december 9: hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.*

What news get's you rushing to tell someone? How many people do you tell? Where? How? I know a lot of us now use facebook as the way to share news. I excitedly told facebook my plans for next year this week. And have since been sharing with friends and family as I have seen them. but a lot of the time we share silly things with little though or meaning, sensational to grab attention in the sea of posts. i like talking about myself (most people enjoy talking about themselves) we just have different ways of sharing, or different amounts. some people talk about feelings while others talk about experiences, some about opinions others about what they're currently learning.

What things do we share with special enthusiasm? If we have got something for free? If we have achieved something? The shepherds who were out watching there flocks by night, after they heard the news about from the angel they rushed to see if it was true, they found baby Jesus lying in the manger as the angel said.

'When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.'**

If you see something amazing, you want to share it! You take a picture, you tell your friends. The shepherds were no different, they had seen something amazing; a child who was the promised Messiah. They couldn't help being glad and rejoicing, and sharing this wonderful news with everyone around them!

The shepherds were told to not be afraid, that news would bring great joy was coming; that God's peace was at hand. God is the God of Hope. He gives us reason to look forward, to rejoice, to feel peace. Knowing that God will bring justice, restore the broken world to all that it was intended to be, to set us free from the burden of sin and death. I know that for me, I don't often share the best thing I have got for free; God's forgiveness. 

I pray that I, and you, my readers, may be willed with joy and peace in believing so that we may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.

*Romans 15:13**Luke 2:17-20