New Year News

~ Barbara ~ 4 Comments

The new year started with challenges at the Higby Haven, with both of us experiencing health challenges. I couldn’t prepare a post for this week but I do have good news to share! Do you remember way back, when I asked for help to create a book title for a devotional dedicated to those who suffer brokenness? Drumroll please…

Finding Hope

65 Meditations for a Broken Heart

will be released on Amazon on January 15!

I’ll be the first to say, this book is not for everyone. It was written for the broken one, with a broken heart, broken dreams, and broken hope. If this doesn’t describe you, this book is for your friend, neighbor, or sister.

May the Lord use my honest words to reassure others and offer them hope.

Thank you to all my encouragers out there! It was a long road and I couldn’t have succeeded without you.

Happy New . . . !

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

New— blank slate, fresh experience, anticipated opportunity, unblemished gift, bright promise, awaited discovery.

I got lost inside my head trying to understand why the coming of a new year causes such a high sense of anticipation. Nothing is certain and anything can change in a moment. With relief we close the chapter on the previous year’s pain, sorrows, and regrets and hope for better days ahead, but we have no guarantees. So why does a new year expand our hearts?

As I wandered these paths of thought, seeking understanding while becoming a bit cynical, I considered how newness is celebrated in the Bible. God doesn’t ignore the threat of disappointment or the regrets of the past, but He does rejoice in the new. Look at what I mean:

  • God makes us new. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17,ESV). He delights in taking damaged souls and making them new with new life and new purpose.
  • God’s mercy is new every day. In every challenge and hardship the new year will bring, God is present. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23). I will not face one day in 2024 alone.
  • God assures us the best is yet to come. “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize” (Phil. 3:13-14). Looking ahead is not escapism, it’s solid hope.
  • God equips us during our wait on earth. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isa. 30:41). Disappointments will not diminish me, but grow me.

God celebrates newness. He is all about new birth, new lives, new beginnings, new strength, new opportunities.

What new thing will He do in you and through you in 2024?

The Promise: He’s Coming Back!

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December 28. The end of Christmas and the end of the year, but not the end of the story.

Jesus came to earth just as the prophets said, born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. This month we’ve read, studied, and listened to insights about every aspect of Jesus’ birth. The Christmas narrative concludes with a simple statement from Luke (chapter 2, verse 40): Jesus “grew in wisdom and stature.”

The Son of God grew and, at thirty, Jesus began His public ministry and showed us the heart of God.

He taught with unprecedented wisdom and understanding. He ministered to the afflicted, healing with power and compassion. Then He died in our place and victoriously rose again. When Jesus ascended to Heaven He left the disciples, and us, with a promise spoken by angels:

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:11

Christmas is a time of great joy, greater and deeper for those who know the real reason for the season. But our greatest joy is yet to come. Jesus is returning! Rather than announcing His birth to shepherds on a hillside, the angels will accompany Him in all His glory to bring us home.

Our true “Merry Christmas” awaits us.

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

The Presentation: He’s Worshiped!

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Did you ever notice the details of the Christmas story are jarringly humble? A young virgin, a common carpenter, submission to unreasonable authority, an arduous trek, a stable, a manger, lowly shepherds. And then…

Enter the Magi—wise men, kings, visitors from the East, Gentiles. Royalty arrives.

Jesus is not yet two. It is unclear whether the family returned to Nazareth or remained in Bethlehem, but they were unknowingly positioned for an amazing visit. Regardless of their address, a star supernaturally led wise men from the East to their doorstep.

Royalty joined the cast of humble participants in the Christmas narrative. When the kings saw the Christ, they fell to their knees and worshiped Him. Men who were wealthy, learned, prestigious, foreign, and respected, knelt before the King of all kings, presenting Him with rich gifts and highest praise. Isaiah foretold this event hundreds of years prior:

Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn….
bearing gold and incense
    and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.*

Both the lowly Jewish shepherds and the royal Gentile magi worshiped when saw they the Christ. When we see Him, not on the pages of a book but through the eyes of faith, we also fall down and worship.

Like the wise men, let’s accompany the worship of our King with unrestrained, freely given, generous gifts from our time, talents, and treasure.

*Isaiah 60:3,6