Is God personal to you ?
Merry Christmas!
Many people around the world celebrate Christmas! For many people, Christmas is all about new clothes, parties and presents. Of course, these are good things, because it is the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! People are too busy with these things but spend less or no time with Jesus!
Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
“God with us” is when God becomes personal to you.
For many people, God is not personal to them; “God” has been a doctrine or they think of God only on Christmas Day or on some occasions.
But God has always been in relationship with people.
Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, o man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with your God.”
A lot of people have “do justly” – do what’s right; and maybe even “love mercy” – be generous; be kind; but “walk humbly with God”? Do you do that – do you walk with God? Do you love Him? Is God your Father and a friend and a companion to you?
Today we’re going to look at a concept that makes God personal to you. It’s the question of what it means to walk in the blessing and favor of God.
Foreword
The word “blessed” is thrown around a lot in Christian circles.
Often it means you’re rich in something – so and so is blessed. If you ask some Christians how they’re doing, they’ll say “blessed and highly favoured”.
Sometimes it means that things are going really well for you (almost like you’re “lucky”).
“Everything is going your way”.
So what exactly does “blessed” or “favour” mean? How do you know you’re walking in God’s blessing and favour?
The phrase “blessed and highly favoured” comes from a statement Gabriel said to Mary when he told her she was pregnant with Jesus. The angel Gabriel said:
“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. He said: “Mary, you are blessed and highly favoured among women”. When Elizabeth saw Mary, she used the word “blessed” with Mary 3 times. Luke 1:
42Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
45Blessed is she who believed,…
Mary composes a song in which she calls herself blessed, and says, boldly, that’s how the generations will most remember her. Luke 1:48 …from now on all generations will call me blessed;
”What does blessed mean?”
Let us read the scriptures Luke 1: 46- 55. This is the 1st Christmas carol ever written, technically. But unlike a lot of our Christmas music, it’s not sentimental. It’s revolutionary. What you should notice about this song is that there is very little about her. Just a few lines. The rest is about God – His character, His presence, His promises. There is nothing in this song about her personal worthiness.
Luke 1:46-55
The Song of Mary
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
Would you call Mary “blessed”?
At the time these statements were made, Mary’s life was basically ruined. Her reputation was ruined. A teenage girl out of wedlock was a serious scandal in that culture. Add to this the fact that she was engaged to another man, but they lived apart, so people knew the baby wasn’t his, and she was seen as a loose girl and someone who had betrayed her fiancé. (Incidentally, the angel did not tell Joseph about this until several months later – so by the time she writes this, the man she loves has turned his back on her). And this stained reputation, in the eyes of many, stayed with her for the rest of her life.
Here’s something to think about: God did this to her. He could have done it differently. He chose this way. Would you consider this situation to be blessed and highly favoured?
She was very poor. She was the poorest of the poor:
When they offered their sacrifice at the birth of Jesus, they couldn’t afford the lamb required by the law. They offered two doves, which was an exception in the law for the poor. She was not just poor, she was the poorest of the poor.
And then there’s the difficulty of the child. Scholars say she would have been about 17 at the oldest. Can you imagine being 17 and having this weight put on you? How could you explain it to anyone?
“The angel came. The baby is God’s.”
There is no credible explanation.
Be honest: if you had looked at Mary from the outside, would you have called her “blessed”? No.
What was her blessing?
It is not because Mary has all the good things in her life that she says she is blessed. How do we know that Mary is blessed and what was the nature of her blessing?
Notice how much she speaks of God in the first person.
– God my Savior.
– He has looked on me.
– I was hungry: you fed me.
– I was lowly: you exalted me.
God is personal to Mary, so she is blessed. But nothing has changed in her circumstances, so it’s not just rejoicing in what God has given her, but in what God has become to her in Christ. At this point, Christ in her is the only exaltation she has; the baby in her womb is her only fullness, her only sustenance, her only salvation.
Also, let’s see verses 49 and 50. These 3 attributes of God combine to make the gospel.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
– He is holy: he lived in perfect love for God and man. An image of what we should be and what God wants us to be.
– He is merciful: Can you think of anyone who came to him in repentance of a need that he ever turned away for any reason?
– He is mighty: Was there anything we feared that he could not heal? Was there any sickness he could not heal? No demon he could not command? Was there a storm he could not calm or a grace he could not drain? Was there anything that frightened you that he could not overcome?
God who is Holy, Merciful and Mighty is personal to Mary. That’s why Mary says she was blessed.
Make a choice
Like Mary, you will say,
“I am blessed” when Jesus is personally your Lord.
The greatest blessing is that Jesus is mine. His life was characterised by holiness, mercy and power.
Let’s see verses 46 and 47
46And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
So Mar’s soul magnified him, not herself, and for you to idolize her is to miss the point of her song.
Those two statements are connected. Whatever you magnify, you rejoice in. What has to be true in your life for you to rejoice?
There’s nothing wrong with dreams; wealth; positions of power. The problem is when you magnify them. When they become your source of pleasure. Your source of identity. Your source of pride. Then you have given them glory.
Luke 10:20 In this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.” In other words, that you know me. In me: “Do not rejoice that your church is successful… rejoice that you know me.”
What do you magnify? Here’s how you know: What do you rejoice in?
If you don’t have joy right now, it’s likely that the source of your joy has moved from God to some lesser blessing. Here’s Mary, in the worst possible circumstances for a 17 year old girl: rejoicing.
If Jesus is your source of joy and no one can take your happiness away from you.
If you are not always rejoicing in your life, maybe this is your chance to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Why don’t you make the right choice for your life!
Dear brother and sister,
When God is personal to you, when you walk with God, then you rejoice in God for salvation. That is the real blessing for you!
