Beth Moore study...solo

I'm doing The Advent by Beth Moore as a Bible study over the next few weeks. This is a 3-part DVD on the events coming up to the birth of Jesus. It has been simply FABULOUS!!!!

I watched the first part this past Monday and have been using this week to read and study further the events described in Luke 1:5-22. It's been so interesting to see how God sets the stage for His divine plans. Only God could do what's been described through these verses. You gotta read this stuff and if you can, order the DVD from Living Proof, Beth Moore's website.

She starts with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth the parents of John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus. The story has gotten my attention on so many levels this week. Did you know that God had been silent for over 400 years when Gabriel, the Angel, appeared to Zechariah? It gets better, lots were cast to see which priest would go into the the innermost part of the Temple of the Lord to pray and burn incense. Some priests would serve as priests their whole lifetime without ever getting this privilege!! If the lot fell on you it was the best day of your life and that is what happened to Zechariah. No one other than God could make that possible. Some people may call it luck but for me, as a Christian, it's nothing but God!

Zechariah and Elizabeth were old in age, way past child bearing years. Something that in their culture was grounds for divorce. But history tells that they were a devout Jewish couple keeping with all the laws and practices. They were a devout couple keeping with the love that they had for each other, in my opinion, because he could have divorced her for being barren. He didn't divorce her but prayed for her and their barren situation even in old age. In those days a pregnancy was something to be celebrated (a status symbol) and the birth of a son something to actually throw a party over.

Oh, Elizabeth...how many pregnancies you must have witnessed and how many births you must have wished were your own! How many nights did you cry yourself to sleep in the arms of your husband or alone in the silence? How many times did you smile for someone else's baby and offer congratulatory hugs and words that at the same time tore your own heart apart? Oh, Elizabeth...She sounds so much like me sometimes. Does she sound anything like you?

Elizabeth and Zechariah had a "profound disappointment." My notes say this: "what do you want that you still don't have?" What a great question to ask at this time of year. The time of year where we fall into the gift trap. The time of the year when our kids get a case of the gimmies like nothing we have ever seen before. I, by no means, am immune to this. Buying and giving gifts can be, and sometimes is, my biggest weakness and I take full responsibility for the case of the gimmies that my children seem to get at this time of the year. But let's look deeper than that. Are you hurting and the holidays make it worse? If the answer is yes, Satan is robbing you of your joy. He's creating obstacles for you that are keeping you from seeing the potential for God's hand to move and move BIG in your life.

That's what has happened for Zechariah and Elizabeth. Their eyes were opened to see the supernatural hand of God move in their lives. Please read the rest of Luke 1 for their full story, this is your spoiler alert!! In the end, Gabriel delivers incredible news to Zechariah in the Temple that day. God would bless them with a son even in their old age....nothing is impossible with God! In my notes I have this quote from Beth Moore: "blessed are you when what comes naturally for others HAS TO come supernaturally for you." The other quote that I would like to share with you is this: "what happens naturally for others but supernaturally for you shows that you are picked for a God show."

Elizabeth was picked for a God show. In her barren old age God is the only explanation for her pregnancy. Yes, it came through the joining of her egg and his sperm but it was God who made it possible.

"It wasn't long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. 'So this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!'she said." The Message Luke 1:23-25

She went away to relish her pregnancy, the answer to years of prayer. The supernatural answer to what could not happen naturally. This Christmas season, what disappointment do you need to lay down so that He can perform a God show in your life? What answer are you celebrating that could only have come from God?