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 Transformed People
Have you ever had a major status change? Maybe you graduated from school, became a parent, or got a promotion at work. It can be disorienting waking up the next morning and everything has changed.
We all go through an instant status change when we become Christians. Whatever labels others might put on us—or we might put on ourselves—God chooses to offer us transformation and give us a new identity as people of light, His beloved children. We read this in John’s gospel:
"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. We are all children of God."
John 1:12-13 NIV
In 1 Peter 2:9-10, Peter also uses other descriptions, saying that we have become a royal priesthood and a holy people. God sought us out even when we were stuck in our own ways, and transformed us by His Spirit. Instead of being held captive by our past, we are blameless and free in Him.
The word “people” is important. This isn’t just about us as individuals. We are now part of God’s family, called to be in relationship with one another. We don’t have to go on the journey of following Jesus alone. We are given the gift of brothers and sisters who are often very different from ourselves. Through and with them, we see aspects of God we could never have discovered alone.
We are invited to see every person as someone made in God’s image, and to be curious about their story. Who are the people who come to mind whose story you don’t know so well?
Spend some time thanking God for welcoming you with open arms into His family. Think of a few ways that you could show others that they are welcome and valued this week.
Isaiah 41
English Standard Version
Fear Not, for I Am with You
41 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
2 Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every step?[a]
He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, my ...
