Part 1 of a 5-part series, known and unknown women of the Bible. ( Bible Talk with Sister Deb: From Humble Beginnings to Faithful Triumph Mary's Story

Mary's extraordinary journey reveals the profound strength and unwavering faith of a young girl chosen by God for a remarkable role. We explore her courageous acceptance of life's uncertainties, the power of praise in suffering, and draw inspiration from her legacy as we reflect on how faith impacts our lives today.

• Introducing the series focused on women of the Bible
• Highlighting Mary’s courageous response to the angel's message
• Exploring the societal challenges Mary faced as an unwed mother
• Impact of Mary’s song of praise during trials and uncertainties
• Understanding the relationship between suffering and faith in Mary's life
• Celebrating the essential roles of women in biblical narratives
• Encouraging reflection on how God might call us to serve today

Chapters

• 0:21 Mary
• 16:55 Women of Faith in Scripture
• 28:17 Supporting Bible Talk With Sister Deb

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:21

Hey, you're listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne. Hey, you're listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne. You can also listen to her show on WUIC at the 8.1 Christian radio station every Sunday at 5 pm. You can also listen to Bible Talk on the 421 podcast. You can find that on streaming on Google, apple or Spotify or whatever platform of your choosing. If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at osborneleberk at gmailcom. It's O-S-B-O-R-N-E-B-E-B-R-A-K at gmailcom and if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash H-O-R-421 or go through the website at hor421showbuzzsproutcom. All shows are recorded live, no post editing, recorded at the 421 studio. For contact information for all of your studio needs, you can email at hor421ministries at gmailcom. Phone numbers 239-849-1502. Now we give you your host, sister Deb.

Speaker 2: 1:33

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Glad to be here tonight.

Speaker 2: 1:40

And so, as I mentioned on the last show, I have been asked to do a series on females of the Bible, and so this is series number one. This is show number one in that series. So when we, I'm hoping to do it the rest of the so it should be a three week series. Hopefully we, you know we go over into March. Oh well, we'll see, but for right now I know it's going to be the next three-week series.

Speaker 2: 2:13

So when we think about the amazing women of the Bible, we often think of big names like Sarah and Ruth and Elizabeth and all these. But while these ladies are rock stars of faith, there's many more women in the Bible, known and unknown, who can also teach us lessons of courage and faith, and so we often focus on the prominent figures of the Bible, which is mainly men the kings and the prophets and the apostles. However, nestled between the pages of Scripture, there is stories of women whose faith, courage and wisdom impacted the unfolding of God's redemption plan. And so these ladies of the Bible, these unsung ladies of the Bible, offer us valuable lessons of faith and obedience. And so I had to decide what lady I was going to profile first, and so I decided to start with none other, and what better person to start with than Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ?

Speaker 2: 3:21

And so I hope you enjoy this information and this talk about Mary. She's a very, very incredible woman, and she followed God with strength and boldness. Her trusting God's plan for her life allowed her to give birth to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and despite extraordinary circumstances, mary trusted without even probably understanding you know, her strength and her wavering commitment proved to be one of the greatest decisions of her life, and for the Christian faith for that matter. And when God spoke to Mary through the angel Gabriel, she was a virgin unmarried and, I'm sure afraid.

Speaker 2: 4:05

She was a virgin, unmarried and, I'm sure, afraid. And although she was afraid, she trusted God's plan for her life and followed with faith, hope and a whole lot of trust. Now we know that Mary has been set up in shrines. She's been prayed to, even worshipped there's like Michelangelo, da Vinci, raphael and thousands of artists have imaged her on canvas. They've made her on canvas and if you look at some of the churches, you'll see the window panes in some of the churches and they have her picture there. She was an awesome lady and if we faithfully walk through the pages of history, we're going to find story after story of God's work in the lives of people. But none of them held the Son of the living God in the way Mary did.

Speaker 2: 5:01

And Luke 1 tells us that Mary found favor with God. Now you may say what does that mean? Found favor? The thing about it is is we all have a favorite something. We have favorite snacks, favorite movies, favorite sweatshirts and even favorite seasons of the year which, by the way, I'm waiting on mine, anyway. But this is not the same as having favor, having god's favor. It's not the same.

Speaker 2: 5:30

And we also have to understand that mary is getting ready to become very unfavored in the eyes of her community because, as a teenager who was pregnant before her wedding date, is not exactly a woman who's favored in her community. So rumors and scandal was all around. But the angel visits her and he says, not once but twice, she has found favor with God. I mean, mary is from a little bitty town called Nazareth you know me nothing town probably in the sticks, and I'm guessing I imagined it to be a bit like the little small towns that dot our interstates here. You know, cars just go by and stop and go and get a snack and get gas and they keep going like a speck on the map, an impoverished probably. But the angel basically says to this young girl from nowhere and of course I'm paraphrasing, but he's telling her hey, you know what? Even though you're not married and you're still a virgin, you are going to give birth to the Savior of the world. You know it's going to interrupt your life, it's going to mess with your plans. You are going to. It's going to wreck with your peace. You're not going to sleep, you're not going to have friendships. Every inch of your world is getting ready to change. But you, mary, you're the one in this, you're the one that's going to do this and you know his name is going to be called Jesus and one day he is going to sit on the throne of God and rule forever.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Can you imagine being told that? Can you imagine being a 15, 16-year-old girl and being told that? Now, I normally don't tell a whole lot about myself, but I got pregnant at 18. When I first graduated high school actually, I hadn't graduated, I think I was about three or four months in, right before I graduated, and I can imagine at 18, I was panicking, and so I can't imagine what a 15 or 16 year old will be thinking and feeling just to know that she was going to be a mother, not to mention the mother of the savior of the world. I can't imagine what she was feeling, the fear that's probably went through her. I can't imagine.

Speaker 2: 7:50

But Luke 1 and 38 tells us that Mary stood up and she said I am the Lord's servant. And of course we know her life instantly became gossip and drama. Now, to have found favor in the Lord is to have found grace with God. It is to gain approval, you know, to get a big blessing from God, and God extends his favor to those people who have lived generously, humble and God-honoring lives right. And to receive the favor of God means that one is in a position of worship, a position of humility and grace, and Mary lived in that spot.

Speaker 2: 8:31

She did, and Mary's answer to God, of course, came with a great risk. It wasn't just a joyful pregnancy with adorning friends and awesome baby showers. No, that's not the way it was going to be for Mary, you know. Her, yes, was met with threats of fear and death. You know, because you see a woman being pregnant back then, before her wedding, she was assumed to be an adulteress and it could have really, really been bad for her. She could have been stoned and mocked, and I mean put right out in the open in Town Square for public humiliation. I mean it could have really been bad for her and her family.

Speaker 2: 9:13

But see Mary, she stepped right up to the plate and she done the job with great courage, strength and people, a whole lot of immense faith. And there's so many personal lessons that we can learn from her life and her story. And you know the first one despite her fears, mary trusted God's Word, she surrendered to God's will and her desire to serve God was a whole lot greater than her fears. And, just like Mary, we all have real fears in our lives too, especially when we're fulfilling God's purposes. We have more questions, probably, than we have answers, but we can learn and be inspired by Mary's story. She leans on God's Word and she moved forward, trusting God's leading and guidance.

Speaker 2: 10:12

And Mary number two, mary. She continued to praise God, even though her doubts and her fears, they didn't waver. Luke 1 and 45 through 46 tells us it's Mary's song of praise. Mary praised God for his faithfulness in her life, you know. And we must continue to keep an active praise on our lips too, just like Mary, to encourage and strengthen our spirits. You know, in the midst of our trials, we should always continue to find something to praise God for. If it's just waking us up this morning, opening our eyes and letting us breathe, I try my best to praise God every morning and thank him for letting me wake up this morning, you know.

Speaker 2: 10:57

And number three Mary's suffering. It drew her a lot closer to God, because being the mother of Jesus was Mary's greatest honor, you know. But it was also her ultimate source of suffering. She witnessed all that Jesus had endured and she was the very last person with Jesus until his death on the cross. So she carried a heavy burden and a responsibility, you know. And in our suffering, god wants us to fully depend on him and lean on him, just like Mary did. You know, trying to deal with our own suffering and trials and stuff. It can consume us. But, people, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us, to carry us and to sustain us through our tough times. You know, just like Mary, just like Mary did. And God will comfort us in suffering and he's a consistent presence in our lives.

Speaker 2: 11:57

Deuteronomy 31 and 8 says the Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. Don't be afraid and don't be discouraged. And he tells us that on and several different times in his word. He says you know he's the light, you know he guides our paths, he's going to prepare a mansion for us. I mean on and on. And I could just go on and on with the many times that he tries to let us know that he's here with us. We just have to trust him. And the fourth thing Mary, she trusted God in the unknown, even though her path was unknown. Mary trusted God. Now, it's easy to trust God when things are going well and the path is unclear. You know, the greatest test is to trust God when our next steps are unknown. And a little bit more here.

Speaker 2: 12:52

In the last three years, my family went through a big test. Three prominent members of my family ended up with cancer. They all lived in the same house. The two ladies that raised me they're not my moms, but they were my moms. They raised me One of them got lung cancer, one of them got breast cancer and my brother ended up with cancer in his chest. He ended up with a cyst that was practically almost swallowing his heart and one side of his lung. And the reason I bring this up is because you know what that was a trying, testing time for my family and I was worried, but I had to put my trust in God and I wrote their names down on papers, I put them in my prayer box, I sent out prayer requests, I took my anointing oil, I went across the yard to my house, to their house, I prayed for all of them, I anointed them, I prayed and I prayed constantly, especially for my brother. I was really worried. Honestly, I didn't think my brother was going to make it.

Speaker 2: 13:59

And so we have to put these trying times in God's hands and, like Mary, god is calling us every day to practice trusting Him daily with our lives, with our families and with our hearts. We have to put our future in God's hands with the faith that he has a plan for us and that he knows what he's doing. See, we have to look at things the the way Mary looked at him, you know. And number five Mary surrendered to God's will. You know, god will give all of us courage, the courage that we need to surrender every aspect of our lives into his capable hands. We should always shift our attention from our circumstances to an assurance that God's will is best.

Speaker 2: 14:49

And so, in talking about Mary and some of the things that she overcame and a lot of the things we can all relate to, I so advise you people to reflect ladies that's listening to me especially, please reflect on Mary's journey and the lessons from her life. You know, god blessed her tremendously with the birth of Jesus and, despite her anxieties, she trusted God. She praised Him through suffering and she trusted God in the unknown and people. She surrounded and surrendered herself to God's Word and his plans, for our lives would take us down windy and uncertain roads. I'm sure he never promised us a rose garden. There's often times we are not going to know the way to go and we're going to see our fears increase. He never told us it was going to be easy.

Speaker 2: 15:45

But, people, I ask you, please, ladies, be discouraged. Be encouraged by Mary's story and be reminded that God will lead us and he will guide us and direct our paths. We have a work to do in the Lord. We have a work to do, and if you do somewhere along the way, if you do get discouraged, let me tell you what to do. You just go off somewhere. Go off somewhere quiet and alone and you meet God at the throne and you get to the heart of God and you tell God. You say God, I don't know, I don't know where to go from here. Tell God, I don't know where to go from here. Tell God, I don't know how to process this, I don't know what to do with these emotions, I don't know how to handle the situation and you see, this covers a lot of I don't knows. And then, with the ever finest bit of faith that you have left, you tell God. But you know, and I know, you know and, and I believe you know, and you leave it there with him, because God always hears us. So let's get back to Mary.

Speaker 2: 16:55

So we know that Mary was in the tribe of Judah, meaning that she was in the line of King David of Israel, and it was believed that God chose Mary because of her lineage, her character and, of course, her strong faith. And I sometimes wonder if she was surprised, and maybe shocked, by the good news that the angel Gabriel told her. I know I'd be shocked if an angel appeared to me. I really would. I would love it, but I would be shocked.

Speaker 2: 17:22

And so now, even after Jesus was born, mary and Joseph, they had him circumcised according to the Jewish customs then. And so they went into the temple and they met a man, a godly man, named Simeon, and he approached the couple and he tells them he gave them a blessing to the parents. And he tells them he said he is the glory of your people, israel. Now, simeon told Mary, the mother of Jesus, he said this child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be the joy to others and he has been sent from God as a son. But many will oppose him and he tells Mary in Luke 2, 34 and 35, he told Mary, he said a sword will pierce your very soul. See the thing about his people, mary. She was destined for heartache and these words were probably very frightening for Mary and of course she wouldn't probably know the depth of it until Jesus' crucifixion.

Speaker 2: 18:28

In the meantime, mary and Joseph raised Jesus according to the Jewish laws of the day, and you know their lives wasn't easy, though. You know, at one point in time Herod the king had wanted to have all the little boys killed. You know he had heard that the Messiah was born in Matthew 2. And of course they also lost Jesus. Once, while they were visiting Jerusalem, they returned to the town to find him visiting his father's temple in Luke 2. But I don't think there's any mention of Joseph after this event. It's presumed that he died. But Mary's story becomes quiet for some time after the Jerusalem visit. We see her a few times in Scripture. Of course we see her later at the foot of the cross.

Speaker 2: 19:13

Now the Bible does offer a glimpse of Mary that paint a picture of discipleship. You know there was few others. Few other people follow Jesus with the same level of thoughtfulness, of obedience and of faith, as his mama did. Yeah, mary had shortcomings and all men and women do, of course you know, as we all do but yet she was a godly woman who loved the Lord and was faithful. She was a godly woman who loved the Lord and was faithful and, like all men and women God used in the Bible, the Lord didn't hide their weaknesses, yet they were greatly used by God. The thing about it is people. It was not their ability, it was their willingness for God to use them. And this is exactly what made Mary special. It was God's will for her and her commitment to her role in God's plans that made Mary a wonderful woman and a child of God. She was really no different than from any other woman. She had her weaknesses, yet she obeyed God. And now you know.

Speaker 2: 20:22

If you ask around and you ask people you know to name five women of the Bible, I'm sure Mary, the mother of Jesus, would probably make it on everybody's list. You know she was well known, even though she doesn't appear in the Bible all that often. Like I said, we met her at the beginning of Matthew and Luke. We see her once or twice during the ministry of Jesus and we see her at the cross and then of course, we see her at the start of the book of Acts. And we know Mary stood near the cross, you know, when Jesus suffered and died, but she stuck with him throughout his ministry, his arrest, his conviction, his crucifixion, his resurrection and his accession. You know, and Acts 1 and 2 tells us Mary was in the room at Pentecost. So she gathered with the disciples there after Jesus' accession, right, so she remained a devoted follower, anointed by the Spirit, for the rest of her life. You know, and Mary's presence at Pentecost is the Bible's last reference, I think, to Mary.

Speaker 2: 21:32

Scripture's really silent about what happened to her after this. Many scholars, if you read a lot of people, speculate that she lived out her years in John's home. But there's probably no doubt at all that. We can probably say that, although Mary was chosen by God for a very unique assignment, she had to receive salvation by faith in her son, just as we all do. And we can all probably say and speculate that Mary is now in heaven with all the believers who died in Christ, and not because she gave birth to Jesus but because she trusted in his bloodshed as payment for her sins.

Speaker 2: 22:17

And the final mention of Mary in Scripture, of course, is in Acts 1. Bloodshed as payment for her sins, you know. And the final mention of Mary in Scripture, of course, is in Acts 1, verse 14. And she, along with all the others, is awaiting in there, you know, for the coming Holy Spirit. But Mary, the mother of Jesus, was saved by believing in God. Yes, she gave birth to the Son of God, but she had to believe in God and she had to have that same salvation. And she was saved and awarded an eternity with Christ, just like we're all trying to do. Her faith never wavered, not one time, not even seeing her son die on the cross, looking at him, you know, bleeding and crying and hurting and getting ready to draw his last breath. Her faith never wavered, and I'm personally. I can't wait to meet Mary in heaven.

Speaker 2: 23:04

I can't wait to meet her you know, so I just want to ask you guys is there room for God to interrupt and rearrange your plans like he done Mary's? How would you respond if God suddenly chose you for a special assignment? If God woke you up one day and said, hey, I need you to go out here and do this, and it's going to wreck your life, it's going to change all of your plans. Everything is going to change from here on out. Everything's going to be different. Could you step up to the plate? Could you be a be different? Could you step up to the plate? Could you be a Mary of the Bible and step up to the plate and do the things that God said for what you do? Just think on that, because you know God's liable to set you out there someday and say, okay, you know what I'm saying. Anyway, I do want to have I told my brother James here I had a list called Honorable Mentions. So what I was going to do is, after every show this next three weeks, I'm going to have a list of Honorable Mentions, and it's people that you don't hear a whole lot of or you don't see a whole lot of, or you don't see a whole lot of, and the ones I want to spotlight today in my honorable mention is the women who witnessed the resurrection of Christ.

Speaker 2: 24:29

Now, these women, during the time of Christ, these women were not allowed to be witnesses in the legal sense, their testimony was not considered credible. But yet it was women who were recorded in the gospel as the first to see the risen Christ and proclaim him to the rest of the disciples. Now the accounts, of course, vary across the gospels and while Mary Magdalene is the first to witness the risen Christ, in all four the Gospels of Luke and Matthew include other women. There too, matthew 28.1 includes other women or the other Mary, and then Luke 24.10 includes Joanna, mary, the mother of James, and other women. But see, these women were recorded in history as credible witnesses in a time when men alone were considered trustworthy. Their record has stumped many over the years. Some people even assume that the disciples of Jesus made up the resurrection story.

Speaker 2: 25:36

But these women, there are many strong women in the Bible who depended on God. And these women, their story was told. Of course, some of them had to lie to save others and others broke tradition to do the right thing. But their deeds, as guided by God, are recorded in the Bible for all to see. And there are some that have only a small appearance in the Bible. There's some as few as one verse.

Speaker 2: 26:05

But a lot of these women in the Bible were strong, capable women who didn't just rest, sit around waiting for somebody to go get the job done. They feared God and they lived faithfully and they did what they had to do. You know these ladies, whether they were in entire chapters of the Bible or just a line or two, their unyielding faith and their willingness to take action when called upon. You know these ladies were not passive bystanders in the drama of the Bible. No, no, they were participants who were faced with adversity and with no fear, they stepped to the plate to play their part in God's plan. And ladies, ladies, you may not have all the answers, you may not understand where God's taking you in this season, but you know what? Please be encouraged by Mary's example and go back and read some of the other ladies in the Bible and please try to tune in the rest of the week and say yes to God's plan for your life and be encouraged that he will strengthen you and he will guide you. He will. I hope you've enjoyed this program. I hope it's blessed you as much as it's blessed me to bring it to you, and I'm going to end with a prayer and hopefully Lord's willing to see you all next week.

Speaker 2: 27:28

Our Father, god in heaven, I pray that somebody got something out of these words. I pray that people can understand the things that Mary went through and maybe they can step up to the plate and they can say, hey, you know what? I've got some strength here. Now. Mary did it, I can do it. I ask you to let these words go to the heart of the people that needs to hear it. Let these words go to wherever they need to go and whoever needs to hear it. Give them the faith and the courage to step up to the plate and say okay, jesus, I'm here, I'm here. Anyway, thank you, thank you. Thank you, jesus, for everything you've given us. We praise you, we honor you, we love you, we ask you to forgive us for all of our sins and we ask these and all things in Jesus' holy, sweet name. We pray Amen and amen, and God bless everybody.

Speaker 1: 28:17

Hey, you was listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb and if you guys like to email her, you can email her at osborne-debrakay at gmailcom. If you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash H-O-R-421. Or you go through the website at H-O-R-421showbuzzsproutcom. All shows are recorded live. No post editing recorded at the 421 studio. For contact information, follow your studio needs email at hor421ministries at gmailcom. Phone number is 239-849-1502. Thank you.