Are you in VIP? - Day 21

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What if the first people to hear the greatest news in history weren’t the powerful or the polished, but night-shift laborers with calloused hands and dusty clothes? We step into Luke 2:8–14 and discover why heaven’s choir appeared to shepherds first, and how that choice overturns our assumptions about worth, access, and belonging. No velvet rope. No cover charge. Just an open invitation to joy and peace that meets us exactly where we are.

We share a candid story about chasing VIP status and the moment the illusion cracked, revealing how easily image becomes a gatekeeper. That experience becomes a mirror for the Christmas story: God bypassed social rank to reach people who had nothing to prove and nothing to polish. 

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, hello.
This is Jesse Morgan Devotionsfor the Christian Heart Podcast.
Welcome, welcome.
This year I'm bringing my 25-dayChristmas devotional to life in
a new way.
Beginning on day 11 through day25, each devotional entry now
has a matching mini podcastepisode, a simple 8 to 10 minute
reflection designed to help youslow down and truly sit with the

(00:22):
story of Jesus' birth.
Each episode clearly follows thesame day as the written
devotional, so day 11 in thebook is day 11 on the podcast
and so forth.
My hope is that these dailyaudio reflections make the
journey to Christmas feel evenmore personal, peaceful, and
meaningful.
Thank you for being here.
Let's go.

(00:45):
Are you in VAP?
Episode 88, day 21.
Key passage, Luke 2, 8 through14, and it says, And there were
shepherds living out in thefields nearby, keeping watch
over their flocks at night.
An angel of the Lord appeared tothem, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they wereterrified.

(01:07):
But the angel said to them, Donot be afraid, I bring you good
news that will cause great joyfor all the people.
Today in the town of David aSavior has been born to you.
He is the Messiah, the Lord.
This will be a sign to you.
You will find a baby wrapped incloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly a great company of theheavenly host appeared with the

(01:28):
angel, praising God and saying,Glory to God in the highest
heaven, people and on earth,peace to though to those on whom
his favor rests.
So like I said, are you in VIP?
Have you ever walked past theVAP section and wished you could

(01:50):
sit there or walk past the firstclass area on a plane on your
way back to your coach seat,wishing you were there up there
instead?
I think we've all been there aswell as me.
I remember my early twenties.
I used to go out to nightclubsin South Beach all the time.

(02:10):
I had a good friend who was aclub promoter, so we always got
into the VIP area.
One night I had a group of girlswith me, and they wanted to add
two more girls to our group sowe could come in together to the
VIP area.
My promoter friend looked at meand said, and I'll never forget
this, Jess, what do they looklike?

(02:32):
I remember responding like, huh?
What does that matter?
And he said again, Jess, I needto know what they look like so I
can get them in.
That was the first time I hadever heard something like that,
and it completely blew my mind.
I decided not to go out thatnight.
Instead, we went to a restaurantthat had great music and an

(02:53):
amazing atmosphere, and we hadthe best time.
After that experience, I barelywent out anymore.
I had to really sit with what Ihad just realized.
And so many of the places I'dbeen going in the past years,
everyone looked like they werebelonged to a magazine cover.
And it it made me take a stepback.

(03:15):
And the reason I share this in aChristian devotional about the
birth of Christ and theshepherds is this when the
angels came to announce thebirth of Jesus, they didn't go
to kings or rulers or people ofstatus, they went to the
shepherds.
And you have to remember,shepherds were at the bottom of
the workforce at that time.

(03:35):
They weren't well, they weren'twell paid, they were often
overlooked and consideredbeneath many others.
Yet the angels came to themfirst.
That tells us somethingpowerful.
There is no VIP with God.
There is no one better thananother based on appearance,
wealth, or status.
None of that matters.
Later, Jesus himself would bedescribed as a shepherd,

(03:58):
watching over his flock, whichis us.
God loves you exactly where youare.
You are always welcome toworship Jesus and celebrate his
birth.
There's no VIP rope, there's nocover charge, there's no need to
look like a vogue cover model.
Everyone is welcome, always.
We are all part of Jesus' story,his birth, his life, and his

(04:19):
flock.
How amazing is that.
Right?
To God be the glory.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank you somuch for the study of the
shepherds.
Father, thank you for loving usunconditionally and accepting
anybody into your kingdom.
Jesus died for everybody.

(04:40):
It doesn't matter your wealth,your status, what you look like.
It doesn't matter.
All that matters is that youaccept Jesus Christ as your
Savior and you celebrate Jesus'amazing birth.
Father, we love you and we thankyou so much for all these
amazing nuggets within theGospels.
And we love you and we praiseyou, Lord, in Jesus' name.

(05:01):
Amen.
Thank you for listening.
This episode is part of myChristmas devotional series
inspired by my writtendevotional, 25 Days Till
Christmas, a scripture-filledjourney preparing our hearts to
celebrate the birth of Jesus.
I invite you to read along andreflect on his story in a deeper
way.

(05:21):
Details in the show notes forthe written devotional.
And it also says in Scripture,glory to God in the highest, and
on earth, peace, goodwilltowards men.
Luke 2, 14.
And don't miss the nextreflection in this Christmas
series by subscribing to thepodcast to continue walking
through God's Word this season.
And a little bit about me.
I'm Jesse Morgan, wife, mom, anddevotional writer and podcaster

(05:43):
who loves sharing biblicalencouragement and the hope we
find in Jesus.
Till next time, Jesse Morgansigning off.