Happy Thursday! I am blessed to be a part of a group of bloggers who feel led to share a bit of encouragement each week from the Bible. We recognize that the source of our peace, strength, and security in this life comes from Jesus, and we aim to share that with our readers. Plus, when Thursday comes around, we can all use a little encouragement right? I hope that this posting blesses you and that you find strength and peace in the Lord today ❤
This week it’s on my heart to share:
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Luke 1:39-45 NIV
Within the last few days I started studying the book of Luke with the help of the book Exalting Jesus in Luke, which is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition series. The passage above is part of the section I read yesterday and I feel the need to share about it.
I am unapologetically pro-life and against abortion. I hold firm that the Bible is very clear with regards to the topic. Psalm 139 talks about how God knit us together in our mothers’ wombs, and how He knew us even before we were born. I’ve heard people try to argue that until someone exits the womb, they aren’t human. It’s a very upsetting topic to go into, so I won’t go too far into it, but every day the lives of babies are at risk due to that type of thinking. I’ve heard it elsewhere as well, but the book I’m reading makes the statement that if Mary lived in today’s world, there’s a great chance Jesus would have never been born due to the pressure to abort.
While I’m passionate about the abortion issue and could spend a great deal of time discussing it, the main point I am making by today’s post is that Jesus was Jesus before he even left Mary’s womb. Take a look at verse 41: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Even from inside the womb John was able to sense Jesus’ presence. Jesus was known and recognized for who he was before anyone even laid eyes on him. When taking a moment just to meditate on that one verse alone, it’s amazing to think about. That’s a type of power unfathomable!
I’ve often wondered what it was like for Jesus growing up. The concept of “fully man and fully God” is hard for us to grasp. How much did Jesus know vs how much did he learn? It’ll be an interesting conversation to have in heaven some day!
You may or may not be surprised by my song choice to share this week. It’s “Mary Did You Know?” Today we see the whole picture before us through the Bible, but it’s interesting to think of how much would have been known in the moments as they actually happened. I hope you take a moment to meditate on both the passage I shared and the song. Jesus existed before the world began, and he also came to the world as a baby. I don’t believe we can comprehend the full complexity of it on this side of heaven, but it’s certainly something we can be in awe of.
Now, it’s your turn!
What Biblical verse is encouraging you today?
And, check out more Thursday Encouragement from my fellow blogger friends:
Nicole @ Christian Fiction Girl
Trisha @ Joy of Reading
Jacquelyn @ A Heavenly Home
Jessica @ A Baker’s Perspective
Jenny @ Author Jenny Lynn
Gina @ Stories By Gina
If you would like to join us: please contact Trisha or Nicole
When I was pregnant with Bella, I had to do a special ultrasound to check her heart. My husband’s fmily has a history of heart issues in babies, so we were being preventative. Anyway, that’s beside my point. In this high-powered ultrasound we could see my baby laughing, blowing raspberries, and sucking her thumb. There’s NO way you can tell me she wasn’t a human at that point. At 20 weeks in utero, my daughter was as alive as any person outside of the womb. The argument that a fetus is not a living human is insane.
Love your post today!
Thanks for sharing that! That reminds me of a story of a friend of mine… she went in for an ultrasound and they told her to have an abortion bc the baby had 4/5 signs of Down syndrome… she told them no way she would take what she got. They did another ultrasound 3 weeks later and everything came back completely normal! He’s now 8 years old. Just think if she’d listened to her doctor too!
It’s crazy to me how quickly people jump to, “kill the baby.” 😭