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.
God Gives Good Gifts
There are seasons in our lives when we are more discouraged than encouraged. It’s inevitable that all of us will experience these moments, often showing up during times of grief, uncertainty, or exhaustion.
Even in these moments, Romans 15:5 reminds us that there are three things that God offers to those who believe in Jesus.
The first thing God offers is endurance. When we begin to grow tired of doing good things, or living our life for God, it is often because we are living with the wrong motivation. True motivation comes from living for God, not ourselves. It is God who gives us the endurance through the Spirit to make good choices and live for Him.
The second thing God offers is encouragement. In seasons of discouragement when we feel let down by people, God gives us lasting encouragement. He reminds us that we are loved. He reminds us that we are being transformed. We don’t need to strive for approval or acceptance because we’re already sons and daughters of God.
The third thing God offers is unity of mind toward each other. This means that we consider others how Jesus would consider them. Instead of only seeing their flaws or mistakes, we see them as people loved and cared for by God.
All three of these things are worthy of spending time in prayer asking God for: endurance, encouragement, and unity with each other. If you’re feeling discouraged and down, ask God for the endurance and encouragement that only He can give and for unity of mind that reflects Jesus and His love.
An Abundance of Blessing
Do you pray for God to bless you? We probably spend most of our time in prayer asking for God to bless things in our life, or asking God for something we need. And we should. Jesus even tells us we should.
We know that all good things come from God. That means that we don't truly own anything we possess. It's all a gift from God and ultimately should be used for Him. Our money, talents, and resources are opportunities to give back to God and others.
2 Corinthians 9:8 says that God is able to abundantly bless those who are generous in using their time and resources to do good things for others. This verse isn't saying that God will bless us unconditionally. The two verses before this one, in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, talk about how we should be cheerful givers in everything we do.
Paul is saying that God blesses us—not so we might have comfortable lives—but so that we would be selfless in giving back to God and others.
There are many ways we can give back to God and ...
