by Phyllis Ducey
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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 of great joy that will be for
all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ 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, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests."Luke 2:8-13
Per dictionary.com (one of my favorite websites) as an adjective it means "causing great surprise or sudden wonder." The noun form would be amazement ("overwhelming surprise or astonishment).
When I think of the wonder Mary and Joseph must have felt at that same moment... I think amazing! When I dwell on the throught that the baby who was born over 2,000 years ago has brought me eternal life... I think amazing! When I realize this same baby grew into manhood with the purpose of dying for my sins... I think amazing!
If we can pull ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas activities and take some time to meditate on the wonder of the season... we should be overwhelmed with astonishment! God has incredibly granted awesome events throughout history recorded in the Bible. One truly amazing one for me is that the Bible written by 40 different writers over a span of 1,400 years (covering about 4,000 years of history) has one theme and one story all pointing to what we celebrate as Christmas and Easter. Wow!
And not to sound like a 30 minute infomercial "but wait, there is more!" God filled our world with wonder all around us. The tiny but vast array of snowflakes, the beaurty of autumn leaves and the uncountable stars in the heavens. He wakes us up to amazing sunrises and closes our days with rich pinks, golds, oranges and purples as the sun sets.
But wait... there is even more! God so values each one of us that He sent His son to go through an ugly and painful death where Christ took on all our sin so we may be pure through Him. He also gifted us with something amazing within to bring Him honor and glory (I touched on this in my last week's post - The Gift that Keeps on Giving).
pfdoriginalartworks
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 of great joy that will be for
all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ 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, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests."Luke 2:8-13Could you imagine being there that night? Minding your own business, working the night shift on your job and making sure the sheep were safe... then whazaam! An angel of the Lord starts talking to them. How amazing that must have been! An appointment set by God that totally took them by surprise.
Amazing -Per dictionary.com (one of my favorite websites) as an adjective it means "causing great surprise or sudden wonder." The noun form would be amazement ("overwhelming surprise or astonishment).
When I think of the wonder Mary and Joseph must have felt at that same moment... I think amazing! When I dwell on the throught that the baby who was born over 2,000 years ago has brought me eternal life... I think amazing! When I realize this same baby grew into manhood with the purpose of dying for my sins... I think amazing!
If we can pull ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas activities and take some time to meditate on the wonder of the season... we should be overwhelmed with astonishment! God has incredibly granted awesome events throughout history recorded in the Bible. One truly amazing one for me is that the Bible written by 40 different writers over a span of 1,400 years (covering about 4,000 years of history) has one theme and one story all pointing to what we celebrate as Christmas and Easter. Wow!
And not to sound like a 30 minute infomercial "but wait, there is more!" God filled our world with wonder all around us. The tiny but vast array of snowflakes, the beaurty of autumn leaves and the uncountable stars in the heavens. He wakes us up to amazing sunrises and closes our days with rich pinks, golds, oranges and purples as the sun sets.
But wait... there is even more! God so values each one of us that He sent His son to go through an ugly and painful death where Christ took on all our sin so we may be pure through Him. He also gifted us with something amazing within to bring Him honor and glory (I touched on this in my last week's post - The Gift that Keeps on Giving).
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. Ephesians 1:7,8
God still makes appointments for us:
A few weeks ago I had agreed to meet with a recruiter who wanted to do business with our hospital. I had little or no interst in meeting with him except that I had some curiosity of prices so in a weak moment consented to the meeting. He showed up on a day he thought we had prearranged. I had no recollection of setting an exact time or day and was quite annoyed that he would drop in. So I went down to tell him I did not have time for a discussion but something about him changed my mind when I met him face-to-face.
We went into my office and discussed business for about 30 minutes or so. Interspersed in our conversation were little tidbits of our personal lives. He appeared to be a genuinely sincere person who not only knew his business well but enjoyed people. In that 30 minutes God took us a whole other direction, I did hear about his product but what I heard even stronger (much to his surprise) was a man at the precipace of change and trying to decide if he should risk that change or not. He travels a great deal with his job and was now going to have a second child in the next month or two. He shared that he was in a quandry because he had been at his job for 10 years and though very good at what he did, he felt he had no skills for anything else.
The young man God revealed to me as we talked was a person who had wonderful customer service and people skills that could easily be translated into various occupations. I saw this man with amazing talents and a heart for the Lord. At that moment God gave me insight and encouraging words that he needed to hear that day. He arrived a stranger and left a dear friend! We both concluded that the meeting was a "God appointment". My hope is that our discussion helped him discover some of the amazing aspects of who he is.
My prayer:
The gift I pray for him and each of you this Christmas season and throughout the new year is the discovery of that amazing part of you. Don't know what it is or feel so unworthy that you could not possibly feel amazing (I spent a good part of my life like that)... pray. Ask God to reveal it to you then watch and listen. Maybe you too will have an unexpected meeting that God directs!
If it can happen to lowly shepherds... it surely can happen to you!!
A few weeks ago I had agreed to meet with a recruiter who wanted to do business with our hospital. I had little or no interst in meeting with him except that I had some curiosity of prices so in a weak moment consented to the meeting. He showed up on a day he thought we had prearranged. I had no recollection of setting an exact time or day and was quite annoyed that he would drop in. So I went down to tell him I did not have time for a discussion but something about him changed my mind when I met him face-to-face.
We went into my office and discussed business for about 30 minutes or so. Interspersed in our conversation were little tidbits of our personal lives. He appeared to be a genuinely sincere person who not only knew his business well but enjoyed people. In that 30 minutes God took us a whole other direction, I did hear about his product but what I heard even stronger (much to his surprise) was a man at the precipace of change and trying to decide if he should risk that change or not. He travels a great deal with his job and was now going to have a second child in the next month or two. He shared that he was in a quandry because he had been at his job for 10 years and though very good at what he did, he felt he had no skills for anything else.
The young man God revealed to me as we talked was a person who had wonderful customer service and people skills that could easily be translated into various occupations. I saw this man with amazing talents and a heart for the Lord. At that moment God gave me insight and encouraging words that he needed to hear that day. He arrived a stranger and left a dear friend! We both concluded that the meeting was a "God appointment". My hope is that our discussion helped him discover some of the amazing aspects of who he is.
My prayer:
The gift I pray for him and each of you this Christmas season and throughout the new year is the discovery of that amazing part of you. Don't know what it is or feel so unworthy that you could not possibly feel amazing (I spent a good part of my life like that)... pray. Ask God to reveal it to you then watch and listen. Maybe you too will have an unexpected meeting that God directs!
If it can happen to lowly shepherds... it surely can happen to you!!
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Col 4:2
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Christmas is getting closer and closer - check out these great shops!
The darling angel in the beginning is from creationsbycurry
And the beautiful Madonna and child pendant is from AxisMundiDesigns
10:00 PM |
Category:
amazing,
bible,
devotional,
divine appointment,
Phyllis Ducey,
prayer,
shepherds
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comments
Comments (7)
What a beautiful praise article!
Roxanne
Great post, thanks for sharing!
www.ahmelie.com
What a wonderful post. GOD works in mysterious ways.
Have a blessed day!
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Amen! I am amazed everyday at the many blessings that show me the love the Father has for me. :) Beautiful items!
ZudaGay
You always inspire me with your writings.
Merry Amazing Christmas!
♥♥♥
Sue
Phyllis, it sounds like you are enjoying just letting God use you, just leaning into Him, letting Him set the pace. It is so fun, such satisfaction.
I always think of Him using us like a paint brush. He makes the beautiful pictures, the paint brush just does His bidding, just lets Him make whatever strokes are on His mind, in His dreams. And what a dreamer His has!
We can't even imagine the dreams He has for this young man........
I so enjoy checking in here every Monday and reading your post, Phyllis. Thanks for letting the Lord speak through you and being such a great witness. We are all blessed by your writing/thinking skills.