August 18 2024
- Pastor Mike
- Aug 18, 2024
- 3 min read
Sunday August 18
A Song of Divine Joy
Luke 1:46-56
46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever."
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
Dear friends, today I need to ask for special prayer again. This morning Edith and I will be driving back up to Roanoke Virginia to be there for our little grandson Luke, and Kimberly and Chris. Luke is presently back in PICU at RMH because another infection has developed. This morning at 7:30 he is scheduled to go back in for emergency surgery. The neurosurgeons will be removing the shunts and all the tubing from the brain to the stomach that is draining the excess fluid from around the brain. They will replace that with temporary tubing that will continue to drain the fluid externally. He will be treated for the infection and after a week or so they will repeat the surgery to replace the shunts and all the tubing. We are so thankful for all your continued prayers now and over these many months. They mean everything to us! We will keep you updated, or you can click on the link at the bottom of this chat for more information from Kimberly’s Facebook page.
For the past several days we have been talking about genuine divine joy! A joy that you will never find in this world or in the things in this world. This morning especially, I am so glad that I can still experience joy despite the circumstances or situation we are presently experiencing. Mary and Elizabeth lived in very dark days and would face tremendous challenges in the lives of their special sons. Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist would have his life ended by being beheaded by King Herod. Mary would stand at the foot of an old rugged cross and watch her son, Jesus, be crucified in the most cruel, inhumane, sadistic, brutal way possible by the Roman soldiers. She would have to listen to the mocking of priest and people around the cross.
Yet as we read and listen to Elizabeth’s and Mary’s rejoicing in these verses, we find the source of real genuine joy! Life might seem very unfair at times, and can be very hard and difficult, but by God’s grace through His Son Jesus Christ we can still experience peace and joy if we only by faith believe!
For the next several days we will be looking at the specific reasons that Mary was rejoicing with song in Luke 1:46-56. It is pleasant to think of Mary as a singer. Did ever mortal voice sing a sweeter song than this? Her joy was holy, deep, and divine!
Mary experienced spiritual joy. She sang, "My spirit has rejoiced" (v. 47). The tidings of the grace of God, in the gift of His Son, filled her soul with joy and made her spirit sing. The Gospel of God, His Good News in Jesus Christ is intended to reach the very spirit of man, to touch and revive the innermost spring of His being. My friend the lip songs of the hypocrite and the sentimental songs of the world never penetrate to the needy spirit in man.
Mary experienced joy in God. "My spirit hath rejoiced in God" (v. 47). God revealed Himself, and He was known to Mary in the gift of His Son, and so known and believed that her spirit rejoiced in God. It cannot be said of us that we know God if in our spirits we do not rejoice in Him. Paul put it this way in Romans 5:11, “And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
The joy that is in God is pure and blameless. It is divine and eternal and never changes! I trust today that you will remember and meditate on God’s love through Jesus Christ and experience a song of divine joy despite your circumstances!
God bless!
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