Christmas Gift that Leads To Overcoming Joy by Babs Kincaid

“And behold, you will conceive and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus,… Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord!  Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”Luke 1:38

       What would make Mary, a young betrothed Jewish teenager want to face all the giants in her life without any resistance??? The giants in her life would be her scolding family, her shaming friends, and her convicting temple condemning her for conceiving a baby and out of wedlock! Ouch, that is quite a stacked deck of hostility against her! In the Old Testament, this is what the law required of such a predicament: “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.” Deuteronomy 23:24-25 Mary was a virgin and faced quite a firing squad but her response was not resistance but overcoming joy!

Joy,… had Mary truly lost her mind to believe her joy was going to save her from inevitable death by stoning???  Wow, process what Mary didn’t say to the angel Gabriel:

v “Wait a minute, how is this going to work when all my family, friends and temple disown me?”

v “Can I get back to you tomorrow, after I have had time to process this heavy-duty declaration?”

v “Surely I am too young for such a formidable task!”

v “Certainly, I haven’t had enough education to pull off such an upscale religious task?”

v “Are you for real? You are kidding me right?”

v “I have no qualifications to pull off such an intimidating mission!”

v “There must be a mistake? I believe you found the wrong Mary!”

      How many teenagers do you know that have so much trust in God to say, “Let it be…according to your word.” Luke 1:38 Seriously, she said, “Let it be…?” I can’t even begin to imagine saying that as a teenager! I was so full of myself and hung up on fitting into the crowd. I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my status and stand out as pregnant!!! I would have been hung up on the word conceive, but Mary obviously was focused on God and her glorious joy!  Mary held onto God’s promise, “For with God nothing will be impossible!” Luke 1:37 No wonder God selected Mary as she believed God’s word above her circumstances!

       Because of Mary’s faith in God, she was filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy that could overcome her challenges! Consider this as an anchor for your battles: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and  are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy.”1 Peter 1:8 Mary lived a lifestyle that matched this verse: “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17 I am still a work in progress for that verse to match my lifestyle! Mary had communion with God on a regular basis and her relationship with God was strong that obstacles did not defeat her. Check out this promise: “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11 That is the joy I want to stay focused on and yielded to!

Merry Christmas …and if your joy and relationship with God seems faded today I pray:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12 and if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and LORD I pray: And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' Acts 2:21 Jesus will give you His overcoming joy!

Believing for a Miracle from God was my only option

Part Five

By babs kincaid

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.”

Hebrews 10:35

Wow, what a faith builder to watch God overcome obstacles that popped up in my journey to own a Tequesta condo for debt freedom! In December of 2018, God provided the breakthrough of a transfer for me to a northern store! What a gigantic answer to prayer! Full-time transfers are extremely hard to reel in! To my surprise, one new store was opened and one store closed to move me to the right place. By the time I had relisted my condo the market had shifted to a buyer’s paradise over sellers! Ouch! God was not unglued by the odds however, and my first bid came early from an open house! The volley for a signed contract had to go back and forth several times before the victory came! I had to make a financial concession which made my profit less than I desired! When I switched gears to find my dream condo the options were slim. The only options in my favorite area were a 1 bedroom or a 2 bedroom outside of my budget! My zealous realtor took me on a tour of the one bedroom. I came away with the crowded feeling of a claustrophobe. Now, what???? My energetic realtor said, “do you want to check out the 2 bedroom condo?” My mind raced … was I going to walk the fear road or the faith road! Faith won so I said, “What have we got to lose?” The second-floor condo was like a dream to me! Earlier, I had approached my bank for a $9,000 loan and had been rejected! I told the owner it was beautiful but I was $9,000 short of her asking price. She firmly stated she wasn’t going to budge on the price. My heart sunk! She quickly came back at me with a crazy option! She said she would give me a $9,000 personal loan! I couldn’t believe my ears! No one does that unless God tugs at their mind and heart! I started to cry I was so overwhelmed! Wow, what a gigantic miracle! So then my last hurdle was to get someone to loan me $5,000 to be repaid at my closing! Thankfully, a family member chose to bless me with the loan! Yea God! God was my relentless Champion all the way to the finish line! Check out this powerhouse verse: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37 

I was the most unlikely candidate to pull off this amazing purchase! God indeed is mighty in a battle to overcome all obstacles!!!!! Just Believe… He is your exceeding great reward!

 “And God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things and at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

Glory to God in the highest for making my wildest dream move to Tequesta come true! I am over the moon grateful to God for standing in the gap for me! Once my condo was relisted it sold in less than 2 months. Remarkably, it had been on the market less than 8 months!  God provided a team of His finest servants to help me fulfill my dream! He provided a dynamic team to pack my U Haul, unpack my U Haul, and even to unpack my boxes! Yea God! This verse best describes God’s faithfulness:  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory.”  Ephesians 3:20-21a 

God gave me a wonderful condo with a spectacular view! Blessed am I to relax on my porch with evening tea and watch playful deer’s race across the grass? Yea God for that breathtaking experience! God is able to do immeasurably more than you can imagine…what do you need to BELIEVE Him for?????

The End

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.”Job 5:9

  

Faith Marker:
“Blessed is my new eternal perspective” by babs kincaid

“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;

most assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see

what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Matthew 13:16

          Blessed is my new eternal perspective because I have a new heart and spirit in Christ. I came to that expression in a most unlikely place. I was working at a large retail store that sells food and was asked repeatedly “How are you?” by customers. As a joyful believer, I wanted to paint a revealing visual portrait of my uplifting status so the word “blessed” leaped out! It takes many customers by surprise and they say “I am blessed also!” or “Wow, that’s nice!” or “We are all blessed! One of my customers says when she comes through my aisle, “Oh, you are the blessed one!” I am so thankful and grateful to declare it with genuine sincerity!

          A new heart and a new spirit are the gifts God gave me a number of years ago when I asked Christ into my heart. Here is the good news: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 Anyone who asks Jesus into their heart receives these extravagant gifts! The truth is I do see things differently now and hear things differently now and it is a vast improvement. Before I had a life changing encounter from the Prince of Peace, I had a negative perspective of my life and my future! Because of storms of life, I chose to fill a huge storage unit full of anger, resentment and unforgiveness! That’s just to name a few of my character defects that packed my storage unit! Wow, what a blessing to replace my attitude with gratitude!

          Blessed is a declaration for me that my heart and spirit are connected to God so I can be genuine with people. Before my encounter with the True Witness, I wore a lot of fake masks. Wearing so many masks was like going on one masquerade merry go round after another. I had a religious mask, party mask, people pleasing mask, victim mask, rescuer mask, and a performance mask! Check it out: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6  How liberating to be free to express myself because your Heavenly Father is safely guiding me!

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:31

      Being blessed reminds me I have a faithful Heavenly Father who pours love into me and is my forever cheerleader! Now instead of navel-gazing, I want to love others to Jesus! I want to give the eternal gift of Jesus love to others and cheer on those who need it! Truly my blessings outnumber the grains of sand at the beach! I love happy endings, so if you have never received the gift of salvation that Jesus offers I hope you will today! So here is the truth: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10  Your magnificent gift awaits you! I am blessed beyond measure! Are you?