Good morning!
Here it is the second half of October with this 2025 passing by quickly. It has me thinking about new birth and a birth that is celebrated on Christmas that occurred over 2000 years ago.
“Never be afraid of being a broken thing… Unless a seed breaks, there is no life. – No new life, no rebirth, no transformation happens without being broken first. When you’re in over your head stressed, you can touch the depths of God.” (from a devotional blog post – do not remember which one but this truth struck me)
So do you think God has been present or absent in 2025? Is he at work bringing new life out of all this brokenness of has He just walked away from us?
If God is unchanging and we can trust His Word, then I walk away from this year filled with renewed HOPE – not that things are going to be better and less broken in the here and now – my HOPE is in Jesus and that He still is walking with me, still in me, still transforming me, still sanctifying me – regardless of what has happened so far in 2025.
If I take my eyes off of Jesus and spend all my time marinating in the brokenness of this world, my brokenness, my pain and suffering, I make myself vulnerable, exposed to the father of lies, to Satan, who would love for me to never turn my eyes back to Jesus.
Satan would like for me fall off the narrow path, to lose sight of the Light.
I choose to see Jesus in all the brokenness I see this year. The more I see brokenness the more I know Jesus is present – Jesus works in the messes and brokenness. He is not hanging out in sterile, perfect and clean places – He is with us in the difficult, suffering and dirty situations we can find ourselves in.
So there is HOPE and His name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He was with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the beginning and “all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”. See John 1:1-5.
So God is with us (Emmanuel) to bring new life and HOPE:
As I ponder the coming of Christmas, I spend a lot of time thinking about the amazing birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – what sweet thoughts these can be. This year is no exception.
However, we know the story does not stop here. AND that is really good news for each of us. For Jesus Christ in His incarnate birth as a man, came so that each of us could have rebirth, bringing us into His loving presence, made possible through His death and resurrection – and for us this makes possible, out of our brokenness, God’s transformation of us and our brokenness for His good purposes (see Romans 8:28 referenced below).
The birth of Jesus Christ reminds all of us that we have a Savior, we have Hope, we have Good News. Additionally, in that belief, choosing the path to follow Christ, allows God to take our broken lives, our weariness, using it as a tool to create beauty that shines the Light into the world.
We are promised by God that we are reborn, a new creation. Without our brokenness as used through Christ there is no newness.
So as the quote suggests, let’s remember God is in all things, allowing our lives to glorify him – in our lives trials it is possible to get a sense of God’s depth – His amazing love for us. This thought points me to remember Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
As we transition towards Christmas then into the new year it seems perfect to reflect on the miracle of rebirth, new life, transformation at the hands of God through the Holy Spirit…not our work but God’s work if we let Him…He is the one in control – of this year, next year and eternity.
My prayer for each of us this weekend and as we look forward to Christmas and the new year is that we remember that as the calendar page is turned, we, each of us, remember the truth of God’s hand in our rebirth, that we are new creations in Christ Jesus…! Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
Here it is the second half of October with this 2025 passing by quickly. It has me thinking about new birth and a birth that is celebrated on Christmas that occurred over 2000 years ago.
“Never be afraid of being a broken thing… Unless a seed breaks, there is no life. – No new life, no rebirth, no transformation happens without being broken first. When you’re in over your head stressed, you can touch the depths of God.” (from a devotional blog post – do not remember which one but this truth struck me)
- I do not know about you, but I am a broken man, made new in Christ.
- I do not know about you, but 2025 has been a broken year – broken in maybe more ways than we can count, like most years we live out.
So do you think God has been present or absent in 2025? Is he at work bringing new life out of all this brokenness of has He just walked away from us?
If God is unchanging and we can trust His Word, then I walk away from this year filled with renewed HOPE – not that things are going to be better and less broken in the here and now – my HOPE is in Jesus and that He still is walking with me, still in me, still transforming me, still sanctifying me – regardless of what has happened so far in 2025.
If I take my eyes off of Jesus and spend all my time marinating in the brokenness of this world, my brokenness, my pain and suffering, I make myself vulnerable, exposed to the father of lies, to Satan, who would love for me to never turn my eyes back to Jesus.
Satan would like for me fall off the narrow path, to lose sight of the Light.
I choose to see Jesus in all the brokenness I see this year. The more I see brokenness the more I know Jesus is present – Jesus works in the messes and brokenness. He is not hanging out in sterile, perfect and clean places – He is with us in the difficult, suffering and dirty situations we can find ourselves in.
So there is HOPE and His name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He was with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the beginning and “all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”. See John 1:1-5.
So God is with us (Emmanuel) to bring new life and HOPE:
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
- Ephesians 4:24 “… and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
- John 3:3 ‘Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”’
- 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
- 1 Peter 2:24 "He Himself [Jesus} bore our sins in His body on the tree [cross], that we might die to sin and live [be reborn] to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."
As I ponder the coming of Christmas, I spend a lot of time thinking about the amazing birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – what sweet thoughts these can be. This year is no exception.
However, we know the story does not stop here. AND that is really good news for each of us. For Jesus Christ in His incarnate birth as a man, came so that each of us could have rebirth, bringing us into His loving presence, made possible through His death and resurrection – and for us this makes possible, out of our brokenness, God’s transformation of us and our brokenness for His good purposes (see Romans 8:28 referenced below).
The birth of Jesus Christ reminds all of us that we have a Savior, we have Hope, we have Good News. Additionally, in that belief, choosing the path to follow Christ, allows God to take our broken lives, our weariness, using it as a tool to create beauty that shines the Light into the world.
We are promised by God that we are reborn, a new creation. Without our brokenness as used through Christ there is no newness.
So as the quote suggests, let’s remember God is in all things, allowing our lives to glorify him – in our lives trials it is possible to get a sense of God’s depth – His amazing love for us. This thought points me to remember Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
As we transition towards Christmas then into the new year it seems perfect to reflect on the miracle of rebirth, new life, transformation at the hands of God through the Holy Spirit…not our work but God’s work if we let Him…He is the one in control – of this year, next year and eternity.
My prayer for each of us this weekend and as we look forward to Christmas and the new year is that we remember that as the calendar page is turned, we, each of us, remember the truth of God’s hand in our rebirth, that we are new creations in Christ Jesus…! Amen!
Have a weekend filled with the Peace that comes from knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Patrick
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