"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "She Gave!"

"And Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior."

(Luke 1:46-47)

Christmas, 2017: A time of reflecting upon what it's all about ... Angels visiting people, The virgin birth, shepherds falling to the ground at the glowing light and brush of angels' wings ... the holiness of it all, the purity and simplicity, yet it's miraculous, spellbinding, astonishing, and awesome. However, none of it would have happened; there would have been no miraculous conception; there would be no celebration of God born in the flesh if there had not been a positive response from one young girl; if there had not been those words, "Be it unto me according to thy word;" if there had not been the yielding of creation to her Creator; if it had not been for the fact that a young girl gave herself to be used by God and ridiculed by men; she gave a gift to the entire world ... "She Gave!"

Depiction of Mary, mother of Jesus

Mary's soul was deeply and totally connected to her Savior, before the angel visited her. One must be intimately involved with the God of the universe to get angel visitations of this magnitude. What if Mary had said, "I just can't do it; it's too much to ask of me." But, she didn't. What if she had said, "I need some time to think about this; this will turn my life upside down." But she didn't. What if she had said, "I'm about to be married; what will he think?" But she didn't. Her first response was "the cry of her soul," and it was 'worship;' it was surrender; it was unquestioning obeisance; it was an immediate realization and response to her God whom she knew personally, because her soul was tied to him in praise continually. "How do you know?" you ask. Through all of the accounts in the Gospels of the annunciation, Mary did not hesitate for one moment; she was genuinely accustomed to "magnifying her Lord and God;" her prayers preceded the 'cry of her soul.'

Depiction of Mary, mother of Jesus

What would we do with a Holy angel visitation and a request of God to use us in this way? How intimate are we really with the Holy God of our own eternal Souls? Do we have such a rapport with Him that He could ask us anything? Are we soldiers armed with armor, but armed with surrender to our King? Abraham had it ... He rose "early" to trek up the mountain to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac. As my Pastor put it once; "we, if asked to do such a thing, would have waited until at least noon" ... You say, "Well, we live in different times; God wouldn't visit us with an angel, and He wouldn't ask us to do something questionable, like that." No? He IS the same God; He was born of a virgin, nailed to a cross, died a gruesome death, buried in a tomb, arose the third day, and He IS alive forevermore! So, you're right; that will not happen again; "It Is Finished;" however, Almighty God has multitudes of plans for His world, for which He needs some volunteers. Volunteers for what? Those who have it ... "that cry" in the soul ... they know ...

Depiction of Jesus praying before the crucifixion

There's a "cry of the soul" from those who give of themselves before earth-changing happenings. And, Jesus Christ, our Lord, felt the cry, the weight, and the sins of the world laden upon His soul, and so heavy were they that He sweat great drops of blood, while agonizing in the Garden. He drank the cup of every sin imaginable into His sinless Holy body ... the redemption of all mankind was ruminating in the Soul of a Holy God ... Yes, it was a CRY of the soul in that Garden, a wailing of the Creator for the dust He formed into man, a grief beyond all grief, a travail in earth that was heard echoing through the portals of a still anxious heaven; a wringing of the hands for multitudes of angels who were created to minister to Him ... but they could do nothing ...

"My soul doth magnify the Lord ..."

The Cry of the soul brings angels every time! You say, "But, I pray; no angels have ever appeared to me." They are there. They are all around. One cannot utter "Holy, Holy, Holy," without the heavenly hosts gathering those soulful cries, and carrying them in feathery flight to the Master. The Holy One of Israel listens intently when "the dust" spreads its wings and soars to the throne room in worship ...

Christmas time is very lonely for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, because so many have no prayer, no worship of the One who loves them, no giving of themselves to their Creator, who gave all. "What in the world do you mean?" you ask. The "soul" is of ultimate interest to the Ultimate God. The body goes back to dust ... But the soul ... The soul lives on forever ... in Glory or in fire ... So, the "soul" must be in tune with its Creator; it must have a synchronization with the sound of the trumpet, with the rumblings in the heavenlies, with the groans of the Spirit, with the brushes of angels' wings, with the ... beckoning of the altar ...

O, Mary, You set the high bar for all of us, the place of the visitation of the soul, the vision our eyes must behold, the climate of aura we long to enter, the magnification and glorification of the Creator by the one thing within us that expresses the need for salvation ... the giving of our hearts and souls to our Lover, our Lord and Savior, our Holy God. We have salvation today, because Mary did what we all must do ... "She Gave!"