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.
Loving Your Family
The word family can carry a lot of different meanings, depending on who you ask. But, the command to love your family comes straight from God.
In the Old Testament, the command to honor your father and mother was included in the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses for the people of Israel:
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12 NIV
As Paul, the author of Ephesians, is teaching the church in Ephesus about the implications of following Jesus, he repeats this command from the Ten Commandments. Paul knew that if we are to follow Jesus then we need to learn to love everybody, even those who are closest to us—and especially our own family.
Now, everybody grows up in different family circumstances. Some are born into nuclear families, some are raised in situations of brokenness, and others are welcomed into adoptive families. Regardless of how or where we grew up, God calls us to love those who raised us.
That may be a hard thing to do. Sometimes a family member seems like our greatest enemy because of how they’ve hurt us. But even in that, Jesus encourages us to love our enemies and pray for them.
While learning to love those who are closest to us may be one of the most difficult things we do, it is also one of the most life-changing. It increases our capacity to see and love others, as well as honor God with our life. Consider how you can take steps today to better love those God has placed in your life.
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out...
God’s Rhythm to Bless Us
Humans have a complicated relationship with rules. Even as small children, we struggle to understand the “why” behind them.
Consider how parents teach children to brush their teeth, reminding them morning and night. That child might only appreciate the chore years later, as they grow into adults and experience expensive and uncomfortable dental work. It’s then that a dull tooth-brushing routine feels valuable. What a shift in perspective!
We weren’t made to serve a strict toothbrushing schedule, but toothbrushing was made to serve us to help maintain healthy teeth.
Jesus brings similar wisdom and perspective to the expectation of taking a regular day of rest (Sabbath). The Jews knew that God was insistent on Sabbath observance, but they almost thought of it as if it were a chore. Jesus reminds them that people weren’t made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was created for people by God to provide much-needed rest.
Sabbath rest is God’s rhythm to ...
