Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh start. A new day to rise and move with an awareness and an expectation for Jesus.

I’ve missed a few days of blogging. The days have been filled to the brim. Today is our last day of school before break. Four of the kids have pajama day today, and they have been looking forward to this day all week. Bring on the day! 🙂

I’ve read and reread the account in Luke about the shepherds. There is so much beauty in this story. Jesus has just been born and it’s like heaven is just bursting with excitement. Father God just HAS to tell someone. So, an angel of the Lord is sent to deliver the best news ever.

And the news could have been delivered to anyone.

The angel could have visited the temple or the temple courts.

The angel could have visited a priest’s house.

The angel could have visited with rich men or with royalty.

Who did the angel choose? He chose to reveal the news to shepherds. This is significant because shepherds lived with their flock. It was a smelly job and considered to be somewhat undignified. They were not looked up to in the culture of the time, but Jesus was coming to break down every wall between God and His people and He started early. He was born in a most humble form in a most humble place to a sweet, young humble girl and THEN his birth was announced in full glory to a crowd of shepherds. He chose them over all others to announce the divine birth! Wouldn’t that just make the Sadduccees and Pharisees seethe…. they didn’t even know it yet, but God was already shaking up the boxes they had put Him in.

If you look closely at Luke, the shepherds were “keeping watch.”

Friends, they were wide awake!

They were awake and aware and on watch!

What a beautiful picture! That as the Lord looked down from heaven with the Pride of a Proud Papa whose Son was just born, He found shepherds to receive the news!

The shepherds were awake and on watch. They were watching and protecting their flock, and they had not succumbed to slumber.

Jesus is calling today for a people wide awake and on guard!

People who are ready for the royal announcement once again.

The shepherds were greeted with such a beautiful birth announcement!

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

The angel said the Savior was born to you, meaning they were included in the promise! This was for them too!

And after the initial greeting from the angel, they began to see with spiritual eyes! A whole host of angels appeared!

The angels, a whole huge group of them, worshipped God right there in the middle of the shepherds and all their flock of sheep!

Heaven broke wide open, a glimpse of the divine glory and the worship of God by angels was witnessed in the earth by a group of men living in the fields keeping a watchful eye over their flock. They got a glimpse of heaven right in the middle of the ordinary!

I believe God still breaks through the ordinary and shows us supernatural, heavenly activity when we are spiritually awake and on guard..

And the shepherd’s focus was immediately shifted from their earthly position as mere shepherds to worshippers! They became worshippers right then and there! They dropped everything and IMMEDIATELY went to find Jesus. They had a taste of the Lord and they were hungry for more of this story. They just HAD to go see and the Savior baby!

And as they followed in full faith, they found Jesus with everything just exactly as the angel explained. God coming through on every word!

And what came next, they told everyone they could about all they had seen and heard. They were bursting with the news from heaven!

And they returned home praising and magnifying the Lord!

I believe forever changed.

I believe that as they returned home, things around them were clearer..

Their lives held new meaning.

Their hearts were healed and whole and filled with the peace of Jesus..

I believe the shepherds were forever different after their encounter with the Lord Jesus and the witnessing of heaven’s birth announcement.

And I wonder if any of them later heard Him preach?

I wonder if 30 years later, some heard news of Jesus who was preaching and teaching and healing people and made the connection back to the baby they met in a miraculous way?

I wonder if any of them heard the gospel preached later in their lives and accepted Christ afresh and were completely converted to a radical receiving of Christ?

Friends, sit and soak in the details of our Savior’s birth! There is so much goodness wrapped up in it. So many details that give us direct glimpses into God’s heart for His people.. ALL People!

Dear Heavenly Father,

You amaze me with how You work. You shift and shake up culture. You broke through and brought heaven to earth, and you began righting every injustice in the earth. You elevated people and spoke identity into them. You are still visiting with us today in radical ways, and we praise You! May we be forever changed by Your birth story just as the shepherds were.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Verses from Luke 2: 8-20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:8‭-‬20 NIV