A Chosen Vessel

 

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.”

For over a week now I have heard what is called 'The Song of Mary' out of Luke chapter 1 in the teachings or preaching's of others. Every time I hear it it brings me to tears. I knew right away I was going to be writing a blog about her. After giving birth to 4 children myself I really empathize with women having babies and it's no different every time I see Mary give birth to Jesus in a movie. It honestly isn't unusual to hear the song of Mary around Christmas because of the story of the birth of Jesus which is why we celebrate Christmas. The reality is December 25th is most like not Jesus' birthday. In fact, the Rabbi Jonathan Kahn has done research on it which I won't go into here, but it is available on YouTube if you'd like to search out his podcast on it. Either way he believes that Jesus was most likely born in March or April, and he goes into details about how reading other scriptures gives us clues, but we celebrate His birth in December. I believe that one great reason for this is that it brightens up a very cold, dark and often lonely time in our year. 

In many places the weather in winter forces people into isolation. The beauty of Christmas is that we have something to look forward to every year. We buy trees, decorate the inside and outside of our homes and we bake cookies, give gifts to our families and neighbors. We tend to really show the love of God around the Christmas season. I don't know the story of how we ended up celebrating in December, but I do like to look at the bright side of this tradition rather than being a Christian who sits around complaining about how commercialized it's become and how we are doing nothing but celebrating a pagan holiday. If you were a person who feels this way, I hope you got my email sharing the movie called 'Saving Christmas' which is available for free on YouTube because I truly believe that like me, you will see Christmas differently if you watch it. It's just like the devil to get in there and make even people who love Jesus not care that much or want to celebrate His birth anymore with lies and falsehoods.

I think that just like trying to kill, steal and destroy our desire to celebrate Christmas as the birth of our Savior the enemy has through the spirit of religion tried to do the same with Mary the mother of Jesus. What do I mean by that? Mary is a very special woman that God looked over all the earth and CHOSE to supernaturally birth His Son into the earth. He didn't choose Elizabeth to birth Jesus. She was blessed in her older age to give birth to John the Baptist. He didn't choose another woman who was a virgin at the time. He CHOSE Mary.

Luke 1:28 - And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

The angel came to Mary and immediately told her that she was highly favored and blessed among women. We know the story of Mary but many of us kind of just pass her by when we are talking about the wonderful women in the Bible. There are only 2 books in the Bible named after women. One is Ruth and one is Esther. Think about that for just a minute. The Bible isn't just a good ole' old boys club. Not everything that we read is about men doing something great for the Lord. Whenever I write about the women in the Bible, I can't forget about Deborah who was a Judge. I can't forget about Abigail who actually helped David and kept him from making a huge mistake before he ever took the throne. I can't forget about the woman who broke the Alabaster box full of expensive oil and poured it over Jesus' head and I definitely can't forget Mary (Martha's sister) who with her tears washed Jesus' feet and used her hair to dry them. 

But we shouldn't forget Mary a young girl who was betrothed to a man named Joseph who was also chosen. We can't ignore the significance of Mary's role in History, but I think many have brushed it aside because religion has exalted her in ways even beyond Jesus. Keeping our priorities straight and knowing who we worship and pray to is extremely important. Man made doctrines have exalted Mary to a position where people pray to her, but Mary was just like you or me. She was special in that the Lord looked over the whole earth at the time and found someone He could use to bring forth His plan on the earth (2 Chronicles 16:9), but she is not deity. She does not have supernatural powers. She cannot heal you. She isn't your provider. She was a wonderful young woman who loved God and trusted Him so much that she said 'Yes'. 

Luke 1: 38 - Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary said 'Yes'. When she said yes, did she know that Joseph would leave her for a short time needing an angel to visit him in a dream and tell him that Mary was Pregnant from the Holy Spirit and not to reject her? Did she know what she would suffer from those who would not understand and would persecute her for being pregnant before she'd even married? Did she have any idea that by divine design she would not give birth to the Holy One of Israel in a castle or the comfort of a home or even an Inn, but that the God who only months prior had sent an angel to tell her how favored she was, and yet now, she was faced with giving birth to the Son of God and her firstborn in a Manger which is a structure that shelters animals? Did she know beforehand that God did not want Jesus born in a place where man would exalt the place instead of His Son? Amazingly Mary writes the song of Mary and later in life shares it with Luke who shares it with you and me. Of course, at the time of Jesus birth no one put 2 and 2 together to realize that Jesus would be the Lamb who was slain before the foundations of the world (Revelations 5:12). Once you understand that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind and was that Lamb it is much easier to understand why God wanted him born in a Manger.

We often hear of women who follow men into ministry, but this was reversed wasn't it? Mary was called by God to carry His Son and not only give birth to Him but also raise Him and train Him up in the way He should go (Proverbs 22:6), but she was not called to this ministry alone. Joseph was also chosen to be a stepfather to Jesus. Jesus grew up knowing that Joseph was not his real father. How do we know this? Because in Luke 2 we find a story where the family is traveling, and Jesus stays behind. He is only 12 years old but once his mother and father realize he is not with anyone in the company they've been on the journey home with they go back to look for him and find him in the Temple sitting amongst the Teachers listening to them and asking them questions. His mother is pretty upset at this point as it has now been 3 days since she's seen Him, so she asks Him why He did this to them? His answer tells you everything you need to know about whether He knew who His real Father was. (On a side note, I always pay attention to numbers. He was 12 years old (12 is the number of Government) and He was missing or out of their sight for 3 days (He also was out of everyone's sight after death and resurrected after 3 days).

Luke 2:49 - And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

His stepfather was a carpenter. Jesus was doing the business of God His Father who was in Heaven. Joseph as I mentioned earlier was also chosen but his ministry was to support Mary in hers. His ministry was to take care of her, protect her, obey the Lord as He spoke to Joseph through dreams, and he was called to raise and train up Jesus alongside Mary. When Jesus went into His ministry at 30 years of age His mother was still in his life, but by this time Joseph had passed. We know that His Mother remained in his life because the first miracle Jesus performed was turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana and she is the one who asked Him to do this for her and those who are having the wedding party.  What some will do for their mothers as Jesus Himself said, "mother it is not yet my time" but He did it anyway. 

Mary was there at the foot of the cross. He completed His ministry by the time he was about 33 1/2 years old. I can barely see through the tears as I write because I feel for her. How horrifying to watch what they did to Her son. Imagine watching as men who were created by Him and that He loved so much that He would come to earth to make this sacrifice were beating him, wounding Him and nailing Him to that cross. Imagine the strength Mary must have had because she stayed. Jesus even speaks from the cross and tells John to take care of His mother. She was still there. From the beginning to the end. Mary trusted God even in the darkest days of her life watching everything they did to her son. There really aren't any movies thus far that depict exactly what He possibly looked like which is probably good because I'm not even sure I could handle watching it. I've heard people say 'The Passion of the Christ' was probably the closest, but the reality is the Bible tells us that His appearance or form was marred more than any man and I have never watched The Passion.

Isaiah 52:14 - So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men.

Mary was there through it all. Joseph came a long side Mary's calling and ministry and became her support but even Joseph wasn't there to watch His death. Mary has to be one of the strongest women I've ever read about who I don't believe gets the credit she deserves. We tend to overlook Mary because we don't want to even give the appearance that we are exalting her too high as we've seen others do. We must understand that God wants us to worship Him and that there is nowhere in the Bible that tells us to worship Mary. God wants us to pray to Him in the name of Jesus. The name He gave us above every name. I have found nowhere in scripture where it tells me to pray to Mary. I do apologize if I have offended anyone by saying this. You are welcome to show me chapter and verse, but I believe many have been led astray and they are missing the importance of Mary in God's word and in the story of Jesus, but they are also missing what Jesus really did for them if they are worshipping Mary and pushing Jesus aside. 

Did she know God's entire redemptive plan? Was she confused by what was taking place at the cross or was she well aware that this was coming? Maybe Jesus told her that it was coming to prepare her. He certainly told the disciples several times, but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other, which is why they all ran, and Peter denied he even knew Him, but Mary never ran. As we celebrate the Christmas season or the birth of Christ, I hope to leave you today thankful for Mary. Thankful that Mary said yes. Thankful that Mary raised Jesus and trained Him up to step into ministry when He did. Thankful that Mary never walked away believing she couldn't handle the tough stuff. Thankful that Mary trusted God and obeyed everything He asked of both her and Joseph while Jesus grew and of course even later in life, but also after death. Mary was also there after the resurrection and in the Upper Room waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave to those who were willing to wait for it after He ascended. 

Acts 1:14 - These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

Thank God for Mary. She is the epitome of a great and Godly mother who never left her son. Because Mary said yes, God Himself came to earth in the form of a human to experience everything we experience. I know this will sound funny, but it reminds me in a way of that old reality show called 'Under Cover Boss' where the boss of a huge corporation comes in and works as the low person in the business to see how everything is going and stay in touch with what is going on outside the office of his high-rise. God wanted to be touched by the feelings of our infirmities and He wanted to be tempted by the things we are tempted by yet without sinning. 

Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Even though the Word became flesh and dwelt among us we must also remember Jesus in His humanity. One reason I love the TV Series The Chosen so much is because it helped me to see beyond religion to the humanity of Jesus. You see Him tired, laughing, walking, ministering to the people you've read about in the Bible. You see Him hungry, angry, confrontational (money changers) and maybe even a little nervous before his first preaching session. One of my favorite scenes is I believe the last one of season 3 when Jesus is getting ready to preach and there is a beautiful scene with Mother Mary where she is making sure he looks ok and is straightening his clothing before He steps out and Jesus needing a hug from her. Why do we think He wouldn't need these things? God gave Him a mother. God knew He needed a mother. Jesus was a son. He loved His mother, and he definitely needed her. He was human just as we are while on this earth so don't mix up the two. 

Don't live your life seeing Jesus through the eyes of religion or manmade doctrine because the truth is God created mankind so that He could have a family. There is a reason why He calls Jesus His Son. There is a reason why He gave Jesus to a mother and stepfather on earth. God wants you to see Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as close as family members. He is even now taking us back to the Garden where we belong. I hear the feet of My Father walking on the earth even while I write this today. I often listen to Baruch Hashem Adonai | Warfare Prayer Instrumental - https://youtu.be/anWVYs1wD54?si=O-Lflmy-gkr0ZxWx which I have shared many times because I hear war drums and doing the prophecy fulfilled reports, I can clearly see that my Father is doing a great work. I hear Him tearing down structures that were never meant to be. I see Him pulling people out of positions that were never theirs to begin with. I cannot see things in the negative as long as I focus on Him. Peter walked on water until he looked at the storm and got his eyes off Jesus. Look at Jesus and not at the storms that are all around you right now. I see Him mighty to save for His children. We are family and it is my hope that through my blogs, the letters, Prophetic Reports, and even Prophecy Fulfilled emails that many of you might have received this year of 2023 you were able to find strength and peace and see your Heavenly Father at work on your behalf as well. 

The End

Sheryl

America-Reimagined-Sheryl@proton.me