The angel said to [Mary], “The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28b
The Lord will stay with you as long a you stay with ! 2 Chronicles 15:2b
The unnoticed visitor surprised Mary in the middle of her routine. He told her what she needed to hear to prepare her heart for news that would change her life:
The Lord is with you!
This wasn’t just a hi-how-are-you greeting, or a throw-away conversation starter. This was an empowering statement. This same angel had used the greeting with Gideon, another unlikely servant..
No job or responsibility is impossible if
The Lord is with you!
We need this same message today at Christmas. Too many times we want God to bless our misguided plans and ideas. Instead, we need to sit with this message until we know its Truth. This is God standing in front us, making eye contact, and sharing the message that goes to the most wounded place in our heart . . .
The Lord is with you!
Do your shoulders relax a little when you take that message in? Do you take a deep breath and exhale some of the unnecessary worry? About your kids? About your future? About anything that has perplexed or depleted you?
The Lord is with you!
However, God won’t bless your stress. Instead, he will push you to re-prioritize. He might even ask you to take something off your list. But whatever He asks you to do, He empowers you to do it and always makes something better when you obey.
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That’s hope, isn’t it? It is hope that God with you will make the difference when you add your obedience.
We need this message at Christmas just as desperately as Mary needed it. Let it be the ribbon God wraps around your heart to keep you tied to Him.
I’ll say it again for all of us unlikely servants,
The Lord is with you!
Now, let's live like it!
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