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.
Be the Example
Have you ever felt too young—or too old—to do something important? Too small for a big job? Too inexperienced to contribute something meaningful? Too underqualified to make a real difference?
In the book of 1 Timothy, which is a God-inspired letter from Paul to his “son in the faith,” Timothy, Paul equips and encourages Timothy in things like doctrine, leadership, and living out the ways of God. He writes:
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
If you’ve ever felt too young, remember that God has purposefully put you here, at this specific time in history. He desires to use your passion, drive, vision, energy, and ideas to magnify His glory. You see things from a unique vantage point, and that is a great thing.
If you’ve ever felt too old, remember that God has purposefully put you here, at this specific time in history. You have grit, wisdom, leadership, and the gift of life experience. You see things from a unique vantage point, and that is a great thing.
You are never too young, or too old, to be used by God.
No matter your age, God has empowered you to love Him and to love others, and to live a life that points people to Him. How can you do that? You can set an example—in the way you talk, in the way you act, in the way you love, in the way you live out your faith, and in your purity.
You can be the example.
You can represent Him.
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...
