A Little Something on Politics

So here we are … once again on the eve of Election Day in the United States of America.

It seems like there is so much division, fear, anger, ignorance, and desperation these days. I remember feeling the same four years ago. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. But the truth is, we live in in a fallen world and there is a spiritual war going on. Satan, the Father of lies, is at work and I feel like I can see the darkness he is spreading using politics.

I often get caught up in all that’s going on and the intense emotions, and then I start to feel sick, like, “Can everyone just stop being so crazy?? I don’t want to hear anymore!”

I struggle to know what to do. How to react to certain situations. What God would have me do. What is the godly, Christ-like thing to do? Where would God have me take a stand? Where would He bid me to keep silent and live quietly and peaceably? What situations have a direct spiritual impact that we should be aware of?

Today all of this weighed heavily, until I had to run to my Father’s presence, praying through tears for humility, wisdom, and guidance. Praying for courage. For faith.

I am so thankful that my God is on the throne. And He has gone into the future to prepare the way. And He promises wisdom to those who ask for it!

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. {James 1:5}

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
⁵ You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. {Psalm 139:1-5}

I’m a passionate person and a deep thinker, so I can’t help but form strong opinions about most things, including politics and cultural issues. I did early voting this past week; I’m grateful my country gives me a voice and I plan on using it as long as I have the freedom! – To speak up about things I feel are important.

Such as the unborn person’s right to life. The freedom for everyone to worship as they choose. The right to school our children at home and raise them with the values we hold to. The freedom of speech – the ability to voice our own mind and speak truth instead of divisive rhetoric formulated to serve the powerful’s agenda. Protection from tyranny – upholding the constitution to keep our governing authorities and leaders in their proper place. Because unreserved power in a select few person’s hands is eventually abused, for mankind’s heart is wicked.

[This is an intriguing series on America’s founding fathers, the constitution, abortion, and such: Make America Godly Again]

Although I feel strongly about these issues and patriotic about my country, I do realize this isn’t my home. America will not last forever. A president will never be our savior. I am a citizen of heaven, my allegiance is to God, and I have brothers and sisters from every tribe, tongue, and nation. My loyalty is to my heavenly Lord and my family in Christ first and foremost.

²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, {Philippians 3:20}

That all being said, I’m striving to look at politics through a Biblical lens.

We are admonished in Scripture to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God? {Micah 6:8}

May God continue to humble my heart and help me walk by the Spirit. To fear Him. To be wise as a serpent yet innocent as a dove. To be filled with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. To seek justice and fight for the cause of the oppressed.

I’ve tried to care less about politics and issues going on in the culture. But that is only stifling a part of myself. I believe God has given me a heart that longs to understand. A deep sense of justice and truth. And a desire for unity, compassion, and transparency in the Church…even amidst differing opinions.

¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. {2 Chronicles 7:14}

God’s kingdom work takes many different forms. I feel like part of His kingdom work for me is seeking to understand what’s going on my country and taking a stand for His glory and for Christ’s sake. Fighting to stop the shedding of innocent blood is part of that. And speaking truth, even when it’s unpopular. Some of the popular rhetoric concerning minority groups is damaging and toxic, I fear. And it doesn’t appear to promote unity within the universal Church, family values, or Christ-likeness. In fact, just the opposite.

Is it really loving our fellow people to just go along with what culture tells us is right, true, and loving?

²⁴ And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, ²⁵ in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, ²⁶ and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. {2 Timothy 2:24-25}

My heart aches because I see people falling apart. Families breaking down. Riots. Destruction. Chaos. Sin. Confusion. Pain. Hatred. Division.

I want to understand. I want to reach out. I want to speak truth and watch people’s eyes light up with life. Because the truth sets us free.

Love and truth. When we are speaking and living in the love and truth of Christ, the results we should see are people seeking the Lord, humbling themselves before Him, and selflessly loving others.

What are the prevailing agendas in our culture promoting? The elevation of self? The putting down of other people? Finger pointing and blame shifting? The worship of a certain people group? Division? Hatred? Pride? Laziness? Carelessness? Justifying sin? Lack of responsibility and taking ownership of one’s own actions?

We need to take every situation and agenda to the Word of God and ask Him about the matter.

The Word says that for lack of understanding, a people perish. A country fails. Innocents suffer.

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. {Hosea 4:6}

I don’t want to blindly follow what everyone else is doing. I want to carefully consider these things and evaluate them against Scripture and pray earnestly for direction.

Look at history. Remember the Holocaust. Adolph Hitler spoke of brainwashing the youth. If he could get them to believe his agenda, the country would be in his hands. He could do what evil he wanted. How does a whole country allow a people group, the Jews, to be treated so inhumanely? First having curfews and strange laws (like wearing a yellow star – an identifying badge) forced upon them, and then eventually being slaughtered by the masses while their countrymen stood by. How does this happen?

Maybe slowly. Silently.

So I think we have a part to play. Seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. {1 Timothy 2:1-2}

And then rest. Rest in the assurance that He is forevermore on the throne. He is sovereign. He raises up kings, and He takes kings down. And He will keep all those entrusted to Him. And He will avenge those who have been wronged. And He will eventually judge the living and the dead, and restore the world to perfection. Ridding it of evil.

²¹ And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding. {Daniel 2:21}

²⁰ Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,
Have fellowship with You?
²¹ They gather together against the life of the righteous,
And condemn innocent blood.
²² But the Lord has been my defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
²³ He has brought on them their own iniquity,
And shall cut them off in their own wickedness;
The Lord our God shall cut them off. {Psalm 94:20-23}

So, regardless of who gets elected tomorrow, my Jesus reigns supreme. (Whether people want Him to or not). He will prevail over evil and darkness. And our purpose as God’s people remains – to make much of His name, implore souls to be reconciled to Him, and love with His love.

³ Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
⁴ His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish. {Psalm 146:3-4}

Take heart, dear friend. If you are a child of the King, know He holds you secure. He holds tomorrow. He holds the future. If you are unsure of how to process politics and this election, know that you can ask God for wisdom and He will give it!

Oh, Lord God, I come before you tonight asking for You to have Your hand over Your people, over this country, and the upcoming election. Thank You that ALL things are in Your mighty hands. Thank You that we can safely trust in You and that we need not fear because we belong to You.

You are mighty and good and gracious. I pray that Your people will seek Your face and ask for wisdom, because You promise to give it. I pray that You will be glorified through Your people’s actions concerning this election. May our hearts yearn to glorify You in everything we do. Awaken the Church to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with you. Humble us, Lord, and raise us up to do your work. Thank You that Your plans will prevail.

Father, I pray for unity and compassion and deep love among Your children, for love covers a multitude of sins. Help us to be diligent about prayer. Praying for wisdom. Praying against darkness. Praying for our leaders. Praying for the hurting and the lost.

I pray for Your peace that passes understanding to cover those who are fearful or anxious about the election, the state of our country, and what the future holds. Comfort their hearts, dear Lord. Help them to fix their gaze upon You.

Thank You for Your Word, Your Truth, and Your love! You are so worthy of our praise, our love, our trust, our complete loyalty. Thank You that You gave us Your Spirit to guide us. Thank you that You will continue to grow us in to the image of Christ. Thank You that we belong to Your Family, through Jesus Christ’s precious blood. Thank You that we are betrothed to You forever. Thank You that You have gone into the future to prepare the way. Keep our eyes on You. I pray this all in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. {2 Timothy 1:7}

❤ Lady Grace

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Are You Free?

We all want to be free. We don’t want to be entangled, suppressed, and certainly not enslaved.

So, are you free?

The culture has its own ideas about freedom. You should be free to be whoever you want to be. Free to express yourself however you want. Free to partner or act out sexually however you want. Free to watch whatever, eat whatever, chose whatever. Free to do whatever you want. This sounds logical at first, right? No one telling you what to do. Freedom.

But sometimes this kind of freedom manifests itself as chains.

And suddenly, you are under the power of drugs or alcohol. Or you are enslaved to sexual addiction. Or rage is your master.

And you are a slave. This is not freedom at all. You cannot get out. Your lust leads you around like a bull being dragged around by a ring in its nose. You don’t know how to control yourself. You can’t give that thing up even though it’s killing you.

John 8:34-36

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

This, my friends, is not how to be free.

And I would go so far to say that many Christians are enslaved still, even though Jesus Christ is standing there with all the power at His disposal to set them free.

If not enslaved to drugs and sexual immorality, then to food, entertainment, or thrill-seeking.

1 Corinthians 6:12-14

¹² All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹³ Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

Just think about it. We say we have liberty as Christians. We’re free to watch whatever movies we want, or eat whatever food we want.

Galatians 5:13

¹³ For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

But whenever we’re obsessed with something or can’t bring ourselves to give up certain things, we have created an idol. And, as human beings, we were not made to idolize things, but to adore Christ alone. We were made by Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:15-18

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Whenever we make created things our idols, this naturally creates a problem. Since we were not made for worshiping created things, we become enslaved when we start worshiping them. It does not fulfill us, it enslaves us. It stifles us. It hurts us.

When I started watching more questionable movies and TV shows, I didn’t feel free. I felt entangled. I felt a heaviness that wasn’t there before.

When I idolized books and writing, I didn’t feel free. I felt suffocated. What if I lost my book collection? What if I moved somewhere I couldn’t bring them? What if God asked me to give up writing? What if my favorite book series isn’t honoring to God? I couldn’t bear giving it up!

I obsessed over these thoughts and felt like I was lugging around chains.

Then, one day, after days, months, perhaps years of praying and wrestling and seeking, the chains fell off.

I realized: Freedom isn’t being able to watch or read or have whatever I want. Freedom is desiring Christ above all else. Freedom is being able to give up anything for God. Freedom is counting everything as loss in light of belonging to Jesus. Freedom is simply not needing these things.

These things no longer had a hold over me.

I felt such a giddy, light, joyful feeling. Nothing was holding me down! My book collection might be destroyed. I might never publish a novel. I might feel convicted not to go watch a movie (because of questionable content) that I’ve been dying to see with my friends. I might feel convicted to give up a favorite book someday. And that was okay! It was just a book. Just a movie.

Psalm 119:45-47

⁴⁵ And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.
⁴⁶ I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
⁴⁷ And I will delight myself in Your commandments,
Which I love.

Now, I’m not diminishing the power of words and art, or God’s specific calling on people’s lives to write books or create films for His glory.

I’m not saying it’s a sin to watch movies or collect books.

I’m just saying that these things shouldn’t be idols in your life. They were idols in my life, and they were weighing me down. Causing anxiety, depression, and unhealthy obsession. Making me feel distanced and disillusioned about God and my relationship with Him.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

But when I let go. Released my death grip on these things. I saw some as gifts that God had given me. But not necessary for life.

I am free.

Free to do all for the glory of God. Free to worship Him, un-entangled by suffocating devotion to something else. Free to see clearly sin or bad content and steer clear because Jesus Christ is sweeter. Free to disregard exciting-looking things that I know simply will not benefit me or draw me closer to the Lord.

I say this is true freedom. Being a slave to righteousness isn’t chains at all, because you are unhindered by negative emotions like shame and fear, the consequences of sin, and the sickening weight of idol worship.

Romans 6:16-23

¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Instead, like an eagle, you fly free to glorious heights. Free to worship and serve your Creator with everything in you. Free to love like He loves. Free to live the life that’s truly best for you. Knowing this: I do all for the glory of Christ. And maybe that doesn’t make sense to you. But somehow it is an awesome truth: Being free to do all for the glory of Christ is freedom, indeed. There is love, and joy, and hope, and security, and contentment, and boldness, and courage, and peace, and good.

Isaiah 40:28-31

²⁸ Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
³⁰ Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
³¹ But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

So choose real freedom, my friend. Try giving up that thing you’re clinging to and cling to God instead. I think you will find yourself lighter, and happier, and more hopeful than before. ❤

Gaither Vocal Band – Only Jesus

[Verse 1]
Take the things I once called treasures
Take my castles in the sand
Take my shallow store of knowledge
And the future I once planned
Take all vain accumulations
All awards and claims to fame
Take my hard-earned reputation
Trade it all for His dear name

[Chorus]
Give me Jesus, only Jesus
My heart can’t resist His call
For the joy of His sweet sorrow
At His feet I lay it all

[Verse 2]
Take the friends that I once courted
What I hoped they’d think of me
Please restore Your wealth I squandered chasing phantoms foolishly

[Chorus]
Give me Jesus, only Jesus
My heart can’t resist His call
For the joy of His sweet sorrow
At His feet I lay it all
Give me Jesus, only Jesus
My heart can’t resist His call
For the joy of His sweet sorrow
At His feet I lay it all
At His feet I lay it all

Book Review: Freedom by Jennifer Renee Watson

Freedom! : The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and the Life Beyond It by Jennifer Renee Watson

My Personal Review ~ 3.75 stars

I picked up Freedom!: The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and the Life Beyond It by Jennifer Renee Watson because I’m tired of me telling myself that I’m broken and I can’t move beyond it. (And, to be honest, the cover is quite gorgeous!) I enjoyed it, and, overall, feel like it had a truly great message!

God is not the voice in your head shaming you, saying you are not enough. God is telling you that He is enough. That He is the great I AM. Who He is inside of you is more than enough to take care of whatever you are facing today or what you will face in the future. Jesus is not tired of you. Jesus is waiting and unafraid of your questions. (Freedom! pg. 66)

For real, a lot of us Christians … perhaps especially women … willingly live in brokenness. We take on the victim mentality and try to survive each day and do the right thing and please all the people. Freedom! is here to tell you that it’s time to pursue freedom! In Christ, we can move into deeper freedom than we ever thought possible. We can stop listening to that negative, nagging, dark voice in our head that tells us we’ll never be good enough. This book hit on some important topics and gave me another boost in my journey of freedom & wholeness in Christ.

A couple things. For some reason or another, this book wasn’t as easy of a read as some. Some chapters took me awhile to get through. Also, there was just a bit of that You Deserve It!, You’re a Strong, Kick-Butt Heroine stuff mixed into the message. And that tends to rub me a little wrong. But it wasn’t overpowering, because the biggest thing I got from this book was that I don’t have to stay broken, and Jesus Christ is my everything – He will help me break through.

Your safe person is always Jesus. He alone can mend and do what no person or soul sister can do. (Freedom! pg. 96)

Your grateful soul was what motivated you to service. You were too busy pleasing God to concern yourself with pleasing others. (Freedom! pg. 151)

So, Freedom! wasn’t a five-star read for me. But it still had some really, really good points in it. Paragraphs and prayers that brought just a little more healing to my heart. God is so good. Thank you, Jennifer Renee Watson, for writing this book. I look forward to growing in freedom and grace together, even though we may never meet. God bless you!

I received a complimentary copy of Freedom! from Bethany House Publishers. This review is honest and completely my own.

 

**Originally posted on Between the Pages of This Bookish Life on March 17th, 2019**

Oh, Joyous Christmas Day

Merry Christmas, dear people! Oh, how I pray that you are filled with God’s love, joy, and peace this day and always! This is a joyous celebration—a light has dawned on our darkness!

² The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

⁶ For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:2 & 6)

I celebrate Christmas because …

Why not dedicate a day to pondering and celebrating the birth of the Light of the world?

Pretty lights and gifts and candle-lit services and decorated trees and sweet family time can all point to the greater meaning of Christmas.

Some people choose to celebrate this day in a worldly, perhaps even pagan, way. Some people choose not to celebrate. But as for me, I believe that every day is the Lord’s. And I have the freedom to celebrate and make merry and rejoice in Him … just as I may on any day.

The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.
² For He has founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2)

And just because pagans celebrate pagan things on this day, doesn’t mean that I can’t celebrate Christ on Christmas! If He is the almighty, powerful Creator and Lord of the universe, then all belongs to Him. Even Christmas Day. I don’t think we have to be afraid of the pagan traditions that happen on certain days … we can overcome that evil by celebrating good and right. Because all was made by Him and for Him.

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)

¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17)

So whether you celebrate Christmas, eat chocolate cake, go to a dance, work a job, attend a church service, clean your house, read a book, prepare food, wear a pretty dress, write a blog post … DO IT ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Every day, every moment, every happening is an opportunity to make much of His name. It’s all about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

³⁰ But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?

³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:30-31)

In the book of Acts, Apostle Paul takes a saying used by pagan poets, and uses it, instead, to speak of the one true God! Indeed, I believe that all the world – words, days, all food, and the starry hosts – belong to God and can be used for His honor and glory.

²² Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; ²³ for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: ²⁴ “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. ²⁵ Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ²⁶ And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ²⁷ so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. ³⁰ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22-31)

We should delight in Jesus Christ every day! Christmas is just one more opportunity to make much of His holy name. I can say: Today is the day I reflect on my incredible Savior’s birth. His awesome life. His death—sacrifice. His resurrection. This day, I specially dwell on and celebrate the day my Hope was born and my salvation made possible. This day I rejoice in the fact that the Lover of my soul chose to descend to earth, be born of a virgin named Mary, live a perfect life, and shed His blood for my sake. Oh, what a beautiful, powerful reason to celebrate.

So, I celebrate.

Dear readers, may you grow in His love and breathe in His grace each and every day! Blessings to you!

Lady Grace ❤

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation. (Luke 1:46-50)

⁴¹ And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:41-45)

⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

¹⁵ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.  ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:9-20)