick person
  • how do you help a rebellious person
  • how do you become more faithful 
  • how do you become more like Jesus
  • how do you win the confidence back of someone you hurt
  • how do you fix a broken home
  • how do you love a unlovable neighbour

Simple--you can't!  Duh!
However--what is impossible with men is possible with God!

Perhaps it is time to stop being Mr Fix Its--Mrs I Know What I Am Doing. 
...and say with Mary:  "I am the Lord's servant.  May everything you have said about me come true Luke 1:38." 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUazxNOiPYs

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning to hate your sin

Image
   John 5:13-15 (NLT) 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.   Lord give me grace, power, and effort to maintain a resilience against sin.  Sin is ALWAYS a dark path. It ALWAYS pays wages.  The wage of sin is death.  Sin will always hurt, always destroy, always wound—you, relationships, stuff, goals, etc.  It is a killer.  It is a wound-er.  It is a consumer of all that is healthy, strong, good, and perfect. Learn to hate sin. Learn to fear sin. Learn to run as fast as you can away from sin. Search deeply for hidden sin. Be disgusted with your sin.  Repent, repent, repent daily for your sin. Be afraid of your sin. Be petrified of your sin. Be worried about your sin. And keep repenting, keeping running into the arms of grace and the arm
Read more

Dumb Mistakes

Image
      Dumb Mistakes   Why do Christians, pastors, leaders, ushers, —everyday Christians— make real dumb mistakes.  Now I am talking about real dumb moral mistakes—lying, cheating, immorality, thievery—-like why? Christine Pohl warns us as follows: “By compartmentalizing aspects of our actions or thoughts, we are able to ignore major inconsistencies and wrongdoing.” Ever heard yourself asking this question: ‘What was he thinking when he did that?’   You think of moral failure or just plain —dumb decisions—and you ask that question!   How does that happen?  What were they ‘thinking?’  Well, Pohl suggest “he wasn’t thinking he had stopped thinking and reflecting.  Instead, the person deliberately excluded a part of his or her life from spiritual and moral scrutiny.”   So now a word of help!  Do the daily examen!  (See.  https://pwcusick.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-examen.html )   If there ever was a culture, a time, a season when Christians need to act like Christians —it is now!   The ancie
Read more

It's just too noisy!

Image
  “Be still and know that I am God:   Ps 46:11 Silence What a pile of noise! Noise—Noise—Noise. Noise in my head. Noise in my ears. Noise in my eyes. Noise—Noise—Noise. Are you crying out for silence? His presence manifests itself, not in fire or wind or thunder, but in a still small voice.  Only in this quietness does he give us the certainty of his presence.  We usually cannot hear this because we are making so much inner noise… The word from the Word is often something like “Grow up!”  I suddenly see the far more important things are at stake than my feelings…We do not always get specific answers, even when we invoke his name, but we always get the Answerer! … Peter Kreeft- Payer for Beginners Silence is not just silence or emptiness or nothingness but…the best preparation there is because then there is no obstacle.  And God’s love—since it is no pervasive—just comes in, like the weather, and like it fills any empty spaces. …Thomas Keating— Silence and Centring P
Read more