The dawn of a new year is just days away. For some of you reading this, maybe 2023 has not been kind to you, and you almost wish this year never happened. For others of you, this year has been good, and you want it to never end. And for still others, you wonder where the year went. As the saying goes, “Time flies when you are having fun.” If that is true, then I must have had the time of my life these past twelve months, because boy oh boy, did this year fly by. The older I get, the more I realize that time does truly fly by, whether “fun” is involved or not.  

Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, with the start of a new year, it is a chance to start afresh. January 1 is a new beginning. It is an opportunity to splash new colors of paint on the canvas that is your life.

Yesterday, or even today, does not define tomorrow. There are things that you can begin doing, or stop doing, in 2024 that will set you on a new path. Not only is it you that wants you to be the best version of you possible, God also deeply desires that very same thing of you and for you. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can begin to be(come) the person God wants you to be. This is true no matter what your present or past is cluttered with. God desires to bring newness to you and to me, not just as the calendar turns from one year to the next, but also each and every day.

God is always fresh, and if we seek after him, we too will find freshness – “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

In addition to freshness, God also wants to bring and keep meaning and purpose into your life. He wants to do a new thing in you and through you. We find these words in Isaiah – “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (43:18-19). In context, this passage is part of the prophet reminding Israel that if they stayed stuck in the discouragement of Babylonian bondage, they would not be able to “see” the new thing in front of them, the promised release from exile. I believe Isaiah pointed both to the day that Israel would no longer be in captivity and to the coming of Jesus, who releases you and me from our bondage to sin and sinful desires.

So, as we put a wrap on 2023 and get ready for the curtain to open on 2024, are you desiring a new beginning? Will you invite Jesus into your heart, maybe for the first time, or possibly re-commit to him? A fresh new canvas awaits. A canvas that has hope and newness! What colors will you and Jesus splash upon it?   

Note from Dave: This will be my last writing for the year. I wish you and your family a safe and prosperous new year, one filled with many colors. It is my hope and prayer that these simple blogs posts have and will keep inspiring you to go deeper with Jesus. Thank you for that privilege. Look for my writings to start again in early 2024. Peace and love.

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How we shop has changed over the years. General Stores, carrying a broad selection of merchandise, were commonplace in the 18th and 19th century, most often because mobility was limited. While these general merchandise stores have pretty much disappeared, where I live, they do still actually exist.

By the early to mid-20th century, due primarily to urban sprawl and the ever-increasing ease of transportation, retailers began to specialize in specific types of merchandise, meaning you had to shop at many different stores to buy all the various items you needed.

You went to the grocery store for food and beverages. In my childhood, we had milk, eggs, and fresh bread delivered to our house by a milkman. The corner apothecary dispensed medications and carried personal hygiene items. The department store was the place to go for that new suit or dress. The hardware store had paint and items for what we today call DIY projects. The appliance store sold refrigerators. And, the toy store, well, let’s just say, it was my favorite place. We went there as a reward for when I was a good little boy or got good grades on my report card. However, my parents and I had a very different understanding of what “good” meant, so, needless to say, we did not go too often.

Those types of stores do still exist, but these days, with the growth of the big box retail stores, you can pretty much load up on all of life’s necessities and luxuries at one place. You can buy everything from groceries to underwear to new tires all under one roof. While you shop you quite possibly can have a mechanic at that store put a new set of tires on your car. And if you are hungry or thirsty, never fear, there is probably a food and beverage kiosk nearby. Before heading home, you stop outside and fill up the car with gas, maybe even catching up on the latest news via the television screen on the gas pump. Those retailers that used to specialize in a few types of products and services have been forced to expand their offerings, just to stay in business.

Editorial commentary – I encourage you, whenever possible, to shop and eat local, supporting those small businesses in your community.

Not only have brick and mortar retailers changed how we shop, now with the explosion of the Internet, we don’t even need to get up off the couch to purchase goods and services any longer. Pretty much these days, you can find most everything you need (or want) via e-commerce: online shopping Not only can you shop online, but with subscriptions such as Amazon Prime, what you buy today can often show up on your doorstep as early as tomorrow. The Internet has made “one-stop” shopping as easy as a click here and a click there.      

We also have a God who is a “one-stop” shop; a place to go for all that we need. And just to be clear, “need” is different than “want.” In Genesis 3:21 we read, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and His wife and clothed them.” God has been providing for His people since the very beginning of time and He promises to meet your needs today.

The well-known 23rd Psalm begins like this, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (translated: I will not be in need).

And we are told in Psalm 34:9-10, “Fear the LORD, you holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” Fear in this context means a healthy respect and reverence.  

So, do you trust God to supply all your needs? Or do you sometimes run from “store to store” trying to locate what you can’t seem to find?

Dear Father, grant us all the gift of ever-increasing faith so that we can trust You, and always look to You, for all our needs. Thank you for being our one-stop shop and for holding no good thing back from us. Amen

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I do not know about you, but for me, the events of 2023 have left me exhausted. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Economic uncertainty. The divisive battles over hot topic items such as abortion and gun rights. Extreme weather. The mental health crisis. The continual drip drip drip of Covid, RSV, flu. In fact, the hospital my wife works at is back to wearing masks again. The upcoming presidential election will likely be one like we have never seen before.

Maybe for you, it is all that and more. Closer to home it might be health issues. Relational struggles. More bills to pay than there is money for. Addiction. Abuse. A child gone off the rails. Caring for aging parents. You yourself aging and all the changes that brings. The recent death of a loved one. My wife and I have been fighting sickness for much of December. Nothing major, but not feeling well, especially during the holidays, has us tired and ready for better days ahead.

I think you will agree that there is an endless menu of things, both close to home and all around the world, to choose from that cause us to find peace, hope, joy, and love hard to come by. The question is where do we look to find the peace, hope, joy, love we all desire? Do we look to man and manmade things? Those will eventually fail us. Sure, we can find temporary solace in a walk on the beach, a quiet weekend unplugged from devices, reading a good book, and for me, even in the art therapy I do to help my stroke-injured brain calm down. But let’s be honest. As soon as we re-engage in the world, the peace, hope, joy, love we found is gone.

So then, where can we look? A passage of scripture found in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah gives us the answer. Here is what we read in Jeremiah 17:5-8, taken from The Voice Bible translation –

“Cursed is the one who trusts in human strength and the abilities of mere mortals. His very heart strays from the Eternal. He is like a little shrub in the desert that never grows; he will see no good thing come his way. He will live in a desert wasteland, a barren land of salt where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone; the Eternal will be his confidence. He is like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots beside the stream. It does not fear the heat or even drought. Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces.”

Putting your complete trust in Jesus will not take away the storms and the droughts. However, putting your trust in Jesus will keep you anchored during the storms and nourished during your droughts. So, as we look to say goodbye to 2023 and start the new year, why not ask God to give you a faith that keeps you nourished both day and night, in the light and the dark, when the skies are sunny or when they are cloudy, and in the good and in the bad.

Go ahead, right now ask God to increase your faith so you can draw nourishment for your roots and be like a tree planted by the water – not fearing when the heat comes, always having green leaves, not worrying about droughts, and always bearing fruit. 

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The deepest part of the ocean is the called the Challenger Deep. It is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which is southwest of the United States territorial island of Guam. This trench is approximately 36,000 feet deep, or in other words, slightly less than seven miles, and got its name after the unmanned British Royal Navy vessel HMS Challenger made sound recordings of the depth in 1875. The first manned descent to this depth was not until 1960. “Deep” is not a point on the map, but rather, deeps are long trenches on the ocean’s floor.

Now quiet yourself and imagine the extreme expanse of an ocean. I love to stand at the ocean’s shoreline, with the swash (water washing up the beach from a wave break) and the backwash (you figure this one out) gently rolling over my bare feet, cool sand between my toes, breathing in the smell of salty air, listening to the various sounds, while looking out to the horizon. I often wonder how deep the water is on the horizon. And just how far is the horizon anyway? It sure does seem like a long way off. The distance to the horizon depends upon the height of one’s eyes above the surface.

To determine how far the horizon is for you, use this simple calculation – The square root of the sum of the height of your eyes above ground level multiplied by 1.5. Say what? I am 5-9. My eyes are about 5 inches from the top of my head. Standing barefoot on the shoreline, my eyes are 5-1/3 feet above the ground. 5.33 multiplied by 1.5 is 7.995. The square root of that number is 2.83. So, for me, the horizon is just under three miles.

The deepest part of the ocean is more than two times as far as I can see. By my way of thinking, that is deep and deeper. Scripture describes God’s love as even being deeper than the deepest part of the ocean and extending well past the horizon’s distance. God’s love is immeasurable.

Immeasurable is different than unmeasurable. Unmeasurable simply means something cannot be measured, for any number of reasons. Simply by looking out over the ocean, the depth of the water at the horizon is unmeasurable by me. On the other hand, immeasurable means something is too immense or boundless to be measured. Its size is just too great.

The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 3:18, describes God’s immeasurable love this way – “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”

 In the verse that follows, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (v.19).

So, in these last few days leading up to Christmas Day, the arrival of Advent’s expectant waiting, take time to pause, to simply ruminate on God’s immeasurable, immense, unending, amazing love. Love that became a baby. Love that is found in God’s own Son, Jesus (name: God saves) the Christ (title: anointed one). Love that is found in Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Love that is found in Immanuel, God with us.  

This will be my last writing until after Christmas. I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas. May you experience resilient hope, unfailing peace, indescribable joy, unending love, as you are made complete with all fullness of life and power that comes from God’s immeasurable love for you. A love deeper than the deepest ocean (Ephesians 3:16-19)

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Not too long ago, the people that companies used to sell products and services in television commercials were often not easily recognizable faces. But today, and it is certainly true during the Christmas season, many advertisers use “celebrity endorsements” to sell their products and services. The focus seems to have shifted from quality and affordability to using something because of who else uses it (or at least endorses it), thus in some way making those buy those products or services part of the “in” crowd.

While our culture uses the “high” to sell a message, God often uses the “low” to promote and advance His message. Sure, all throughout the pages of scripture there are stories of God using kings, rulers, priests, and famous people to “advertise” His kingdom, but those same pages are also full of accounts of people who held little or no status in society – tax collectors, fishermen, prostitutes, servants, widows, and even shepherds – being used by God in big ways. And if you are a follower of Jesus, while you might have committed your life to Him through the efforts of a well-known person, it is more likely that it occurred when someone not well known by the world invested time and effort into you. That is certainly the case for me.

Today I want to quickly look at one such story of when God used the lowly to share the best news ever told. We will be looking in Luke 2; the story of shepherds being used announce the birth of Jesus. What do we know about shepherds? Shepherds generally came from the base elements of society. They were on the lowest rung of the economic scale and had little of not formal education. Shepherds had no power or influence, they simply tended sheep.  It is also entirely possible that these shepherds who heard the angels singing were illiterate. Shepherds were also totally committed to their flock and would do anything, including risking life and limb, to care for and protect their sheep.

The story line in Luke 2 is that Jesus has been born and about that time an angel appeared to shepherds who were living in the fields while keeping watch over the flocks, simply doing their job. The angel announced that the Messiah has been born. These shepherds were very unlikely candidates to “advertise” this good news. Wouldn’t priests have been more credible since they were the well-known and well-connected religious people of their day? But the story tells us that these shepherds said to each other, “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us’” (Luke 2:15).

Presumably they each packed an overnight bag (this is not in the biblical account) and hurried off to find the Baby Jesus (this is in the biblical account). Here is what we read, “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them” (vv.16-18).       

So, here we have lowly shepherds, the bottom feeders of society, being used by God as the first to tell the world of the Messiah’s birth. He spoke through angels to lowly shepherds on a remote hillside outside a tiny Judean village. It didn’t seem a likely way to win the world, but God uses people like you and like me, just average “Joes” and “Janes” to share His good news with the world.

God wants to use you and me to proclaim His kingdom and His message. We don’t need to be rich and famous, wise and well-educated, or even well-versed in all things religious. We just need to be willing and available! The gift of Christ is the best gift anyone will ever receive. Are you asking God to use you as He used those shepherds 2000 years ago?

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Today is the fourth and final short writing of the Advent series. I previously wrote about expectant waiting, praise, and joy. Peace is the theme for this week. If you missed any or all of the first three writings, they can be found by clicking the links below:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3

The season between Thanksgiving and Christmas is called Advent; the word Advent literally means “coming.” It is in this season of Advent that we wait in anticipation for the coming of the Messiah, who is the Savior of the world.

This week represents peace. It was an angel who announced that Jesus came to bring peace. We read this in Luke 2:14 – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.”

Peace is an elusive treasure for many people. True peace is found in the presence of Jesus, the very One who is called the Prince of Peace. It is in Him that your hunger for a quiet heart can be satisfied.

And this week, as you expectantly wait in heightened anticipation for Christmas, let these words of the Psalmist be your words – “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me” Psalm 131:2.

It is my sincere hope that in some small way, my words over the last four weeks have allowed you to experience a moment or two with God, allowing his presence to bring you a sense of great hope as you wait upon the coming of Christ Jesus – Immanuel, God with us.

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