I praise God that I was able to be in the midst of this time with the word of God. God has given me time, I will remain in that time itself.As said, before us we have\u2026After that we have to see where it goes.
\nAnd we have to see the smart message with story.Usually I begin my messages with a small story.
\nSo this message I am going to bring a connection\u2026 Many things that happened in our life\u2026
\nI say it almost like an ending of certain occasions in our life. The first time I came to Arizona was in 2007.
\nFirst came to\u2026 it was 2007. Dennis and I drove and came then.
\nThat was in October or November.It was very good, nice, good people were there.
\nGenoito Moi: Surrendering to God\u2019s Plan
\nIn 2008 I came alone.2008 came\u2026 That was for a special mission, for a special matter.
\nIt was in July. But there was terrible rain here.When I landed here immediately the airport closed.
\nThree or four others who came with me in another flight could not land.After that Shiny and I came once more.
\nThat was summer time.I felt when we got down from the flight it was like entering into a furnace.
\nI do not remember that year.Then we came in 2011.Again in 2011 we got an opportunity to come.
\nThat was in the month of April.There was a special reason for coming.Time had come for birth.
\nI think we came at the end of April.Before the birth we went back again.Why we did not stay until the birth, or why we did not come close to that time, when I think and try to understand, I cannot understand.At that time another thing also happened.We had not told Papa or Mummy or anyone about it.But Shiny was three months pregnant.
\nAfter three months later we came to know.Papaji said, \u201cWhy has Shiny become a little fat? What happened?\u201d
\nSince this was the first grandchild, we did not want to take away their joy.After three or four days, after one week, we returned back.Even now I think why we could not see the child and go.Then we thought maybe because it was the three-month pregnancy period.Shiny was three months pregnant then.There were difficulties of that condition.
\nMaybe because of that we returned.In our life an ordinary man may make ten thousand decisions in one day.
\nSome things we do automatically.Small small things \u2014 what to eat \u2014 we do not think deeply about them usually.
\nWhich cloth to wear, which makeup, which dress matches \u2014 all these go automatically.But there are some decisions\u2026
\nWe are very anxious about them.Only after much thinking those decisions are taken.And many times ninety percent of those decisions will be foolishness.If I look at my decisions of the past 25 years, ninety percent are foolishness.
\nBut we took them.Why do I say that?We study history.We learn from history from the mistakes we made.Like from history.
\nLike that in all our lives also, each thing happens like that.So all the decisions we take may not become right.
\nAll the decisions we take may not come into fulfillment.So there is no use worrying about it.
\nDon\u2019t worry.But how do we correct all that and come out?And come out\u2026Usually in our place they say, for the egg of a hen sitting on eggs to hatch, normally it needs days.Chicken \u2014 21 days.We used to go every day and look, to know up to what stage it had come.That egg will never hatch like that.So we usually take decisions, and keep taking decisions, and in the end many things go into many different directions.Hallelujah.
\nIn such decisions many times we blame ourselves.At such times we blame others for it.Sometimes we accept that decision as something God gave.Many times only when situations come that we cannot handle, in the end we say it is the will of God.<\/p>\n
Let us read one verse.
\nGospel of Luke chapter 1 verse 38.
\n\u201cBehold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it happen to me according to your word.\u201d
\nAnd the angel departed from her.
\nPastor Thomas earlier gave a very good background about the birth of Jesus Christ.
\nHe spoke about the social background of that time.
\nHe spoke about the political background.
\nI see all that closely in this time.
\nToday in this time I want to speak about a decision Mary took in her life.
\nThere are many thoughts among young people about this.
\nYoung people who speak intellectually argue about this.
\nThis is not something God forced upon Mary.
\nThis is not something God pushed onto Mary\u2019s shoulders.
\nHow can we understand that?
\nWhen we read that verse clearly, when we study the translation, we can see like this.
\nIn Greek it is written like this.
\nAnd Mary says\u2026
\nExpression of submission.
\nWe see a surrender and desire in Mary\u2019s life here.
\nNext one: \u201cHey doule kuriou.\u201d
\nLast night pastor spoke about doulos.
\nThose who came yesterday night\u2026
\nNobody came?
\nServant, slave.
\nBut what is written here?
\nDoule.
\nDoule means feminine form \u2014 maidservant.
\n\u201cDoule kuriou.\u201d
\nNext is very important.
\nTranslation \u2014 \u201cgenoito moi\u201d \u2014 \u201cto me.\u201d
\nLet it happen to me.
\nBut when we go into the grammar we can understand\u2026
\nThe mood used there is optative mood.
\nThe mood used is objective\u2026 optative.
\nWhen we say optative mood, its function is to express desire or submission.
\nEither surrender or desire.
\nIn grammar there are four or five types of moods.
\nHere Luke wants to say something using a specific word.
\nGreek is a very rich language.
\nThere is much vocabulary.
\nVery mature language.
\nThe same words are used in many ways.
\nNext phrase: \u201caccording to your word.\u201d
\nAfter that the angel departed from Mary.
\nIts meaning is a complete submission of identity and personal will.
\n\u201cBe to me according to your word.\u201d
\nLet it happen according to God\u2019s promise, not according to my circumstance.
\nThere were many expectations among the Jews about the birth of Jesus.
\nThere was so many expectation about the birth of Messiah.
\nAbout the Anointed One coming.
\nThere were many prophecies about it.
\nWe can see a progression of that prophecy in the Bible.
\nIn Book of Genesis chapter 3, when Moses saw in faith, it says the seed of the woman will crush the serpent\u2019s head.
\nMoses wrote that in faith.
\nWhen Genesis was written, or when this happened, Moses was not alive there.
\nBut when God showed it to Moses, Moses wrote it by faith.
\nThen its progression comes like this.
\nWhen we come into Isaiah\u2026
\nApproximately 700 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah says:
\nA virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
\nThere we can see the transition from the seed of the woman to the virgin.
\nHallelujah.
\nBut look at this virgin.
\nLook at God\u2019s word.
\nIt does not say Mary will conceive and bear a son.
\nBut there it is clearly written: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
\nWhen Isaiah prophesied, Mary was not even alive.
\nMary did not know whether she would do this or accept this.
\nWhen saying virgin, it could be any virgin.
\nThe word could be anybody.
\nHallelujah.
\nThen we can see that progression coming closer in the New Testament.
\nI will say that later.
\nBut here when we read the verses in Luke chapter 1\u2026
\nThe angel entered to her and said, \u201cGreetings, favored one, the Lord is with you.\u201d
\nShe was troubled at that saying and wondered what kind of greeting this was.
\nSome say many women at that time expected that Jesus would be born through them.
\nThere is no clear evidence for that.
\nIf that were so, there would not have been fear in this verse.
\nThe verse says: \u201cMary, do not fear, for you have found favor with God.\u201d
\nWhen Gabriel presents this, it says you have received God\u2019s grace.
\nYou will conceive and bear a son and call His name Jesus.
\nThat is where Isaiah 7:14 is fulfilled.
\nHe will become great\u2026
\nSkipping\u2026
\nHis kingdom will have no end.
\nWhen an angel comes and says this before a young girl of around 13 to 15 years old, surely she would have been afraid.
\nThe engagement had already happened.
\nWe always hear that engagement there is equal to marriage.
\nImmediately Mary asks a very important question.
\nMary asks the angel a very meaningful question.
\nLook \u2014 she is proving there that she is a virgin.
\n\u201cHow will this happen since I do not know a man?\u201d
\nThe angel gives a clear answer:
\n\u201cThe Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy one born will be called the Son of God.\u201d
\nAfter saying this the angel should have gone.
\nBut we can see the angel giving Mary time there.
\nTo connect this and link this, the angel tells another incident.
\n\u201cYour relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in old age, and this is the sixth month.\u201d
\n\u201cFor nothing will be impossible with God.\u201d
\nOnly after saying all these things and giving another example and sign does the angel say all this.
\nThen Mary gives the answer we read.
\nThere Mary\u2019s responsibility does not end.
\nWhen we carefully sit and read, we can understand some important things.
\nIn those days Mary arose and hurried to the hill country, to a town of Judah.
\nShe hurried greatly.
\nHow quickly she reaches there \u2014 to Elizabeth\u2019s house.
\nWe are speaking about a distance of 70 to 100 miles.
\nNothing is said there about Mary\u2019s parents.
\nThe moment she heard this vision and counsel of God, when another person in her own family had a similar experience happen, Mary runs to the person who received that vision.
\nThis journey would take four or five days.
\nHallelujah.
\nEven though the matter was clearly said, still Mary reached Elizabeth\u2019s house.
\nIn those days they would travel in caravans.
\nCannot go alone.
\nMany travel risks and many matters are there.
\nThat little girl\u2026
\nBelieving the word of God she received as truth\u2026
\nAnd more than that, to see directly the experience that happened in the life of another person in her family, she goes there.
\nShe go to share joy and vision with some family.
\nMary reached the house.
\nMaybe she knocked the door.
\nMaybe the door opened.
\nImmediately Mary greeted.
\nWhen Elizabeth heard Mary\u2019s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.
\nFilled with the Holy Spirit she cried out loudly.
\nNow the second part of God\u2019s word enters.
\nMary is going to receive an exact example of what the angel said.
\nMary is going to accept that promise.
\nListen to this prophecy.
\n\u201cBlessed are you among women.\u201d
\nElizabeth knew none of this.
\nBecause the Holy Spirit was inside Elizabeth, when she saw another person filled with the Holy Spirit, prophecy began there.
\nWhen two believers meet nowadays what do we say?
\nIf it was years before they would speak about ministry, house visits, church work.
\nNow what do we ask?
\n\u201cWhat is your reel handle?\u201d
\n\u201cPlease follow.\u201d
\n\u201cI need likes.\u201d
\n\u201cPress the bell button.\u201d
\nThat is what we promote after seeing.
\nNo spiritual things are spoken.
\nThat is the change of the times.
\nBecause of that spiritual fervor has been lost.
\nThen both started prophesying to one another.
\n\u201cYou are blessed among women.\u201d
\nElizabeth by the Holy Spirit recognized Jesus inside Mary.
\n\u201cAnd blessed is the fruit of your womb.\u201d
\nShe did not say:
\n\u201cMary, next time I will send a flight for you.\u201d
\nOr \u201cDon\u2019t run so much through Judea.\u201d
\nOr \u201cI will send you to a better land.\u201d
\nNothing like that.
\nShe did not say:
\n\u201cMary, the one inside you \u2014 since your husband is a carpenter, I will make him a great builder.\u201d
\nNo such prophecy was spoken.
\nThe Holy Spirit inside was speaking to the Holy Spirit.
\nShe says:
\n\u201cThe mother of my Lord has come to me.\u201d
\nElizabeth knew through the Holy Spirit that Jesus was inside Mary.
\nNext verse:
\n\u201cWhen the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby inside me leaped with joy.\u201d
\nHallelujah.
\nThis jumping of babies inside\u2026
\nWhen we were children and our mother\u2019s younger sisters came pregnant after marriage, we would place our hands and ears and listen.
\n\u201cBlessed is she who believed.\u201d
\nMary did not think about all that she would have to face in life.
\nShe accepted the word that came from God saying let it happen exactly like that.
\nThen Mary says:
\n\u201cMy soul magnifies the Lord.\u201d
\nWhen a young sister sat in her house and prayed\u2026
\nWhen she surrendered to God\u2026
\nWhen she asked God questions and surrendered\u2026
\nHistory changed through her life.
\nThrough the life of a small girl, a 15-year-old, 18-year-old, 20-year-old sister, the world changed.
\nThe direction of the gospel changed.
\nShe did not ask mother, father, brothers, anyone.
\nShe asked only God.
\nShe clearly told God:
\n\u201cGod, I am your servant. Let it happen to me according to your will.\u201d
\nLook here.
\nJohn the Baptist came as the forerunner of Christ.
\nNow two babies are in the wombs of two mothers in the same house.
\nMary stayed in Elizabeth\u2019s house for three months.
\nI clearly believe they spoke many things to one another during those three months.
\nMaybe Jesus said:
\n\u201cJohn, this is what is going to happen to you.\u201d
\nBecause the Holy Spirit was communicating between them.
\nWhen we read the verses there we can understand some things.
\nFaith in the word of God.
\nA condition of surrender before the word of God.
\nHallelujah.
\nWithout fear, without being afraid, we can see Mary presenting her decision before God.
\nMary stayed about three months and returned home.
\nElizabeth was in her sixth month when Mary came.
\nMary stayed there three months.
\nBefore John the Baptist was born, Mary left Elizabeth\u2019s house and came back to Joseph.
\nEven we would think:
\n\u201cAt least after one more week she could have seen the baby and gone.\u201d
\nBut somehow\u2026 I do not know why\u2026 I have thought about this many days.
\nBut one thing I think is:
\nBy then three months had passed and visible changes had begun in Mary\u2019s body.
\nNow there is another five or six day journey.
\n\u201cHow will I go and meet Joseph now?\u201d
\nMaybe this is why Mary hurriedly left Elizabeth\u2019s house.
\nDuring those needed three months she ministered to Jesus and Elizabeth.
\nNow the crucial part comes.
\nUntil now Mary may not have thought about anything else.
\nNow the most important part of her life is before her.
\nHumanly, how am I going to bear this?
\nHow am I going to face this in a human way?
\nI am a young woman engaged to be married.
\nIf I say this is caused by God, who will believe?
\nMary believed her married life was over there.
\nJoseph was a mature man.
\nA person able to make good decisions.
\nWhen this is told to Joseph, how will he see this fall in her life?
\nThe answer is found in Gospel of Matthew chapter 1.
\nMary was worried not knowing what was going to happen in the coming months of her life.
\nMatthew 1:18:
\nBefore they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
\nJoseph being righteous and unwilling to expose her publicly, intended to divorce her secretly.
\nThe supporting verse is in Deuteronomy.
\nHere Joseph is called righteous.
\nWhy does God call Joseph righteous?
\nHallelujah.
\nThe angel appeared to Joseph also and explained everything clearly.
\nJoseph had two choices.
\nHe could accept or reject.
\nLook carefully:
\nThe people who come into our life do not come without God knowing.
\nWhatever circumstances or people enter our life, nobody enters without God sending.
\nWithout God sending nobody can come into our life.
\nIf it had been someone else instead of Joseph, this could have happened differently.
\nBut because God chose Joseph, and Joseph was righteous, he intended to put her away secretly.
\nTwo choices:
\nPublicly or secretly.
\nIf publicly, according to law the woman should be stoned.
\nIf secretly, only a few witnesses and a reason are enough.
\nNo need for more explanation.
\nSo Joseph decided like that so that Mary would not suffer physically.
\nIf needed, Joseph himself was ready to bear the accusation.
\nThat is why Joseph is called righteous.
\nWhile Joseph was thinking this way, the angel came before him.
\nThe angel said all this happened by the Holy Spirit.
\nThen the next verse says:
\n\u201cA virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.\u201d
\nHistory does not end there.
\nThis is only the beginning.
\nWhen we think about the later things we can understand like this:
\nWhen Elizabeth prophesied by the Holy Spirit, she said,
\n\u201cA sword will pierce through your soul also.\u201d
\nMary who received this in her heart raised Jesus.
\nIf Mary had said no, history would have changed.
\nMary had an option.
\nShe could have said:
\n\u201cNo, I do not want this. I am not ready.\u201d
\nThen God would have chosen another person.
\nThe verse says God\u2019s plans are perfect.
\nBut He needs the cooperation of humans.
\nIf Mary had not been ready, Jesus would have been born through another virgin.
\nThen the blessings Mary received would have gone to another person.
\nMary said:
\n\u201cIf Joseph does not accept me, I am ready.\u201d
\n\u201cIf society blames me, it is okay.\u201d
\nBut when Mary said:
\n\u201cGod, I am ready to accept Your word\u2026\u201d
\nHallelujah\u2026
\nMary did not think about the things that would later come before her.
\nBecause it was God\u2019s word, she believed it in her heart and accepted it.
\nThat is why even today we say:
\n\u201cMary, blessed are you among women.\u201d
\nEven today Mary is known as the mother of Jesus.
\nBecause one person sacrificed her life, it became deliverance for the world.
\n\u201cFor unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.\u201d
\nA vessel was needed for that.
\nMary became ready.
\nMary accepted it in her life.
\nThat became deliverance both for Mary\u2019s life and for the world.
\nHow many times have we heard the counsel of God?
\nHow many times have we said Hallelujah?
\nBut it never came into fulfillment.
\nWe can think:
\nWhy did the things God told us not come into fulfillment?
\nBecause we were not yet ready to grasp and accept the rhema word of God exactly as it was spoken.
\nToday let us tell God like Mary said.
\nHallelujah.
\nWhat did Mary say?
\n\u201cLet it happen to me according to Your will.\u201d
\nDone to me according to Your word.
\nLet that happen to me.
\nLet that happen to me.
\nWhatever comes from Your mouth, O God, let that happen exactly.
\nBy saying that, Mary became a life that rewrote world history.
\nHallelujah.
\nLike Mary, let our spiritual life also be rewritten.
\nLet it happen to me.
\nMay God help us through these words.
\nHallelujah.
\nVery blessed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"