Luke 1:18

Luke 1:18 says,  And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.  Zacharias asked the angel how he would know that Elisabeth and he would have a child, since they were both old.  He was looking at the facts and not God.  Even if it seems unlikely or even impossible, if God tells us something, we need to simply put our faith in Him and believe.  Verse nineteen adds, And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.  The angel identified himself as Gabriel, and said that He stood in the presence of God and was sent with this message from God.   We might think this would be marvelous to have an angel to tell us what God says, but we have One even greater, the Holy Spirit, with us at all times to tell us what God wants us to do.  Verse twenty continues, And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.  Zacharias asked for a sign, and the angel gave him one, though probably not one that he wanted.  He would be unable to speak until the baby was born and named.  We should never ask God for signs, but should simply follow by faith.  If we do ask for a sign, and God gives us one, like Zacharias we may not like it.  Verse twenty-one states, And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.  Zacharias was in the temple so long that the people began to wonder about what was happening.  Matthew Henry says that they were awaiting his blessing, and unlike some Christian congratulations they did not hurry away when he was late.  Verse twenty-two adds, And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.  When Zacharias came out, he couldn't speak.  He called the people to Him, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple because he could not speak.  When we are gathered in God's name, we should have a vision of what He wants us to do, and it should never leave us speechless.  Verse twenty-three declares, When the time passed for Zacharias to perform his duties at the temple, he returned home.  He was able to carry out his duties as a priest, except for speaking.  If we become somehow limited in our ability to carry out God's calling, that does not relieve us from the responsibility to do all that we can.  Verse twenty-four adds, And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,  When Elisabeth conceived a child, she hid herself for five months.  Zacharias could not tell the people or her what was happening, so they did not get to share the wonderful news that Gabriel had shared with Zacharias.  If God works a miracle in our life, and He certainly did when He sent Jesus to die in our place, we need to shout it from the roof tops. Verse twenty-five continues, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.  Elisabeth recognized the blessing from God and said that He had taken away her reproach among men.  I am not sure if the people actually looked down on Elisabeth since she had no children or not, but  she at least thought they did.  Sometimes we may think that people are looking down on us because of something that they see as a limitation, but we need to simply continue to believe God and do what He calls us to do, no matter what.   

Luke 1:13

 Luke 1:13 says, But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.  Ths angel had good news for Zacharias.  God had heard his prayers about wanting to be a father.  Elisabeth was going to have a son and Zacharias was to name him John.  We aren't told how long Zacharias had been praying for this, but since they were both older, it must have been for awhile.  God may not immediately answer our prayers with a yes, but until we know He has answered we should never give up on praying.  Verse fourteen adds, And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.  The angel told Zacharias that he would have joy and gladness and many people would rejoice at the birth of his son John.  There is usually a lot of joy and rejoicing at the seemingly impossible birth of a baby.  Verse fifteen continues, For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.  In the case of John there was even more reason to rejoice.  He was to be great in the sight of the LORD and filled with the Holy Ghost even before he was born.   Still, this does not mean that John was sinless, even though he was to drink neither wine nor strong drink.  This had to be a life-long commitment.   The earlier we can dedicate our life to God the better, but no matter how soon we do so we will never be without sin.  Verse sixteen states, And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.  John was to turn many people in Israel to God once again.  This means many were not following God, just as being a church member today does not mean that a person is truly following God.  Verse seventeen adds, And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.  John was to go forth by the power of God to restore relationships and prepare the people of Israel for the coming of Jesus Christ.  We today as followers of Christ are to work to restore peoples relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ and to prepare them to be ready for His return.  

Luke 1:5

Luke 1:5 says, There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.  We are given a pretty good description of who Zacharias and Elizabeth were.  He was a priest and she was descended from Aaron, a priest himself. They were a religious couple.  Verse six adds, And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Not only were they religious by their birth line, they lived up to God's calling.  They were both righteous before God.  We may be from the right family and righteous in our own eyes, but what masters is if we are righteous before God.  This can only happen by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse seven continues, And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.  They were old and without children.  We might think that God would have blessed them with children since they were righteous in His sight, but children are a gift of God.  We do not determine what God blesses us with simply by naming and claiming it.  Verse eight states, And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,  Zacharias was going about his duties as a priest.  He was not focusing on his own disappointments or desires, but was doing what God had called him to do.  We cannot allow our disappointments or desires to keep us from doing what God has called us to do.  Verse nine adds, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.  His duty this day as a priest was to burn incense in the temple of the LORD.  Whatever God calls us to do each day, and as followers of Christ whatever we do should be under His calling or guidance, we must do it for His glory. Verse ten continues, And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.  The temple was filled with people who were praying.  When we are in God's house, before anything else, we should be praying for His guidance and to give Him thanks for all that He has done for us.  Verse eleven declares, And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  While doing what he normally did as a priest,  Zacharias saw an angel of the LORD standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  We may never see an angel during a worship service, but we as Christians will always have the Holy Spirit, not standing by the altar, but living in our heart. Verse twelve adds, And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.  Zacharias was a priest and a righteous man in the eyes of God, but when he saw the angel he was troubled and became afraid.  I am not sure what our reaction today would be as followers of Christ, but I have a feeling that we would react the same way.  

Luke 1:1

Luke 1:1 says, Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,  Luke said many people had written about what Jesus did while in the world as a Man and the things that He did.  Luke said that these were things believed by us, or those who recognized Jesus as the Messiah.  When we read the accounts today, preserved for us in the New Testament, we must believe them to be a part of the family of God.  Verse two adds, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;  Luke said these other writings were delivered to those who believed in Jesus Christ, and were eyewitness accounts of what He had done.  They became the ministers of the Word, as we are to be today.  Verse three states, It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,  Though Luke said it seemed good to him to write about what he had seen in the life of Jesus, I believe this was because the Holy Spirit was inspiring him to write his account.  Luke also said he had a perfect understanding of all the things that occurred in the life of Jesus from the beginning.  As followers of Christ today, we need that same understanding of who Jesus Christ is and what He did for us by His birth, life, death and resurrection.  Verse four adds, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.  Luke had said in verse three that it seemed good to write these things to Theophilus, which means friend of God, and now he gives him the reason, and that was so that Theophilus would know the certainty of what he had been taught.  We have Luke's letter today so that we might know the same the facts about Jesus with a certainty. 

Review of Psalms continued

Psalms also tells us quite often that God is the Crator of everything.  There was no Big Bang or slow evolution of animals into people, but there was simply God's word calling everything into existence.  Having created everything, God is still at work sustaining His creation.  God is so knowledgeable of the universe that He knows the stars by name.  We may look around us and be impressed or maybe even intimidated by the armies of some countries, but armies don't impress God.  There is no power that can stand against God.  God protects His people, those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, spiritually, and He expects us to give Him the praise and credit throughout this lifetime and our everlasting life as well.  No force in the world can ever separate us from God's love, but our own rejection of His gift of salvation can.  Psalms tells us that we are to praise God for Who He is, what He has done for us, what He continues to do for us, and what He will do for us in the future.  God chose the people of Israel to be His people, as He chooses everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ today.  God chose, delivered, and protected the people Israel,  but not all of them put their faith in Him.  God calls everyone to salvation, but not all accept His free gift of salvation.  If we have accepted God's gift of salvation, we should praise Him everyday.  Next we will look at the book of Luke.

Review Of Psalms

The first thing that we learn from Psalms is that we are to praise God for Who He is and for what He has done for us as His followers.  It is not dependent on who we are or how powerful we may be in the world.  David's was a king, who was also at times surrounded by enemies.  He praised God and gave Him the credit for protecting him in either case.  We need to praise God no matter where we stand in the in the eyes of the world.   We also learned that we are to joyously praise God when we gather together in His name, which we should do often.  I believe that we also see that we are to praise God continually, and not just when we are gathered together to worship Him.  David said we are to praise or worship God when we get up in the morning and when we go to bed at night.  As Christians, we need to seriously consider how much of our time each day is spent actually even thinking about God, much less praising and worshipping Him.  We learned that God uplifts the meek and seemingly powerless. We must all come to Jesus in meekness, recognizing our inability to save ourselves spiritually.   God has already provided salvation even for those who are considered the lowest by the world if the come to Him by faith.  Being poor or powerless does not gain salvation for anyone though, but only accepting the salvation of Christ does.

Psalms 150:1

Psalms 150:1 says, Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  We come to the last psalm, and it is definitely a psalm calling on us to  praise God.  The people of Isreal were called on to praise God in His sanctuary because He is the Creator by His power which is displayed in the sky.  Matthew Henry says this was mainly written for the Levites, the priests, and as followers of Christ we are the priests of God today.  Verse two adds, Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.  We are to praise God for Who He is, the Creator by His mighty acts, and according to His excellence and not our own.  God alone is worthy of our praise.  Verse three states, Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.  Once more, there is a call to praise God through the use of many musical instruments.  I believe that God expects us to be a joyous, praising church, or fellowship of believers, today as well.  Verse four adds, Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.  Then verse five continues, Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.  Many instruments are named to be used in praising God, as well as a call for dancing.  I don't believe that we should make what we call worshipping God just entertainment, but I do believe that there is nothing wrong with praising God with the use of many musical instruments and even with some movement as we worship Him, though I myself might not be inclined to move very much.  Verse five declares, Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.  Since we as human beings have the breath of God in us, this verse would especially apply to us.  As followers of Christ, we are to always praise God.