After the angel had appeared to Mary, she took off to see her cousin Elizabeth.

This was her instant response to experiencing the moving of God in her life. She was just a woman, chosen by God. Women were not treated as equal to their male counterparts, someone of far less importance. Mary was meek, she sought not her own will but to please God in what she thought, said and did.

Maybe she had not regarded herself as worthy for God to move upon. However, once the Holy Spirit moves, it is natural to respond by impulsively going, spreading good news. Mary was driven to bring grace and blessing to Elizabeth and the whole household of Zechariah. Gabriel had told Mary that Elizabeth, in her old age would bear a child.

When God makes His presence known in a situation, people are amazed. There is an overwhelming joy, a sense of hope, when all around seems hopeless. God loves, He blesses and encourages, and that is what you and I would do when we have this encounter. We respond by talking endlessly and excitedly about the good things God has done.

When Mary appeared to Elizabeth, the baby John in the womb moved. Just like God speaking to Elizabeth saying "I have plans for you and your unborn". Mary then prophesies when saying the words which we call the Magnificat, or Mary's song. Notice how bold May's prophesy was for a woman who was identified for her meekness.

Have you heard people today singing their love song to the Lord then break out into prophecy? It is not limited to foretelling the future; it is an uninterrupted and fluent speaking of God and His goodness. This normally happens in our native language but it can be in a different tongue.

One love song sometimes sung is, "Father I place into your hands". A later verse says "Father I want to be with you and do the things you do, Father I want to speak the words that you are speaking too". This is exactly what I believe prophesy to be.

You may reason, I am not good enough to do that sort of thing. The Good news is, none of us are good enough, not one, not even the famous evangelists of the past, not the prophets of old. But God is good; He will use anyone who is available. When He makes His presence known we may find ourselves responding by bringing His grace to someone by encouraging words or prophesying.

Mary begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord. I can't keep silent but must shout out about God's goodness to me. My spirit rejoices in God, who is my saviour.”

From early times, it has been God's known plan to save and bring reconciliation to Himself. Our God is an evangelical God who reaches out to bring the lost safely back into the fold. This plan was made perfect in the coming of the Messiah and His death on the cross.

Mary continues to talk of justice, which was an issue of prime concern to the Jews of that day. It seems that little has really changed since.

The lowly and meek are to be recognised but the proud, the boastful, the self sufficient, self righteous and arrogant will reap their very different harvest, the rich being sent away empty, unfulfilled, unsatisfied.

The proud are to be scattered because their hearts will imagine all sorts of vain things and they will aimlessly set about destroying themselves and others.

Have you met the occasional person who you instinctively know to steer well clear of; they lie, they have illusions of grandeur, they believe themselves to be better than others or perfect. These have a sense of entitlement and rarely ever take responsibility for their misdeeds. They bring destruction, and are mentioned in the Psalms and throughout the Old Testament. Mary's prophecy addressed this.

In contrast, His mercy is on those who fear him throughout all generations. He will fill the hungry with good things resonates with "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled".

Jesus later said, everyone who exalts themselves will be brought down, but those who humble themselves will be exalted. Mary said it is because God saw her lowliness, He had chosen to make her blessed by all generations to come.

“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”

One important message for us in all of this is that there will only ever be one way, God's way. When we approach him in truth and humility, stand in awe of His might and goodness and desire to be in submission to Him, He will inhabit our praise, He will pour out an oil of joy and gladness upon us and we shall like Mary, telling out His goodness to the world.