Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”” Joshua 3:5 NIV
Crossing the Jordan River to claim the land promised by God was as much an anticipated turning point for the Israelites as was their exodus from Egyptian slavery.
They were preceded by Levites carrying the ark of the Lord which was a miracle itself as its weight was crazy heavy.
They were ready. Communities ahead were nothing short of petrified, and the revered ark of the covenant was advancing ahead of their victories.
The long awaited moment had arrived.
There’s something powerful to be said for having a plan sanctioned by God with assured victory in your path.
For some, the new year symbolizes manifestations of new goals and big changes. Cheers to them.
Cheers also to those who have faithfully and successfully executed bite-sized plans all year long and enjoy the equally divine results of a disciplined life.
Whatever gets you to your promised land best, may the Lord bless your journey and give 2026 victoriously over and into your hands.
A fresh beginning to a new year, a clean page on life’s calendar, a symbolic start to better intentions, clarity in focus, or maybe nothing more than a simple sentimental morning to contemplate the parade of your life thus far.
I hope you will use the day off work with a little extra time to clear slates and imagine how the new year might unfold for you.
Others will wake desperate for aspirin and coffee, football distractions or to clean up wild night messes before sleeping away the day’s remains from which they only recently arrived home.
I suspect more than a sober few will be thinking deeper thoughts throughout the day. Plans for self-restraint, how to be a little nicer, quit a bad habit, or start one better.
For curious and contemplative minds the options are limitless.
So, applause to those making use of this new day as a personal prompt for positive change, at least in thought, if not in deed. It’s a good day for it.
Some require an external catalyst, a nodal event, or an arbitrary date of a year to propel them into deeper thoughts and richer inner lives.
Shocked or startled, they may shake to their cores, begging for change, repeating that awful truth that once again, they waited for something to force their hand.
Regardless, there is a glorious redemption that the only difference between last year’s regrets and this year’s successes is just another day, like today, and how we will use it.
Me? Bonelessly.
It took all of 65 new years, but I can finally say I’ve no known skeletons left in my closet.
At my peak, I held more dirty little secrets than a poker table at midnight.
Some were revealed by God, some by others without my consent, but the rest have since been made known to the world through working the steps of my recovery program.
Most are captured in stories on my website LifeMeansSoMuch.com, showcased as subject matter to illustrate the redeeming power of God’s love.
Before a recent recovery meeting, a friend and I discussed the power of personal testimony and in the process, revealed many personal misgivings of our own sordid pasts, vowing to write our own detailed respective recovery testimonies in hopes of sharing them with others some day.
Particular dreams and driving destinations can still rattle my cage with memories of my unholy times but despite how painful the memories can be, none are hidden.
Boneless. No skeletons in my closets.
A clear conscience is a severely underestimated blessing that can free you from the chains of shame and regret.
What’s still in your closet that God doesn’t already forgive?
Nothing.
The highest and best use to start my new year is with a fresh inventory of what skeletons I risk dragging in from the old into the new.
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. Joshua 1:9 NIV
Some scholars count a total of 613 Old Testament commandments in the Bible.
While most have been commuted or replaced in the New Testament with the death and resurrection of Jesus, those that remain age timelessly.
Fear and discouragement are emotions dealt to all of us and are notorious faith killers: intentional monkey wrenches delivered by the enemy.
Confidence and conviction that our Lord is always with us through every circumstance is a sufficient solution to the emotions of fear and discouragement.
Not a suggested remedy but a commanded one.
Whether it’s a February, October, or the entrance to a new year, the unknown is always upon us.
An intentional, deliberate, and ever deepening journey into faith and following God equips us for each encounter of the unknown with a strength and courage we can’t summon by ourselves but only through a vital, living relationship with God.
So once again, connection to and with our creator is essential for getting through and past every circumstance.
Ring in the new year with confidence in this commandment recorded in Joshua, and empowering your future and all its unknowns.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault, in a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16 NIV
Earmarks of a warped and crooked generation are grumbling and arguing among believers, demonstrating that the scope of this depraved generation infects and extends even to followers of Christ.
This passage from Philippians highlights the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and unity among believers, contrasting this with the pervasive negativity found elsewhere.
Grumbling and arguing can seem minor violations, but in the context of the verse, they are symbolic of deeper discontent and division that can detract from the light and difference believers are meant to shine in this corrupt world.
The choice of words like “warped” and “crooked” suggests that these behaviors aren’t just petty but are indicative of larger spiritual and moral decay infecting God’s body of believers.
Even petty actions like grumbling can contribute to the already negative atmosphere and undermines the collective witness of a community called to be above reproach.
By overcoming these impulses, believers can exemplify purity and blamelessness, standing out positively in a world that otherwise thrives on negativity and discord.
The call to refrain from grumbling and arguing is a call to elevate one’s character and impact above the world narrative, emphasizing that even the pettiest attitudes can have significant implications in the broader context.
For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” Deuteronomy 30:16 NIV
Quickly took an ugly turn…
“When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.” Deuteronomy 31:20 NIV
The enemy of our worship is our fat and sassy complacency.
Comforts and satisfactions provided solely through the goodness of God have a tendency to birth in us perversions and abandonments of the very God who provided that sustenance.
“You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.” Deuteronomy 32:18 NIV
Becoming a little too satisfied and a little too comfortable, like an addiction, causes us to lose sight of life balance and thankfulness for the healthy dependencies and relationships we need and enjoy.
The intent of our Christian life is to be sufficient, not necessarily comfortable.
As you prepare to enter a new year, pray for God to provide what you need, not your list of wants.
Christmas is over.
You’re no longer children. Time to grow up and into thankful men and women with higher and holier aspirations and a humble return to God.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV
On average, you make around 35,000 choices each day or 13 million choices annually.
With the new year approaching with its 13 million new opportunities, how many of your decisions will choose life?
The most important choice you can make is who will accompany you on this journey we call life.
Who is most capable of leading you on a pathway you can be proud of for the remainder of your days?
Who can you trust for the best advice, the purest morals, the greatest faith in you?
It’s a new year and a good opportunity to make the choice of your lifetime.
Choose Jesus. Choose life.
He will never leave you nor forsake you. —Deuteronomy 31:6
Nearly an entire pot of coffee in at this point and I’m filled with the cheer of another very early Christmas morning, an overly active bladder, and my mind’s own slideshow of Christmases past.
Each has taken on new meaning.
As a kid, the anticipation was palpable.
As an older adult, Christmas mornings are more reflective with my family and closest friends at the center.
Scattered cross country, I imagine how my kids and grands might begin this day upon awakening from their dreams to the realizing of a whole day of celebration ahead.
I’ll get photo texts and funny videos from Tampa to Seattle and smile along with each one like I’m right there in the moment with them.
We’ll FaceTime high points of today all the way til bedtime again.
Meanwhile I recline in the quiet of my living room with a certain creature stirring in my lap and my eyes on the tree I installed a month ago and will soon box up again until this time next year.
Life is alright.
I have all I want and need to put the merry in my Christmas.
I hope you find the same and celebrate the birth of a savior who loves you desperately and passionately exactly where you are right now.
Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. Deuteronomy 24:17-18 NIV
Charity is not just at Christmastime but at all times.
The poor and less fortunate among us will always be.
The holidays motivate an extra measure of charity toward those in hardships.
Charity is an all day, every day, every season command.
Deuteronomy 24 instructs about leaving some unharvested crops in your fields for charitable gleaning year ‘round.
Not just at Christmas.
Christmastime charity should—if anything—be over and above your regular practice of giving the other eleven months a year.
A nation blessed with such abundance is also blessed with an enormous capacity for generosity even on the least of celebrated days.
To give of ourselves at all times good and bad is an exercise of our faith in God as provider both for us as well as for those who cannot yet adequately provide for themselves.
Charity is an all-year, all-season, all-in command.
