An Example to Follow

     "And the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35

These words that were spoken to Mary over 2,000 years ago are still meant for us today, even if in a different context. God is able to dwell within us, just as he did with Mary. His spirit can still dwell within us, and the most high will still overshadow us. All we have to do is say what Mary said in response to the angel. 

"And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word."Luke 1:38a

We have to be willing, and God will use us in mighty ways. As Mary was we must be willing to serve Him.

Jesus was Mary's son but ultimately He was the Son of God. He was the picture of everything we should be, yet He didn't claim His title as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. No, instead He was a servant. 

"For weather is greater he who sits at meat or he who serves? Is it not He who sits at meat? but I am among you as one who serves." Luke 22:27

Jesus was our perfect example, yet He humbled Himself to the position of a servant. The famous evangelist Dwight L Moody said it well when quoted:
"He who kneels the most stands the best."

God has a perfectly laid out plan for our lives.

"For I know the plans I have for you declares THE LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to  give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Personally, I would like to be like Mary, to let God use me in whatever way He sees fit, and just let it be....

Just an Average Road

Walking a stretch of road 

Pleasant with autumn's cool breeze

It's just an average road; lined with trees

A woman walks along the road at an average pace 

Her hazel eyes turn child-like as she gazes around the place

She sees herself twenty years younger racing past on a bike 

Beating her brother to their favorite tree, marking their initials firmly with a pocket knife 

Climbing around on the limbs wild young and free

They play and swing and climb around on their favorite tree 

She's passed again by herself, only fifteen years younger 

This time at a jog; smiling as she beats her best time, 

And with it the morning's fog 

She observes the younger and older version pause beside a tree
And gaze with wonder at the mighty branches, gnarled with times debris 

One proclaims it to be from Winnie the pooh, straight from the hundred-acre-wood

While the other says it looks to be, more of a Narnian styled tree

Which one fit the best; she still could not decide, 

But it definitely had a whimsical feel, 

That no one could deny 

At the sight of this old road, her eyes filled up with tears 

For it was as if time had stopped, 

and with it the passing of years. 

For it was just an average road, lined with ridges and bumps, 

But to her it was a special road, it was the road that watched her grow up

                                                                    - Riley Henderson 

That's Why God Made Love.

Your broken and empty,

So incomplete

You've got a God shaped hole

But you cannot see the way,

The hero must come save the day.

You ask where is He now?

I'm stranded here on the ground

And I need to know how the lost get found,

How do I see,

That a God up in Heaven loves me?

He wanted to show you what's in a fathers heart.

He wanted to give you a brand new start,

It comes in the form of a cross or a dove,

He wanted to give you a glimpse of above...

That's why God made love.

You say I'm living my life

I'm doing just fine,

And all I've got is time.

You don't believe in early fate

You say I'll come back before its to late

You've walked away.

The hero must come save the day.

You ask where is he now?

I'm stranded here on the ground,

And I need to know how the lost get found,

Help me to see...

That the God up in Heaven still loves me.

He wanted to show you what's in a father's heart.

He wanted to give you a brand-new start,

It comes in the form of a cross or a dove,

He wanted to give you a glimpse of above...

That's why God made love. 

She cries in her car,

Surgery complete.

The baby is gone, she's supposed to feel free,

Instead she feels chains.

Her heart is brimming with pain.

She wants to take her own life today,

The hero must come save the day.

And She cries

Where is He now?

I'm lying here on the ground

And I don't know how the lost get found,

I cannot see,

How the God up in Heaven could love me.

And He said,

I wanted to show you what's in my heart,

I wanted to give you a brand-new start,

I paid on the cross, and it shows through the dove,

I wanted to give you a glimpse from above,

That's why I made love.

He was hanging on a cross,

He died to save the lost

And for His clothing they tossed.

Everyone else ran away,

But the hero stepped in to save the day.

And the women said

Where is He now?

All that's left is bare ground

And what we lost cannot be found,

Death could not keep Him bound

Help us to see,

Where is the God up in Heaven who loves me?

And the angels said,

He wanted to show you,

What's in his heart,

He wanted to give you a brand-new start

He paid on the cross, and it shows through the dove

He came here to give you a glimpse of above,

That's why God made Love.