My gift of thanks and appreciation to all of you who have been reading and a part of the conversation this year and the past eight: Words of hope and faithfulness from the past year 's Sunday Morning Vitamin (and some favorite photos) to carry into a new year and beyond. Because in this crazy world, we can't be reminded enough of God's goodness to us in every season, so that we can seek to live it out before those on our daily path. To remember to always keep looking Up...because Hope is on the horizon!
Remember this, O my soul: Whenever you clasp your hands in prayer, whenever you lift your hands in worship, whenever you write, whenever you grip the hand of another in fellowship, whenever you create anything with your hands, whenever you play a song or paint a landscape, whenever you applaud in encouragement, whenever you dirty your hands to grow a garden, whenever you offer a hand to someone in need—your hands are a weapon of worship created to bring glory to God… “Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.”—HANDS OF GOD“
Ah, Lord God! It is You who have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17_…It’s good to be reminded that this Journey is not always as super-spiritual as we try to make it, but, rather, it is life to the full — just as He promised —in the midst of all of its circumstances, and through them. He is in it all. It just takes two words to get the right perspective back…“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you,' it will be enough.” (Meister Eckhart)—WHAT’S GOOD?
You are not “the Big Guy.” You are not “the Man upstairs.” You are not just a “higher power.”You are not just a lord to be respected but Lord of Lords—You are the plural of ALL majesty! You alone are ALL power, ALL authority. You alone are ALL-sovereign. You alone are maker of ALL heaven and earth. You alone are master and ruler over ALL-everything. And You alone own everything—and because I believe in You, that means I belong to You, too. I can cast ALL my cares upon You—ALL of them. The whole world—my whole world—even today, is in Your hands. And You love ALL that is Yours (even me at my worst). And You care for ALL that is Yours. And You alone are my only ALL-in-ALL protector, and provider, and Savior, and oh so much more. You never change—from everlasting to everlasting, You are Adonai Lord of Lords—a plural of ALL majesty! You are…worthy of ALL my praise, ALL my worship, ALL my life, for ALL of my days.”—THE JOURNEY OF BELIEVING ALL
There are few things better than the feeling of “git ‘er done.” But there is also this: "It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God’s will. If you can’t get it all done, it means you’re trying to do more than God intended you to do…” (Rick Warren). Stay in your lane… Four of the most challenging words ever preached. But the smartest Man who ever walked the planet knows best and says it’s still the right way to go: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you, too. So do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today.” (Matthew 6:33-34)—FINDING OUR LANE
“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.” Still. He is not some quarterback in the stands watching the game unfold, wondering if the players will ever get it right as the game seems to get out of control. From the rising of the sun to its setting. Our Captain of our Salvation is unfazed by wind and cold and storm...and headlines. His decisions are always perfect and unwavering. And He often calls amazing audibles, and plays that are not in our playbook and that don’t make sense Until at just the right time, they do. Even if we don't realize it until we look back later.—THE CAPTAIN IN THE FIELD
"Jesus stands at the door and knocks, in complete reality. He confronts you in every person that you meet. Christ walks on the earth as your neighbor as long as there are people. He walks on the earth as the One through whom God calls you, speaks to you, and makes His demands. That is the greatest seriousness, and the greatest blessing, of the Advent message.”—Dietrich Boenhoffer