An Eternal Perspective of 2024

While my husband welcomed the New Year with his quiet snoring, I stood by the window and gazed into the inky night of 2024. Instinctively, I wondered, “What will this year hold?”

One never knows, right? One never knows. But we do know God is already there.

Three hundred and sixty-five opportunities stretch out before us and each extends an invitation to know Him, to love Him, to walk with Him, and to give Him away to others. A simple word from Daily Strength for Daily Needs by Mary W. Tileston sheds light on the extraordinary, eternal value of each day. “Enjoy the blessings of this day . . . for this day is only ours, we are dead to yesterday, and we are not yet born to the morrow.” - Jeremy Taylor

Dear sojourner, may we release the past, may we live in the moment, and may we invest in the future God designs for us — one day at a time.

Thank you for joining me here at Living with Eternal Intentionality®. Happy, Blessed New Year!

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). 

A Christmas Pause with Purpose

In the 2023 season of bustle and busy, finding moments to meditate on the significance of Jesus’ birth are few and far between. Yet, within every joy, amidst every crisis, on every level, in every situation — our hearts cry out, “Come, Thou long expected Jesus”!

So for just a bit, I invite you to take pause, light a candle, grab a festive mug of hot chocolate, and snuggle under a fuzzy afghan. Once settled, click this link, close your eyes, and sing along in worship.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Born to set Thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Written by Charles Wesley in 1744

Copyright: Public Domain

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

Merry Christmas

from

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

All Roads Lead to Rome

“All Roads Lead to Rome.”

No they don’t. All roads lead to Jesus. 

Turn with me to Matthew 2:9-11 and read the Ancient Anointed Words:
“And the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

Each year at Christmas, these words grip me. The time has come to take another penetrating look into the journey of these kings.

The Wise Men moved in a relentless pursuit of their mission. Their eagerness urged them onward; they pushed and they pressed. But when they arrived, they stopped! Why? Because the search was over. They recognized Him when they found Him — "who was and is and is to come.” (Rev.4:8) The star stopped and so did they.

Two thousand years later, modernisms tempt us to let our roads to lead to Rome—to search the Internet for satisfaction, to text the tribe for affirmation, to turn to Tik Tok for distraction. Yet, what the star showed the Wise Men, it still shows us. Stop. The search is over.

All roads lead to Rome. No. No they don’t, not at all.  All roads lead to Jesus. 

“His name is Jesus, Jesus,
Sad hearts weep no more.
He has healed the broken hearted;
Opened wide the prison doors.
He is able to deliver evermore.”

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ

whom You have sent” (John 17:3). 

How are you celebrating with joy the reality that the star stopped?