growth

HAPPY NEW MEMORIES YEAR 2026! – Luke 2:51-52

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Make new MEMORIES this YEAR!

Happy New MEMORIES Year 2026!

Love you all! Happy New Year!

I like my new 2026 glow in the dark glasses, they are good for one whole year! And being home for the New Years, if just a couple days, is priceless time. It was wonderful (even if I went to bed at 930pm, LOL, I like a good rest to start 2026). 

I brought pairs of glow in the dark glasses, 3D printed at a craft show, one my mom wore and one pair I wore last night playing scrabble after dinner. She’s seen many more New Years than me. (I will return south later today, ready for a NEW MEMORIES YEAR 2026, I can’t wait!)

I watched the ball drop on replay just now, I saw our town’s buildings lit up as big 2 and big 5 on the hill opposite from our hill, last night, and I remembered that the trees weren’t so tall when I was a kid and we actually ran back and forth from the TV ball drop and the kitchen window watching those numbers change each year. Year after year excitement even if the years blur now. Can’t believe Y2K was over 25 yrs ago either… Life marches on…

Wisdom over wishing might be a good theme for this year 2026. Gain in wisdom and to keep growing. I mean we can look back at 2025 and years and years, like through that kitchen window or TV (or phone screen) and we can take the same well-beaten paths of good memories, hopefully skipping over bad memories, and/or we can take fresh new ones! NEW MEMORIES 2026! Wisdom is looking THROUGH 2026 glasses not at them. 

Look forward to 2026 and look for new memories for this year. (For me I’m appreciating traveling)… we best to MATURE our mentality to be more wise, asking God for priceless wisdom, each day,  ONE DAY AT A TIME, and don’t worry for each day is in HIS Hands. 

As for Jesus, from our gospel of Luke reading as a boy, He Jesus as God never changes, and yet He as human always was, was growing physically and mentally in wisdom and in direction and in strengthening of purpose. 

We can too. We can grow. Jesus grew under God the Father’s favor, and Mary, Jesus’s mother, grew in memories, kept all these wisdoms of memories in her heart… we can too…

Full hearts and to be light on our feet – I pray that for all of us as we approach 2026. May we see and appreciate new memories ahead!

HAPPY NEW MEMORIES YEAR 2026!

Luke 2:51-52 NKJV
Jesus Advances in Wisdom and Favor
Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

WISDOM OVER WISHING… AMEN

Respect Jesus – Keep Growing – the Tenants Scripture, Matthew 21

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The “growing season” is upon us – it is also where the new growth will overtake the withered cast away dried up leaves of last season. We are best to take the appreciation that we are but stewards on this land to keep it prosperous and not waste opportunity. It is God’s good earth not ours – we are but tenants – stewards – a flock of sheep roaming around – we are temporary in this world and our fruitfulness builds the kingdom of God. Isn’t it good to be in a good season for growth?!!!

But alas to those who don’t want to grow – don’t even want to give God His due – won’t be fair let alone be respectful. Jesus was serious when He told the Pharisees, who refused to believe in the fulfilment of scriptures that was happening right before their eyes, that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Jesus used the parable of the tenants to awake the rottenness from the self-serving and hope to shake awake the hardened hearted rulers and policy makers. Jesus predicted a wretched end to the people who refused him and refused to believe in even the possibility that Jesus was this “cornerstone” – Messiah – Savior – or at least being ordained by God (like a prophet the townspeople thought). Jesus saw the dried soil of their faith – unable to prosper and grow.

What about us – are we ready for a new season in life? Are we ready to open up some good soil in us to plant and re-hydrate His seeds of Spirit to be prosperous in this season?

Those who questions will have the answers revealed if they genuinely have open ears. Open ears, open minds, open hearts – and open soils. If we actively refuse to listen to the hope in the Lord – then how can we use that hope gifted to us to help us repent and build our lives again in a way that will bring fruit to the kingdom. Our repentance of evil, but also of stubbornness, of strife, of self-centeredness, of pride.  We want to bloom, not go boom in destruction. We want to be able to grow GOOD FRUIT – not sour grapes. We want to know that the Lord is here to help us in this chapter of our lives, in this season, and in our eternal future.

To know Jesus is to know that He wants us to grow – to know Jesus is to know He gave it all already and we can do nothing to secure our place in Heaven except believe in His forgiveness and His power and His hope for us. Jesus gives us the power of prayer and the power of perseverance. Jesus is our cornerstone and in our lives we want to build our lives upon Him – as well as have fertile good soil to sprout and grow the seeds that He gives us to produce fruit. Fruit grows and gives seeds to then be distributed and grown again. It is like this with the Lord, He is building His Kingdom with us.

Grow well – no matter what season of life you are in.

Amen

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Matthew 21:33-46 The Parable of the Tenants
Jesus said: “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Better BUILDING by the Lord, Psalm 127 and more…

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I have a friend who is “breaking down” her house – moving – it is tough but her children are going to be there to help to both pack up this one and blessedly to open up the new life for her in her new place. It is a process that the Lord started by building up her family to help her – as she helped them build their lives, they are helping her build and rebuild hers. And she will get to see her grandchildren and be part of building up of their lives. And the Lord? The Lord is the Cornerstone of all. Let us Let the Lord build us up.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it”

Better Building is by the Lord – Better Building – of faith, of foundations, of families – of fruit – of Forever. The road to the Peace of the Lord is by His “Smoothing” of our road travelled and of the conditions allowing the building up of plans. If we want to see something to succeed – it is best to be planned with the Lord rather than ask for the Lord’s blessing after the fact. It is best to also watch what the Lord is building and then join His Labor Crew. 

With my friend moving, I have watched the Lord provide the time the people the energy as “on a needs by basis” – doled out not in one big flourish of movement but by continual piece by piece falling into place.

I am always fascinated by the understanding of scripture being revealed with an eye-of-the-brain “Ah – ha!” … And I am intrigued how people of the scriptures did not see something until the Lord let it be revealed to them. I know that the Lord has given us a brain – and a heart – and a soul – ears and eyes – but we require the Spirit of interpretation to see things from His Perspective. Yes. And we do need the Holy Spirit to guide us in building up ourselves, our faith, our families and our plans. We need Jesus as our Cornerstone – as He is the Cornerstone of the building of us into the Kingdom of God.

The interesting scripture to contemplate is of how the disciples of Jesus walked with Him thru the Temple of Jerusalem built by Solomon and rebuilt in the time after the Babylonian exile. Solomon’s marvelous temple, destroyed and pillaged much – is still remembered today. Jesus was and IS a marvelous Temple of God Himself, destroyed and pillaged much – but still remembered. Jesus, the flesh, was in a time for a purpose and Jesus the God is for Forever. 

Jesus talked about the temples being destroyed – the building (as He walked with His disciples marveling at it) – and of Himself. Certain people could not wrap their heads around this notion until by the Spirit’s Guidance. This is recounted in Matthew 24:1-2 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Jesus talked about the Temple being rebuilt – HIMSELF – in John 2:18-22, the Gospel of Wisdom, about the authority he used to overturn the crooked unfair dealings of the money exchangers in the Temple – The confused Jews said to Jesus: “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

And Jesus talked about Himself being the Cornerstone – our faith’s cornerstone and that being the foundation of the building up of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mark 12:10–11 Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Luke 20:17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

1 Peter 2:4–7 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

Blessed to be in the Build – BETTER BUILDING BY THE LORD!

Amen

Psalm 127 NKJV

Laboring and Prospering with the Lord – A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

ENRICHMENT with Spirit, The Blessing!

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If last week’s word of the week was Strengthening, then this week my word is ENRICHMENT. Yes, enriching the soil, like in the garden, and enriching our lives with nourishing feedings of the Word with enrichment to GROW. 

One growth is to appreciate what God thinks of us over what anyone else does. Our enrichment is physical often in hearing, but our mindset is SPIRITUAL in focus and refocus to pick up on the cues and clues to our strengthening. In other words, we need to realize that GOD IS FOR US!

A song aptly placed in a youtube feed for me was “The Blessing”, a 2020 song by Cody Carnes, Elevation Worship, also sung by Kari Jobe. Ah 2020, do you remember that we thought in 2020 about 20:20 vision – and trust the scriptures that the Lord has envisioned us in each of our days – sometimes strengthened and sometimes needing strengthening. The lyric in this song “The Blessing” rings out loud and clear: “He is for you. He is for you.”

The other song that hit me perfectly right is Mudcrutch’s “I don’t scare easy” – sung by Tom Petty. We should not scare easy if we are in our best intentions and have some experiences that DID scare us, but shouldn’t now. We need to know that we got through certain experiences before and we will get through them again…

If we could step through our days NOT with more hubris but with humble confidence in HIS LOVE, in the Lord’s strength and purpose, we could approach life with more energy and stick-to-it-tive-ness. We could stand more strong in the wind. We could remember that we are always a child of God, no matter what. And this gives us also the freedom to not retaliate nor swing back, but turn that other cheek on our way OUT of the way of barbs that won’t stick.

Romans 8 reminds us of God’s everlasting love: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

And the book of Numbers 6:24-26 gives us the familiar blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

SO, to be enriched with Spirit is to know that God sometimes puts us in locations that might get heated, but we are the cool of the Spirit to muster through. Then the coolness of hot and cold people also will remind us that there is no victory in the world or winning over people, our victory stand is with the Lord in His stance – we are more than conquerors in HIS LOVE.

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8

AMEN

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Lyrics of The Blessing”, a 2020 song by Cody Carnes, Elevation Worship, also sung by Kari Jobe  – radio version: https://youtu.be/OKd0B2YhHpk?si=7ucqFoSNMGs1mSpE

The Lord bless you and keep you
Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
The Lord turn His face toward you
And give you peace

x2
Amen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amen

.
The Lord bless you and keep you
Make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
The Lord turn His face toward you
And give you peace
Amen, amen, amen x4

.
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children

.x4
May His presence go before you

And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you

.
He is with you, he is with you
In the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you, he is for you
He is, He is

.
Amen, amen, amen
x4

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Romans: 8:28-39 NKJV

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long;We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.