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.
Let’s Choose Love
Who is your enemy?
Maybe it’s the person across the street who seems to judge everything you do. Maybe it’s the person on social media who hates what you stand for. Maybe it’s someone who doesn’t try to care about you. Or maybe you don’t have “enemies,” but you have people who make you feel angry, frustrated, and inferior.
It’s no secret that our world seems divided. There always seems to be tension in the relational, spiritual, and political climate of our world. And sometimes, it seems impossible to put differences aside and treat people who hurt us with kindness and grace.
But Jesus has called us to live differently. Jesus calls us to “love our enemies, and do good to them.” And then, He demonstrated what this looks like by dying for everyone. He gave up His own life on behalf of people who hated Him … and He didn’t expect anything from them in return.
Every person on this planet—past, present, and future—God loves. And He has called each of us to love others like He loves us: sacrificially, humbly, and unconditionally.
Loving our enemies doesn’t mean we should put ourselves in unhealthy or unsafe situations, nor does it mean we should ignore the pain someone has caused us. But it does mean that we daily seek to represent Jesus by showing people respect, empathy, truth, and grace. It means we acknowledge the pain and the injustice we experience while never ceasing to pray that our enemies personally accept Jesus.
It’s Jesus who showed us what unconditional love and forgiveness looked like when He died for us. It’s Jesus who took Paul, a murderer, and turned him into a great evangelist. It’s Jesus who forgave Peter for denying Him, and set him apart to build the global Church. It’s Jesus who loved religious zealots who betrayed Him, and crowds who tried to kill Him.
When Jesus asks us to love our enemies, He isn’t asking us to do anything that He hasn’t already done first.
Jesus is kind to the “ungrateful and the wicked” and that includes us. So let’s represent Jesus well so that others—even our enemies—want to know Him. Because when people know Him, they won’t want to stay as they are … they will want to become more like Jesus.
Luke 9
“Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; and of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. And the ...
God Keeps His Promises
“'The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.”
Jeremiah 33:14 NIV
A lot of people would have laughed at Jeremiah when he said these words. Why? Because it seemed like God had abandoned both Israel and Judah.
At this point in the story of the Bible, Israel is gone—wiped out by an invading army. Now Judah is alone, and another massive army is at their gates to destroy them too. The situation couldn’t have been more hopeless.
Have you ever experienced a moment like that? Maybe it was a life-changing loss, or impossibly difficult news. In those painful moments, it can feel impossible to trust God’s promises. The people listening to Jeremiah probably felt the same way. But it wasn’t the end of their story because circumstances can’t ruin God’s promises.
Yes, the enemy broke in and took God’s people into captivity for decades. But God didn’t abandon His people or give up on...
