2 Timothy 2:15 (AMP) Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.

We are already a few weeks into 2026 and I am just now getting around to summing up the last quarter reads of 2025. I have been spending time with my immediate family, as everyone was home for most of the day. When they are home, I do not like to lock myself in my office and write. I do continue to read, but not nearly as much as when the house is empty. In the last quarter of 2025 I finished reading through the Bible, Romans through Revelations. I was done by the end of November and took the first days of December to read a chapter a day of Luke. The last week of 2025 I read Habakkuk in its entirety daily. There is something that God showed me and I will hopefully write on it next week.

The one phrase that stood out to me as I was finishing with Revelations was, “He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.” I wrote about it in my blog titled Echo. I did complete 100 Bible Verses that Made America by Robert J. Morgan as a devotional. It was very eye opening to me about the founding of our universities and their beginnings as seminaries. There was one that really stood out to me were the Four Chaplains that gave their lives aboard the Dorchester on February 3, 1943. They were all from different denominations but held the same heart, “No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends, John 15:13).” They gave everything including their life vests, books and clothes to make sure all survived, even though they lost their own lives. They gave their lives without being asked. This is the life that I aspire to live.

I also read nine books. Some I purchased at yard sales and at thrift stores recently. Bringing my yearly total to 47 books read. Here is list of my fourth quarter reads (I will write about two of them):

• The Case for the Creator by Lee Strobel
• Fight Back with Joy by Margaret Feinberg
• Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
• Let Earth Receive Her King by Alistar Begg
• Beyond Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson
• The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson
• I His Image by Jen Wilkin
• The Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg
• Healing the Wounds of Rejection by Joyce Meyer and Ginger Stache

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. I picked this book up at a yard sale recently. It was an encouraging book about the importance of a church that puts prayer as their priority. It is a church with a surrendered heart that the Holy Spirit dwells. “The first step in spiritual awakening is demolition. We cannot make headway in seeking God without first tearing down the accumulation junk in our souls. Rationalizing has to cease. We have to start seeing the sinful debris we hadn’t noticed before, which is what holds back the blessings of God.“”Anytime the people get hungry to truly know the Lord, the Holy Spirit quickly puts a shovel and into their hands.” We are going to be willing for God to deal with our deep-rooted issues. A truly humble church is a powerful church. Are we passionate about what He is passionate for. Jesus said that His house should be known as a house of prayer. We currently do not have our own building, or we would have the doors open more that they are. Currently we meet on Tuesdays at eleven for prayer and Sundays we invite people to come in pray at twelve thirty as our service is at one thirty. The American church is all about comfort and convenience, yet He is the same God that said, “and My people, who are called by My Name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).” What are we passionate about? Brooklyn Tabernacle were passionate about prayer and surrender. We know them because of their choir. Reading some of the stories of change in that city because of this pastor and the heart of prayer that they have. It encouraged me to continue.

In HIs Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character: By Jen Wilkinson. Have you ever asked the question: I want to know God’s will for my life? “If we focus on our actions without addressing our hearts, we may end up merely as better behaved lovers of self.” Jen takes ten attributes of God and had us reflect if we can see those in our own character. They are Holy, Loving, Good, Just, Merciful, Gracious, Faithful, Patient, Truthful and Wise. Do you see the possibility for you reflecting Him in all that He is? First and foremost, God is Holy. “If we emphasize any of his attributes above or apart from his holiness, we fashion him after our own imagining or for our own ends.” You do not have to be conformed to who you were. We are conformed to His image, we are to reborn, remade, reformed. Understand your positional holiness and you will want to pursue practical holiness. God our most loving is the hardest part for people to grasp. His love is not transactional. His love is not conditional. “When we begin to follow Christ, we resolve to love God even if it costs us. And it costs us -it costs our pride, our comfort, our self-will, our self-sufficiency. At times, it costs us amicable relationships with family, our expectations of safety, and more. But in laying these aside, we learn the worthiness of the object of love in a deeper way. We find increasing freedom, and as we mature, we resolve to love God no matter what it costs us. When we begin to follow Christ, we resolve to love our neighbor even if it costs us. And it costs us – it costs us our preferences, our time, our financial resources, our entitlement, our stereotypes.” It is such a good book that I am adding it to my pile to read again in 2026.

I write these blogs on books to encourage you to read. First and foremost, pick up your Bible and read it daily. I am reading a new study Bible this year and so I am reading a chapter at a time. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal His heart to you as you read. Do you get bored reading the Bible? Ask God to help you with that. For years, I didn’t read just read my Bible, only focusing on the verses that went along with my devotions. But my desire to surrender led me to pick up the Bible and truly read it. It became part of my journey to seek more. I have no regrets, and neither will you.

This Sunday I have decided to give away some of my books. Something I have not done. However, holding onto them only benefits me. God had told us to be generous with all that we have. So, I have set aside a box and will be taking them to church for others to do with their liking. I pray that you have a blessed 2026!