Deuteronomy 8

 "He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty."

 {Luke 1:53} (NIV1984)

This beautiful song of Mary, not only exalts her Great God, but also reveals her life circumstances. She is in a humble state; she is aware of her need for mercy, and she is hungry. The rich did not go hungry in her age. She has seen the hungry stay hungry and the rich eat tremendous feasts. This hunger that she speaks of, seems to be a hunger for salvation. A hunger for things to be made right; for God’s righteous rule to be established, and the tyranny to be over. 

Her exclamation that the hungry are filled (past tense) is an exclamation based on faith; she believes that this life inside her is the Righteous King who will make all things right, but it is also based on history. God led the Israelites into a desert where there was no water or food, to humble them and to teach them to look to Him for everything, and then He filled them with food, water, money and land of their own. 

It is hard for us to imagine that being hungry is a place of blessing, but in God’s kingdom, it is exactly that - a place of blessing. This is how God operates. He fills the hungry. I think of what it says in James 1:9, The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. What high position is that? The position of being in need and looking to God to fill that need, that is a high position in the kingdom of God.

 Better Than a Hallelujah {via YouTube}

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Ezekiel 28:1-19

 "He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble."

{Luke 1:51,52} (NIV1984)

PRIDE!  Pride is an ugly cancer eating away at the center of our lives. It was pride that took Satan from his place in God’s heaven. It was pride that caused early man to build a tower toward heaven, and led to the divisions we have among people today. It was pride that caused the great king Hezekiah to come under God’s judgement. It was pride that stopped Naaman from being healed, until his servants spoke wisdom into his life. We could go on and on, with example after example. 

Mary speaks truth about who God is. She exalts Him for the work He does in humbling the proud. It is He who causes the proverb, “pride goes before a fall” to come true. What about us this morning? Is there a humbling process happening in our lives today? This is God’s way; His method for ridding us of this cancer of pride. He humbles us. 

Praise God that He took me off the throne of my life and put Christ in His rightful place. Praise God that he didn’t stop there, but He lifts me up as I humble myself before this Great God of mercy and grace! May we allow Mary to speak wisdom into our lives today. May we humble ourselves as Naaman did, and turn and be healed. Praise God that he lifts up the humble! 

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Psalm 105

"His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."

{Luke 1:50} (NIV1984)  

As Mary considered the wonderful truth that the Creator and Sustainer of all life had placed His mind upon her, as she realized how truly blessed of God that she was by having the Son of the Living God, alive within her womb, as she pondered the truth that this child was the great King Himself who would save His people, as she considered these wonderful truths, she sang out about the mercy of God. 

When God gave the law to Moses, He promised that He would “show love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex 20:6). David sang of his great God whose love was made manifest through acts of mercy over a thousand generations. (1 Chron 16). Not only is God merciful to those who love and fear Him, but God is merciful to a thousand generations after us! 

Do you want a reason to obey and worship God this day? How about the truth that your love of God brings the mercy of God to your descendants! As we consider the mercy of God in our lives, we should wonder which one of our ancestor loved God and worshiped Him only. God’s mercy is amazing! To praise God for His mercy, is to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and to follow in the steps of all of the true worshipers of God recorded in the Bible. 

Praise You Father that You do not deal with us as our sins deserve, but You are merciful! Thank you for Your love.

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Luke 1:39-56

 "From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name."

 {Luke 1:48b,49} (NIV1984)

Mary had time to ponder on the angel’s message, as she traveled to Elizabeth’s house. We have no record of her thoughts on the way, but the words of Mary’s song share her thoughts immediately after her meeting Elizabeth. Her older relative’s response to her carrying the Son of God in her womb (Elizabeth called her ‘blessed’ twice!), made her realize the tremendous blessing that God had bestowed on her! 

She sang out, not only of the great honour that the Mighty One had bestowed on her, but also the recognition (by faith) that every generation from that generation on, would call her blessed. And so they have, even to this day, the Boomers, the Busters, the X , the Y, etc, etc, we will all call her blessed and wonder at how and why God picked this young lady to bear His only Son!

What a blessing God bestowed upon her! Yet, Luke 11 records a woman calling out to Jesus, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” So it is that we are also blessed; not to be the mother of the Son of God, but to be like her, in that we have the Son of God alive in us. Christ in us the hope of glory! (Col 1:17) 

May we be able to sing with Mary this song, “Surely the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is His Name.”

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Luke 1:39-56

  "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant."

{Luke 1:46-48a}  (NIV1984)

What a wonderful encouragement Elizabeth gave to Mary! It was of course God encouraging Mary through Elizabeth. The angel told Mary about Elizabeth, which caused Mary to go and visit her. The Holy Spirit caused John the Baptist to leap inside Elizabeth’s womb, and then filled Elizabeth, so that she proclaimed that Mary was pregnant with her Lord. This was confirmation from God, through an older woman, that what Mary had been told by the angel was true. Mary’s first words are praise and joy for the fact that God thought of her! 

It is amazing when you think of it! God has prophesied many times of the Redeemer, the Messiah, the One who would save His people from their sins. Who would have thought that God’s choice method of bringing the Saviour of the world, into the world, through a young woman? Not a princess. Not a noblewoman in a worldly sense. But a teenage girl in a very humble situation!

May these words of Mary encourage us this day, for God’s method has not changed. His plan is to use those who are in humble situations to bring Light into their dark world. We may not have the ‘greater’ gifts; we may not live in wonderful surroundings, but God desires to use us to bring Christ to those around us. May we rejoice in this truth and may we act in this truth!

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