Zechariah's Prayer of Blessing for his Little Son

Luke 1:67-80

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and praised God for His faithfulness to keep His promises to His people. We see in this the threads of God's tender mercy to give us salvation, the forgiveness of our sins and to bring us the morning light of heaven, Jesus. He spoke a prophecy over his new baby son John saying,

"And you, my little son,

will be called the prophet of the Most High,

because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

You will tell his people how to find salvation

through forgiveness of their sins.

God's Answer to David

(See December 7th for David's Question)

In Luke 1:31-33, Gabriel told Mary,

"... you will conceive... and bring forth a Son
and shall call His name Jesus.
He will be great and called Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give Him
the throne of His Father David...
and of His Kingdom there will be no end."

These verses fulfill a promise made to King David in 2Samuel 7:11-14. David was dwelling in his beautiful house of cedar and decided to build a house for the arc of God. He told this to Nathan the prophet who then said to do all that was in his heart for the Lord. But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying,

"Go and tell my servant David, '
Would you build a house 
for Me to dwell in?..."
 
The Lord tells you that 
He will make you a house.
"I will set up your seed after you,
who will come from your body,

   

 I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be his Father and He shall be My son" .
vs 5,11-14

 

Christs Birth Announced to Mary

Luke 1:26-38

Imagine as you read , being Mary, just a teen and being visited by the angel Gabriel She must have been frightened. When Gabriel see's her concern and says: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. " She must have been blessed knowing she has favor with God. 

But how confusing for her to hear she will give birth to a son. "How can this be since I do not know a man?" She must have wondered what Joseph and her parents would think. What would happen to her, to be pregnant without a husband during that time in Israel?

Does God care about me?

Do you remember the shepherd boy named David, that we read about yesterday?. He spent a lot of time outside in the fields while he tended his fathers sheep. He played music on a harp and wrote songs, that are called Psalms. Later the shepherd boy became a great king who was chosen by God to lead His people Israel. At some point in David's life he wrote the following Psalm (song). I can imagine him on a hillside, bedded down with his sheep, looking up into the night sky, amazed with it's vastness and glory. By comparison he must have felt so small and insignificant.

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, you set in place-
what are people that you should think about them,
mere mortals that you should care for them?"
Psalm 8:3-4

Evil Multiplied

Summary of how evil multiplied shown in Genesis chapters 4- 12: 1-3... 2 Chronicles 16:9, Hebrews 11: 8-10

When Adam and Eve made the decision to eat the fruit; they chose to disobey God. Once they ate the fruit, evil entered into their hearts and marred the goodness God created them to have, when He made them in His Own image. And when they had their first two sons evil was passed along to them as well, in the attitudes of their hearts. Every human being has a choice... will I trust and follow God or do things my own way?

Along with evil came great tragedy and sorrow. Adam and Eve's son Cain killed his brother, their son Abel. Cain was then banished and Adam and Eve were left with no sons. Imagine their grief. They had no idea what the consequences of  accepting good and evil would have on their life. We choose between good and evil, but we can not choose the consequences.

However, God in His mercy allowed them to have another son; Seth. When Seth had his son Enosh, it says that "..men began to call on the name of the Lord." Genesis 4:26 NKJ

Even though Adam and Eve and their descendants could not live forever, they did live for a long time... up to 969 years... Certainly enough time to get into a lot of trouble. The spread of evil continued and the result is the darkness that Isaiah was talking about from our first Advent post A Great Light will Shine.  But, God was always searching the hearts of the people he created, hoping to find a person whose heart was loyal to Him, who wanted to walk with Him. Read More by clicking below: