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.
A Call to Believe
In John 20:19, after Jesus’ prophesied death and resurrection, we see that all of Jesus’ disciples have gathered, and Jesus went to see them. That is to say, almost all of them—Thomas wasn’t there. And when those who were present told Thomas that they had seen the Lord, Thomas did not believe it.
“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:25 NIV
A week later, when the disciples were gathered together again, Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27 NIV)
Thomas immediately acknowledged that Jesus has, in fact, risen from the dead and is with them again. It’s here that Jesus says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are ...
