A New Year Goal: Fleshing Out the Gospel

Something shifted during the years of the COVID pandemic (primarily between 2020-2022). Between the ire of isolation, the rise of disinformation within the news media, and the arena of social media, a spirit of divisiveness invaded our culture. With it, came a certain sense of freedom to speak our minds. Be it opinions regarding COVID policies, or of politics, ethics, or religion, factions rose like separate kites in prominence, each trailing with intense emotion. Gone were the days of putting into practice the Lord’s admonition through the pen of the Apostle Paul, (if we ever really had):

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 

(Romans 12:16-18, emphasis mine).

Live in harmony.

Live peaceably.

Seek to strive for that which is in the interest of others.

Consider the feelings of other people.

Why risk relationship for the sake of taking up sides?

Cultivate a spirit of amicability, of friendliness. 

Maintain your own opinions without stirring up controversy.

Yet, controversy has gone into the pot of communication-soup in excessive amounts and is stirred over the fire regularly. 

If we’re going to get back on the right track, the obvious question we have to ask is this one: 

What is in my heart that spills out in such hostility and dissension? 

It’s a valid question, since:

…what comes out of the mouth (or keyboard) proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. 

(Matthew 15:18-20a, emphasis mine)

Most often, the answer to that question is anger or irritation over a felt-need. In other words, there’s something we want, so badly, that we war within, and (oops!), out of the mouth it flows. Much of the time it’s a need to be right, to be heard, to be seen and validated. But, whatever our NEED, it over-shadows how someone else might be affected.

Oh, we can attempt to hide behind the vehicle of quoting someone else, defaulting to, “Oh, I didn’t say that - he did (or, she did);” and, yet, someone somewhere feels the sting and their soul is troubled. 

I’m not pointing fingers. I simply can’t. I’m guilty, as well. 

After taking a four-month sabbatical from all things social media over last summer, I recognized just how subtly this shift towards personal opining took place. So much so, I didn’t even recognize it in myself…until I did. 

That’s when an old prayer from St. Francis of Assisi floated across my desk. All through my college years, this poem was tacked on my bulletin board beside my dorm-room-desk. I read it so many times, it became mine. It’s what I long to be, as I strive to live my life in a Christ-like manner. 

If I want to flesh out the gospel (and, I do!) - this prayer expressed my hope, as it did St. Francis back in 1912 (at the prelude of another era of conflict and uproar). 

The prayer begins: “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace…” 

Let it be your reflection today, as it has been mine...and, maybe a New Year's Goal for us all in 2026.

 

Something to Think About

Read this prayer contemplatively.  Perhaps it will gel with your spirit, and become a prayer of your heart, as well.  I can’t think of any other words that would so express a greater need for us as Jesus-followers in this season. Apply it as you might…

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace!

Where there is hatred…let me sow love.

Where there is injury…pardon.

Where there is doubt…faith.

Where there is despair…hope.

Where there is darkness…light.

Where there is sadness…joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek 

To be consoled…as to console.

To be understood…as to understand.

To be loved…as to love.

For it is in giving…that we receive;

It is in pardoning…that we are pardoned;

It is in dying…that we are born to eternal life.

The Sacred Space Between Ending and Beginning Anew

The New Year is on us, and with it comes anticipation, hopefulness, and expectation. 

In the US, it's customary to celebrate the end and the beginning by partying well, which seems to include decadent feasting, counting down the final moments for the ball drop in Times Square, shooting off fireworks and confetti, and, of course, sharing a kiss with one we love.

And, yet, in all the planning, the making merry, the gathering, and the festivities, do we simply gloss over the end, and blindly step into the beginning without truly sitting in that sacred space of the in-between?

Do we whole-heartedly enter the new, integrating what we've learned from the past, and opening our hands to receive what the Lord has in store for the future?

After every international retreat I attend as a speaker, the volunteer team meets to debrief with intentionality in that sacred space of in-between: between ending full days of ministry and jumping in anew back home.

Not only do we want to honor the days we've spent pouring into women who serve the Lord globally, but we want to acknowledge what God has done during our time together, express thanks for the good, let go of some of the hard things we've had to process through, and give voice to all we have learned as we leave. 

There is no question that every single one of us, whether administrators, staff, or volunteers leave changed, and that will affect our going forward.

We want to answer with specifics the question we are so often tagged with on our return, "So, how was the trip?"

We don't want to just answer flippantly, but significantly respond in such a way that our service and God's work is well depicted. 

And, so we meet corporately to identify these things - we discuss the things we are thankful for, list the ways we saw God act, place sticky notes all over the walls with adjectives to describe the full days, as well as list emotions we felt. 

From these little activities, we begin to verbalize what stood out as we bring a very busy, highly emotional, and God-blessed time to a close. 

*****

Perhaps we could all do with a little more intentionality, and incorporate some type of healthy spiritual rhythm, as we process ending the old year and beginning anew.

Behind us lie moments of joy and sorrow, steadfastness and fatigue - a mixture of good and bad. 

Through it all, there have been lessons learned, character formed, accomplishments achieved, and personal growth. 

Ahead of us is a story still to be written. 

God wants to meet us in the sacred in-between.

So, let's not rush past the past - because He's inviting us to examine it; learn from it; identify what was hard in the midst, releasing it into His care; and to open our hands to receive what He has planned for tomorrow.

Let's honor 2025 and answer, with true reflection, the question, "How was the year?" 

Scripture reminds us that remembering and releasing often go together: 

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits (Psalm 103:2). 

Gratitude grounds us, even when things have been HARD!

In that holy place of in-between, I feel like the Lord is inviting us to take some time to show appreciation for what He's given, how He's sustained, and how He showed up—sometimes quietly, sometimes powerfully.

How to? Start with going back over the year to make a list of those things for which we're thankful. 

But, we are also invited to let go. 

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). 

What cannot be fixed, explained, or redone does not have to be carried forward. 

God is not asking us to deny the past—only to stop letting it define us.

As we fix our eyes upon a new year, we must not do so with pressure to perform, but with a trust in God's love for us. 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed… great is Your faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23, emphasis mine). 

New beginnings are not built on our resolve, but on God’s mercy; His zeal that is EVER FOR US! 

How to? Perhaps take some time to write out a prayer of dependence on the Lord for 2026...

We have no clue what the New Year will hold, but in ending well, reflecting, remembering with gratitude, releasing what we can't change, we can mark the transition into the new with a heart of RECEPTION for the remainder of the story God wants to write in 2026. 

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me”(Psalm 138:8).

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So, here are a few questions I've jotted down that might help us through this process:

What words describe 2025 (for example: peace-filled, courage-building, rooted, worrisome)? What word(s) do I want to assimilate into 2026?

What did the past year teach me that I want to continue to build on? How have I changed in the past year? 

What small mercies carried me through when I needed them? Have I properly shown gratitude for those things? 

What am I holding onto from the past year that  I can't change, but need to let go of and place in the Lord's care? 

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Let's enter into the SACRED in-between and find our hearts settled with a brand new God-confidence for 2026.

Happy New Year!

ADVENT-HAPPY

 

My dear friend, Ronnie, posted the above verse recently on Facebook. 

When I read it, my first thought was, "Yes, me, too!" 

I want to be found faithfully serving when my Lord returns (because, He will...and, maybe soon).

That's what makes this an extremely relatable Advent passage... 

...and, while Advent season (as mentioned last week) is one of waiting;

Our waiting was never meant to be PASSIVE. 

It's not for us to just sit and twiddle our thumbs. 

Our in-between the then and not yet, right here in the NOW, should be ACTIVE (verb-like). 

While our attitude is one of anticipation and adventure, our posture is one of service and "doing our God-given-joy-job."

We're to be all about the Kingdom-work while we wait.

So, as a self-proclaimed servant (Greek: doulos) and dedicated slave, WILL I? 

Will I be sitting in the sacred in-between, or will I be about the Father's business: 

    learning

    worshipping

    growing in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man? (Luke 2:52)

Will I be on the lookout for Kingdom business that I can attend to on His behalf? (Mark 16:15)

Will I

    care for the poor

    minister to the sick

    visit those in prison (whether literal or metaphoric)

    help provide water for the thirsty & food for the hungry? (Matthew 25:31-46)

Will I do justice, love kindness/mercy/steadfast love, and walk humbly with my God? (Micah 6:8)

Will I be a Good Samaritan to the marginalized, the left out, and the out cast? Will I step into their hurt and pain to walk alongside? (Luke 10:25-37)

Will I wear the mantle of those who've gone before, encouraging:

    steadfastness

    hopefulness

    truthfulness

    faithfulness? (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Will I live a life of love? (Ephesians 5:2)

Will I:

    abide in hope

    show genuine hospitality

    seek and pursue peace, as much as it depends on me? (Romans 12:9-12)

    

 Will I sacrificially place myself on an altar as an act of worship to my God? (Romans 12:1)

Will I regularly renew my mind, so that I not conform to the pattern of this world, but live in such a way that others see some semblance of the world I call home? (Romans 12:2)

Will I proudly live as an exile while my feet are temporarily on this planet? (1 Peter 2:11)

Will my life be one of integrity, 

    the same day-in-day-out

    no matter who is watching? (Proverbs 10:9)

Will I make the main thing the main thing?

    Will the gospel of Jesus Christ always be on my lips in the doing of all these things above? 

    (2 Timothy 4:2)

    Will I proclaim it boldly?

    Will it be the center of all I do?

    Will I be at the ready to share the story of the hope that is within me? (1 Peter 3:15)

Advent is near.

Will I be a servant found "so doing" when He appears?

HAPPY IS THE SERVANT WHOM THE MASTER FINDS DOING HIS JOY-JOB WHEN HE RETURNS!

      

The True Spirit of Advent

Every advent, every coming, every appearance involves waiting.

If you're like me, just saying the word "wait," brings a measure of unsettledness to my soul.  

So, during times when I am put on hold, I have this tendency that leans toward the glass-half-empty-syndrome and impatience; so, in my waiting, there's an added discomfort.

I've also experienced life-lulls that are accompanied by anxiety over the uncertainty; even some dread and, yes, frustration over how slowly time passes during the waiting.

This time of year, my mind always travels back to Bay's cancer surgery (which came just weeks prior to Christmas) and that sterile, cold hospital waiting room. 

There I sat (with all the above emotions) between the now and not yet of knowing how our future would pivot with the diagnosis we'd just received a couple days prior, and what the doctor would tell me when he "advented" out of that surgery theater. 

But, Bay's cancer scare isn't the focus on my mind this morning. 

Waiting is. 

Advent is a season of waiting. 

We can't change it.

It will always remind us we live between the then, the now, and not yet. 

BUT, while in between the now and not yet, we can't leave out "the then" of the manger.

Instead of setting my mind on a sterile waiting room with out-dated magazines, weak coffee, and those all-consuming what-ifs, there's another place for my thoughts to travel: where life pivoted drastically for the better. 

There in my place of waiting, I can choose to live in the negative emotions of frustration, dread, anxiety, uncertainty, and discomfort; or, because of the manger, I can focus on THE PROMISE it holds.

Advent is an invitation to choose.

I have the privilege of choosing between the malaise of the wait or the hope of the manger.

There at the manger, I was given the gift of HOPE!

Because of hope, I am filled anew with GREAT JOY!

Joy spills over into PEACE that passes all understanding.

With those three (hope, joy, peace), I am stirred to live as Jesus lived: a life of love.

The cure for sterile, cold waiting rooms? 

It's always a FOCUS BACK on a cradle in a barn... 

...a babe that came in the fulness of time to be Immanel (God-WITH-us) in the now... 

...a salvation through His shed blood that covers all our sin...

...and, a resurrection that is inherent in our new spiritual DNA, when we receive the gift of that salvation...

...and, the HOPE of HEAVEN...and, this truth: He is coming again!

The manger is my promise of a greater tomorrow.

So, instead...Here's the lesson I've pondered the last few days:

Let there be inside every wait...in every"not yet," a SPIRIT OF ADVENT that allows us to be full of hope, joy, peace, and love, which carry us beyond the pale into ADVENTURE and great ANTICIPATION. 

This really is THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR...

...when our focus is on JESUS!

When God Paints the Sky

We've been down in Arizona for several weeks staying in our fifth wheel trailer (God bless our daughter, Mandy, and son-in-love, Tim, for providing a space for us).

Every morning, as I sit for my quiet time, I can watch the sun rise out one small RV window. 

My day begins in total darkness, then little by little a golden glow begins to rise in the Eastern sky, turning it into shades of deep purple, violet, fuchsia, peony pink, buttermilk, and, finally a lovely cerulean (one of my favorite colors). 

My God paints the sky with incredible beauty.

Morning after morning the new day dawns, brilliant with the colors of HOPE. 

With things as they are in the world in which we live, it's as if we are living in deepest, darkest midnight; but, surely as the sun rises each morning, so will the SON rise once more:

The LIGHT OF THE WORLD will come with the sound of a trumpet blast!

-full of glory

-and, purity

-clothed in those glorious colors of HOPE...

-all things will be made new

-all things will be made RIGHT

-HOLINESS will stamp out corruption

-The manger will be replaced by a throne

-The cross replaced with a scepter

-and, the tomb will be fully defeated

-as eternal life is ushered in for all who have bowed the knee to the NAME-ABOVE-ALL-NAMES:

JESUS

Until the SON rises again...

The gospel is our promise, our radiant light, our way through the darkness of midnight.

Let's set our eyes on the Eastern sky.

Watch for the colors of our HOPE to rise.

Each new day is an exclamation mark from God, reminding us that ADVENT is near.

AND, His plans for all mankind will not be thwarted.

Remember:

When God paints the sky, He's pointing us toward ADVENT.

Welcome to December...

...and, the Advent Season:

A season where I'm attempting to slow down and simplify in order to fully enjoy the coming near (God, Himself, came near, John 1:14);

A season of growing anticipation because what (or, rather, WHO) came near is a promise of HOPE TO COME (Titus 2:13);

A season of centering my thoughts on preparedness for my groom is coming for me (making sure the "lamp is lit," the oil is full, the chimney is clean; and the wick is trimmed - Matthew 25:1-13); 

A season of watching the Eastern skies (Matthew 24:27)...

and, listening for a trumpet call (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

A season to FOCUS on:

HOPE - of heaven (we are all homeward bound)

PEACE - of heart (Jesus said, "I have spoken these things that you might have peace; for in this world, you will have trouble, BUT - John 16:33...")

JOY - of His Presence (in His Presence is fulness of Joy - Psalm 16:11; and, Jesus to His disciples, "I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and your joy may be full and complete, overflowing - John 15:11)"

LOVE - of others ("Love one another as I have loved you - John 13:34-35)").

BUT MOSTLY, more than anything, to resolutely set my face to the future COMING; and, the fact, that Jesus will come again to set all things right. 

When the High Church instituted Advent centuries ago, around the time of the Council of Nicea (circa, 350 AD), this was the intent for the season around the winter solstice (the darkest season of the year), to focus-forward - THE LIGHT WILL COME BACK.

To remember the promise, 

"This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven (Acts 1:11)."

Somewhere over the years, we inadvertently lost the LOOK AHEAD to simply LOOK BACK.

Advent became almost solely centered on the INCARNATION and minimized the future "adventus" (His return). 

When I was a girl, my folks owned, and ran, the theater in our little community. 

Following the standard cartoon, that opened every movie showing, came the previews of coming attractions. 

I loved watching the previews to see what would be coming soon to our theater, making note of the ones I really looked forward to seeing, and the anticipation that followed as I waited for their arrival to the "big screen." 

Of course, I'd always tell my friends at school about the movies "THEY DID NOT WANT TO MISS!"

That's what I want to recapture during ADVENT, throughout DECEMBER:

...to focus on the preview of the COMING ATTRACTION (Jesus), and to fully experience the anticipation as I wait for Him, sharing with others what they simply do not want to miss! 

If there's one thing this season reminds me of it's this:

I need to "feel temporary" on this pilgrim journey called life. 

Something more, something better (change that word something to SOMEONE) is coming. 

You can count on it. 

So, in the middle of celebrating the baby in the manger, let's all find some ways to celebrate the Warrior-Savior-King of Kings, who, without doubt, WILL return. 

EVEN MORE...

I want a Christmas that whispers, "Jesus is coming again!"