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.
Growing To Be Like Christ
We imitate those we love. As all of us grew up as kids, we imitated those around us so that we could learn and grow. During that process of growing, we naturally gravitate towards certain people we want to be like.
Jesus says something similar in John 14:21: those who love Him are those who obey His commandments.
Now, let’s be clear. Jesus is not saying you must obey Him before you can love Him. We see elsewhere in Scripture that Jesus loves us freely before we do anything for Him. But what this verse is saying is that the ones who love Jesus are the ones who will obey Him.
If we truly love Him, then we will desire to follow Him. More than that, we will strive to be like Him. Jesus never commands us to do something He wouldn’t do. Most of Jesus’ commands are grounded in His actions and character.
So, in order to grow into maturity and Christ-likeness, we should follow Him and obey what He says. And in order to obey what He says, we should start with loving Him.
As you spend time reflecting during this Advent season, how can you better love Jesus?
As we continue loving Jesus and keeping His commandments, our lives will be transformed.
His Pain, Our Gain
Isaiah 53 is a stunning chapter in the Bible—in what is now commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.”
Approximately 700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah prophesied about a suffering servant who would also, somehow and in some way, be exalted. A coming Savior, a future Redeemer, the long-awaited Messiah—whose death would ultimately bring life.
A portion of Isaiah 53 says this:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
So, who was this man who would be pierced, crushed, and wounded because of someone else’s sins? Whose undeserved punishment would be the catalyst for healing? Whose life would be given as an offering—so that others might live?
Jesus Christ not only fits the description of the suffering servant who paid the ultimate price to buy His people back, redeem them, and set them free—He ...
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge...
