Hmm & Luke 1:39-56
Hello again. Well, as you may have noticed, I've not been overly prolific here! It turned out to not be working for me soooo much. So I've decided to change tack a little bit and not try to write so much on a passage but just throw out the odd thought. Thus I hope it will happen a bit more regularly and be more useful to me. (I don't know if it will be useful elsewhere or who is reading this so...!)
Right so, Luke 1:39-56. Get the reading here. (Please note, I've started using the NRSV on Mad Medea's advice, however Bible Gateway don't seem to have it so I've stuck to NIV there. So if there are little differences, that's why!)
So a couple of verses that spoke to me in this passage:
v45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
This is Elizabeth speaking to Mary, prompted by the Holy Spirit. When we do what God asks of us, we will be blessed. I find being blessed kind of an interesting concept because we try to pin it down to things - financial gain, health, happiness, whatever - but God has the bigger picture. I'm not sure we always recognise what our "blessings" really are. Another thought - all Mary had to "do" in this instance to be in God's plan and thus to be blessed was to believe.
vv46b-50 My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked with favour on the lowliness of His servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.
This is Mary's immediate response to what Elizabeth has said. Great praise of God, it tells us what has been done that is worthy of praise, it tells us of the character of God and it gives a response, "my soul magnifies the Lord...my spirit rejoices". Partly because of my job now I am aware of ways in which praise can be structured to make it more useful for us, more fantastico for God. I think this is a good structure for praise.
Right so, Luke 1:39-56. Get the reading here. (Please note, I've started using the NRSV on Mad Medea's advice, however Bible Gateway don't seem to have it so I've stuck to NIV there. So if there are little differences, that's why!)
So a couple of verses that spoke to me in this passage:
v45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
This is Elizabeth speaking to Mary, prompted by the Holy Spirit. When we do what God asks of us, we will be blessed. I find being blessed kind of an interesting concept because we try to pin it down to things - financial gain, health, happiness, whatever - but God has the bigger picture. I'm not sure we always recognise what our "blessings" really are. Another thought - all Mary had to "do" in this instance to be in God's plan and thus to be blessed was to believe.
vv46b-50 My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked with favour on the lowliness of His servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.
This is Mary's immediate response to what Elizabeth has said. Great praise of God, it tells us what has been done that is worthy of praise, it tells us of the character of God and it gives a response, "my soul magnifies the Lord...my spirit rejoices". Partly because of my job now I am aware of ways in which praise can be structured to make it more useful for us, more fantastico for God. I think this is a good structure for praise.
posted by AdventuringJen at
3:32 PM
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