Day 5

Scripture to Read: Luke 1:42-45

In Luke 1:42, Elizabeth declared with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” In- deed, Mary was blessed, for she had chosen to believe God’s Word (Luke 1:44) delivered to her by the archangel Gabriel. We too were blessed abundantly when we chose to believe God’s Truth about our Jesus and surrender completely to Him as our Lord. We’ve been “blessed” to receive everything God offers to every believer through Christ. We received and continue to receive the fullness of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and everything else God has for us. We received God Himself through His Holy Spirit, Who lives in us and sealed us for eter- nity as belonging to God. Mary was also blessed because she was carrying our Lord and King. Mary was given an awesome privilege but also an enormous responsibility. Now, before we overthink her responsibility, God was still in complete control and would guide and direct Mary, and of course, Joseph as they raised Jesus. That is what God does for us as well. God directs our lives and guides us through His Holy Spirit living in us. What God desires from us is that we passionately pursue Him and His Word daily so we clearly hear Him and choose to walk in obedi- ence to what He shows us each day. God is continually working in us (Philippians 2:13), so if we’re missing His will, it’s because we’re not pursuing His Word and listening to Him. We must do this to enjoy His blessing each day.

Challenge & Application

• When you consider how blessed you are with all God has done and continues to do for you, how is that impacting your daily life? • If you’re struggling to hear God, what needs to change in your daily life for you to be able to hear Him?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

Gabriel, one of God’s archangels, was sent to deliver a message to Mary. This particular message occurred in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist. Gabriel was sent to this little city in Galilee called Naz- areth. Nazareth was unremarkable and was not even spoken of in the Old Testament. But J...

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Day 2

Today, no one could imagine an angel showing up at our home and saying, “Greetings, favored one!”? Mary had good reason for being perplexed (troubled). She kept wondering why she would be receiving such a greeting. Being called “favored one” should have calmed any fear Mary might have had, but we read in Luke 1:30 that Gabriel said to Mary, “...

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Day 3

In Luke 1:34, Mary asked Gabriel a great question. She asked how she was going to have a child when she was still a virgin. This was a reasonable question because there had never been, nor will there ever be again, a pregnancy with a virgin. This must have shocked Mary even to consider that she could get preg- nant as a virgin. God used Gabri...

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Day 4

After listening to all that Gabriel shared, Mary departed quick- ly to visit her relative, Elizabeth. This would have been around an eighty- to one-hundred-mile trip. Gabriel had told Mary how God had done something miraculous for Elizabeth. Mary may have been thinking that Elizabeth would be the only one who would believe and understand her ...

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Day 5

In Luke 1:42, Elizabeth declared with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” In- deed, Mary was blessed, for she had chosen to believe God’s Word (Luke 1:44) delivered to her by the archangel Gabriel. We too were blessed abundantly when we chose to believe God’s Truth about our Jesus and surrender ...

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Day 6

We read in Luke 1:46–49 how Mary began to praise our Lord. Praise is what our Lord deserves from us every day, for He alone is God, Master, King, and Lord. Praise is what every servant of our Lord should be doing daily. We praise God when we fully understand how awesome He is and recognize all He has done for us (James 1:17). Mary recognized,...

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Day 7

In Luke 1:50–55, Mary continued in her praise and honor of our Lord; she recognized God’s incredible mercy being offered to generation after generation. But the only ones who experience the fullness of God’s mercy are those who fear Him. Those who fear the Lord are the ones who willingly surrender their lives to Him. When someone surrenders t...

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