Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Lord God, my Abba Father, help my faith in Jesus be more real and vibrant. Make my relationship with him more real as I read his story and seek to follow his lead in my life. Change my world because of my faith in your Son, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

During Elizabeth's sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin girl that lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. The girl was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, "Greetings! The Lord (God) is with you. You are very special to him." But Mary was very confused about what the angel said. Mary wondered, "What does this mean?" The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary, because God is very pleased with you. Listen! You will become pregnant. You will give birth to a baby boy. And you will name him Jesus. He will be great (important). People will call him the Son of the Most High (God). The Lord God will make him king like his ancestor David. Jesus will rule over the people of Jacob forever. Jesus' kingdom will never end." Mary said to the angel, "How will this happen? I am still a virgin!" The angel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come to you and the power of the Most High (God) will cover you. The baby will be holy. He will be called the Son of God. Also, your relative Elizabeth is pregnant. She is very old, but she is going to have a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant now for six months! God can do anything!" Mary said, "I am the servant girl of the Lord (God). Let this thing you have said happen to me!" Then the angel went away.

Related Scripture Readings

The true Light was coming into the world. This is the true Light that gives light to all people. The Word was already in the world. The world was made through him. But the world (people) did not know him. He came to the world that was his own. But his own people did not accept him. Some people did accept him. They believed in him. He gave something to those people who believed. He gave them the right to become children of God. These children were not born like little babies are born. They were not born from the wish or plan of a {mother and} father. These children were born from God. The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace (kindness) and truth.

You began {your life in Christ} with the Spirit. Now do you try to complete it by your own power? That is foolish. You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope they were not wasted! Does God give you the Spirit because you follow the law? No! Does God work miracles among you because you follow the law? No! God gives you his Spirit and works miracles among you because you heard {the Good News} and believed it. {The Scriptures say} the same thing about Abraham. "Abraham believed God. And God accepted Abraham's faith. That made Abraham right with God." So you should know that the true children of Abraham are the people who have faith. You were all baptized into Christ. So you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now, in Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek (non-Jew). There is no difference between slaves and free people. There is no difference between male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. You belong to Christ. So you are Abraham's descendants. You get all of God's blessings because of the promise {that God made to Abraham}.

God promised long ago to give this Good News to his people. God used his prophets to promise this. That promise is written in the Holy Scriptures. The Good News is about God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a person, he was born from the family of David. But through the Spirit of holiness Jesus was shown to be God's Son. He was shown to be God's Son with great power by rising from death.