Key Verse Luke 1:28.  “The angel went to (Mary) and said, ‘Greetings, you are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

A chorus we sing often on college campuses and in local churches remind us repeatedly, we are blessed.

Indeed, we are the called, blessed, gifted, and graced children of God. What a profound thought. The Lord, indeed is with us. We, with Mary, are “highly favored” with God!

Three compelling convictions enable us to embrace our identity in Christ:
            A VISION. For who we are as the people of God;
                      A PASSION for the work of God; and
                                An OBSESSION for how we live together as the family of God.

What do we “see” in others with whom we live and work who profess faith in Christ? Do we envision them as brothers and sisters in Christ? Members together, with you, of Christ’s body? Do you embrace them as  a fellowship of God’s people? A microcosm of the kingdom of God on earth? A community of faith? A sacrament community in and through which the grace of God flows?

God touches each of us with a unique and intensively personal “yes”! God is with us, including those good and godly people who differ with us over vision and values.

To embrace with conviction the Divine “stamp” on our lives as the called, blessed, gifted and graced children of God is the grateful response to God who says to each of us, “you are highly favored. I am with you and dwell within you.” Amen!

Read  Luke 1:26-28

LeBron Fairbanks
December 17, 2010