21st December

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. -Luke 2:20

The shepherds have been in the actual presence of God and they know something amazing has taken place.
This is one of my favourite hymns:

I Stand Amazed

I stand amazed in the presence 
Of Jesus the Nazarene
And I wonder how He could love me,
A sinner condemned, unclean.

How marvelous, how wonderful
And my song shall ever be.
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Saviour's love for me. 

For me it was in the garden He prayed,
"Not my will, but thine"
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

How marvelous, how wonderful
And my song shall ever be.
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Saviour's love for me. 

He took my sins and my sorrows, 
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

How marvelous, how wonderful
And my song shall ever be.
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Saviour's love for me. 

When with the ransomed in glory 
His face I at last shall see,
'Twill be my joy through the ages,
To sing of His love for me.

How marvelous, how wonderful
And my song shall ever be.
How marvelous, how wonderful
Is my Saviour's love for me. 

18th December

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.” -Luke 2:15

The shepherds have found out about something amazing, through a terrifying and exhilarating experience, so their first thoughts are "erm...that was all a bit weird, better check it out then". They know their experience was a little unusual,  they've been told something amazing in the process. By this stage they're just going with it.

I found this lovely, simple poem which sums things up:

It was like any other night in winter.
We were alert.
The predators are always hungry in these months.
Lamb is always on their menu.
The cold, froze our words.
We were shivering
and then
we were still shivering
but now in fear.
Out of nowhere, well, the sky really,
this amazing light shone.
Day, in the middle of the night!
Shivering, trembling, cowering.
Paralysed.
Nothing to hide behind
–except sheep.
Even Big Jacob was jelly! 
The bright being declared,
“Don’t be afraid,
I’ve come to give you news
of the Christ –
the Messiah.” 
It’s a baby!
In Bethlehem!  
So we bolted for Bethlehem,
The sheep could look after themselves,
for a while.
This news was too good to miss! 
We found a mum, dad and baby,
by a feed trough,
and somehow,
as the mum, Mary
showed the baby to us,
we just knew,
what the angel said was true.
She held God in her hands!
And our lives, and the world,
Would never be the same
again

14th December

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” -Luke 2:10

The angels are going around terrifying folk, so they have to say "pack it in! The stuff we have to tell you is so amazing that you should be celebrating, not scared". God's intention is for us to be joyful, rejoice, celebrate- have that abundant life Jesus speaks of. To quote one of my fave films- Strictly Ballroom- a life lived in fear is a life half lived. That's not what God intends but life in all its fullness.

13th December

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. -Luke 2:9

There's those angels going round terrifying people again! Today's verse reminded me of the William Blake watercolours which hang in Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery. There is some very dark imagery in them. I thoroughly recommend going along and checking them out.