Dear friend,
I believe you get what you say—and that you’ll say whatever you believe in your heart. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, a virgin, and told her that she would conceive the Son of God, Mary replied, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” As we know, within a year Mary gave birth to the Messiah, the Son of God.
However, just months earlier that same angel, Gabriel, came to a man named Zacharias and told him he and his wife Elizabeth would conceive a child in their old age. Zacharias did not respond to the message from God as Mary did.
And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
Luke 1:18-20 (NKJV)
God literally had to shut the mouth of Zacharias. Why? Because he could have ruined everything! On the day that Elizabeth and Zacharias’s baby was born, people argued that the baby should be named after his father. Let’s see what happened.
And he (Zacharias) asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled.
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God.
Then fear came on all who dwelt around them.
Luke 1:63-65a (NKJV)
Thankfully, Zacharias caught on quickly. God requires words of faith! Words come from the heart. Your words are important to God. This Christmas, I pray you will believe all that God has spoken to you!
Merry Christmas!
Pastor Jo
