JANUARY 1, 2025

   "Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen."

Anaxagoras

GENESIS 1-2

15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”.(2:15-18)

MATTHEW 1

20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^f because he will save his people from their sins.”

JOURNAL 

So what is the significance of New Year's day. Reality is it's just another day. This is a new day with new challenges and new opportunities. For most of my adult life I have approached each new year with great hope. I've always been greatly hopeful and excited to get what feels like a do-over. I've made lists and plans and put in all kinds of goals. Some of them were seemingly helpful, others not so much. 

This year is no different. I have many thoughts and dreams and hopes for this next year. I have thought of all kinds of ways to make this year be different and to do better, be better so that my hopes and dreams actually materialize. But these last few weeks I have been nagged by a continual thought...that thought is captured within the single word of glimpse. To define the word glimpse is not really that hard. The dictionary defines it as "a momentary or partial view" or "to see or perceive briefly or partially."

Glimpses are how we function as humans. We rarely ever see the complete truth, from the physical to the relational to the spiritual, our brains function by making sense of the glimpses. We get a partial truth or image and our brain begins the process of making sense of that truth or image. From the perspective of the future, we get a partial view and then our brain begins to predict the outcome of that truth or image. Far too often I depend and hope in the glimpses and translate them into predictions of fact or truth or guarantees for the future. 

As a human spending my time tying myself up in nots over glimpses creates big, big problems and from my understanding of scripture God constantly warns us against depending on glimpses. It actually is what started the whole spiral of sin in the beginning. Instead of Adam and Eve depending on what they knew to be right and true, they fell prey to a glimpse and a hope of something better.  

Trying to take all that in and filter it through my limited brain and understanding of God...I believe this idea is God telling me to anchor my hopes in things I know are true. Stop constantly trying to figure out the glimpses and instead take them for what they are..."a momentary or partial view". The glimpses may be truth or they may be evil disguised as truth. Which is why I must focus to live as much in the present and in the truth of God and his commands for my life, rather than the glimpses. 

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

LUKE 11:28

DECEMBER 31, 2024

  “For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

MALACHI

16Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

17“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.(3:16-18)

REVELATION 22

6The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

7“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

JOURNAL 

We are to worship God and live in faith and hope. By doing so we will live in love. Love is the defining characteristic of God. It is what gives hope, it is why we follow. 

Looking up the origin of a year ending and a new beginning it is pretty fascinating how it all came together. There were different versions but ultimately the Julian Calendar introduced by Julius Caesar became the standard which then led to the Georgian calendar that is now accepted around the world. Reality is that it is just another day but it is a way to mark time and to reflect on the full revolution of the earth around the sun.  

As I say goodbye to another year, it is scripture that ultimately confirms my purpose and the purpose of life. Every life matters, there is not one that God doesn't treasure...it is why Jesus tells the story of the prodigal and of the lost sheep. We are all to remember that as we walk through each day, that each life on this earth is here for a purpose. Ultimately that purpose is in loving each other thereby honoring God our creator. In our obedience to him we have hope and faith and joy and love. For love is the prime defining characteristic of God. It is what we seek and desire most in this world, and it's power is what makes this life worth living.

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:16

DECEMBER 30, 2024

 “Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” 

― Stephen King

ZECHARIAH 13-14

9The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.(14:9)

REVELATION 21

1Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^a for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^b or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

JOURNAL 

A new heaven and a new earth. The promise and hope given to those that are suffering and oppressed. This is the hope for those that are facing certain death in this world. The importance of hope cannot be denied. It is spoken of throughout the Bible and in prophecy and by Jesus himself. Hope is the sustaining message of the Bible. 

Psychologically I know this to be true. Studies have been done that affirm the importance of it in our own psychological health. We humans need something to believe in...

Hope keeps our minds at ease, lowers stress and improves physical health. Researchers studying heart-disease patients found that optimists were more likely than non-optimistic patients to take vitamins, eat low-fat diets and exercise, thereby reducing their overall coronary risk. A study of cancer patients revealed that pessimistic patients under the age of 60 were more likely to die within eight months than non-pessimistic patients of the same initial health, status and age. (TIME, May 28, 2011)

This hope is one of the distinguishable characteristics that separates us from animals...it is the calling of our soul for something better than what currently exists. That calling and yearn is proof that our souls know and seek something which does not exist on earth, it is the itch that cannot be scratched, the desire that cannot fully be filled and it is this truth that proves the existence of life beyond our present reality.

Thank you father for this truth...thank you that we always have hope and that hope can sustain and fulfill us in every moment of every day!

11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

ROMANS 12:11-12

DECEMBER 29, 2024

  “Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . ” ~ Frederich Buechner 

ZECHARIAH 10-12

1Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime;

it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.

He gives showers of rain to all people,

and plants of the field to everyone.

2The idols speak deceitfully,

diviners see visions that lie;

they tell dreams that are false,

they give comfort in vain.

Therefore the people wander like sheep

oppressed for lack of a shepherd.(10:1-2)

REVELATION 20

 And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They^a had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

JOURNAL 

One of the struggles I have and I daresay every human also battles is the internal dialogue. The constant thoughts and judgments and opinions about others and myself. It is one of the amazing gifts of being human but it is also one of the curses. This ability has a way of taking me out of the present moment and drowning me in thoughts that many times are not productive or loving. 

Years ago at Onsite I learned some great ways of stopping all those ping-pong thoughts and chatter. It relieved me and helped me find a peace that I had rarely ever experienced. Unfortunately I engage in this habit daily but I also am able to have a better perspective to realize the truth of Buechner's quote. It helps me to see that life is way bigger than my perspective, I get the blessing and joy of living in a world and time that is full of details, variety and for the most part peace and opportunity that would have been unthinkable 2000 years ago.

Thank you father for this reminder, for my opportunity and my small place in this world that you have blessed and allowed me to live. Help me to see it in all it's color, variety and wonder. Help me to free my mind from apathy and worry and instead see the opportunity and joy of today. 

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^e 10so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^f to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

COLOSSIANS 1:9-14

DECEMBER 28, 2024

 “I believe that Jesus would have given His life for just one person. Jesus emptied Himself, He humbled Himself and He so yielded Himself to His Father's love that He had no ambition of His own. He was not looking to build an empire, He did not want praise or adulation or to impress people with who or how many followed Him. He stopped over and over again for just one person, for just one life.” 

― Heidi Baker, Learning to Love: Passion, Compassion and the Essence of the Gospel

ZECHARIAH 7-9

8And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 9“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’(7:8-10)

REVELATION 19

9Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

10At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

JOURNAL 

To worship God means to obey him. Obeying him means to act in love and care for those who are struggling, no matter the effect on me and my life. Throughout the entire Bible this is the constant command. Obedience is ultimately about serving. Obedience to God is first but then that obedience extends to loving others. In order to love correctly though, surrender and obedience to God at all cost is what is demanded. 

I am promised that when I surrender to God and commit my life to loving others then I will receive a peace and a joy that passes all understanding. This promise seems counter intuitive...especially in our world. With all the entanglements of this time and place it is so easy to lose perspective. It's so easy to believe that the more I have the happier I will be or to make sure I love those that can give me equal or greater love in return. That mindset is exactly opposite to everything that Jesus was and is. 

The older I get, I realize how important designated holidays are and why celebrating Christmas is so crucial to our faith, because we tend to get so caught up in "things" and the effect on us that we forget the purpose of it all. Jesus came and was born in the most unflattering way and his birth was announced to dirty "insignificant" shepherds. We will never know their names yet they were the first to hear the announcement and the first to visit him. I believe the reason was that he came to tend to the worst in us, not the best in us. We are to do the same...

I am so grateful that I live in a country and in a time where Christmas is celebrated...yes it gets twisted and misused and manipulated but it still exists and I get the freedom to worship God and reach out in his love. Just as he continually reaches out across time and space to call me his own. 

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9