Advent reading In His Word -12-9-2020

 


Advent Reading in His Word December 9, 2020

Yesterday we thought about our gifts and today we want to think a bit about on why He gives them to us. Each gift we are given is for a purpose. God has a plan for what He wants to do with us, but we need to submit to His authority and Authorship of our lives and allow Him to write our story. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Ephesians 2:8

…so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Do not think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us from God, we talked a bit about them but today I want us to realize why we were given them. Romans 12 :1-3

Mary willingly accepted her fate to carry a child before she had planned to. Strange as it would have seemed she accepted that God was in control of her life, totally. She accepted what God told her through the Angel Gabriel, that she was favored, and yet she accepted it humbly. She is never written of as a boastful woman.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel[f] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”                                                                   The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What is more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.  For the word of God will never fail.”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 26-38

Every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of life! If God is the presenter then we must present ourselves to Him, and in this we can know that we have done so by learning all about Him in His Word and praying to communicate with Him daily as often as we can think to. Study to show ourself approved by God.  

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Let us try to live a life acceptable to God so that He may at some point use us to share the Good News of Salvation with someone else. So that maybe some day we can be used to pray for someone who is lost, that they may be found. To encourage someone who is down to be lifted by His glory! Trust God to use you in the small things and see if He gives you bigger gifts too! In Jesus’ name