I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Responding to God at All Times
Throughout our lives, we will experience both suffering and joy. We will have times of great grief and times of overflowing happiness. Sometimes, they’ll be separate seasons—but sometimes these experiences come together.
In either case, James expected Christians to come to God. If someone was suffering, prayer was the call to action. If someone was cheerful, people were to praise God.
This might seem obvious, but when suffering clouds our thinking, we can sometimes forget to prioritize prayer. And when things are going well and we are cheerful, it’s easy to just enjoy our season and not think to praise God for it. But every season of life is actually just an opportunity to put into practice what James wrote about…
When we are suffering, let us pray. When those around us are suffering, let us pray. When we are cheerful or happy, let us praise God. When others are happy, let us praise God with them. In every circumstance or situation, let’s go to God with everything, and trust Him with everything.
When we do that, we keep our eyes on Jesus, and He helps us endure every situation we face.
So what are you facing right now? Take a moment to pray to God and tell Him all you’re going through. Then, reflect on the good things happening in your life, and tell God, “Thank You.”
Transformation Starts Here
Do you want to be new?
All around the world, humans long for change. We long to throw off old habits and ways of thinking if they aren’t serving us anymore. Thousands of self-help books, podcasts, articles, and all kinds of media exist for this very reason. We know we need to change, and we want to! And yet it can feel impossible.
Paul, one of Jesus’ disciples, shares this powerful truth in Romans 12:2 (NIV):
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Transformed by the renewing of our minds. What does this mean?
Transformation is a massive change. It’s thorough. Complete. A total difference. Like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, transformation brings an end to the old and a beginning to the new.
Paul is showing us that transformation isn’t work we do from the outside in—transformation happens from the inside out. It ...
