God Wants To Develop Your Long-Term Legacy More Than Your Short-Term Reputation

God Wants To Develop Your Long-Term Legacy
More Than Your Short-Term Reputation

Luke 1:26-29 HCSB
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.

When Your Plans Fall Apart Shut-Up and Listen

Luke 1:30-37 HCSB
Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”

The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

When You Don’t Understand Simply Ask

Luke 1:38-40 HCSB
“I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.

When You Feel Lost Find Someone Who Understands

Luke 1:42-29 NLT
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.

When God Puts It All Together Celebrate Like Crazy!

Do you realize that Mary had to wait 33 years before she was finally vindicated? Her own children didn’t believe the story! She lived with a cloud over her head and she had done nothing wrong, in fact she had done everything right! It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t fair.

Maybe you did the right thing and it got worse. You told someone the truth, but instead of being thankful they attacked you. You befriended someone who was unfriendly and they betrayed you. You helped someone in need and they were ungrateful. We want to see immediate positive gains every time we do the right thing, and if we don’t we loose faith!

God was willing to allow Mary’s reputation to be in tatters in order to cement her legacy for all time.

We can become so consumed with what other people think about us that it cripples us spiritually, and causes us to not take leaps of faith in following God!

God often speaks in the crazy of our lives, in the hard moments.

Mary is a young girl in love, waiting with happy anticipation for the day of her wedding. She can hardly think of anything else. If we suppose the wedding feast is still four or five months away, we can imagine all her thoughts center on the same things prospective brides think about today– THE GUEST LIST – THE DECORATIONS – THE FOOD – THE MUSIC – WHAT SHE WILL WEAR AND WHERE THEY WILL HOUSE THE PEOPLE COMING IN FROM OUT-OF-TOWN.

Mary had never been happier
This was the most exciting time of her life
It is right at this point that God breaks in

Mary could have very easily, and in our minds been justified by doing so, started peppering the angel with questions and objections, but instead, she holds her tongue and she waits on God…

For nothing will be impossible with God!

That’s it! That’s the entire answer to one of the deepest questions we can ask! The solution to your situation may seem impossible. Humanly speaking, maybe it is. But we believe in a God and we serve a God who is not bound by what we perceive as possible.

You may think that a broken relationship can’t be saved, but with God nothing is impossible. And if that relationship isn’t saved, you may think there is no way you could ever continue on your own. But with God nothing is impossible.

If you’re tempted to say: I could never do this, I could never try that, I won’t survive in this situation — don’t believe it. Believe instead in the God of the impossible.

If you believe that nothing is impossible with God, and that He’s going to help you overcome in any situation, then it doesn’t matter what other people think or feel or say. If you believe nothing is impossible with God, then you can endure the rough road and the long journey, because you know what’s waiting for you.

Wondering what in the world is going on. Mary is doing what God wants but, her entire world is falling apart. Her husband to be, who is a good righteous man more than likely will not believe her and is going to leave her. Her parents will think she’s crazy, everyone else is going to believe they know what really happened. From past experience they’ll know for a fact that you don’t get pregnant without having sex. They’ll know for a fact that Mary has to be lying. She has to be covering up for someone. And she seemed to be such a good girl.

The tears, pain and heartache that she was going to have to endured. She is going to be a single mother, an ‘impure’ woman, an outcast in her own family. She’s got to talk with someone who understands, who will believe her! So she packs up and immediately heads out to Aunt Elizabeth’s, because the angel told her she was experiencing a miracle of her own…

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