DAILY BREAD OF LIFE

(KJV.)  ST. LUKE 1:41-43

(41)  And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.
(42)  And she spake out with a loud voice, and said,  Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
(43)  And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

THE APPOINTED TIME OF GOD!

Brethren, the LORD is good!  His ways are incomprehensible, no human being can fully understand who he is;  or the ways in which he engineers all things within his own creation, to work together for good;  therefore, in all circumstances, whether good or bad,  let us not doubt him, but pray and give praises unto him through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, never disengage ourselves from him to believe in other mini-gods, associate with them, but continue to abide in his steadfast love, and wait patiently for his appointed time to fulfill his promises in our lives.

In the above chapter of the text, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus Christ to the virgin Mary;  during their dialogue, he also mentioned to Mary, that her cousin Elisabeth, who was called a barren woman, has also conceived a son in her old age for six months;  the miraculous works of our Father!  Let us deliberate on this verse a moment;  first of all, the barren woman conceived to bear a son at her old age; the question is, why did our Father waited so long to answer Elizabeth's prayers?
 
He waited for the appointed time, when Jesus Christ, was to come into the world;  he worked things in such a way that, Elizabeth's child, called John, could bear witness of Jesus Christ, cf. John 1:15-16; not only that but also John baptized him in the river Jordan, cf. Matthew 3:13-17;   therefore, if we have prayed certain prayers, but have not yet received the answers to those prayers, let us not have doubtful mindsets, to give up on our expectations, but keep on trusting in Jesus Christ that he had not forgotten to answer our prayers, for prayers are answered on the same day we render them to our Father: cf. Daniel chapter 6;  to perceive ways in which the enemy hinders the manifestations of prayers:  at the time when Elisabeth was not expecting her prayers to be answered by our Father, that was when she received the promise, became a proud mother, to John the Baptist;  therefore, if we are in expectation of any type of promise from Jesus Christ, despite how many years, we have to wait for it to happen, let us be encouraged to know that there is an appointment time for everything under the sun, and never lose hope, but wait upon the Lord!

After the Angel spoke with Mary, she rose up, hastily went to the hill-country, into the city of Juda; to see her cousin Elizabeth, her husband Zacharias;  the very moment when she arrived, she greeted her; but miraculously, the baby in Elisabeth's womb, leaped, instantaneously, she was filled with the Holy Ghost; and prophesied, saying, "blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.";  what a wonderful work of the holy spirit;  the question is,  (i)  why did Elizabeth prophesy, called Mary blessed among women when she had not yet received the news about the birth of Jesus Christ from Mary?  (ii) how did the baby in Elizabeth's womb discern what was going on with Mary, to signal from within the womb, when Mary greeted his mother Elizabeth?  (iii)  why did Elizabeth call Mary the mother of her Lord, when Jesus was not yet born?  just like the psalmist wrote, "The LORD said unto my Lord,  Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool."  (iv) again, Jesus was not yet born when David wrote this psalm, therefore, who was David referring to in the psalm?  let us think deeply about these questions!

Dearly beloved, regardless of what may be our challenges today, let be encouraged to know that all things will work together for good;  though things may tarry, might not happen sooner as expected from human level of imagination,  they will surely happen at the appointed times:  therefore, let us continue to persevere with faith in our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen and Amen!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

(KJV.)  John 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him,  My Lord and my God.