DAILY READING Luke 1:26-38 REFLECTION Mary’s Grit & God’s Compassion By Todd Marti Two things that have always struck me about this passage. One is Mary’s courage. Not only did Mary show tremendous faith in taking on the awesome task God asked of her, she handled the very stressful encounter described here with remarkable composure. The other is God’s grace in helping her through this.  Several things stand out:   1.  Mary is very brave. Other accounts of Gabriel’s appearances indicate that...

DAILY READING Isaiah 7:14 REFLECTION   God Reaches Out By Todd Marti “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14  (NIV, other translations here ) Although we correctly recognize this as a prophecy of Jesus’ birth, it was also a prophecy of another event involving the same dynamic: God reaching out to deliver from sin and the dysfunction it causes. This prophecy was first made during the reign of...

DAILY READING Isaiah 1:21-31 ,  Micah 6:8 , Psalm 37  & Romans 12:2 REFLECTION   Being light in the Darkness By Todd Marti This week’s readings have been disturbing. They described a society on the brink because it turned from God’s ways, indulged corruption, and preyed upon the vulnerable.  That continued in today’s reading. Those readings have been even more disturbing because of the parallels to what we see in our own days. How do we, as individual believers, respond to that? Scripture...