Perhaps you didn’t have a good beginning upon which to build. Maybe your parents fought or divorced early on. Maybe you didn’t come from a nice neighborhood or a school system whose funding indicated that they took your future seriously. Maybe you had to raise yourself because your mom worked three jobs. Or maybe you lived in the suburbs, but were abused, neglected or pacified with “stuff”. Maybe you never experienced a loving relationship at home. Whatever the case, where you start has nothing to do with where you are going. After all, Jesus started out in an obscure town named Nazareth.
Whatever the case, where you start has nothing to do with where you are going.
Since Jesus came from this no-name place, He can meet anyone in any place at any time, even when life seems worthless. He can turn your life around and set you on your feet, if you will just look to Jesus from Nazareth.
You can look to Jesus who came from no hope, no opportunity and no way out.
There’s no room for excuses like “If it weren’t for him,” or “If it weren’t for them,” or “If it weren’t for that circumstance, or my background, or my limitations.” All that is real, yes. But in the name of Jesus Christ, the one fromNazareth, you don’t need to be whining anymore. You can get up. You can dust yourself off. You can walk. You can be responsible. You should no longer see yourself as a victim. Your relationship with Jesus Christ makes you an overcomer (1 John 5:1-4).
I recall a time when I had some serious ant hills on my front lawn. As these ants served their queen, they built mounds on my lawn, turning a once-green lawn into a place of foreign habitation. They were building their own kingdom on my lawn, so I needed to address their presence. If I didn’t...
Everybody needs someone to help them navigate through their life. Timothy had the best of mentors in the apostle Paul, who wrote two letters to encourage him in his life and ministry. During his missionary journeys, Paul had left Timothy behind in Ephesus so that he could grow the ministry that...
