She was just a girl. What did she know about birthing a baby and caring for a newborn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wouldn\u2019t you think God, in his vast wisdom, would have\nchosen someone more capable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Royalty, perhaps. Royalty would be fitting for royalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God, in his vast wisdom, has a way of doing the unexpected\u2026choosing\nsomething common to use in a spectacular way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Mary of Nazareth he found exactly what he was looking\nfor\u2014a pure heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thesaurus includes these synonyms for pure<\/em>: uncontaminated, unpolluted, clean, untainted, wholesome, chaste,\nunsullied, innocent, genuine, authentic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scripture doesn\u2019t explain why Mary found favor with God. But\nI believe it was her sweet, pure heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was young\u2014likely a teenager\u2014and a virgin, pledged to\nmarry Joseph, a carpenter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine the moment the angel Gabriel appeared and announced Mary had been chosen to carry God\u2019s Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazement and wonder mixed with perplexity and fear. She wasn\u2019t confrontational but she had questions. How can this be? A virgin with child?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel said, \u201cThe Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power\nof the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also this holy thing which\nshall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God\u201d (Luke 1:35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It sounded impossible. But Mary knew enough about God that\nshe could trust him and submit to his plan, without fully understanding his\nways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her response: \u201cBehold the handmaid of the Lord: be it unto\nme according to thy word\u201d (Luke 1:38).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years later, the holy child she delivered in a stable in\nBethlehem taught the multitudes, \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart: for they shall\nsee God\u201d (Matthew 5:8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n God still chooses the pure in heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome, Christ Jesus! Purify our hearts and reign as Lord\nof all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty\nGod, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace\u201d (Isaiah 9:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n No other deserves our allegiance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God, in his vast wisdom, has a way of doing the unexpected\u2026choosing something common to use in a spectacular way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,243,241],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-dianne-barker","tag-god-favors-the-pure-in-hearts","tag-mary-mother-of-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\n