BEHOLD

BEHOLD
Mary, Did You Know?
Good morning! We are in the second week of our series called BeHold!  
Luke 1:30-31 New King James Version
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus 
Behold is used 1,298 times in the King James version of the Bible. It is derived from the Greek which has the literal translation of; be sure to see or in our words, “don’t miss this”. 
Ezekiel 12:2 New King James Version
2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.
Mark 8:18 New King James Version
18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
So during this series I want us to ask God to open our eyes. Behold what is in front us right now, this very moment in time. Don’t miss it. 
PRAYER
Luke 1:26-35 NKJV
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 
Gabriel shows up and starts with complimenting her. How many times has God shown up in your life and calls you His, or “more than overcomer”? Or a “mighty warrior” but you are troubled because you do not see this at all….
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
I can’t see myself in your light God, I haven’t made those steps, I haven’t made it that far. I dream of being a mother…I dream of being righteous, I dream following you…
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God
Imagine for a moment, it would have been impossible for Mary to give birth to the PROMISE if the Holy Spirit had not come upon her….
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
I love how she responds, I’m sure didn’t know how that would happen, what it would look like, what the future may hold because of the Promise and yet she says, BEHOLD the maidservant of the LORD. 
She is telling God, don’t miss me…watch out for me….keep over me...
Mary is taking all the pressure of self-performance off of herself. 
Mary is simply saying, “God, here I am, a willing vessel.  Do in me what you want to do.”
That, my friends, is the kind of spirit that God is looking for!

So Mary has baby Jesus, our Savior, Our redeemer, Our prince of Peace…and God begins to confirm His promise to her and to us…watch
2:16 And they (shepherds) came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 
Mary, did you know? The shepherds no doubt testified about their encounter with the angels concerning the baby Jesus and to see find Him just as they said had to be amazing. You can sense the excitement, the electricity in the air. People marveled at what the shepherds were saying…
Usually, when the word “marvel” is used in the New Testament, it describes a person's reaction to seeing God's supernatural activity. The word means to be astonished or amazed, to have a sense of wonder.
1.    A wonder; that which arrests the attention and causes a person to stand or gaze, or to pause.
2.    Surpassing credit, incredible. 
3.    The marvelous that exceeds natural power, or is preternatural; opposed to probable. 
4.    Wonderful, exceedingly. 
And then we see the shepherds response…
20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, 
Mary, did you know? Can you imagine the thoughts that she had when the shepherds showed up telling her that angels appeared to them telling them about “her baby”? Another confirmation 9 months later that the angel Gabriel had not been a dream, that in fact the Lord was in their midst…laying in a manger… as it was told them. and even confirmation for the shepherds. 
So you never know, when follow Jesus and his calling, you may be an answer to somebody’s prayers….confirmation that God is seeking them…loves them…died for them…
2:19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 
That word ‘ponder’ in the Greek means ‘to throw together, to bring together in one’s mind”, “confer with one’s self”.
So, you can see that she is “beholding” that God is fulfilling His promise made to her. Mary, did you know? So, she continues in obedience…
2:21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
MARY DID YOU KNOW…SONG

It’s this Jesus that we can do all things!! It through Him that we have the power death, hell, and the grave. It’s the blood of 
Don’t give up…don’t be discouraged…follow Jesus…
Philippians 1:6 New King James Version
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Revelation 21:1-7 NKJV
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
And HOW do you OVERCOME???
Revelation 12:11 New King James Version
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,