Remeber the Milestones: Hello 2025!

Happy New Year! We thank God for taking us through the year gone by. 

Nelson Mandela once said, “Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.” Milestones are important markers in our life's journey. The use of the word “milestones” dates to the Romans who erected stone markers at mile intervals to notify those passing by of distances traveled and the number of miles left to reach their destination. Apparently, marking milestones was important to God too. In the book of Joshua Chapter 4, God instructed Joshua to set up stones of remembrance as the children of Israel journeyed through the Jordan with the ark of the covenant.

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,  to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever” (Joshua 4: 1-7).

As the year ended, I spent some time reflecting on 2024 and the major events of the year. For my family and me, it was a year of many milestones -- what with three graduations and a golden jubilee celebration! I am very grateful to God for all His wonderful blessings toward us.

One thing we learned to do was to stop and celebrate every milestone – big and small. Too often, we set goals, we meet the goals, then we move right on to the next thing without thanking the One who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Do not wait for the “big” milestones to appreciate God and celebrate yourself. Sometimes we are so focused on achieving a goal, we miss the incremental steps that take us to our destination.

When we accomplish a goal, we should stop, take time to honor God, and commemorate the moment anyhow we deem fit. Then we move on to greater things.

However, as you celebrate each milestone, do not tarry too long there. There is another victory to be won, another height to climb. Let each milestone be a springboard to the next. 2024 is gone. 2025 is here. What will you do with it?

 

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

 

Happy Easter!

And they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

 - John 3:16

Merry Christmas!

The Invitation

 We live in a world that appears to play down on testimonies of the mighty acts of God. People would rather brandish their accomplishments as a sheer act of will, self-determination, or hard work. But not for us children of God! We know better!! We recognize that there is nothing we have that we were not given. We acknowledge that it is God who gives us the power to make wealth. Many of us like Paul can say truthfully “I am what I am by the grace of God.” 

This Thanksgiving make sure to celebrate God’s goodness. 

Eat all the turkey you can, but take time also to acknowledge God for His faithfulness to you and your family. Take it a step further, extend an invitation to someone to come and see what the Lord has done in your life. Your testimony may bring someone closer to God like nothing else can! Happy Thanksgiving Family!

Unwrap Your Gift!

 

 

Christmas and its traditions! First you go in search of the gift. If you are lucky, you find the gift you have imagined the recipient would love. Then comes the wrapping part! For some this is an easy task, they have the requisite skill. For some others like me, gift wrapping is a struggle. 

 

Many years ago, a friend of mine sent me a gift. The package was so beautifully wrapped that I let it sit on my table for a few days so I can just drink in the sheer beauty and creativity of the wrapping! Eventually I had to open it. There was no other way to get to the content hidden within the creative packaging. 

 

Many of us may be letting our Christmas gift sit on the dresser while we stand afar and admire it. The main gift of Christmas is Jesus Christ, the gift given to us by our loving Father. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

 

Jesus is the Gift of Christmas. We must receive Him and unwrap all the gifts He brings.

 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!” Luke 2:14 BSB

 

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10–11 KJV

Salvation, Joy, and Peace are all yours through Jesus, only if you will unwrap your gift!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2023 Ahead!

 

To Whom Shall We Give Thanks?

    

The mood of Thanksgiving is in the air. The stores are filling up with turkeys and pies. Travel arrangements concluded, bags packed, all that is left is to hit the road, or hop on the plane as the case may be, in joyful anticipation of spending time with the people that mean the most to us in the world; family!

As we echo the need to be thankful this season, my heart ponders on one question: Who is the object of our thanks? So many approach Thanksgiving as an abstract concept. However, the very thought of Thanksgiving should make us consider that there is someone or something deserving of our thanks. The question then becomes “Who is your source?” “Who sustains you?” “Who gives you the strength to make wealth?” From where does your wisdom come? When you close your eyes to sleep, who wakes you up again on this side of eternity? When you were sick, who healed you? When men failed you, who stood by you? Who is the one that covered your shame, and made you fig clothes to hide your nakedness, even though you sinned and broke His commandments? Who maintains a relationship with you at His own expense, haven made arrangements to have you with Him forever and ever?

The list is endless! It is the Lord who preserves us! Because of His mercies, we are not consumed! The Psalmist said, “I will look up to the hills from whence cometh my help, my help comes from The Lord, the maker of the heavens and the earth” We call Him "Father" Guess what that means; Source and sustainer! God is the source of all things created, and the Bible says He holds all things together by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). On a personal note, God is the source of my life, and He is the one who preserves and sustains me. I am what I am by the grace of God, and apart from Him I can do nothing! Surely He is deserving of my thanks.

This Thanksgiving, as you offer up thanks, let your thanks go first to The Lord, and then appreciate the ones who agreed to be used by Him to be a blessing to you. 

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV)

Celebrating Fathers

 Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father figures in the house!