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.
Responding to God at All Times
Throughout our lives, we will all experience both suffering and joy. We'll have times of great grief and times of overflowing happiness. Sometimes, they’ll be separate seasons—but other times, these experiences come together.
In either case and in any situation, James expected Christians to come to God. If someone was suffering, prayer was the call to action. If someone was cheerful, people were to pause and praise God.
This might seem obvious, but when suffering clouds our thinking, we can sometimes forget to prioritize prayer. And when things are going well and we're feeling cheerful, it’s easy to just enjoy our season and not stop long enough to praise God for it. But every season of life is actually just an opportunity to put into practice what James wrote about…
When we are suffering, let us pray. When those around us are suffering, let us pray. When we are cheerful or happy, let us praise God. When others are happy, let us praise God with ...
