MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/7/2026
9:21 AM
My
Worship Time
Focus: “God’s Sign”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke 1:36
Message of the verse: And behold, even your relative
Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called
barren is now in her sixth month.
This morning’s SD, like yesterday morning’s SD will be
short as this section in MacArthur’s commentary is a short one.
Gabriel, in this verse is giving a
sign to Mary, for I have to believe that Mary knew the situation that Elizabeth
and Zachariah went through because they could not have any children. I have mentioned in an earlier SD that for a
Jewish girl they wanted to have children of their own, and if they could not
then it was like a curse to them.
Now speaking of signs we really don’t
see that Mary was asking for one, but Gabriel gave her one anyway and if there
was any doubt in Mary’s heart then this sign will help her get rid of it for
Mary probably knew that Elizabeth was too old to have children, as she was past
childbearing age.
John MacArthur writes about the
Greek word relative, “Sungenis (relative) is a
non-specific term for a kinswoman or female relative, and the exact
relationship between Mary and Elizabeth is not spelled out. According to Luke’s record of her genealogy
(3:23-38), Mary was a descendant of David (v-31) and through him of Judah
(v-33). Elizabeth, on the other hand was
a descendant of Aaron (Luke 1:5), and through him Levi (Numbers 26:59).”
(Luke 3:23-38)
“23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about
thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of
Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the
son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the
son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son
of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of
Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son
of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son
of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of, the son of Menna, the son of
Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of
Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of
Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of
Perez, the son of Judah, 34 the
son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son
of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son
of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the
son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the
son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of
Adam, the son of God.”
(Luke 1:5)
“5 ¶ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was
a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the
daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.”
(Numbers 26:59)
59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the
daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore to Amram Aaron
and Moses and Miriam their sister.”
“The shocking news (introduced by
the exclamation, behold), which Mary was undoubtedly hearing for the
first time, was that her kinswoman had conceived a son in her old age. Mary was well aware that Elizabeth was
barren,” (something I was asking about earlier), “and past childbearing
age. She must have been amazed and
overjoyed to hear that she who was scornfully, derisively called
barren (cf. 1:25; Gen. 30:22-23; 1 Sam. 1:6) was now in her sixth month of
pregnancy.” Now the verse list above
speaks of those women who could not but then did have children.
“The miracle that occurred for Elizabeth
was one of conception in old age, not the virgin conception that Mary would
experience. Nevertheless, Elizabeth’s
conception was a sign for God to Mary that He was still able to perform
miracles, that He could do the humanly impossible (cf. Jer. 32:17, 27; Matt.
19:26). God gave the sign, not because
Mary doubted the angel’s words, but to provide an anchor (cf. Heb. 6:19) for
her faith.”
(cf. Jer. 32:17, 27; Matt. 19:26)
“17 ’Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the
heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing
is too hard for you.”
“27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all
flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
“26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man
this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
(cf. Heb. 6:19)
“19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of
the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,”
Spiritual
Meaning for My Life Today: I remember years ago on the day
before we had to take our 18 month son to the hospital to get an operation on
his heart, a serious operation. The day
before I was watching a baseball game in which our home team was losing very
badly. It seemed to me that the Lord
began to speak in my heart that He was going to give me a sign, to which I said
that I really did not need a sign because I was trusting Him for the
outcome. In an amazing way our team came
back in an unbelievable way to win. That
was a long time ago as our son is now 57 years old and has three children of
his own, one in college.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: To trust the Lord in a difficult
situation that my wife is going through, trusting that the Lord’s will, will be
done, and the grace to be given to us as we go through this very difficult
situation.
3/7/2026
9:59 AM
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