The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

‘Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation.’ Andrew Murray

Recently I decided to read slowly through Luke 1 and on in chapter 2, and something grabbed my attention: a repeated emphasis on the reliability of God’s Word. He says what He means, and means what He says; and though there may be a long interval between prophecy and performance, God’s Word will come to pass. We can stand on it. He calls us to believe it.

Just think, if numerous Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus, we can have every confidence that those concerning His second advent will come to pass also, ”…at their appointed time.”

‘Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.’ George Mueller.

One of the big lessons Christmas teaches us is this: God is totally reliable.