Wondering or Sharing?

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
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.  Luke 2:15-18

When the angels told some shepherds of Christ’s, the Messiah’s, birth they were excited and went to see Jesus.  What they witnessed was more than a baby.  In the child’s presence there emanated an awe-inspiring peace, a fulfilling love that overwhelmed them – the presence of God came on them.  They were thankful for the angel’s good news given them; they had to share this wonderful gift of the promised One to all.

But, there are two types of people who heard the “good news” of Christ, Immanuel.  There were the shepherds who shared the gift they had received.  There were those who heard the good news and “were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”  The shepherds were thankful and shared the gift, the good news.  There were “all who heard” the good news and “were amazed,” at the shepherds story, then the verse ends, period.

 

To be amazed, the Greek thaumazo, renders a meaning, to admire; to marvel, or wonder.  It is not an action word, merely how we consider what we have heard.  Hearing the good news is simply receiving an opportunity for a gift, we wonder about it, it is not a responsive action.  I’ve been amazed by many stories, but wondered how much truth was in it and how much is bologna.  I’ve also been amazed by a gift I have received, but never gave thought nor action to sharing it. 

Anyone who has received Christmas, as the shepherds did, will be thankful, and share the good news they have received. In example, philanthropist W. Clement Stone, of Chicago once asked a question, to which he immediately shared his heart’s answer, “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.” Has the good news overwhelmed you, are you thankful for the news, and are you sharing the news of Christ, or merely amazed by the story and in wonder of the holiday?


Sharing,

 

Owen <><

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" – which means, "God with us.” Matthew 1:23 (Isaiah 7:14)

Forging a Family

“The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family.”   Acts 16:34
We are born into family.  It is in family we have the opportunity to love and share ourselves; to exercise patience, kindness, forgiveness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.  Those attributes in life are how we become strong and refined, but you or I, our families, can only be forged, transformed when the Spirit of God makes us into who we were created to be. 

When the Spirit of our Lord comes into a family, miracles happen.  I am reminded of how a simple man, a jailer who believed the witness of Paul and Silas and their encouragement when they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Then the “jailer brought them into his house” because of the joy he was experiencing in Christ.  The jailer “had come to believe in God — he and his whole family” (v34).  In the middle of the night, “he and his whole family” were baptized.  God wants whole families, not just a family member, He desires to bless your family in the joy that the jailer and his family had, the joy of Christ.
 

Chuck Swindoll once stated, “A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.”  When we share Christ with the family, as when the jailer brought Paul, Silas and their message of the gospel into his household, he was ready to forge–reform–his family.  When you and I live in Christ, walk in His law of love, we live a life surrendered to the anvil, there the fire of God’s Spirit has made us pliable.  Prepared to be hammered, and polished into God’s good and perfect will.  His Spirit embraces our life: you and I are hammered – strengthened and shaped; and we are honed – sharpened, polished, and perfected in Christ.  To be forged is to be changed; it is to be wrought, hammered and formed, into what God intended you and your family to be – members of His family, full of joy.

Living on the anvil, being forged, daily,    

Owen <><

Jesus said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."  Mark 5:19