Luke 1:38

Verse of the Day Devotion: Luke 1:38

“And Mary said, “Behold, the bond slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.” – Luke 1:38  

Mary, the chosen mother of Christ, was visited by the archangel Gabriel and brought a message from the Lord to her. “And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28. Now, this confused her, and she pondered in her mind what was said to her and what could it mean.  It appears she feared Gabriel. “The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:30-33.

Now, this was again confusing to her, for she had never laid with a man up to this point, so she wondered how this could possibly be.  She had followed the law faithfully. So, what was he saying?  Therefore, “Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Luke 1:34.  In response to this question, “The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35. It would not be Joseph who she was currently engaged to who would be the father.  She would be a mother not by any man, but by God Himself. This is prophesied by Isaiah when he said, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. Matthew clarifies this by stating Immanuel in the Hebrew means ‘God with Us’. (Found in Matthew 1:23).  This child she will give birth to is God.  Now, she probably was questioning this in her mind, so Gabriel says to her, “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.” Luke 1:36.  This was probably told to her to give her confidence that if God could cause Elizabeth to have a baby in her old age, then He could cause her to have a child with the promise given her. He then ends his words with, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37.

Without any more questions, she says through the focus verse, “Behold, the bond slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:38. This was an expression of giving herself over to the will of God.  This shows us the commitment Mary had to God and why she was chosen for this purpose.  For her to have a child by someone other than Joseph, to whom she was engaged to, would have had her ostracized because she broke the law by committing adultery. She knew what this meant regarding her reputation, but she followed the will of God completely, no matter the consequences.  My question to all of us here is, would we do the same?  Would we follow what God tells us no matter how anyone thinks of us, or what we would look like in their eyes?  Are we willing to be humiliated before men to be found pleasing before God?  Something to think about.  Is how God sees us more important than how man sees us?  Sometimes He calls us to do things that are not acceptable to the ways of men.  And we, as Mary did, should be willing to go against the ways of man to obey Him.  It is hard but think about it.  Who is more important?  This will give us the answer we need.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Acts 1:14

Verse of the Day Devotion.  Acts 1:14

“These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” – Acts 1:14 

After the ascension they went back to Jerusalem, as Jesus told them. He had commanded them to wait there until they received the gift promised to them by Jesus. “And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, which, He said, you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5.

They obeyed this command from Jesus and they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, the eleven remaining apostles went to the upper room where they were staying. But not just them, for we see in an earlier verse, “along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” Luke 1:14b. So those in the upper room were the eleven apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers. The women mentioned included Jesus’ mother, and various others. We see in Luke the following. “And it came about soon afterwards, that He began going about from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.” Luke 8:1-3.

And the purpose for being there is found in our focus verse. “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer.” Acts 1:14a. In Acts, Luke gave a generalized review of the activity of the Christian community. The primary characteristic that marked their life together in this period was prayer, as they anticipated together the promised gift of the Spirit. However, prayer was a hallmark of the church in its early days. The time before Pentecost was a time for waiting, a time spent in prayer undoubtedly for the promised Spirit and for the power to witness. There is no effective witness without the Spirit, and the way to spiritual empowerment is to wait in prayer.

In this post, I want to ask this very important question. As the early Christians, is prayer truly a hallmark of the church in these present days? Do we see prayer as simply something we do because that is what Christians do, or is it a devoted time to spend with the eternal God who created everything that exists, including ourselves? I also ask these questions of myself as well. They are not words meant to convict anyone but to encourage us all to strengthen our relationship with Him. Of course He knows everything. He knows the deep feelings of our hearts. We should desire to spend time with Him, ourselves with God, to develop a closer relationship with Him. And we must always remember that prayer is not a one-way street. Yes, we come to Him and share our needs, desires, and our feelings. However, we must also be still and quiet, and let God speak to us as well. I find these times of comfort and joy, but also times of learning and correction. Remember what is recorded in the psalms. “Cease striving (be still) and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10.

Throughout the Book of Psalms, we see this type of relationship between David and God. He shared everything with God, and God provided what he needed; be it things, comfort, correction, etc. And David welcomed it all, and thus his relationship with God was strong and intimate.  I encourage us all to look at Psalm 25. David bears his heart to God, asking Him to guide him in every aspect of life. God desires this type of relationship with us. Take the time to pray, speaking and listening to Him. There are great blessings in both aspects.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Acts 12:12

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Acts 12:12 

“And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” – Acts 12:12 

Peter had been arrested by Herod Agrippa 1 in Jerusalem.  James, the brother of John had recently been killed by Agrippa and because he saw how the Jews applauded this action, he decided to arrest Peter and do the same.  However, because they were entering the time of Passover he kept him in prison, planning to kill him after Passover was completed.

Then, on the night that Herod was going to bring Peter out to kill Him, God intervenes on his behalf and rescues him.  And he does it in a supernatural way. “On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” Acts 12:6-11.

This is an incredible outcome of Peter’s arrest.  He was in prison with four guards at all time watching him, two on either side of him, two others outside the door.  Apparently, he did not expect this because when he was walking out, he questioned the reality of this situation.  He was free and no one was following him, attempting to bring him back.  However, note our focus verse.  “And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Acts 12:12.  In the last part of this verse we read, ‘where many were gathered together and were praying.’

This is an important fact in the whole story.  The Christians were in Mary’s house praying to God asking for His intervention, no doubt regarding Peter’s release.  They believed this could be the end of Peter’s ministry.  They thought Peter was destined to die just as James had because they we unable to rescue him.  However, just as Jesus told the disciples regarding the incident of the rich you ruler, “And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26. 

As Christians, one of the things we need to do on a regular basis is pray for each other.  We may not be arrested awaiting execution because of our Christian beliefs as Peter was, but we all are going through difficulties we want God to intervene in.  It may be family quarrels, needs we need met, or simply peace during hard times.  We may not have an answer, however God does and He can bring us through any situation that come our way.  Paul said in his letter to the Church at Rome that we are to be devoted in prayer  (Romans 12:12).  This should be our heart, whether we are alone or with a group of brothers and sisters, we need to be in prayer for each other.  Again, we may not know there is a need, however, we all need God to help us.  So, take time each day to lift each other up in prayer.  We may be amazed at what He will do for us and our fellow Christians. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.