Do You Hear What I Hear

Luke 11:28 (ESV)

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Said the night wind to the little lamb

Do you see what I see

Way up in the sky little lamb

Do you see what I see

A star, a star

Dancing tonight

With a tail as big as a kite

With a tail as big as a kite

Can you see that hope has come when you look inside this baby’s eyes

Emmanuel, Emmanuel

God is with us

Said the king to the people everywhere

Listen to what I say

Pray for peace people everywhere

Listen to what I say

The child, the child

Sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light

He will bring us goodness and light

When you look to Jesus, do you see hope? You do? Great! But…hope in what? Take moment to pause, even write down all the things you have hope in through Jesus.

What did you come up with? Hopefully a big list, because there is so much to hope for in Jesus! Because without Jesus there isn’t much hope.

Jesus is our game changer, he literally changes our life, our after-life, our reality. Often times we tend to think only on one side of the hope in Jesus and that usually is the hope for eternal life in paradise with Him. But that is one part of the picture, an important part, but only one part.

Yes one day there will be no more suffering, no more pain, no more death and we will live perfectly with our God, as we see depicted in Revelation 21. There is great hope in this future reality, but what about now?

Of course there is hope in Jesus right now, hope for a better life filled with the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). A hope to walk with God everyday through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All of us who follow Christ are given this reality, but this reality takes much determination and discipline, for it does not come naturally. This is a skill that needs work because as the world around us is hostile toward the Light and Truth of God.

When we choose to listen to the way the world operates, we are not walking with God, not having hope in Jesus, but rather listening to and following ourselves.

The world operates out of chaos and discord. When we respond with worrying, stress, malice, annoyance, sharpness, harden-hearts, we have lost our sight, we have lost our Lord-even if momentarily.

See what Jesus did when he came to this world; he brought a new way of life. Not one filled with harshness, anger or stress, but one filled with Him. This new way of life is living in the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God, which Jesus established right here on Earth. Is it perfect or complete, no not yet, but it has commenced. And as a follower of Jesus, you have a choice to have hope in Jesus or hope in the way the world operates.

As we continue to prepare for Christmas, let us turn back to the lyrics of this song to close:

“Can you see that hope has come when you look inside this baby’s eyes?

Emmanuel, Emmanuel

God is with us”

Yes, God is with us. God is with you and there is much hope in that!

Dear Lord, give us eyes only for You. Help us not to run to broken ways to live, but to live through Your strength, purpose and love. When things look bleak, help us to remember that when You entered the world, it too looked very bleak. However, You changed everything and there is much hope through You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Do You Hear What I Hear

Mark 16:15-16 (ESV)

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy

Do you hear what I hear?

Ringing thru the sky, shepherd boy

Do you hear what I hear?

Over 2000 years ago, the Savior of the world was born. Have you ever stopped to think about how people found out about His birth? After all there was no Facebook and no cell phones.  The song “Do You Hear What I Hear?” gives us an example of how the news of His birth might have spread.

The song starts with the Holy Spirit asking the lamb, “Do you see what I see?” The Lamb then goes to the shepherd and asks, “Do you hear what I hear?” The Shepherd immediately goes to the King and asks “Do you know what I know?” When they shared what God had told them, an entire nation heard about the birth of their Savior, Jesus, and what His birth meant for the entire world.

Here’s the great news: this too is our calling as followers of Christ - to share with others what we have been told! God reveals Himself to all of us in different ways, depending on our personalities and gifts. For some, He shows us visible things about Himself, like a star in the sky. Others may grow closer to Him best through reading scriptures, some through singing praises to Him. The question is what are we doing with what God gives us? We have to realize that God will use us to bring people to Him through what He has revealed to us individually.

In this song, God chose a shepherd boy’s voice to tell others about what he had heard and, as a result, an entire nation heard about Jesus’ birth. What about today? If we want people to know about a Savior that has been born, we have to take the time to share with others what He is revealing to us. Lives are changed when we tell the people in our lives what God has shown and done for us.

What has God shown or told you lately that you should be sharing with others?

Dear Lord, help us to take what we have heard and know and share it with others. We pray lives will be changed because of what we share. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.