I began Inscribe the Word Scripture Writing Plans in 2016, and every year, I am in awe of how God uses these plans to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Scripture. I am humbled and honored to bring this resource to you.

This year, our theme is The Spiritual Disciplines. By placing daily spiritual rhythms in our lives, my husband and I have decided to rebuild our lives around our apprenticeship to Jesus.

Each month in 2022, we will focus on a new spiritual discipline. I will also be including some books and resources to help you put that discipline into practice in your everyday lives. In January, we inscribed verses focused on Sabbath Rest. This February, our Scripture passages were on prayer. In March, we continued our study of the Spiritual Disciplines and studied Fasting. In April, we focused on the beauty of Praise & Worship, and in May, Silence and Solitude. In June, we spent our time studying what Scripture says about Hospitality. This month, we take on a new discipline . . .

Celebration.
My prayer is that you see these not as legalistic rules but as ways to Abide in the Vine each and every day. (John 15:1-8)

Celebration.
Okay, Friends.
Let's get it right out at the beginning.
This one is a complicated discipline for me to follow.

Maybe you as well?

Late last year, I asked my husband what discipline he felt I needed to focus on and adapt to my life overflowing into our life together. He, without hesitation, said celebration. He went on to lovingly say that I don't pause long enough to celebrate the joys in life. The small wins, the big days, the minute little accomplishments all pass by with very little thought.

He was right.

I don't know what's happened to the girl who loved celebrating birthdays and planning anniversaries. I don't know where the lady went that made a batch of cookies or baked a cake just because.

Life.
Grief.
Adulthood.
Fear of the next tragedy being just around the bend.

Maybe she got sucked into those things.

I don't know.
I am actively trying to figure that out.

But I do know that when I look into the Scripture, there are many times where we see the words "rejoice," "celebrate," or "praise." From Genesis to Revelation, we are commanded to celebrate, feast, and rejoice. We see a God who delights over His people and a loving Savior partying at a wedding and constantly eating big meals with His community. We have been sent The Holy Spirit, whose fruit in our lives looks like JOY.

I can't ignore celebration any longer.

I have to turn and face it head-on because to ignore this spiritual discipline is missing a large portion of the Word that commands us to "Rejoice in the Lord always, and AGAIN, I say rejoice! (Phil. 4:4)

I do not have the adequate language to speak about this spiritual discipline as I am learning to practice it myself. Making celebration a rhythm in my life has been HARD, but slowly, I am learning to lean into the beauty of celebrating the Lord, His goodness, His gifts, and His mercy.

That said, let's look at the words of Adele Ahlberg Calhoun in The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

“God celebrates. He invented delight, joy and celebration. And one way we enter into the divine life of the Trinity is through celebration. Whether solemn or exhilarating, formal or spontaneous, celebration can enlarge our capacity to enjoy and serve God. Celebrating God does not depend on perfect circumstances or happy feelings. Even in prison Paul and Silas found something to sing about (Acts 16). And Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, wrote:

"My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:20-24)

Jeremiah found reason to delight and hope in God even in lament.

The world is filled with reasons to be downcast. But deeper than sorrow thrums the unbroken pulse of God's joy, a joy that will yet have its eternal day. To set our hearts on this joy reminds us that we can choose how we respond to any particular moment. We can search for God in all circumstances, or not. We can seek the pulse of hope and celebration because it is God's reality. Heaven is celebrating. "Right now the cherubim, seraphim, angels, archangels, prophets, apostles, martyrs and all the company of saints overflow with joy in the presence of their Creator. Every small experience of Jesus with us is a taste of the joy that is to come. We are not alone—and that in itself is reason to celebrate.

To abandon ourselves to celebration can feel like a risky thing. What if we are misunderstood or seem to take hard things too lightly? King David was so "undignified" in his celebration of the Lord that his wife rebuked him for his public impropriety! But David replied, "I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes" (2 Samuel 6:21-22). Set your eyes on God as you celebrate, and forget how you look. God delights in all kinds of worship"

Friends, I don't know where you are in your relationship to this spiritual discipline. Perhaps, celebrating comes naturally to you. If so, the verses this month will be an incredible reminder to continue to celebrate, feast, and rejoice.

If, like me, celebration often makes you feel guilty, weighed down, and pointless, take solace in these Scriptures and together, let's let the Word remind us that we are made in the image of God and if He celebrates, so should we.

BOOKS, PODCASTS, RESOURCES and WEBSITES

Learning Joy by Renovare
Understanding Celebration by Richard Foster
The Discipline I Almost Missed by Lisa Liou

As we Inscribe Celebration, let us find space in our hearts and lives to celebrate Jesus, each other, and the moments of beauty He has blessed us with.