A New Year Filled With Joy

I’m looking forward to a new year filled with joy. It’s a choice I’m choosing to make. A year filled with gratitude and prayer.

At the beginning of 2020, I selected the word “trust” as my “word of the year.” My verse was Philippians 4:6:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God (NIV).

I read and quoted that scripture over and over during the past year. Not only because of Covid but also with the selling of our home—something I thought would take a week ended up taking over two months.

For 2021 my word is “joy,” and my verses are 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (NIV).

There’s a common theme of always thanking God in my 2020 verse and for 2021. Joy and thanksgiving go hand in hand. To receive joy, I must have a grateful heart. In the past, I tried to incorporate an app-based gratitude journal but only kept it going for about a month. I purchased a planner a few weeks ago, and so far, it’s working for me. I’m using a section for words of thanksgiving each day.

My verse also includes prayer again this year. Prayer is an important part of my daily walk with Christ. There are many people who suffer deep sorrow and pain, and God has called me to pray for them. And when I do, joy fills my heart knowing I’m a part of something that pleases the Lord and benefits those in need.

By choosing joy, praying always, and giving thanks in all things, I’m following God’s will for my life. Although you may not have a “word of the year” or yours may differ from mine, I pray you’re looking forward to a new year filled with joy too.

God With Us

This week we celebrate the miracle of Christ’s birth. Our hope for eternity—God with us.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:23, NIV

Christ came to deliver us from our sin and offer us eternal life with Him. No greater gift can we receive. No greater love can be shown.

In thinking about the greatest gift I’ve received, not counting eternal life with Christ, I’d have to say my family. From my parents and siblings to my husband, three children and their spouses, and my three grandchildren. I treasure these gifts and am grateful.

I’ve contemplated what my life would look like if I hadn’t followed Christ. My husband, if I married, would have been someone else, which would have affected everything in my life. I imagine it would have been a life of wandering, searching for truth, enduring loneliness, and living in hopelessness.

But with Christ—God with us—I’ve found peace, joy, hope, and love. He came for those very reasons. He supplies my needs and holds me in His arms.

What greater love than the gift of life—eternal life with Christ?

The first verse I committed to memory after receiving Christ into my life was Joshua 1:9. Why this verse? Because Satan tried to steal my peace, joy, hope, and love with his lies and fear. I needed to know that the Lord was with me always, and the eternal life I received from Him was mine to keep.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

God offers to deliver us from our sin and give us an eternal hope when we believe and follow Him. He will be with us every step of the way.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10, NIV

What a wonderful gift from our Lord! Have you received eternal life in Christ? Make this your best Christmas and put your hope in Immanuel—God with us.

Merry Christmas!

Photo by Phil Hearing - Unsplash

He Knows My Name

Has anyone called you by the wrong name? Perhaps someone you haven’t seen for awhile forgot it but gave it a shot. People often refer to me as “Leeann,” and occasionally they use other creative names for me.

During my senior year, I received a new name designed by a group of students who prepared a bulletin board we used in our classroom for half the day. I don’t remember the details, but in their hurry to get it finished, they left the last “n” off my name. I became known as “Luan.”

Earlier in high school, one boy named me “Ugly,” which felt like a slap in the face. He thought I was taking too much space at the chalkboard for our Algebra 2 math challenge. Funny thing is that when he saw me five years later, he approached me and tried out a couple of his best pick up lines. I must have made a huge transformation. (Sounds like an idea for another book!) I don’t think he remembered that we shared chalkboard space in school.

Whether someone refers to you by the wrong name, gives you a funny name, or calls you a hurtful name, remember that God knows your actual name.

I would not forget you!
See, I have written your name
on the palms of my hands.

Isaiah 49:15b-16a, NLT

He knows my name, and He knows yours. He loves us and has not forgotten us. How can He overlook us if He has our name engraved on His palm? We are ever before Him.

Be comforted in knowing that you are in His heart and mind, and He thinks of you often.

Blessings to you and your family as you celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Photo by Jon Tyson - Unsplash

Thankful for the Lord's Peace

Amid another shutdown in New Mexico, I have much to be thankful for. My family is healthy, and we love one another and the Lord. Covid won’t interrupt our gathering together for Thanksgiving. We haven’t done that for 12 years because of 1200 miles that separate us. But Covid may interrupt our plans to spend Christmas together. I’m still thankful. I have the Lord’s peace in my heart.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
And be thankful.
Colossians 3:15, NIV

One of my favorite outings takes place along the Rio Grande. Perhaps you’ve seen the pictures I’ve posted on Facebook. My husband and I walk the trails there often. I’m thankful we can don our masks and enjoy the outdoors together. We say hello to those we pass and often comment on the beautiful day.

One man this past week wasn’t thankful to have us stroll past him or speak to him. He mumbled under his breath that in twenty years of walking the trails, he’d seen more people that day than ever before. An odd statement because the parking lot had several open spots when we pulled in and parked. The man also made the comment that there must have been an AARP conference in town that just let out for all the people he’d seen (including us). Clearly the man was troubled. He called out to us with a loud voice after we passed by and said something about our son. The chance he knew us, or our son (who lives in Tennessee) was slim.

We could have responded with the same level of rudeness he implied. Instead, we walked on. But that wasn’t enough for me—the Lord called me to pray. Whether the man was drunk or high, didn’t matter to me. I prayed for him to get the help he needed and asked the Lord to protect him from harm. I also asked God to remove the man’s heart of stone and to give him a heart of flesh.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26, NIV

In the troubled times we live in, I’m thankful for the Lord’s peace and will continue to pray for those who may not have the same eternal hope I have.

I’m also thankful for you and leave you with this blessing:

Now may the Lord of peace himself
give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with all of you.
2 Thessalonians 3:16, NIV

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