Favor Is Not Without Cost

Like many this time of year, I have been reflecting upon the story of Jesus’ birth. On Mary in particular. From Biblical accounts there was nothing special about this young girl in particular. Yet God singled her out for the greatest assignment—to birth the Savior of the world. On an ordinary day to an ordinary virgin girl, an extraordinary visitor arrived and interrupted the ordinariness of her life. Luke 1: 28 states the angel had the following greeting for Mary,

“Hail thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary defines favor as gaining approval, acceptance, or special benefits or blessings. I like Merriam-Webster’s definition as well, defines favor as friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior.  Some how this ordinary virgin girl had gained approval, acceptance or friendly regard by her ultimate superior, God. I am amazed at her response to such favor. With only one spoken question, she faithfully accepts the will of God.

To be favored for such an assignment sounds fascinating  but I wonder did Mary fully understand the magnitude of her yes to favor.   The favor that she didn’t even ask for positioned her for threats. The favor of God threatened her:

• Relationships:  Because of what she was carrying, Joseph was preparing to walk away from their engagement.
• Reputation:  The Bible does not go into detail but I can just imagine that the towns people had plenty to say about this young unmarried girl becoming pregnant. Can’t you just hear their whispers and see those funny glances? If Joseph doubted Mary’s purity how much more would the neighbors.
• Plans:  Before the favor showed up, she and Joseph already had things set in motion for their future marriage. But the impending birth threaten to bring her planned future to a halt.

As I meditate upon these three areas, I am reminded that Mary was not the only to face such assaults. Joseph had the favor of God but it lead to strained relationship with his own family members. So much so that they sold him into slavery. Of course, the favor followed him there as well. His run-in with Potiphar’s wife threatened his reputation.  And I can just imagine that as he sat in the pit and the prison that his vision of his life looked as if it would never come into fruition.

To be favored is a blessing but it is not void of cost.

Today’s post is from the archives but it still rings true. I’m reflecting a lot on Mary’s story. Wishing you & yours a Merry Christmas!

This weeks winner of the Common English Bible is Lori!

Treasured Thoughts

Today I’m joining Joanne for Monday Manna, which is designed to get together and get to know God’s Word. Todays verse is Luke 2:19.

Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. (CEB)

I can’t imagine being selected for such a gigantic task as Mary. Even after receiving divine notification about her miraculous pregnancy and the child she would birth, to receive confirmation from others had to be encouraging.

At times I have found myself saying that I’m like Mary pondering things in my heart. I have had God-whispered that were far to grand for my feeble mind to comprehend fully but I chose to store them away for  later. And sometimes years later, I have heard a word  spoken across a pulpit, directly to me, or read something that triggered my memory of the promises spoken sometime ago.

I think it does us all well to commit those things we’ve heard into our minds and to really reflect on them. In today’s information overload, it can be rather easy to read or hear something and just move on to the next thing. But what happens when we just move onto the next bit of information without cementing it into our hearts? We lose ground during the normal see nothing days.  Having God’s Word stored up gives us strength to continue on when faced with the challenges of life. What things are you treasuring in your heart and mind?

CEB is the Common English Bible, which is a new translation of the Bible designed for easy reading and built on common ground. For an opportunity to win soft cover copy of the CEB Bible, complete the form below. Winner will be announced Thursday, December 22.

CEB Bible Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Lisa Phelps on winning a copy of the Common English Bible giveaway. Winner was selected via random.org. The giveaway is a part of the Thank You-Come Again-I Promise Blog Tour. To find other blogs participating in the tour visit here.

Get Your Aim Right

Have you ever played darts before? I am not sure why, but that was never a game played at my house. The closest thing I’ve done to playing darts is trying to pop a balloon with a dart at a carnival game. And sad to say, I was not very good at it. Although I clearly saw what my intended target was, I never  was able to direct the dart properly. Several times I came close but close doesn’t count.

Just like those darts, I have had my faith shot in the wrong direction many times. On occasions my faith has been entrusted in my own abilities, knowledge, or wisdom. At other times my faith was carelessly put on other people or quite frankly my actions revealed that my real trust was in things.  Now of course that was not always instantly visible to me. But it was true. My faith was cast every where except where it needed to be. From time to time it does us all good to evaluate our faith.

Reflecting on Sunday’s message, I’m determined to properly focus my faith this week, which requires proper aim. To aim, I need the following:

• A-awareness: I need to be aware of all the many places in which its possible to place my faith.
• I-information: I need to get knowledge about the who or what I have chosen to place my faith. Is it a trustworthy source? Foremost we have to be aware of the truth that each of us have faith. Romans 12:3b, Instead be reasonable since God has measured out a portion of faith to each one of you. (Common English Bible)
• M-move: If your faith has been misplaced move it to the proper place. Having faith requires coordinating action. James 2:17-18 says, In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. Someone might claim, “ You have faith and I have action. ” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action. (Common English Bible)

Is your faith aimed correctly? If not, there is no time like the present to readjust it.

For opportunity to win a copy of the Common English Bible complete the form below.

Photo Credit: Morguefile

The B.I.B.L.E. the Book for Me

Growing up in church the Bible has been a part of my life since my very beginning. I remember “read your Bible” was often retorted by my mom for any boredom expressed by me or my siblings. Needless to say as kids that was the last thing on our minds. Even after accepting Christ as my personal savior, the Bible was often not my book of choice. Much of it seemed to make little sense to me and I couldn’t understand how to incorporate into my daily life. But thankfully that has changed.

As an attendee of an Pentecostal church, the KJV was the translation of choice we read. Over the years, I have added several other translations of the Bible to my library. I find that at different times in my life, I read more from certain translations. Currently I have been reading a lot from the New Living Translation and I love how the Message translate some passages. Each of them add deeper insight into a passage of scripture. While KJV will always be good starting point for me, I appreciate the opportunity to read verses in different translations. That’s why I was pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of the Common English Bible (CEB), Thank You-Come Again –I Promise blog tour.

Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring more of the Common English Bible and sharing passages of scripture with you. As a part of the tour, my readers have the opportunity to win a copy of the softcover edition each week. For more information about the Common English Bible visit their website at http://www.commonenglishbible.com

To win simply fill out the form below or leave a comment. Winner will be selected Friday, December 16th.

Disclosure: As a participate in the blog tour I was given a complimentary copy of the Deco Tone edition of the Common English Bible.Any views or opinions expressed are my own.