Luke 1

Down through the years,
I have held various concepts
of what it means to be a successful person.

and you know what?

All of them just got smeared away by a thought I just had.

I can't imagine a higher measure of success
than to be visited by a messenger from God.
and to be given the news
that you would be playing an active part
in his awesome plan.

In this chapter,
the angel Gabriel appears to two different people:

Luk 1:5 In the days of Herod, the king of Judea,
there was a certain priest named Zacharias,
Luk 1:11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him
as he was standing on the right of the altar of incense.
Luk 1:19 I am Gabriel, who stands before God.
And I am sent to speak to you
and to show you these glad tidings.

and

Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
into a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.
And the virgin's name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And the angel came in to her and said,
Hail, one receiving grace,
the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women.

The only other time
I can find Gabriel's name in the bible
was when he appeared to Daniel (twice).

Dan 8:16 And I heard a man's voice
between the banks of Ulai,
which called and said, Gabriel,
make this one understand the vision.

Dan 9:21
yes, while I was speaking in prayer,
even the man Gabriel,
whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,
touched me in my severe exhaustion,
about the time of the evening sacrifice.
Dan 9:22
And he enlightened me,
and talked with me,
and said, O Daniel, I
have now come out
to give you skill and understanding.

What kind of a person gets visits from angels?

I mean, wouldn't these people
have some of the same traits
that Jesus had?

humble?
kind?
devoted?
selfless?
gentle?
loving?

Just trying to imagine it
makes me realize
how pathetic and weak I am.

The significance of these visits was profound,
but the effect on these people was also profound:

Dan 8:27
And I Daniel fainted,
and was sick for days.

The next thing we hear from Mary
is a long poem
or song of praise
from verse 46 through 55.

The next thing we hear from Zechariah
is a long praise
or prophecy
from verse 68 through 79.

wow!

What would I say
if I was truly visited by a messenger from God?

What role would I play?

Do angels still make visits,
or is it all up to Jesus now?

Was this the last time God interfered in the affairs of men?

Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God
into a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

I suspect it is.

Now that my curiosity is aroused
I have to go investigate this theory....

God is mentioned exactly 1089 more times from this point.

I just read every one of them.

As far as I can tell, except for John 3:16
(which is really the same)

Joh 3:16
For God so loved the world
that He gave His only-begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.

As far as I can tell:
According to scripture,
this is God's last act for mankind!
(on this planet at least.)

He acts once more for Jesus,

Act 10:39 They killed Him
and hanged Him on a tree;
Act 10:40 but God raised Him up the third day
and showed Him openly,

Act 13:29 they laid Him in a tomb.
Act 13:30 But God raised Him from the dead,

and that's it.

According to scripture,
the next thing he does for us
will be
to wipe our tears away
and dwell with us.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them,
and they will be His people,
and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And there will be no more death,
nor mourning, nor crying out,
nor will there be any more pain;
for the first things passed away.

cool.
..
.