EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/10/2026 8:40 PM
My Worship
Time Focus: “Personal Confirmation”
Bible Reading &
Meditation Focus: Luke 1:41a,44
Message
of the verses: “When Elizabeth
heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb;…For behold, when the sound
of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.” (NASB)
We begin this evening’s SD by talking about the confirmation
that Mary received from talking with Elizabeth was reinforced in a wondrous
manner. It was at some point in the
lengthy conversation that comprised the greeting (no doubt after Mary
recounted Gabriel’s words to her), that Elizabeth’s baby leaped in her
womb. We can be assured that this
was not merely the normal movement of the baby in her womb that she felt
frequently. Elizabeth then said to Mary,
“When the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb
for joy” and this clearly reveals that her baby’s movement was not the
familiar kind, but one she identified with joy at Messiah’s anticipated coming.
John MacArthur writes “This life
would be born to be the forerunner (1:17) and herald (3:4-6) of the Messiah,
and this silent prophecy was His first announcement.”
(1:17)
“17 and he will go before him in the spirit and
power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people
prepared.’”
(3:4-6)
“4 As it is written in the book of the words of
Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every
mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and
the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’’’
“It was to
enable Him to make this involuntary supernatural prophecy that John was ‘filled
with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb’ (v. 15). As will be seen later, the filling of the
Spirit (an expression describing the power of the Holy Spirit taking control
and effecting service to God by word or deed) is often connected with prophecy.
“This was not the first time that
movement in a pregnant woman’s womb had prophetic significance. Centuries earlier during Rebekah’s pregnancy,
there was an incident with far-reaching implications:
“21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife,
because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife
conceived. 22 The children struggled together
within her, and she said, "If it is thus, why is this happening to
me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her, "Two nations
are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one
shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.’” (Gen.
25:21-24 ESV)
“The
children were Jacob and Esau, whose descendants, Israel and the Arabs, have
been in conflict for millennia.
“The joy that began in his mother’s
womb would set the tone for John’s entire life and ministry. In John 3:29, he declared, ‘He who has the
bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears
him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.’
“The baby’s leap for joy provided
the fulfillment of the promised confirmation to Mary. But unlike her unborn son, Elizabeth could
speak, and she added her voice to the unspoken prophecy.”
3/10/2026
9:00 PM
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