Yahweh your God is in your midst;
a mighty warrior who saves.
He shall rejoice over you with joy;
he renews you in his love;
he will exult over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17, LEB

This verse awes me. Think about it for a moment: sure, we sing with delight for our God—how can we not? But, look at it again: God will express His joy in us by singing! Over me? Really?!

Too often, we myopically view eternal life as one of those things where we are grateful to be allowed to just get through the door, so that we do not suffer the eternal torment of being left alone in the darkness. As I read this verse, I get a sense that the new heaven and the new earth just might be like the jolly mirth of a Tolkien tavern with camaraderie, dance and song—I dunno, think dancing hobbits and dwarves whom throw down!

I do not merely slip unnoticed to enter inside this great hall. It is more than my escape from a life that would otherwise be a walk forever alone, a cursed existence of trembling deep in the valley of Gehenna amidst a hellish mass of hate, a crowd that only knows pain, despair and anger. No, THAT PLACE is for those who are among us RIGHT NOW who live out Judges 21:25; those people love the darkness. They want ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with God, for "they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25, ESV).

Rather, not only will God bring those who love Him through the doors, He will even sing for us, the kids He has adopted. Our inclusion was not a last second thought; He had planned this party from BEFORE the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4)! Oh, how I have NOTHING to give in return! TRULY, this is the most wonderful gift: to know and enjoy my Heavenly Dad...to have this body of mine restored to a glorious state along with the rest of creation...to spar with the mightiest version of my earthly father—("Hey, I'm ready now to take over the family business, Dad")...to play rummy 500 with my Mom for she is restored to an incorruptible vitality AND to hear her uncontrollably cackle in victory again!

And how COOL will it be to meet Paul? His work has shaped SO MUCH of what I presently know about God. And let us not forget David and the other Psalmists, writings where I feel emotionally the closest to God; I forget how the authors of the Scriptures, while directed to create a singular narrative spanning thousands of years, were REAL people who loved God; real people who are my brothers; real people who are available for a game of Ultimate Frisbee (I know I can beat Paul, but those Sons of Thunder, well, there's a reason my MMORPG character across platforms was named Thundercast. "Let's do this!")

And YOU KNOW I'm gonna be at Jesus' fishfry à la the post-resurrected breakfast in John 21:9-14! I mean, C'MON if there was EVER something listed in the Visitor's Guide to the Afterlife! Truly, seeing Him for the first time is larger than my heart can process.

Oh, perfect community!

And how WONDERFUL will it be to see the first passage God spoke to me play out before my very own eyes:

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 37:10-11

There are all sorts of fun and beautiful places on this Earth for us to visit despite their present state possessing only a shadowy glimpse of their once and future glories: what will they be like restored? And think for a moment: it is presently estimated that there are hundreds of BILLIONS of galaxies in the Universe; multiply that with how there are at least a BILLION planets in our own galaxy, well—hey, we'll have the time! Who is up for an intergalactic roadtrip?! THAT's gonna need a whole library of cassette tapes to tote along! Our God loves Him some music!

Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre;
with a harp of ten strings play to him.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully with jubilant shout.

Psalm 33:2-3, LEB

Think about it further, who invented all of the awesome things in this present world? And what will those things be in a glorified context?

Truly, God's Universe seems like an infinite playground for exploration. And while considering the One who has created this seemingly infinite Universe, I cannot fathom how sins are seen by Him, for He is INFINITELY holy and INFINITELY good, which underscores the magnitude of God the Son's death on the cross of how it satisfies the justice required of my past, present and future sins, where any one of them would cast me outside to live in Gehenna.

And why does He show so much love for me? I have done nothing nor can I do anything infinite to atone for even a single sin against an infinite God. All of this, everything He has done—my salvation, sanctification and future glorification—is ALL for His glory alone. It shows how AMAZING...MAGNIFICIENT...WONDEROUS...GLORIOUS He is, doesn't it? For look at me, I was dead in my sin; He chose me and opened my eyes. And once I could see, how can I not choose Him? And because of this, sin has no power over me (Romans 6:14) I am a slave to righteousness. And yes, OF COURSE, I still sin, but I cannot practice evil—it's not even possible! Time and time again in my life when I start to go wayward, I gravitate toward Him for restoration. It weirdly reminds me that I belong to Him.

All of this aside, I have a question: what does an infinite being sing? Stay tuned and find out!

(Well, I intended to write about other things tonight, but found myself writing on something entirely different.)

This will come at little surprise for the reader, but I had second thoughts about the exclusion of butter and coffee from my diet. They did not cause the missteps of The 25th Expedition. Long have they played a role in this adventure! Of course, my intent today was to journey without them—until a wave rolled out of my hallway into the living room, the joint activity of a clothes washer and a garbage disposal! Sometimes, a simple cup of iced coffee with fat can be a comfort.

While Christmas is but days away, I recognize that the year draws to a close. As such, I find the brevity that remains can frame the nights that lie ahead in 2022.

Sure, to better understand how we can be successful moving forward, we glance backwards as we consider our wins and losses. And yet, the undercurrent for all of this is in the value of the objective—what is our chief purpose/end? What value are the wins if the sight is misaligned? Many things people strive for just don't have any lasting value—it's the farthest thing from laying up for heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). I've definitely have lost when I thought I won; I've elevated earthly things that are gone forever while still hot off the press. And while fitness goals are fine, they are sub-optimal and are most assuredly NOT sustainable. In the end, our fitness will fail us. Despite how many dumbbell curls I pump out, the last rep will come.

O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

Psalm 39:4-6

Unlike past years for as long as I can remember, I'm developing New Year's resolutions as it relates to 1) my zeal for God (Psalm 119:97-104); 2) citizenship in eternity ( Philippians 3:20-21); and 3) identity in Christ:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:9-12

While I had previously wrote that I was wrapping the Expeditionary construct and just drift down to goal weight as the eventuality...

...not so fast.

I got a feeling that perhaps I should not wrap things up yet. It was confirmed by my ABYSMAL weigh-in! I gained 2.5% (5 lbs). Honestly though, I think (I hope?) it's just false weight, water brought on by carbs as lately I've been rather indulgent on oopsie cake and all of its heavy whipping cream goodness. I also find that I had no appetite shutoff for bacon, so I may have to hit its shutoff switch. And I suspect some hidden sugar in bacon might be in play…

While I hope it is false weight, nevertheless, it irks me. I thought I had cleared the woods, yet I must ride further through the night.

Thus, I'm making a pivot: I'm pulling out of my dairy consumption and ending my mainstay of coffee and butter. I like coffee, though it has made me feel weird of late—9-cups-a-day will do that!

I'm also zeroing in on beef consumption. Yes, I LOVED bacon and every drip of its fat, but I don't think I trust its package labeling. My body's response is just bizarre to me, so I'm dialing it back to what I know wins the day!

While it has yet to be finalized, you might think that I'd post a New Year's Resolution about workouts, 2022 is not about that. Hitting the 2nd carniv-ersary is the extent of my fitness resolutions. Heaven is too close at hand for me to invest 2-3 hours day into fitness like I once did. I ran into these earlier and I really like them:

but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.

Philippians 3:20–21, HCSB

The first man was from the earth
and made of dust;
the second man is from heaven.
Like the man made of dust,
so are those who are made of dust;
like the heavenly man,
so are those who are heavenly.
And just as we have borne
the image of the man made of dust,
we will also bear
the image of the heavenly man.

1 Corinthians 15:47–49, HCSB