Greetings! (you who are highly favoured, too;) By now I hope you've read my post about "Book Club Sundries" and the post on the "Introduction and Prologue".
I appreciate how the author sets the stage for us in how things were economically, politically, socially and religiously at that time.
I imagine what my own response would be to an angel suddenly approaching me and calling me "highly favoured". I'd be looking behind me to see who he was talking to!
The author is right in her assessment - there are times that I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I'm looking good, keeping it together and even managing to coordinate my jewelry to my outfit! Not bad. But not perfect either. On our own, we have zero hope of meeting God's standards.
I like her analogy to the President picking up a hitchhiker. How much more is God's grace he shows to us! It's not what I've done that makes me highly favoured, but rather what he's done for me!
What greater comfort can there be that are found in the words, "The Lord is with you"? It's so true that our feelings can lead us astray or cause us to doubt. That's why it's so important to be grounded in Scripture daily! This is where God promises to speak to us and offer this objective truth - that he is with us!
The final paragraphs following the "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God." - has the song playing in the back of my mind:
I am Jesus' little lamb, Ever glad at heart I am
For my shepherd gently guides me
Know my needs and well provides me
Loves me every day the same, even calls me by my name. (CW 432)
The Mothering Like Mary personal stories are inspiring and beautiful! What a wonderful touch to this book! What wisdom and perspective Lisa has that she shares with us here. Have you ever kept a journal to record what God has done in your day like Lisa suggests?
Ponder
On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you tremble at God's Word and let it stop you in your tracks? What keeps your number from being higher? In what specific ways will you try to overcome those obstacles this month?
I'm too fickle to pick a number. I'm all over the place as a general rule. I wish I was "so amazed at God's grace I could hardly concentrate on anything else" - all the time! I'm usually the opposite of "trembling at God's Word and letting it stop me in my tracks"; I have to stop my tracks first and spend time in God's Word. That, for me, comes with habit. Stopping at a specific time in my day to set aside whatever is keeping me busy, and sitting at his feet in the Word. Then I am reminded of God's grace and love for me! Busyness keeps my number from being higher. And that is my personal motivation to not only read this book everyday this month but to be held accountable by my readers as we encourage each other as sisters-in-Christ!
Praying with you, sisters!
6 comments:
So many good thoughts and points to remind me of in this first chapter. One section I found personally meaningful was that reference which you did so well, Rachel, when you referred to the song, I am Jesus Little Lamb, of God actually knowing us by name, speaking to Mary through the Angel Gabriel and calling her by her name...no doubt of whom He was talking to or for whom the message was intended.
What comfort this brings to my heart to know God loves me ...by my name! We are all favored, each favored by name with Gods grace through His Word and often through His people.
I also loved the reminder in the prayer, asking the Lord to "help me take time each day to unwrap and savor" Gods favor. That picture of "unwrapping" is so beautifully descriptive and rightly portrays it as a godly event in my life. Advent is a perfect time to "savor" Gods favor, truly contemplating what those words really mean for all of mankind and my everyday thoughts, words, and actions. Not something I have done on any real, regular basis, I am afraid I have to admit.
That prayer is lovely and worthy of praying all of the year, for sure!
When it comes to unwrapping and savoring God's favor in my life on a minute-by-minute basis, I also have found that it pretty much comes down to taking the time to savor his Word.
For most of this year, I've been following a through-the-Bible-in-one-year plan. As I look back on the year, I don't believe this plan has been the best structure for my daily Bible time. I tend to just read through the sections of Scripture fairly quickly without really savoring what God is communicating. I've found myself reading with a "check the box" mentality.
My mindset is more on savoring when I use Bible studies with questions to help me shine the light of God's Word on my path. When I have that savoring mindset in my Bible time - seeking knowledge of God and his perfection, realization of my hopeless condition as a sin-contaminated human being, and greater understanding of God's grace for me in Christ Jesus - it is then that I tend to score higher on the "trembling amazement" scale. It is then that I also am more likely find myself noticing the little gifts God sprinkles throughout my minute-by-minute life, enabling me to savor the favor all day long.
I found the prayer-writing exercise of the "Ponder" section to be beneficial. I scrunched up my face when I initially read the question. I didn't want to take the time or expend the mental energy to organize my thoughts enough to put them down on paper. That is the kind of pondering I need to take the time to do, though!
Besides taking time to savor His Word, I often find it difficult to remember that "The Lord is with you." Ask me to talk about all God has done for us with His life, death, and resurrection and I will, but in health and anxiety challenges I almost treat all that as if it's true but not for me. I need to remind myself that "I have called you by name. You ARE MINE!"
That is also something I need to show my boys. We all know how the world keeps getting worse and how people use the internet and texting to treat others unkindly. Raising them with the solid truth that no matter what others think or how others treat them, they are in God's favor. That is more important than anything on earth.
I can relate to your Bible time experience. I need to change things up occasionally too in order to get more out of my time. Making the effort to "chew" over the words and answer questions is worth it! Good for you for challenging yourself on the excercise!
I so appreciate your honesty and can completely relate to feeling that way myself. You're absolutely right when you say how important it is to teach our children that too!
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