Just As God Has Said

"...Praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them." Luke 2:20

Traditionally, our family gathers at our house during Christmas Eve to read the Christmas story and open gifts. This year, instead of an adult reading the Christmas story, I asked our grandchildren to tell the story to the adults. The kids really got into it, making their own puppets and playing live music to go along with the narration.

As the presentation was given I became more taken up with the performance of the story than with the content. However, when my grandson read his final Scripture for the evening, my full attention was given to the words. Something fresh and wonderful passed over my spirit as I heard him read, "Praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them." Luke 2:20. The phrase "Just as it had been told them." came alive in me. It was a though I was hearing those words for the first time.

What the shepherds discovered about God that night is what each of us must discover in our walk with Him. God’s level of communication is 100% accurate and reliable. When God speaks His words they are sure and certain. He never uses fill-in words, empty words, or misleading words. His will, His power, and His wisdom are behind everything He says. God doesn’t overstate or understate anything. He never embellishes anything. What the Shepherds heard was what the Shepherds saw and experienced, down to the smallest detail.

What is God saying to you? What do you hear coming from His heart to yours? What promise from His word has He quickened to your spirit? What direction is He leading you to go? What step of faith is He asking to take? When the Shepherds heard God’s message they said, "Let’s go see what the Lord has made known to us." If they hadn’t stepped out on His word and gone to Bethlehem they never would have known that "things happened just as it had been told them."

As you begin your journey into 2009, hold God’s promises close to your heart. Go where He goes. Follow Him in complete faith and obedience. God's words to you have not been spoken in vain. Go and do what the Lord has made known to you and you will discover that things will happen "Just as God has said."