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.
A Great Light
Have you ever known a deep darkness? Most of us have—at one point or another. But there's a great light that changes the way we see.
Peppered throughout the Old Testament are prophecies regarding future events. And recorded in the book of Isaiah is a glimpse into a future hope…
“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.”
Isaiah 9:2 NLT
In the verse preceding this one, the text explains that sometime in the future, these “people who walk in darkness,” from "Galilee of the Gentiles," will be flooded with light. (The word "Gentiles" is a term for non-Jews, representing an eclectic mix of other nations.)
Israel was God’s chosen nation through which the Savior of the world would be born. But even Abraham, who’s considered the father of the Jewish people, was told by God that all families and nations of the earth would also be blessed through his descendants (see Genesis 12:2-3; 22:18).
This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. But when He showed up on the scene, He was rejected by His own people—mostly because He didn’t show up in the way they’d imagined. He was, however, surprisingly accepted by many once-faithless Gentiles.
God shares more about this in Isaiah 49:6, when speaking about the prophesied Savior:
“You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:6 NLT
And in the New Testament, Matthew cited Isaiah 9:1-2 when writing about Jesus’ ministry near the Sea of Galilee, where many Gentiles lived. He understood it to be the fulfillment of God’s words through the prophet Isaiah.
It’s a beautiful reminder that no matter who you are, where you live, what you look like, your history or heritage, or how deep the darkness around you can feel, a great light has come. It pierces the darkness, eradicates shadows, and brings life to all that it touches.
That great light is Jesus, and He alone is our hope. We were once in darkness, but now we have light.
Don’t Lose Heart
As we start getting older, our bodies begin to change.
Muscles might ache. Hair might gradually turn gray. Vision and hearing might eventually get less sharp. And we, or someone we love, might even struggle with significant or devastating health challenges.
The apostle Paul once offered some ageless wisdom to the believers in Corinth, Greece, which can still be helpful for us today:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV
Paul knew what it was like to face hard things; he’d been beaten, shipwrecked, snake bitten, and imprisoned.
Earlier in the letter, he’d said, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV)
The ripple effects of sin’s existence in the world might frustrate us physically, but it ...
