The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Can you imagine the shepherds returning to their flocks after the night they had? They had seen God's glory. They had experienced the presence of angels. They had seen the newborn King, the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. Even more amazing, it was just as they had been told. As amazing as the angel's words of announcement had been, they were gloriously fulfilled. In addition to all that Jesus was at the moment of his birth, he is also the absolute answer to God's greatest promises and the greatest assurance that God keeps his word.
Incredibly, God had chosen shepherds, unnamed to us and unimportant to their peers, to be the witnesses and participants in God's glorious story of salvation. It is our Father's way of reminding us that no matter who we are, Jesus came for us because we are important to him!
John 1:11
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Jesus came to his own things — the world he had created and the land he had promised his people — and his very own people didn't receive him. Sometimes we are blinded by our desires and dreams for Jesus and we really miss what he wants for us and from us. Let's not let the following be true in our lives. "Jesus came to me, but I wasn't ready to receive him.
I had other things I wanted to do and other things I wanted to experience before I fully surrendered my heart to him." Each time we put off surrendering our will to Jesus, each time we push him away as Lord, we allow our hearts to harden and it becomes easier and easier to push him away. Now, while our hearts are still attentive to his grace, let's renew our commitment to him afresh and completely offer him hearts and lives for his glory and grace.
Prayer
O LORD, thank you for a New Year and a fresh start. Please give me wisdom and strength to serve you with integrity and faithfulness in this coming year. I pray that your work be done in my life as I offer myself, my plans, and my future to you. I pray this through Jesus my intercessor and Lord. Amen.
[Message No: 5968]
Can you imagine the shepherds returning to their flocks after the night they had? They had seen God's glory. They had experienced the presence of angels. They had seen the newborn King, the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. Even more amazing, it was just as they had been told. As amazing as the angel's words of announcement had been, they were gloriously fulfilled. In addition to all that Jesus was at the moment of his birth, he is also the absolute answer to God's greatest promises and the greatest assurance that God keeps his word.
Incredibly, God had chosen shepherds, unnamed to us and unimportant to their peers, to be the witnesses and participants in God's glorious story of salvation. It is our Father's way of reminding us that no matter who we are, Jesus came for us because we are important to him!
John 1:11
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Jesus came to his own things — the world he had created and the land he had promised his people — and his very own people didn't receive him. Sometimes we are blinded by our desires and dreams for Jesus and we really miss what he wants for us and from us. Let's not let the following be true in our lives. "Jesus came to me, but I wasn't ready to receive him.
I had other things I wanted to do and other things I wanted to experience before I fully surrendered my heart to him." Each time we put off surrendering our will to Jesus, each time we push him away as Lord, we allow our hearts to harden and it becomes easier and easier to push him away. Now, while our hearts are still attentive to his grace, let's renew our commitment to him afresh and completely offer him hearts and lives for his glory and grace.
Prayer
O LORD, thank you for a New Year and a fresh start. Please give me wisdom and strength to serve you with integrity and faithfulness in this coming year. I pray that your work be done in my life as I offer myself, my plans, and my future to you. I pray this through Jesus my intercessor and Lord. Amen.
[Message No: 5968]
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