Luke 1:1-38
Well, it's finally here--Christmas week. So for the next several days, we'll be reading through and considering different Scriptures about Christ's coming to live among us as Savior of the world.
In Luke 1:1-38 Zacharias and Mary each get a visit from the angel Gabriel with "a baby is coming into your life" news. Pretty shocking. Pretty surprising. Pretty awesome, particularly for Mary. After all, she was young, a virgin and being told that she was going to conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God. Sounds a little crazy...until Gabriel makes this declaration: "'For nothing will be impossible with God'" (vs. 37). (Thank you, Gabriel, for this encouraging reminder today.)
So what did Gabriel's "nothing will be impossible" declaration communicate to you? Tami W.
P.S. All this week on Back to the Bible is our special Voices of Christmas teaching and drama. It's a perfect fit for Christmas week. Hope you can listen!
"For nothing will be impossible with God." NOTHING, not one thing will be impossible with God. Yes, what a great reminder to us all. How great is our God that He instructed Gabriel to give this message that will encourage us today. The very words 'will be' speaks of our future state. We have no worries with our mighty God. The mistake Zechariah made was looking at his situation and age and was filled with doubt and unbelief. Whatever you are believing for...healing, provision... remember that NOTHING will be impossible with our God, ever! Present your requests to Him, thank Him, and keep your eyes on Him. Our lives are in His hands. What better place for us to be. Thank you Lord for this passage which gave me a 'faith lift' this morning!
Nothing is impossible with God is a huge statement. I have friends right now, who are going to lose their house, through many different circumstances. When we have our bible study, and our small group gets together and give encouragement to this couple, it's helpful. But when you read The Word, and it says "Nothing is impossible with God"......wow. That statement says more than any person could ever say. Through even more weirder circumstances, this couple is actually happy to be losing their house, because something even better has come along. It's a little scary at first to go through this, but God ALWAYS has a better plan for us than we have. Praise God....He always makes a way for things to happen.
I like the verse-"Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard". I keep thinking that he had probably prayed this prayer for years and years- I doubt that he was praying it that very moment- having given up hope because he was old. God always hears our prayers!! He wants only the best for us so sometimes the answer is no(or later)- so He can give us a better YES!. You see this through out the Bible and if we look for it, we see it in our daily lives and the lives of those around us. Amy and Doug say it well. Thanks!
It reminds me that my wife and I, who have backgrounds in food svc, are planning on starting a small farm and a country restaurant in the future. Everyone thinks I'm crazy going back to college for agriculture, but with God behind us, all is possible
My mommy had been sick for several years. She went through a tremendous amount of suffering. It was so hard to bear. I was so close to my mom. She was my best friend. We did everything together. I took care of her the last 5 years of her life, and have seen her go through things that were so heartbreaking I could barely take it. I prayed and asked the Lord to heal her because the thought of losing my mom was inconceivable. At one time, I thought it would be the end of my life because I just couldn't imagine life without her. However, God, in his infinite wisdom, decided that my mommy would not be healed on this plain, so he called her home. But guess what? I rejoice in that because she is face to face with him! She has no more pain, suffering, tears, death, or sorrow! She is experiencing something we all anticipate. She's in a perfect place, so my sorrow has turned to joy. Don't get me wrong, I miss her so much, and, yes, I weep because of the loss, but I'm comforted knowing that she's with him!
As Trisha stated above, sometimes God does not answer our prayers the way WE want him to, but we can rest assured that whatever his answer is, it is ALWAYS right. Nothing is impossible to him. He's the Creator, the great I AM, the one who named the stars, moon, and the galaxy. He's the one that spoke everything into existence. No, nothing is impossible with him. So I keep that in mind when I pray, and whatever he decides I know it's always in our best interest. We may not like it, but we must trust him because Father does know best!
The one thing we can be sure of is if he tells us something, it will come to pass. We can put that in the bank and count on it!
Today I was struck by the angel's statement to Zechariah: "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God . . ." Any time a human being stood before God Most High in the Bible, he feared he would not survive the experience. Yet here we have an angel who stands before God Most High continually and acts as His messenger and never has need to fear his literal nearness to God's presence. This angel who stands in the presence of God comes to a mere, puny human being with a message from his Master, the Most High God. It amazes me that God has such an interest in us mere human beings that He sends this angel to deliver a life-changing, even world-changing, message to ordinary people. I am thankful for an indescribably magnificent God who considers us humans this significant when we often feel we are rather insignificant and puny.
The only way for me to respond to tough situations like Mary (not me)is to be in God's Word. My response to difficult situations is always affected either positively or negatively depending upon my walk with the Lord. I have so much more patience, my demeanor is more calm & I truly am at peace with situations when I am daily in his Word. When I get out of that routine, my response to situations can be, unfortunately, very similar to those who don't know the Lord.
It means just what it says: Nothing is impossible for God. He's "omnipotent" - All Powerful! HE (God) created ALL things from beginning to end, so nothing is impossible for Him to do. I have to trust him with this each day of my life, if I want to be blessed to the fullest, to give HIM the Glory! He made me and saved me, now that's a miracle!
This makes me recall the song "Nothing Is Impossible...when you put your trust in God" or something like this. I love the new choruses but some of the older hymns were so good about including scripture. I also have thoughts about how Mary asked a question, but Zechariah doubted. This seems a good way for us to see that we can ask God things, but He expects us to believe what he tells us, and like other bloggers today have said, we need to be patient and try to accept that God's plan will be the best plan, as compared to what our timetable or choices would be. Isn't it great that God is so much wiser than we are?!!!