August 19 2024

Monday August 19

Mary’s Salvation 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.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Luke and his surgery yesterday. The neurosurgeons said everything went well with the procedure. Luke came back to PICU very unhappy and in a lot of pain. But by the evening he was giving us smiles and doing a whole lot better. Now we need to pray that the infection will clear up quickly and they can repeat the surgery to replace everything to properly drain the fluid from around his brain. He will have to stay in PICU until this next surgery takes place. Again, thanks so much for your continued prayers!

We are talking about the rejoicing and joy that Luke is writing about in Luke 1:46-56. Elizabeth is rejoicing. Mary is singing her divine song of joy and rejoicing. And even John, six months after his conception in his mother’s womb, is “leaping for joy” (v. 44) when Mary came into their house with the baby Jesus in her womb. I’m convinced despite our issues, our problems, our circumstances or situation, we can experience joy and rejoice if we focus on the Lord and His goodness to us!

Mary was singing this song of divine joy because her spirit was rejoicing. “My spirit has rejoiced” (v. 47). True joy begins in our spirit when we experience the presence of Jesus Christ in our heart and soul through the Holy Spirit. This is because, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). Is the Holy Spirit bearing witness with your spirit right now?

Mary was singing this song of divine joy because she was focused on God Himself! "My spirit has rejoiced in God" (v. 47). Her faith was in the God of heaven who revealed Himself to her with His Good News! When we meet and know God personally it changes everything!

Next Mary was singing her song of divine joy because she had experience God’s salvation. “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (v. 47).  How near the heart of the virgin mother comes to her God in these words, "My Saviour." Mary was a good young lady, but she still was a sinner who needed a Savior. And she found Him in the Son of the Highest, begotten in her by the power of the Holy Ghost. Where and how else can we find Him? My Lord and my God. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.

I couldn’t help but think of these verses in Romans 5. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 1). We experience a peace and joy because we have a right standing before God in Jesus Christ. In verses 8 -11, Paul goes on to write and tell us: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” Have you ever experienced the joy of God’s great salvation?

Mary’s divine song was also one of Praiseful joy! And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord” (v. 46). Our joy of salvation may be considered a selfish joy, but the joy of adoration is God-glorifying. Hannah also knew this double joy. Joy in the salvation of the Lord, and joy in the Lord Himself (1 Sam. 2:1). King David proclaimed: “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His Name together” (Psa. 34:3).

In John 1:29, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  We see and meet Jesus first as our Savior. The next day, when John saw Jesus he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" (v. 36). After salvation we now worship Jesus for Who He is! Jesus must be our Savior before He can be our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).

God bless!