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.
Run to Win
Have you ever trained hard to compete in something you really wanted to win? You probably have a goal when working hard to win: status, fame, validation of your hard work, a sense of accomplishment, even a trophy or medal. There’s a prize at the end. The harder the road, the bigger the prize may feel.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, Paul says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
Paul had his eyes fixed on the end goal: an eternity with Jesus and an eternal crown of reward for the life he lived on earth!
Have you ever started in on a new challenge, only to bail quickly once things became difficult? Think about that time and ask yourself, did you have a clear picture of what waited for you at the finish line? How does knowing an eternal reward waits for you at the finish line of this life encourage you to give this race everything you’ve got?
It’s incredible to witness the intense training athletes endure and the sacrifices they make when their aim is to win. How much more so can the eternal value of the race we run as believers motivate us? When it feels like living a life of faith is too hard, ask yourself, “What’s the prize?” Like Paul, let it fuel you to RUN.
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 ...
