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.
Say “Yes” to What Matters
Peter sat in grief and darkness. He had publicly denied knowing Jesus just before Jesus was crucified. And for a couple of days, Peter had to process his guilt without expecting it to go away. But on the third day, Jesus’ tomb was found empty and the stone rolled away.
Not long afterward though, Peter was out in a boat with several other disciples doing what he was trained to do before he met Jesus: fishing.
It’s as he’s doing this that Jesus appears. But instead of letting Peter continue to live with the shame of his past, Jesus pulls him aside and asks him a question that propels Peter into his purpose:
“Do you love me?”
Three times Jesus asks Peter this—one for each time Peter denied him. This wasn’t a passive-aggressive question: Jesus was inviting Peter to reaffirm the relationship he’d previously denied.
Every time Peter responds with, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you,” Jesus re-commissions Peter by calling him into the role of church builder and shepherd.
Jesus’ resurrection meant that Peter didn’t have to be defined by his mistakes. He could still embrace the call on his life and become the leader Jesus knew he could be.
Like Peter, you also have the opportunity to say “yes” to loving Jesus and being loved by Him. No matter how dysfunctional your life looks, or how far from Jesus you feel, there is nothing that can separate you from His love.
Your past mistakes or current problems do not dictate your purpose when your life is rooted in Christ.
God has given each of us access to a free gift we don’t deserve: a free gift that is available when we choose to love God and receive His relentless, sacrificial love for us.
The resurrection reassures us that no situation or mistake is impossible for God to redeem. There is no fear Jesus cannot conquer and no life He cannot heal. No darkness can stand against the power of the risen God who conquered death on our behalf.
There is nothing our God can’t do, and no one our God can’t redeem.
Today, say “yes” to Jesus and allow Him to reveal His deep, unending love for you.
Day 24 of the reading of the gospel of Luke
Merry Christmas Eve
Luke 24
“Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: and as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, ...
The Fulfillment of Promises Made Long Ago
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.”
To modern ears, this verse is a familiar, warm, and comforting centerpiece of the Christmas story. But to those who first heard these words from the angel on the night Jesus was born, every word was electric, buzzing with fulfilled expectations.
A Savior.
Born in Bethlehem, the town of David.
The Messiah.
The Lord.
For centuries, Israel had lived with a promise. The prophet Isaiah had declared, “To us a child is born, to us a son is given… and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Jeremiah had spoken of a righteous branch from David’s line, a King who would reign wisely and bring justice (Jeremiah 23:5). Micah, too, had foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, David’s town (Micah 5:2).
So when the angel announced this birth to shepherds under the night sky, it wasn’t just...
