Renewal in 2020 by Pamela Mytroen

Renewal in 2020

My biggest desire this past year was to have a daily coffee break. Stellar, I know. I’m not sure how my engine cycled down to park, but halfway through teaching English last year I started sputtering and smoking and ended up with no desire to get into gear again. This is quite unlike me, the girl like Josephine in “Little Women” full of boundless energy, whose life goal was to “do all the things”. I haven’t finished “doing all the things” yet, but I feel like Bilbo Baggin who said, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” As I prayed and searched the Lord for a word from The Word, I knew it couldn’t be an action word where I actually had to “DO” something, heaven forbid, like “Love” or “Trust” or even “Seek”. Instead, in my present lethargy, it had to be something that the Lord would do for me, so I finally landed on Renew and it feels just right. Here’s what I’m asking the LORD to do for me in 2020, or more accurately, since he’s already done it all on the Cross, I’m asking Him to help me access that which is already available: I need him to renew me, spirit, mind, and body.


RENEW my spirit and heart.

  Isaiah 57:15b, NIV says, “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

 King David prayed in Psalm 51:10, NIV, “Create in me a clean heart, Oh Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.” A “right” spirit is also translated, “a steadfast spirit”. Yes, I need that Lord. I can’t quit yet. Help me to endure. With your right spirit in me, I can do all things. More importantly, I can BE the person you want me to be. I can be loving, kind, and patient. I can always trust, always protect, always hope and always believe with your spirit renewed in me.

Proverbs 4:23 Berean Translation says, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.” I need those springs of life to flow again, so I’m trusting you Lord to guard my heart, to renew it and fill it with You.

Luke  6:45 NLT says, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Oh Lord, fill up my heart with the treasure of YOU, so that from my heart will flow grace and goodness.

RENEW my mind.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” (Romans 12:2a NIV). Transformation is what I need right now. I need an about face in my thinking so that I can do and be what’s required of me. I need God to do this for me. As I focus on Him, I trust that I will be able to get moving again, and get unstuck from this not-wanting-to-do-anything. Isaiah 26:3 says, “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole. Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don’t quit” The Message.


RENEW my strength

I want to soar again like I used to. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint,” King James Bible.

Oh Lord, please renew my strength. I want to rise up over the situations around me and fly, I want to get the big picture, your perspective on things, and be able to quickly dive down to where I’m needed and do what’s required of me, but I can only do that Lord if I’m soaring.

“Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendour,” Isaiah 52:1 NIV. This verse caught my interest, and maybe it’s because I am not a pyjama person. I fear being caught at the door in my pjs so I quickly get dressed every morning. I can picture myself pulling on some nice clothes while I also pull on the strength of the Lord every morning.

Habakkuk 3:19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. We have a lot of deer where I live, and at times they sleep and graze in our yard. If frightened, they will leap over the six foot fence from a standing position. Oh, Lord, how I need that kind of ease, grace, and spring in my step again!

Psalm 84:7 NIV says, “They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.” This Psalm describes the pilgrims as they ascended the hills to Jerusalem. They needed strength to keep going and to finish the climb. I need the Lord to renew my strength to finish the journey so that I can worship Him.

Oh Lord, I want to love you with all my heart (spirit), all my strength, and all my mind. Please renew me so that I can love you, serve you, and worship you in 2020, Amen.

By Pamela Mytroen

THE BREATHINGS OF HIS HEART by Bryan Norford

The idea of breathing reminded me of the basic use of breath in the Bible. Remarkably, one original word in both Old and New Testaments is translated breath, wind, or spirit. The Hebrew ruach and the Greek, pneuma, both translate to these three words, the specific meaning depending on context.

However, difficulty in finding the intended meaning in each case is highlighted in both testaments. In both Ezekiel 37—the Valley of Dry Bones—and John 3—Jesus’ discourse on spiritual birth, the overlap of meaning comes through pun style.

Ezekiel 37, uses the word ruach eight times in the first fourteen verses, both for breath and Spirit. Even a cursory reading shows that the translator could have used Spirit for breath in most locations, that is, the breath of God in this instance could equally be His Spirit.

By way of contrast, Genesis 2:7, uses a different Hebrew word, mappah, for breath. This gives the sense God forced breath into the nostrils of the first man providing basic existence, a breathing life all humans share. But in other Scriptures, the same word also means forcing breath out, or loss of life, showing the original existence is temporary.

Like the Ezekiel passage, John 3 invites us to share in a life-giving breath that is permanent. Verses 6–8 translate wind and Spirit from the same root, pneuma. Verse 8 signifies human reasoning can neither understand nor obtain this new life. It is a gift of the Spirit of God.

This revelation colours dramatically what I understand should be the breathings of my heart. Whatever passion our natural life may inspire, it is temporary, but breathing in the Spirit of God as we write will provide the seeds of immortal life as we breathe it out.

As we hear Him, from the Word, or His Spirit’s still small voice, the breathing our hearts will be the breathing of His heart within us. We will find no greater resource for our words to penetrate this life and the next.

The Year of Writing Dangerously by Connie Inglis

                                       (artwork by my daughter Kendra)

When I look back at this past year of writing and look forward to this coming year, I am thankful for the many ways God has encouraged me and instilled confidence in my writing. So I am proclaiming thankfulness here by sharing some of those ways.

1. I can say that it has been a good year of writing for me, but don't be deceived in thinking that it has been an easy year. It has not. In fact, it has been a difficult year, especially the past 3 1/2 months. However, in the midst of pain and heartache, questions and more questions, I found time to journal my journey and put my pain to poetry. God met me there and I found release and healing--and freedom. This inspiration is spurring me on in 2015. Thanks God for who You are.

2. I have also been exhilarated by books written by writers for writers. The most recent two books have been The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield and Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle. Reconnecting with L'Engle's works has touched my soul in a beautifully unexpected way--her poetry has been especially powerful. Have you, as a writer, ever come across a fellow writer that feels like a soul mate? THAT'S how I feel about Madeleine L'Engle. Her faith and perspective on life spur me on to be a better writer and to persevere in 2015. Thanks God for leading me to these writers.

3. NaNoWriMo (November writer's month) changed my writing outlook. In November I committed to writing the memoirs of my family's two years living in the Philippines from 1992-1994. By the end of the month I had written 30,000 words and completed my writing project. Prior to this, I hesitated writing our memoirs of living overseas as missionaries because the project was too daunting. Now I know I can do it, if I give myself a goal of words per day and NOT think about the whole project. So for 2015 I am committed to writing 500 words/day. For some of you that sounds miniscule, but for me it is doable and I'm excited about where I will be by the end of the year. Thanks God for giving me the courage to sign up for NaNoWriMo.

4. The InScribe Writer's Conference was also motivating--interacting with fellow-writers, sitting under a bit of Phil Callaway's tutelage and gaining wisdom in workshops--all good stuff to help me persevere. Thanks God for a conference right in my own city.

5. My other inspiration this past year has been my writer's group. I cannot thank God enough for this Spirit-filled group of ladies. As Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend," so these ladies have sharpened me in my writing, prayed for me and my family through tough times, and have become my close friends and co-fighters in pressing on in writing. Words seem so trite in my thanks to each one of them but thanks God for bringing them into my life.

Which brings me to my theme phrase for 2015. This past week, our fearless writers' group leader referred to this coming year as our "Year of Writing Dangerously." That resonated with me and even after a few days the phrase would not leave my conscious thoughts. Then I knew it was the Spirit nudging at my mind--giving me the courage to claim it as my writing theme for 2015--to call this my year of writing dangerously. Could I? Would I? So with fearful expectancy I proclaim the phrase as mine for 2015: It is the year of writing dangerously.

 I already know that the year ahead will not be an easy one. After 5 years of living in Edmonton, my husband and I will be returning to our missionary work in Southeast Asia, living in Thailand. The city and the work we will be returning to will not be new. However, for the first time we will be leaving our children and granddaughter behind. I already know the good-byes will be difficult--that my heart will be torn. But I have learned that God is faithful--that He will provide what I need. And I have learned that I can lean on my trusted pen to name my feelings and help me process pain. In that too I am thankful.

Thanks God for words and the ability and opportunity to write. May I always write for YOU!

CHRISTIAN FICTION? by Bryan Norford

Fiction writing is God’s idea. The Bible’s full of it. From the stories of Nathan’s ewe lamb; Jeremiah’s marred pottery; to Isaiah’s vineyard; the Old Testament spins many tales of humanity’s broken sinfulness and God’s restoration.

Jesus’ many parables simply followed a long tradition explaining the truths of the kingdom. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like . . .” was His signature beginning of stories that told of God’s love and redemption, or of judgment to come for the unrepentant.

Christians throughout the centuries—whether writing for believers or unbelievers—when driven by the Holy Spirit, have attempted at some level to express the nature of God, and the godly values derived from Him; and much of that was written through fiction.

C. S. Lewis claimed: “Any amount of theology can be smuggled into people’s minds under cover of romance without their knowing it.” His fantasy yarns in Narnia, and his humorous banter in Screwtape Letters point to the truth about God just as much as the logic of Mere Christianity.

So writers, who are Christian, have imaginations inspired and fired by the Holy Spirit as they write their modern parables. From romance to high adventure, their signature “Once upon a time . . .” (rarely used but always understood), points to sublime truths that raise the human condition.

But are these pictures of God’s character, often concealed in figurative language, understood by the reader? That question raises another question; why use parables? Contrary to popular perception, parables conceal, as much as reveal, the truth they proclaim.

Isaiah was the first to record God’s warning that a calloused people would, “be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving” (Isaiah 6:9). When the disciples asked Jesus why He used parables, He quoted that passage from Isaiah (Matthew 13:14).

Previously He’d said: “The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Matthew 13:11), explaining that the one who has will receive abundantly, and those with nothing will lose even that.

His words, like a riddle, remind us the same Holy Spirit that inspires the writer, also illumines the reader. An open heart will prompt the Spirit to give more understanding; a closed heart will lose even the opportunity.

This life may never reveal those drawn to Christ through our writing, fact or fiction. Be assured, He will not inspire us unless someone awaits our message.

Who’s Your Muse? - Linda Aleta Tame

I’m sure you’ve read about writers and their muses. Have you wondered if inspiration will breeze into your thoughts in a similar way? Will your muse come dancing and darting, or will she quietly hover? Will she bring a profound message or will it be one of whimsy and nonsense?

When you set about meeting your muse, consider that the event may have already taken place.  Maybe you'll see evidence of that relationship in your journals, in your poetry and various other writings.

Perhaps you’ll recognize the origin of your creative inspiration. Maybe your muse is not really a muse at all, but the Spirit of God; He is your source. You practice many things in the Spirit: worshiping, praying, sharing, praising, even just being in the Spirit; why not writing in the Spirit?

Though incredible, a writing relationship with Him is still delicate and sometimes challenging. It’s like the love bond between two people. An irresistible desire to be together often competes with the distractions of everyday life. On some occasions chaos invades an otherwise sublime rendezvous, yet there are times when you avoid His gentle nudges. When the Spirit moves, it’s not always the most convenient time, and conversely, you occasionally feel ready to write, but He says, “Not now.”

Another challenge may occur when you're writing a story.  You have your view of how the story goes, but the Spirit has another view altogether.  You had it all arranged before your fingers touched the keyboard; now He is changing everything!

Like any relationship, the writing relationship with the Spirit requires consistent nurture. Couples often set a regular date night to be sure they have some quality time together. Setting a regular writing date with the Spirit will help to strengthen the bond, create harmony and consistently inspire creativity.

He is able to ignite your stories with love and compassion. He infuses life into your characters and inspires your readers with hope. You can trust Him. He is the Creator!

This Beautiful Quest