Believe and Speak--By the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.

Luke 1:26-38

Matthew 1:16-25

Isaiah 7:14

Matthew 2:11

John 1:14

Romans 1:3-5

Philippians 2:5-11

2 Corinthians 4:13

We started our reading with this prequel to the famous Christmas story in Luke 2. The Holy Spirit comes to Mary, a young engaged virgin girl. She has found favor with God, and has been chosen to give birth to the long-awaited Messiah. The baby, the great Son of the Most High, is the star of this story, and Mary is a willing servant with a supporting role. Matthew 1 is so important to our line for the day, because it gives Jesus' genealogy; He's of the line of Abraham and David through Joseph, the man who will raise Him. Jesus' birth is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah--His name will be called Immanuel, God with us. (The definition of incarnate is embodied in flesh.) Not half God, half man. Fully God, Fully Man. John says (as we learned a few days ago) that the Word, Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us, and John was an eyewitness! Paul details in Romans 1 how Jesus was man, born of the line of David; and also God, born of the power of the Spirit. He emptied Himself when He became a human in its most helpless state, a newborn baby. And just as He showed great humility in His birth, He showed great humility in death--for us and for our salvation.

These verses got me thinking of Christmas, for obvious reasons. I am always inspired when I think of Mary, young and confused, willing and obedient. She not only gave birth under what surely everyone, including her fiance, considered less than honorable circumstances; she also raised Jesus--her beloved Son as much as God's beloved Son--probably under scrutiny and judgment from her "past". Her song of praise in Luke 1 is beautiful. 💓 She made a life long commitment to Jesus the man as His mother, but she also made a commitment to Him as the promised Messiah, God with us. I know the star of Bethlehem would be the most logical star to use to wrap this day, but my mind is on the Star of David. ✡ The two triangles are overlaid, the top point is God reaching down to us, becoming incarnate, a Man from the line of David; and because He did, we can reach up to Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, we believe and so we also speak.