Blessed Is She Who Believed God's Promises To Her - Luke 1:45 Devotional And Gifts!
Are you familiar with this infamous verse- Blessed is she who believed God's promises to her from Luke 1:45? You probably are most familiar with this verse from studying it during the season of Advent. Right now this verse is weighing heavy on me because I am studying our Bible reading Christmas plan, Joy: An Advent Bible reading plan that you can see HERE.
To be honest this verse has intrigued me for many years and that is why I designed with it on many products for our shop. You can see our shop for a Blessed is she who believed shirt, t shirt, mugs, canvas print, jewelry, and many more gifts HERE!
We are promised in scripture that 'she is blessed who believes' but what does that mean?
To get a better understanding of the meaning of this scripture from Luke 1:45, I like to study it in different Bible translations and you can read them on this page from biblehub.com
The following translations gave me more insight into this verse:
New International Version
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!"
You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord’s word to her will be fulfilled.”
And blessed is the one having believed that there will be a fulfillment to the things spoken to her from the Lord."
"And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord."
Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
The pressing questions that are on my mind are:
What woman in the bible is 'blessed is she who believed' that is spoken about in this verse?
Is this promise for every woman that trusts in the Lord?
Before we go any further, digging for the scripture treasure in this verse, I suggest that you read the entire passage of Luke chapter 1 either in your own Bible or in the various translations that you will find HERE.
The verse that we are focusing on in this devotional, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her” Luke 1:45 was spoken by Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist to Mary (who becomes the mother of Jesus). Elizabeth is an older cousin to Mary. So let's start at Luke 1:26.
Mary and the Angel Gabriel (The Promise Is Given)
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
Luke 1:26-27.
In the previous verses, we discover Elizabeth in her late years is miraculously expecting a baby. Zechariah [ her husband] can't quite believe the angel Gabriel when he delivers the news to him, and he is struck dumb for not believing!
The angel Gabriel also visits Mary, a young girl, not yet married to Joseph and a virgin, and delivers similar news to her. Mary is from a lowly family and the city of Nazareth which was not a prominent town. Mary was betrothed to Joseph, in Jewish customs that meant Mary was in a binding engagement that could not be broken except by divorce. During this time of betrothal there were no intimate acts together, so for Mary to show up pregnant would cast enormous doubt on her character.
Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ”Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God!"
Luke 1:28-30.
Despite being confused and disturbed by seeing an angel and hearing his words, Mary trusted God. She would have learned the scriptures in the synagogue services over the years as a child and so she believed in the words that the angel Gabriel spoke to her. She submitted to the Lord for whatever He had chosen for her to do. Mary was shown amazing grace to be chosen to give birth to Jesus- the savior of the world. She was given the grace to cope with being pregnant, a long journey on a donkey, and then to give birth in a stable! She would have needed much grace to see God's plan unfold for Jesus, which leads to His death on the cross, just so that you and I can come into God's presence any time of the day and have everlasting life once we believe in Him!
Here are some thoughts to ponder:
1. Would you be willing to sacrifice your reputation to do God's will?
God gives you His grace too. He will give you the grace to do the work that He has created for you and chosen you to do if you choose to trust Him.
2.Are you ready to ask God to show you the unique work that He has created you to do?
Read on with me and come dig up more scripture treasure from this passage.
The Promise Explained:
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month.
Luke 1:34-36.
Put yourself in Mary's shoes, can you imagine been given this miraculous news that you will become pregnant even though you are a virgin!
Do you think you might wonder how to raise a king ? or how can this be because you are mortal?
What could it mean to have the Holy Spirit come upon you and overshadow you?
The angel Gabriel then proceeds to announce that Mary's cousin, Elizabeth is expecting. This too is a miracle. Mary knows that her cousin is too old to bear a child. I wonder does it help Mary to believe this miraculous conception because if an old barren woman can conceive, then so can a virgin?
What would you do if an angel visited you and gave you miraculous news?
So many questions to be thinking about! But wait...there is more!
For with God, nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.
Luke 1:37.
Mary had asked the angel ' how can this be?' And the words in Luke 1:37 are the amazing answer that she was given. These familiar words spoken by the angel Gabriel are also spoken for us. This verse is a reminder for us to believe in God, regardless of the situation in our lives, that nothing is impossible for our God.
I want to encourage you to choose to have faith, to trust in the God of the impossible, and to watch expectantly for God's plans to unfold in your life.
It takes a great dose of faith and trust in God but we will be rewarded when we step out in faith and trust His promises.
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:38-41.
Have you ever wondered how Mary was able to be so calm and confident when she said to the angel, 'I am the Lord's servant? May everything you have said about me come true'.
Could it be that she already has an established relationship with the Lord and that she knew God's presence?
Have you ever been in the midst of a storm in your life and you stop, call on the Lord, listen to worship music or read some scripture, and calm washes over you as you sit in God's presence?
Next time panic rises, consider Mary!
Do you understand the magnitude of Mary's answer?
She said 'yes' to God, knowing that her future husband could divorce her because it would seem that she had been unfaithful. Mary probably realized that not one person would believe that her pregnancy is a miracle and she would probably be mocked unjustly for sleeping around by the people of her town. Would you believe Mary?
I have also always wondered about verse 41 'at the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit'. I love that even though the baby in the womb was still developing that, John's spirit sensed the importance of Mary's baby and that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit!
Blessed is She Who Has Believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to Her :
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Luke 1:42-45.
Upon being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth immediately delivered a message inspired by the Spirit. In this message, she called Mary the “mother of our Lord.” Luke does not tell us how Elizabeth knew this. This knowledge went far beyond anything the angel Gabriel had told Zachariah ( Elizabeth's husband, and you can read about that in Luke 1:5-25 ) six months earlier. Unless Mary told Elizabeth the news during her greeting, the information did not come from Mary. The impression we have from the text is that the Spirit revealed the information to Elizabeth. Clearly, Elizabeth’s message was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
We saw in the previous Bible verses that the angel Gabriel had told Mary she had found 'favor with God' [Luke 1:30] but that wasn't the greatest favor or blessing that God bestowed on her. The greatest favor was one that we received also - that Jesus saves us from our sins, we receive redemption. What a blessing it is to believe in Jesus, that He is the Son of God and that through faith in Him and the cross, we have salvation. This verse is precious because it reminds us that we are special too in God's eyes.
We have just answered my first question, 'Who is the woman that Luke 1:45 was spoken to?' It was of course spoken to Mary.
But could you now explore this scripture with me to see if it could possibly carry promises for both you and me today in this season of our lives?
New International Version
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!"
Luke 1:45.