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.
How to combat pride
“I’m fine.” “I’ve got this.” “It’s my problem—not yours.”
We all want to be known, but sometimes it feels easier to hide behind masks of self-sufficiency. We might tell ourselves that we don’t want to burden others with our problems, but what we’re really saying is that we believe we can (and should) handle everything alone. This may feel self-protective, but it’s a form of pride that isolates and weakens us.
Pride is simply having a view of ourselves and our abilities that doesn’t align with reality. It’s one of the most effective methods the devil uses to isolate us because it makes us believe we’re better off alone.
So how do we combat it? The apostle Peter advises us to “clothe” ourselves in humility (1 Peter 5:5). We do this by caring for others, watching over others, and accepting the authority and wisdom that others offer us (1 Peter 5:1-4). This requires mutual vulnerability, trust, and authenticity.
Treating others with humility teaches us how to respond to Jesus.
Jesus knows what we need, and God wants us to cast our anxieties onto Him—but giving Him our concerns, hurts, hardships, and heartbreaks is an act of vulnerable surrender. We cannot do this unless we first acknowledge our need for Him.
When Peter says to “cast our cares” on God, he’s telling his readers to come openly and honestly to God so that at the proper time, He can deliver them. God opposes anyone who thinks they don’t need Him, but He shows endless grace and love to those who seek Him (1 Peter 5:5).
So take a few moments right now, and reflect on your current concerns. What do you need to bring to God? Visualize handing Him all of your worries, and envision receiving His peace in return.
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the ...
A God Who Stays Close
Psalm 121 is a psalm of protection, sung by travelers making their way to Jerusalem on a religious pilgrimage. As they journeyed through difficult terrain under the blazing sun, this song reminded them where their true help came from: the Maker of heaven and earth.
In verse 5, the psalmist writes: “The Lord is your shade at your right hand.” For a weary traveler in the Middle East, shade was life-saving. The sun wasn’t just uncomfortable, it could be dangerous. So, shade meant relief, protection, even survival. That’s the kind of watchful care God offers. The Lord is right beside you: “at your right hand.”
His protection is personal and present. He’s not watching over you from a distance; He’s close by—actively guarding you from the elements that would otherwise wear you down, drain you, make you delirious, burn you, or even kill you.
In Psalm 121, we see a God who keeps watch day and night, who never slumbers, who guards our lives in all our coming ...
