If you’re like most of us, you love the Christmas season. I usually help Debbie pull out the decorations, and I’m good for the first couple of hours, assisting with the decorating process until the football games come on. Then, she has to start negotiating with a distracted husband. I confess that I love it when it’s all up, but I’m less enthusiastic about the whole process.
This week, I read again Simeon’s prophetic word of the Christ-child in Luke 2. Mary and Joseph brought their son to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord “as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’ ” (Luke 2:23, NIV).
Simeon shared words that would be both encouraging and troubling. The prophetess Anna also spoke prophetically over Jesus. Rightly discerned prophetic words over our lives not only have great biblical precedent, but also serve as a strong sense of destiny for us. Sometimes I think we either dismiss them or easily forget them. Yet the Lord uses people—in this case strangers—to boldly declare His purpose and plan for Mary and Joseph’s son.
They would get a pretty good picture of how Jesus’ life would unfold simply by reading the scroll of Isaiah and realizing that Isaiah’s prophecies were written about their son. I wonder, though, how many times throughout Jesus’ life His parents reminded themselves of Simeon’s and Anna’s divinely inspired words. Did they ever tell Jesus about the prophetic words?
When my mom was pregnant with me, she was suffering physically, and there was even concern that she might not carry me to full term. A woman evangelist prophesied over my mom and declared that this child would not only live, but that God had ordained the child for ministry. My mom didn’t tell me about the prophetic word until I had been in the ministry for 10 years. Instead, she believed, she trusted and she watched the Lord perform His word.
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I want to remind you that God has spoken over you and that He also sings over you. “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs” (Zeph. 3:17, NLT).
I believe there are many people today who need to hear these words. In the midst of uncertainty, doubt, pain, fear, broken dreams or just a general sense of frustration concerning this season of life, remember that the Lord has chosen to sing over you.
Listen carefully, and you will hear Him.
Debbie and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
By: Glenn Burris Jr., president of The Foursquare Church
