Believing is receiving

​Do you struggle with the joyful anticipation of out-of-town guests and the necessary preparation that is required for them to stay in your home? I have to be honest and say, “Yep! That’s me!” Add to that a recent move and trying to get settled while making our place homey and festive and I confess, I had to ask the Lord to make room in my heart to receive this arrival of loved ones despite any sacrifice I have to make.
 
Advent is a time of anticipation when we await the coming of Jesus. It is a time of preparation in heart and mind for the arrival of the Word of God made flesh. The prophets foretold His coming, though.
 
A young Jewish teenager named Mary was given an announcement of a long expected visitor which required a tremendous sacrificial response on her part. With just one simple question about how God would bring this incarnation about, Mary was already prepared to receive the Word of the Lord. She believed what the prophets had written about the Messiah, so long ago.
 
What would happen between The Prophecy, and The Fulfillment, was unforeseen on Mary’s part but fully known to God. She only knew that God is good and that what He does is good. Her heart was prepared to receive the seed of the Word and willing to wait upon the Lord to perform His good work in and through her. Mary’s faith actively trusted God to fulfill His will and in her believing, she received.
 
Do we really believe that what God says He will do?
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Tuning our ears to hear God’s still small voice and immersing ourselves in the written Word of God regenerates our minds and cultivates faithful fruit from our hearts.
 
Are we actively trusting Him to perform His will in us?
Ps 37:3-5 “Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”
Trust God, right where you are. He is Faithful and True to His Word. He doesn’t need circumstances to change before He can work His will in and for you. It is in and for you and through you that He works His will, for His glory.
 
Exalt the Lord and rejoice in your Savior! God has done great things for you who have believed! 

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