Merry Christmas!
It’s so refreshing to say that to you, my friend!
I do understand Happy Holidays, though, especially when I’m speaking to someone who may not know what Christmas really means. And this year, Hanukkah begins on Christmas day: the festival of lights starts with the birth of the Light of the world (John 1:1-5; 8:12). Isn’t it just like God to have worked that out at such a time as this?!
Even so, each time I hear that nonspecific reference, I wonder about the speaker. Does he or she know the Christ of Christmas? Or are they just going through the motions, celebrating December 25 as the ultimate Santa delivery date? Have they heard about and ignored or even rejected eternal life in Jesus Christ? May we always be in prayer for those who have not yet opened the only gift that truly does last forever—beyond this life, beyond this world.
Update: A Book-length DISO Study
Before we start a new study next week, I want to update you on the book I first mentioned in this blog years ago. At the time, I was almost done with the original manuscript. Once finished, though, my beta readers struggled with it. They were kind but honest, and there was much work to be done to improve it. In fact, their feedback led to the dramatic changes I made to the process used in these posts beginning October of last year.
Earlier this year, I finished the revised book and am really excited about the feedback I’ve received on it so far. It’s a DISO study of the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) designed for three weeks of daily quiet time study and reflection. I’ll keep updating you periodically on its progress through publication, which I hope happens late next year or early 2026.
A Gift for You: Bible Treasure!
Also, I’ve created a brief study guide based on the book’s content as my gift to you for reading my blog posts. I hope you’ll download it and refer to it often as we continue to study through God’s Word using the Digging into Scripture Ourselves 5-step process. And you can also use it on your own to dig for Bible treasure anywhere in God’s Word.
A Look Ahead
I’m also gearing up to expand my social media presence in 2025. Feel free to follow me on Facebook where I’ll be highlighting some of the cool things you can do in your personal Bible study time, announcing new studies, providing more timely updates on the book project, and hopefully not embarrassing myself too much in the process!
In the meantime, plan to join me next week as I start the study series I’m calling Restoration. In it, I’ll be revisiting several passages I’ve studied in the past. Those posts featured the older, DISO 20-Questions method I practiced before my old web hosting service took my site down in September 2023. For a while, I’ve wanted to restore them as originally written, but now I’ve decided to use the newer, 5-step process developed for the book as I revisit each passage. We’ll start December 31 with Genesis 3:1-24: the Fall of Humanity. I can’t wait to see what treasure the Spirit helps us discover in this familiar territory!
Till then, I pray you have a wonderful Christmas, and the New Year brings amazing blessings to you and your loved ones. Thank you for spending a little of your time this week with God’s Word and with me!