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.
What Jesus Did
If you had access to all the luxuries you could dream of, would you voluntarily give them up? If you had riches beyond your wildest imagination, would you lay them all down for someone you love?
That’s what Jesus did.
“He gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:7-8 NLT
Jesus gave up His divine privileges, temporarily, so that He could be with His people. So that He could pay their debt and redeem them back to Himself.
Because of that, God “elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names.” (Philippians 2:9 NLT)
So if you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus, you are naturally called to follow Him. To reflect His love. And to, daily, die to yourself.
Though the call to die to oneself can be literal in some cases, more often, it's symbolic. It means giving up what we want in favor of something that can have an eternal impact.
Maybe, instead of bingeing a TV show or scrolling social media, you visit someone in the hospital, take a meal to someone who’s hurting, or help a single parent.
Maybe, instead of rushing to get everything on your busy schedule finished, you take the time to read the Bible with a child, befriend someone who’s lonely, or be present with the people around you.
Maybe, instead of waiting for God to send opportunities your way, you seek out those who are desperate for Him—and help them see why He occupies the place of highest honor in your life.
The great news is, you’ve been empowered to do what Jesus did.
The Mission of God
All of our lives are spent on something.
Most people spend their days focused on growing a family, building a career, or amassing possessions. While none of those things are necessarily wrong, they can become distractions from our ultimate goal in life.
In the book of Acts, we see Paul’s transformation in Christ. As a result of meeting Jesus and being changed by His grace, Paul spends the rest of his life preaching the good news of Jesus.
For Paul, God’s grace and salvation were so great that nothing on this earth could compare to doing His work.
Paul said that nothing in his life mattered as much as telling others about God’s grace. His goal in life was to finish his own race well by faithfully accomplishing as much of the mission of God as possible:
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."
Acts 20:24 NIV
The mission of ...
