Thursday, December 28, 2023
Thursday, December 28, 2023:
Pause. Pray. Read. Be still. Write. Pray. Go about your day or turn in for the night.
Read: Matthew 4:17, 31-33, 44-52
As the year draws to a close, news feeds fill us with a list of key events and celebrity deaths that took place this past year. Jesus declared that in him the kingdom drew near. We can experience it now. So, I take a different path down memory lane. The kingdom drew near and made me smile when…
- I opened a box of memories and found a letter in my mother’s handwriting to me and my daughter, describing her best and most difficult life moments;
- Our six- and nine-year-old granddaughters called on FaceTime to show us their latest creations or tell us their recent comings and goings.
- I watched butterflies flutter from one blossom to another until I suddenly eyed a hummingbird sucking the sweet nectar.
- God answered a prayer even before the request got out of my mouth.
- Jim delivered bowls of freshly popped popcorn to my desk in the afternoon.
- I watched heavenly hugs given to a family at the celebration of life for their loved one.
- I saw some of our ESL students join us at a Fellowship Dinner at church.
I could go on and on. Just listing them made me smile again.
Be still and Reflect: Pause for a moment today to list where you experienced the kingdom of heaven drawing near. What made you smile this past year?
Pray: Lord God, I praise Your holy name and give thanks for all the ways You revealed a little slice of heaven to me this year. I rejoice in the hope given by my peek at Your kingdom to come. I praise You for Your might acts of power and Your unsurpassed greatness. May all the earth and all that I am praise and glorify Your holy name. Amen.