Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Mary, the mother of Jesus, says something that is of great encouragement to us.

When the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would become the mother of the Lord Jesus, she said that God had “regarded the low estate of His handmaiden” (Luke 1:48).

When we consider our true “estate” in the eyes of the Lord, we too are constrained to confess that we are in a “low estate” (the Greek word means humble).

But as soon as we become willing to confess that precious truth of the reality of our humble place, we have this encouragement: the Lord “regards” our “low estate”! The word “regards” means He notices it, and He will lift us up.

He will raise us up from that “low estate.” In the case of Mary, she was raised up to where she said, “from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

We may not be raised up to that very highly exalted place, but for sure we will be “raised up” to the highest level of honor that we can endure without becoming inordinately proud (which would ruin everything!).

The Lord God is Almighty, yes; we know that. But He also is in need: there are some things that even He cannot do. There is some soul in the world somewhere that even the Holy Spirit cannot reach without our help. When young Isaiah was in the Temple of the Lord, He heard the Lord’s voice describe the desperate condition of His people, “a people of unclean lips.”

But the Lord confessed how much even He needed someone’s cooperation:

The Lord Himself asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Even the great and mighty Holy Spirit needed someone to “go,” someone to “send”!

Young Isaiah said, “Here am I: send me” (cf. Isa. 6:1-8).

Please—you be willing also! The Holy Spirit is calling again today for someone to “go.”



Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.