Daily Devotional for Wednesday December 1, 1999

Be Like The Shepherds

(LUKE 2:20)

Be like the shepherds. I was taught very early in life that you can learn a lot by watching people. In the day Jesus was born, a shepherd was the equivalent of a busboy or dishwasher in today's society. It was a very low position, and these were not the type of people you would think to look at as role models. Again, let me remind you that you can never judge a person by the house they live in, the car they drive, or the job they hold. The shepherds on the night Jesus was born must have been pretty important men in the eyes of God, because it was to those men He revealed the birth of His son in Bethlehem's manger that night. While there are many great spiritual lessons you can learn from these men, the one I want to focus on today is their conduct after they had visited the manger and seen with their own eyes the baby Jesus.

The scripture reference today tells us that they left praising God for all they had seen and were shown. Praising God. I have talked about this many times in the past, and will continue to talk about it because it is one element of our faith that we just don't do enough of. So much of our prayer time, so much of our focus is on our problems and circumstances, that we often forget to spend time each day just thanking and praising God for all He does for us each and every day. In just the 12 short weeks since this website has been in operation, we have already received numerous praise reports from people who found out about the site, came for prayer, and then saw the power of God at work first hand. Let me recap just a few of the praise reports.

A lady in Baltimore Maryland emailed a request for God to restore her marriage. Her husband had left her for another woman. Within 3 weeks, the husband had come home, recommitted his life to Christ, and they were in Christian counseling to work out their problems. For those of you today with marriage problems, God is still in the restoration business. A man in Newark New Jersey requested prayer the day before open heart surgery. He emailed us a week later telling us all had gone well and the doctors told him he would make a full and complete recovery. For those battling health problems today, God is still in the healing business. A single mother of 4 in St. Louis asked us for prayer after she lost her job. 2 weeks later God had given her a better job with more money. For those of you in need of a financial blessing today, God is still in the business of providing for His children. On the 5th day after we started, our minister on the video feed was praying for a person as they accepted Christ as Savior. The next day an email came in from Hong Kong from a man who had lost his business, was thinking of suicide, and somehow logged onto our site. As the pastor was leading the person in the sinner's prayer, this man in Hong Kong prayed to accept Jesus too. God is still in the business of saving souls. Every day we get incredible praise reports of how God has touched lives and worked miracles in the lives of people who have visited our site for prayer.

I would encourage you today to learn from the shepherds and never neglect to thank God for all He does for you each and every day, blessings you take for granted. It is through your praise, you telling others all God has done for you, that they might increase their faith to allow God to work in their life. Your praise report gives others going thru the same situation the hope and strength to go on, trusting God for their miracle. Hope is the greatest gift you can give to another person.