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 Others Well
Do you know what love means? Many people grow up with imperfect pictures of love. It can be difficult to think about when we may not have ever experienced true love. It can be even harder to love others when we aren’t sure what that means.
Jesus spoke a lot about love, and He also commanded His followers to love people. More than that, Jesus modeled love in His life and ministry. He gave us a picture of what pure love looks like.
Jesus instructed His disciples multiple times to love one another. The Old Testament also contains commands to love others. Jesus’ command is new, not because it was the first time it had ever been said, but because He uses Himself as the standard.
He doesn’t command us to love people until we’re tired. He doesn’t say to love others until we don’t feel like it. He says to love others in the same way He has loved us.
Jesus loves us unconditionally. He does not hold anything back from us. Instead, He gave His entire life up for us. And He didn’t do this to please other people—but because He loved His Heavenly Father, and His Heavenly Father deeply loved us. It was unconditional love that led Jesus to the cross.
Jesus cares about the quality of our love toward others, and the measure of the quality of our love is Jesus, not people. We shouldn’t compare our acts and thoughts against other people, because the only person we’re called to be like is Jesus Himself.
Think about the past few days and reflect on how loving you were toward other people. Did you go out of your way to help someone? Were you selfless in showing love? Consider a few practical ways you can love others the way Jesus loves you. Spend some time in prayer, and then take a step toward showing someone love.
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...
