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.
The Miracle of New Growth
This scripture shares the important truth that new growth is coming. What is unique is the growth isn’t coming from a vibrant tree, but from a stump! A stump is the remains of something that once was vibrant and full of life, but is now seemingly dead.
But what appears to be dead is instead going to produce a “tender shoot,” meaning a young, new growth, and out of that new growth the branch will bear fruit.
For Christians, this verse is talking about the coming Messiah, Jesus, who will come from the family line of Jesse. A family that seemingly was done and cut off to just the stump. Yet, he came as a “tender shoot,” as a baby in a manger, and lived a life to bear fruit for his father and ultimately pay the sacrifice for all our sins on the cross.
This verse also points to an important application for us—that God can take things that look dead in our life and cause new growth to appear. Even when it all seems done and dead, the miracle of growth is always possible.
Luke 16
“And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my Lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had ...
My True Identity
John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
Many of us define ourselves by what we do. You might be a teacher, or a firefighter, or an accountant—“that’s who I am." But God’s plans often lead us outside of the very things we believe define us.
Our ultimate defining identities are not in what we do, but in who we are: children of God. It sounds simple, but it’s a deeply profound truth.
Receiving Jesus and identifying as a child of God isn’t passive. It’s not just slapping on a name tag and continuing life as usual. Taking on that identity is a daily, active decision. It means fully accepting Jesus’ love, authority, and call on our lives.
He gives us the freedom to live beyond labels, past wounds, and even seemingly good things that can hold us physically or emotionally captive. He breaks the chains of people living in poverty, addiction, or grief.
You are no longer a...
