Jennifer Kennedy Dean is executive director of the Praying Life Foundation and a respected author and speaker. The author of numerous books, studies, and magazine articles specializing in prayer and spiritual formation, her book Heart’s Cry has been named National Day of Prayer’s signature book, while her book Live a Praying Life® has been called a flagship work on prayer. Widely recognized as an unusually gifted communicator, Jennifer speaks all over the country calling God’s people to discover the difference between a prayer life and a praying life.
Jennifer is the author of such books as Altar’d, Clothed with Power, Conversations with the Most High, Life Unhindered!, Power in the Blood of Christ, Power in the Name of Jesus, Secrets Jesus Shared, Set Apart, The Power of Small, and much more. A highly demanded speaker, her engagements include respected organizations such as the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove and Focus on the Family. She is a board member for Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, a member of America’s National Prayer Committee, a member of National Professional Women Association, and national prayer director and board member for Christian Women in Media.
CBN.comLuke 2:8-12
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."
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By In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.”
Good news of great joy. A Savior was born for you! the angels declared.
Shepherds, unknown, unnoticed. For them, a Savior.
After their journey to the King, the shepherds returned to their flock. They kept watch over their flock the rest of the night. They did the same thing the next night, and the next, and the next. They did not become famous or rich. Their lot in life did not change—except that now they had the gift of joy. So, really, everything changed.
The joy You brought to earth had nothing at all to do withthe outward circumstances of our lives. You did not promise that everything would go easily and well and that would make us joyful. You promised just the opposite: You said that the world will hate us (John 15:19
The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
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) and that in the world, we will have sorrow (John 16:20
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.
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). But in You, we are also promised joy, “great joy.”
This gift of joy so excited the heavenlies that the great veil that hides heaven from earth’s sight was pulled back just a crack, and the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds. So momentous was this event that heaven made the announcement rather than having it delivered through the mouths of prophets. News of great joy!
This joy is of such importance that its declaration had been planned from before the earth was formed. It had to be presented in accordance with its value. It was a gift so precious that the very heavens would open for its presentation.
But this joy has nothing to do with what is going on in my life. The joy You have given me is so valuable to me because it does not change with the circumstances. It is a joy that has taken up residence in me and stays in place through the roughest storms.
Lord Jesus, You are the joy of my heart. In Your presence is fullness of joy. I do not have to wait on the circumstances to line up just right. You are the gift of great joy.
The shepherds were not expecting a heavenly announcement of Messiah’s birth that night as they kept watch over their flock. It had never occurred to them that they might be the recipients of the birth announcement of the King of kings. They were not watching the sky carefully, looking for a sign. They had not studied for years, anticipating Your coming. But You came to them anyway.
The wise men were just the opposite. They had been watching for the sign of Your birth and their studies had led them to anticipate it soon. They had been looking for You and expecting You. And You came to them, also.
You can read a heart.
Whether a person is articulate and learned, or simple and inarticulate, You can see the hearts that long for Your appearing. You are not put off by either. What comes from the lips matters little to You. What comes from the heart is everything.
Joy can be born in any life at any time. All it takes is a ready heart.
Jesus, thank You that Your requirements to receive Your gift are uncomplicated. Thank You that neither the sophistication of the wise men nor the simplicity of the shepherds made any difference at all to You.
Your “good news of great joy” is “for all the people.”
“I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” John 15:11
I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
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Jesus, ready my heart to receive the full gift of Your joy.
Thought for the Day: Your joy takes up residence in me and stays in place through the roughest storms.
Jennifer Kennedy Dean is the executive director of the Praying Life Foundation and a popular speaker and author. Best known as a gifted biblical expositor, Jennifer speaks regularly at national and international conferences and events and has taught for years at the Billy Graham Training center at the Cove.
By the time Your promises are fulfilled, You have first created the expectation and fanned the flames of hope in those whose hearts are attuned to You. You have opened the eyes of faith in the one who looks to You. Take Simeon, for example—old Simeon, well along in years, righteous and devout. You had made him a promise that he would not die until his eyes had seen Your salvation.
On that day when Mary and Joseph brought their little baby to the temple courts, they were there to offer the customary sacrifices at the customary time in the customary way—an ordinary scene. Nothing outstanding or unusual was happening; nothing occurred to call Simeon’s attention to the family from Nazareth.
Simeon was not alone at the temple. Others were there—many others, probably. They looked at the family from Nazareth, too, did they not? Yet only Simeon looked at the family and saw Your salvation. Only Simeon recognized in the flesh what his heart had been seeing in the Spirit for years.
At Simeon’s age, it is likely that his eyesight had faded. He probably could not see as clearly as many of those at the temple that day. Yet, when he looked at what everyone else was looking at, he saw Your salvation. There You were, cloaked in the ordinary. Those focused on rites and ceremonies, those evaluating position and prestige—they missed You. Though You were right in their midst, they were blind to Your presence. But Simeon, whose spiritual sight was sharp, saw You clearly.
Simeon, when he saw You, proclaimed himself at peace. The sight of You, even in Your infancy, brought peace to Simeon’s old heart.
Lord Jesus, when we sing songs about peace but fill our days with chaos, let me see You in the ordinary. Let me recognize You in the comings and goings. Let me look beyond the glitter of holidays and see the glory of Your presence. And I, too, will be at peace.
Simeon took You up in his arms. What a moment that must have been for dear Simeon. With You balanced in the crook of his arm, pressed against his aged breast, Simeon looked into the face of his Savior.
How overcome he must have been. Surely tears flooded his eyes and tumbled down his craggy cheeks. He had to have felt that divine and eternal moment with his whole being. Simeon held his Salvation in his embrace and felt the Master’s touch.
Peace, confidence, certainty; a sense of being settled and stable and safe; clarity about who is in charge; awareness of Your power—all of this is part of the peace I feel when I experience Your touch.
This Holiday season, when I fall into the well-worn patterns of my flesh—trying to measure up, trying to make everybody happy, trying to attend perfectly to every detail, trying to fulfill other people’s expectations—capture my heart with Your touch. Bring peace to my thoughts with Your presence. “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul” (Psalms 94:19
When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
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NASB). No matter what frenetic activity and insistent demands swirl around me, I want to be able to say, “My eyes have seen Your Salvation” (Luke 2:30
I have seen your salvation,
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). Let me be transfixed by Your face.
Thought for the Day: Let me look beyond the glitter of the holiday and see the glory of Your presence.
