On the Couch With God - Daily Devotional

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.  (Luke 1:57-58) The thing about pregnancy is, it comes to an end. Nobody ever stayed pregnant forever (though it feels like it sometimes). I remember when I first found out I was pregnant. Suddenly my world turned into a relentless countdown to birth. There was no way out—it was a one-way ride that would end sometime in May. I was overjoyed, but also terrified. I wonder if Elizabeth felt like that, facing childbirth? I wonder if you feel like that, facing something that has a predestined end, either good or bad. The days before you start a new job. The senior year of a son or daughter. The final days of a loved one. Waiting is rarely easy, and God knows it. Maybe that’s why He has given us so many good things to get us through—His promises, His Word, the Lord’s Supper, each othe...

And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.  (Luke 1:56) Have you ever thought what it must have been like, in that house where Mary was staying? There were probably only the three of them there—Mary, Elizabeth, and her husband Zechariah. Actually there were five, if we count the two unborn babies. But none of the males in the family could talk at that point. I suspect it turned into a very feminine world for three months—a world full of the concerns of women of that culture. What did they talk about? Surely about the chores of daily life— who would get the water, what to buy at the market, offers to teach Mary a new recipe. They would have discussed pregnancy and childbirth. Both of them would have thought about the future—what it meant to raise a child in old age, and whether Joseph would go through with the wedding. And of course they prayed and talked about the Lord and what He was doing, like the faith-filled women they were. In that ...

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.”  (Luke 1:46-49) Do you see me? That is a question a lot of people would like to ask God. We know that we are so little, so lowly, in a vast universe filled with terrible, wonderful, glorious things—why should God be concerned with us? Some people feel this so strongly that they refuse to believe in Jesus—they can’t get over the idea that God would actually see them, would actually care. But Mary knows the truth. Humble as she is, she knows that God has done the unthinkable—He has taken notice of her, even her! And He has chosen her. And so, like Hagar before her (Genesis 16), she says, “God has seen me. God has looked on me, and seen my situation. I matter to the living God.” You matter to the living ...

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”  (Luke 1:39-44) Sometimes you’ve just got to be happy. On a few rare days in your life, everything comes together, and you rejoice. You may know that harder days are coming, but today is lovely. We can see Mary and Elizabeth doing that in today’s reading. Both of them are just so excited and happy—to see each other, to see what God has done for them, to know that Jesus is right there in Mary’s womb. We, too, can have that joy when we th...

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.  (Luke 1:35-38) It’s interesting how Gabriel just volunteers that information about Mary’s cousin and her miracle pregnancy. Mary didn’t ask God for a sign—but she got one, nevertheless. She got more than that—she got a pretty strong hint on what her next steps should be. Elizabeth is pregnant? Why, what a great time to visit! As a strong young woman, Mary would be able to help Elizabeth around the house during the difficult last months of pregnancy. She herself would have a safe place to s...

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”  (Luke 1:30-34) Mary is so practical—instead of wasting her time or the angel’s by arguing, asking for reassurance, or showing disbelief, she simply asks about the “how” of God’s promise. Because there’s a practical problem—though Mary is betrothed, she isn’t living with her husband yet—the final wedding celebration is yet to come. So Mary wants to know: what happens next? Does God want her to move the wedding forward? Or does God have other plans— plans she can’t even imagine? Sometimes it’s obvious what God wants...

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.  (Luke 1:26-29) I’m fascinated by the way the angel greets Mary. In the English Standard Version, the translation goes, “Greetings, O favoured one, the Lord is with you!” But Mary is an ordinary, humble girl, and this greeting confuses her. She is afraid. The Greek for “O favoured one” comes from the root word for “grace” or “favour.” The ESV translation is not wrong, but it seems to me that “you who have been graced” is easier to grasp at a deep heart level. Mary has been graced—and who is giving the grace? The Lord, who is “with you.” Gabriel speaks the truth—the Lord is with Mary, first as a believe...

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.  (Luke 1:21-23) What would you do if an angel appeared and gave you a glorious promise? I doubt most of us would do what Zechariah did. Luke tells us: he kept right on working. And then, “when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.” Really, it’s like that for us too, isn’t it? You may have just won the Nobel Prize, but you still have to change the kitty litter. You get married, start your dream job, or have some wonderful spiritual experience—but the dishes are waiting, you need to put gas in the car, and your child needs his homework checked. Zechariah got on with the job—because it  was  his job, it was the calling God had given him. God...

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”  (Luke 1:18-20) “How can I be sure it’s going to happen?” That was probably not the answer the angel was expecting. “Thank you,” maybe, or “Hallelujah!” Instead he got what? A slap in the face; his credibility questioned; rank disbelief. But look at how patiently Gabriel answers him! He spells it out for Zechariah in the plain, simple language you would use for a toddler. “Here are my credentials. And now you can go and sit on the naughty step for bad behavior. But it will still come true!” God didn’t take away His good promise from Zechariah. He got nine months ...

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go beforehim 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.”  (Luke 1:13-17) Listen to the way the angel describes John’s future! He focuses on the good, wonderful things. It’s so much better than saying, “Your son is going to live out in the desert eating bugs and get killed by an evil king.” Both futures are equally true, aren’t they? All of those things  did  happen...

Now while he was serving as priest before God … And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  (Luke 1:8, 11-12) What happens when your prayers are answered at last? Zechariah’s life was predictable. He did the same tasks, ate the same food, kissed the same woman, probably lived in the same quiet house. And prayed the same desperate, begging prayers for a child—the prayers that many years had made it clear God was never going to answer. Until He did. An angel bursts into Zechariah’s life, and nothing will ever be the same. His life is about to be totally rearranged. That can happen to us, too, can’t it? No matter how wonderful the blessing is that God gives us, it can take some getting used to. We may trip and stumble. We may even grumble—and then feel guilty about it. God is not surprised. If you are struggling, ask Him for help! He will certainly give it. He ...

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.  (Luke 1:5-7) The story of Jesus’ birth starts out with discord: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea …” Wait a minute. Herod wasn’t from King David’s family—he wasn’t even a Jew. So for him to be called “king of Judea” shows that things were broken, not the way they were supposed to be. But there were still faithful people who loved God, like Zechariah and Elizabeth. The Bible even uses the words “righteous” and “blameless” about them—high praise from the Holy Spirit! But here, too, there was something broken. “They had no child”— why? Who knows? It had nothing to do with sin, though people usually thought it did. T...

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers … And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah … and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon … And Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.  (Matthew 1:2a, 6b, 11, 16) Have you ever had a sudden turn in your life? You’re expecting things to go on as normal, and suddenly something shocking happens and you find yourself on an entirely new road. Jesus’ ancestry is full of such turns. Abraham was a childless man who became the father of a nation; Judah was a fourth son who inherited his father’s blessing after his older brothers’ crimes. Salmon was a leader who married a Canaanite prostitute; their son Boaz married a poor foreign girl, Ruth, and became the great- grandfather of King David. David was a shepherd who replaced a disastrous king. If David had s...