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.
Grief Turned to Joy
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
John 16:20 (NIV)
These words, spoken by Jesus nearly 2,000 years ago, have been a lifeline for countless people facing sorrow. Today, let’s think about the first ones who clung to them: his disciples.
Jesus spoke these words on Thursday of Holy Week in the Upper Room. By Friday, he was crucified, and the world rejoiced in his death. Then came Saturday—a day of grief, confusion, and silence.
Perhaps the disciples were back in that same Upper Room, their tears breaking the quiet. Did the words from Thursday echo in their hearts? “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
Did they dare believe it?
When Jesus said this, he wasn’t offering wishful thinking. He was declaring a truth written across the story of God’s people. From Abraham’s journey to Israel’s exodus, God had always turned grief into joy. It took time. It often involved loss. And it was always wrapped in mystery. But God was faithful.
If today feels like “Saturday” for you—a day of waiting, mourning, or uncertainty—know this: “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
Cling to this promise. It is true because of the One who spoke it and the empty tomb that followed.
Your joy is coming. Hold on with hope, because God is still turning mourning into dancing, sorrow into singing, and grief into joy.
Luke 10
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into ...
God Is With You
The prophet Isaiah wrote the words of Isaiah 7:14 nearly 600 years before Jesus was born. At the time of this writing, the Israelites were doing all the right religious things, but weren’t practicing justice as God commands. Like many prophets during Isaiah’s time, this was a warning against that injustice. But among that warning was a glimmer of hope that God would set things right.
Here, the prophet Isaiah is giving the people of Israel a reason to hope because of God’s good promise—the promise that He will provide a sign and He will show up for us. Because that’s what Immanuel means: God with us.
But what does “God with us” mean for us today?
It means we can share in that hope by fixing our eyes on Jesus and trusting in Him. We can trust that from Christ’s birth to His current reign in Heaven—Jesus is God with us.
He’s with us in our pain when we lose a loved one.
He’s with us in our anger when we see injustice and don’t know where to turn.
He’s with us ...
