Closer Today Than Yesterday: T-34: Something Special

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

T-34: Something Special

Every day I have the opportunity to greet people. Sometimes it’s a simple ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ and other times it might be ‘wow, it’s really good to see you!’ These greetings are sometimes accompanied by a handshake or a hug and some are followed by sincere conversations. Our text today is about a greeting. Consider…

Luke 1:28 (NIV)
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
[1]

Gabriel, who is to deliver the most glorious message of all times is standing before a 13 or 14 year old girl. I can imagine his excitement since he is full aware of the implications of the message he is about to deliver. Obviously, he has to greet Mary in some manner and a simple ‘hello’ or ‘shalom’ simply will not do. Instead, he greets Mary with the declaration “Greetings, you who are highly favored.”

Mary had been noticed. Scripture tells us that the “eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” I can imagine that as the Lord searches the earth, those whose hearts burn brightly for him stand out amid the darkness of the fallen world. Mary had been noticed. Mary was a girl, nothing more, who was committed to God and lived a life of obedience, nothing less. When God decided that it was time to deliver the Savior, he found Mary to be a suitable and preferred servant to accomplish his will. She was ‘highly favored’ by God for this purpose. God honored her commitment to Him with His favor.

Gabriel continued with ‘The Lord is with you.’ What joy in my heart when I consider that the Lord is with me! What happiness I feel for that little girl to find out that the God she worshipped and adored was not only real but was present with her.

What a wonderful realization in the heart and mind of the repentant sinner to know that God is with them. We are more than lucky, we are blessed!

Regards,
Carl
P Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

No comments:

Post a Comment

So I Stand Near The Gate

I read the below poem at a critical point in my life and it's message resonated with me. My ministry, "Near The Gate" was named in homage to this poem. When reading this poem, feel free to substitute the word 'gate' for the word 'door' and you'll have a little glimpse inside my head.

SO I STAY NEAR THE DOOR

By the Reverend Canon Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., D.D., S.T.D.

I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world–
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it - - -
So I stay near the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door–the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch–the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter–
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it–because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him - - -
So I stay near the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in–
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics–
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, or sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening - - -
So I stay near the door.
There is another reason why I stay there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia.
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much;
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving–preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stay near the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door–
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But–more important for me–
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
For those I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper . . . "
So I stay near the door

Closer Today Than Yesterday

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

T-34: Something Special

No comments:

Mugshot

Blog Archive

Blogs I Follow

So I Stand Near The Gate

Counter

Closer Today Than Yesterday

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

T-34: Something Special

No comments:

Mugshot

Blog Archive

Blogs I Follow

Subscription Servers

So I Stand Near The Gate

Counter