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To become a Christian is not merely to agree with a set of facts about Christ. It is a radical reordering of what is valuable in the universe and in your life than Christ. Being idetified with him is more valuable than having an impressive reputation. Living under his authority is more valuable than doing as you please. Becoming more like him rather than expressing yourself and doing what he wants not what you want.

The most fundamental explanation for Judas' betrayal was that his heart was untouched and unmoved by the grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ. he remained blind to the light, deaf to the word, unchanged by the powers of the age to come. He had no interest in denying himself and taking up his cross to follow Jesus. His relationship to Jesus was a means to an end---Judas' own comfort created by wealth.

The family of Jesus is made up of sinners who found grace and forgiveness in him---those who have some understanding of who Jesus is but are seeking more, those who have heard God's word and want to spend the rest of their lives seeking to obey it, and those who have waited and resisted and refused to believe in Jesus and now want to call him Lord and Master. Do you see any of these family traits in your own life?

"God had always intended for his blessings, his promises, his rule to be for people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, not exlusively for those who had pure Jewish blood in their veins. According to Jesus, there is a family that takes precedence over our biological families' and that is the family of our spiritual parents, brothers, sisters---that made up of all who are related by faith and obedience to Jesus.

"Real repentance always requires getting painfully specific regarding sins that we mourn over and turn away from. Someone who occasionally or weekly says, "Forgive us our sins," but never gets specific with God about that jealousy, that greed, the pride that has a grip on his heart that week is not genuinely repentant." It takes a great deal of humility to say, "I was wrong" toward pleasing God instead of using God."

"A pilgrim is someone who leaves home to go on a big journey. John Bunyan believed that the Christian life is like a pilgrimage, with many joys and trials on our way to heaven."

As a king, Christ carries out his office in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. The Jews on Palm Sunday misunderstood because they were looking for an earthly king, a deliverer from physical oppression by the oppressive Roman rule. They failed to see that the kingdom’s power was right before them in the person and work of Christ.

The vision we will have of God can take place indeed (not as intellectual knowledge nor a beatific vision)) only in the face of Jesus Christ. This vision will be ocular.: that is, with our redeemed bodies and souls, we will see our Redeemer as he really is, the glorifief God-man who is the visible image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15, i John 3:2).

We will never know just how many and how difficult were Christ's temptations while he lived on earth.His family, friends, disciples, and the devil assaulted him. In the face of unbelief, he may have been tempted to be callous or indifferent, but instead he showed patience, compassion, and mercy. Indeed, the temptations were designed so that even today, as our high priest in heaven, Jesus will show the same to us.

The Trinitarian nature of redemption denotes that the Father chose us, the Son purchased us, and the Spirit applies to us the benefits of salvation (Ephesians 1). it also calls attention to the means by which salvation would be accompamlished---that is, the incarnation. The authority of the Father, the love of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit were all at work in the fashioning of the God-man, Jesus Christ.

God enables us to obey this command and to love him and his Son, albeit imperfectly, with the totality of our being so that he may delight in the love he receives from his people.

What a joy to know that Christ knows and loves us with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength! This enables us to know and love Christ in the same way he loves us. God is pleased that we want to know more of Christ.

"The rich young ruler thought he was self-sufficient, that he could earn his way to heaven through good deeds or buy security with his wealth. What things are you tempted to rely on to make it through life rather than trusting God? What ability makes you feel proud?"

"Imagine having a conversation with Jesus like the rich young ruler did. What do you think Jesus would tell you to give up for the kingdom of God?"

"What drives our behaviour (in reading the Bible) is not just what we think, but ultimately what we love. There is a transcendent glory in the Scriptures and whoever discerns it cannot miss to hug and embrace them, not just understanding God's word, but also in the growth of your love for the God of the word.

Consider how it has been the way of God's people to be much addicted to and conversant in the Scriptures."

"The instruments employed by providence for you are of a special consideration, and the finger of God is clearly seen by us when we pursue that meditation. For sometimes great mercies shall be conveyed to us by very improbable means, and more probable ones laid aside. A stranger shall be stirred up to do something for you which your near and natural relations had no power or will to do for you." - John Flavel

Waste not your precious time in vanity. Do not multiply the sin of idle words. Oh what a load lies on many a soul that does not feel the guilt of these two sins, loss of time and idle words...

if you would live together as the heirs of heaven and provoke one another to the love of God and holy duty and delightfully talk of the Word of God and the life to come, what blessings might you be to one another.

(Quotes) "But when I give much of my attention to myself and condition so much, and little of my attention to his service, glory, and honour, then no wonder that I am so much discouraged. Therefore, labour more and more to mortify self-love. In this way you shall never be discouraged, whatever your condition be."

"Gracious God, thank you that it was in my need that Jesus found me; in my weakness, he lifted me up into the shelter of his fold; and when I call to you in Jesus' name, you hear and save me from all my troubles. When I am fearful and failing, grant me to know the immeasurable greatness of Jesus; and may his strength, and not my own, be the foundation of my confident obedience to You. All this I ask in Jesus' name."

Our conversation with God in private reveals what is in our hearts. Listen to yourself pray, it reveals what your real priorities and beliefs are. To pray is an admission of dependence on God. A self-assured person is not going to petition God in prayer because he thinks he's got it all covered. A self-righeous one is not going to do prayers of confession because he thinks he is good enough to earn God's blessings.

We can't be whole human beings if we cut ourselves off from the environment which God created and in which he is working. People of faith live in a far larger reality than people without faith. 'God so loved the world!' We often betray this reality. We huddle & retreat. We collect a few friends who think alike. We barricade ourselves from visions that expose our prejudices, from people that challenge our narcissism.

We can't be whole human beings if we cut ourselves off from the environment which God created and in which he is working. People of faith live in a far larger reality than people without faith. 'God so loved the world!' We often betray this reality. We huddle & retreat. We collect a few friends who think alike. We barricade ourselved from visions that expose our prejudices, from people that challenge our narcissism.

"Stay alert! I am God, the God of everything living. Is there anything I can't do? I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this (stiff-necked) people, but I will usher in a wonderful life of prosperity, I promise. Fields are going to be bought here again. Biblical hope acts on the conviction that God will complete the work that he has begun even when the appearances oppose it. It takes courage to act in hope"

"Our sense of who we are is very much determined by the place we are in and people we are with. When that changes abruptly, who are we? The accustomed ways we have of finding our worth and sensing our significance vanish. No one needs us. We wallow in self-pity. We are where we don"t want to be. But this very strangeness can open up new reality to us. In the midst of alienation, a sense of freedom can occur."

"You have ignored the best things that have ever been said to you-God's Word-and let the chatter and gossip of the crowd fill your ears. You have abandoned simple actions that people of faith have used to keep in touch with the truth of God. instead you have let the crowd distract you with frivolities and dehumanize you with propaganda."

Obey God and stand out! Don't let the crowd drag you into sloppy indolence.

Scripture's task is to tell people, at the risk of their displeasure, the mystery of God and the secrets of their own hearts--to speak out and make a clean breast. It shows us how badly we are living and how good life is. Enlightenment is not without pain. But the pain, accepted and endured, is not a maiming but a purging.

The Bible presents the word of God to shipwrecked people, to construct a way of salvation

Insightful Quotes
"God is not an idea to be studied. God is not a problem to be solved. What we find is Jeremiah praying: addressing God, listening to God as a living person, a thou to whom we speak, not an it that we talk about. Prayer is a decision to approach God as the personal center, our Lord & Savior. It issues from the conviction that the living God is immensely important to me, demands my exlusive attention.

Insightful Book Quotes:
"If we are going to be complete human beings, we are going to have to do it with God. We will have to be rescued from these despotic egos that reduce us to something less than human. We will have to expose the life of self-centeredness and proclaim the truth of God-centeredness."

"The most important thing in his life was God--not comfort, not applause, not security, but the living God."