**Daily Devotional** **December 24** *8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. - Luke 2:8-10 (KJV)* The Christmas Story continues. This is truly amazing, that our God chose to announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds who were doing their job of watching the sheep. It would have seemed like God would have told of the birth of Jesus to the High Priest, or at least to one of the prophets, but He chose to tell it to lowly shepherds out in the field. That is awesome. Can you imagine how frightening that would be, for the glory of the Lord to shine around you at night, and the angel of the Lord appearing, when you were out in the wilderness? These shepherds were “sore afraid”, and that was a common thing throughout the bible, when God’s glory was present. When the glory of God puts the fear into man, the angels always had to say “fear not”, as I am sure any of us would be scared out of our wits. Boy, did they ever bring these shepherds good tidings of great joy, as the birth of our Savior was the best news that had ever been, or ever will be, on this earth, and it sure is of great joy. Notice that the angel said “which shall be to all people” foretelling that the Gentiles would be brought into the kingdom of God, and not just the Jews. Praise God that He sent Jesus for all us sinners (Romans 3:23), as we all qualify. Devotional by Pastor Joe W. Green, www.infinite-faith.com