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.
A Firm Foundation
We inhabit this beautiful-yet-broken world, so experiencing various levels of suffering is inevitable. Thankfully, for the follower of Jesus, it’s also temporary.
Peter—a disciple, apostle, and close friend of Jesus—wrote this:
“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.”
1 Peter 5:10 NLT
Right before he wrote these words, Peter reminds God’s people that they’re not the only ones suffering. In fact, there are believers all over the world facing trials and hardships because of their faith in Christ.
“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus…”
Because He lived the perfect life we couldn’t, died the brutal death we should have, and rose again so that we might be with Him forever, Jesus is able to invite us to share in His eternal glory. A glory that goes on forever and is humanly impossible for us to fully understand.
“So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you…”
For those who are in Christ, heartbreak is temporary, suffering is fleeting, and even death is short-term. Eventually, God is going to wipe away every tear once and for all, doing away with pain and sadness and crying—forever. God is going to make all things new (Revelation 21:4-5).
“…and he will place you on a firm foundation.”
That firm foundation was established before the beginning of time. It’s a good foundation, a true foundation, and a firm foundation. There is no other foundation that’s more worthy of our trust.
So whatever you’re currently walking through—no matter how hard, horrible, or absolutely heartbreaking—you can cling to this future reality. While suffering is unavoidable, you can know that its days are numbered.
Luke 10
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into ...
God Is With You
The prophet Isaiah wrote the words of Isaiah 7:14 nearly 600 years before Jesus was born. At the time of this writing, the Israelites were doing all the right religious things, but weren’t practicing justice as God commands. Like many prophets during Isaiah’s time, this was a warning against that injustice. But among that warning was a glimmer of hope that God would set things right.
Here, the prophet Isaiah is giving the people of Israel a reason to hope because of God’s good promise—the promise that He will provide a sign and He will show up for us. Because that’s what Immanuel means: God with us.
But what does “God with us” mean for us today?
It means we can share in that hope by fixing our eyes on Jesus and trusting in Him. We can trust that from Christ’s birth to His current reign in Heaven—Jesus is God with us.
He’s with us in our pain when we lose a loved one.
He’s with us in our anger when we see injustice and don’t know where to turn.
He’s with us ...
