Be Like the Shepherds

Be Like the Shepherds by Bill Keller
The shepherds were those to whom God first revealed the birth of His son in Bethlehem. While there are many great spiritual lessons that you can learn from the shepherds, the one I want to focus on today is their conduct after they visited the manger and saw with their own eyes the baby Jesus.

The scripture tells us that they left praising God for all they had seen and were shown.

Praising God.

Praise is one element of our faith that we don't practice enough. 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 that He does for us each and every day. But the LORD HIMSELF tells us that "GOD inhabits the praise of HIS people."

Some examples of the power of praise in the lives of believers today include:

A lady in Baltimore, Maryland prayed and praised God ahead of time for restoring her marriage. Her husband had left her for another woman. Within three 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. A week later he testified that 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 four in St. Louis prayed and praised God after she lost her job. Two 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.

Every day God touches the lives of His praying, believing, praising people and works miracles in thousands of believers during times of great need in their lives!!!

I want to encourage you to learn from the shepherds and never neglect to thank God for all He does for you each and every day. It is through your praise that God is glorified and that others who are going through trial may be encouraged to hope and gain strength to go on. Your testimony can cause those around you to turn their eyes on Jesus and trust Him for their miracle.

Hope is the greatest gift you can share with another person, and our hope is in Jesus Christ, so be like the shepherds and praise Him and share Him with others.