“But one of the saddest, most deprecating misuses of power is the withholding of love, affirmation, and delight from other people. Few things keep people in line with our wishes more than an attitude of reserve or aloofness. It is paradoxical that in the power struggle of relationships, the one who loves and encourages the least, gains the most power. This puts people on edge, keeps them guessing, and plays on their need for assurance about their worth.”
“The fallacy in Peter's mind was this: he believed his relationship was dependent on his consistency in producing the qualities he thought had earned him the Lord's approval.”
“There is no rest in the heart of God until He knows that you are at resh in His grace.”
“Helping people is the action step that unlocks knowledge of the will of the Lord. The circumstances about which we are concerned have people in them. In fact, the key to solving our circumstances is being the Lord's person to the people in those circumstances. Few of the questions we have about guidance are purely personal, unrelated to others.”
“Jesus’ mood is determined and decisive: He is on the way to Jerusalem, and He wants followers who can count the cost. The three different levels of commitment shown in people He met expose the ways many Christians relate to their discipleship today. The first man made a grand, pious commitment that went no deeper than words. He promised to follow the Master wherever He went. Jesus challenged the man to count the cost. So often we come to Christ to receive what we want to solve problems or gain inspiration for our challenges. He gives both with abundance, but then calls us into a ministry of concern and caring. We are to do for others what He has done for us. Loving and forgiving are not always easy. The second man had unfinished business from the past. He wanted to follow Christ, but a secondary loyalty kept him tied to the past. In substance, Christ said, “Forget the past; follow Me!” The third person wanted to say goodbye to his family. Jesus stresses the urgency of our commitment. Our commitment must be unreserved to seek first His kingdom. Are there entangling loyalties you have brought into the Christian life that make it difficult to give your whole mind and heart and will to Christ?”
“What a scathing exposure! It was as if Jesus said, “Listen, you say you want God, but your actions and words expose that you don’t. You talk about God’s judgment, but you did not willingly accept one who proclaimed it and called all of you to repentance. You say you long for the Messiah to come, but when He is here you search for reasons to reject Him. You are childish! If you had the wisdom of God, you would recognize His truth in the messenger sent to prepare the way for the Messiah and in the Messiah Himself. You have developed the miserable sickness of religious pretense and no longer desire what you prattle about aimlessly in what you pretend is prayer!”
“All too frequently we take a different view of our trials and temptations. We tend to see them as isolated nightmares. God, however, sees them from a different perspective. They are important and connected punctuation marks in the biography of grace He is writing in our lives. They give formation, direction, and character to our lives. They are all part of the tapestry He is weaving in history. He uses them to build up our strength and to prepare us to surmount greater obstacles, perhaps fiercer temptations.”
“Think about our judgments that create the anxiety of never measuring up to what we demand. Consider the subtle pressure by which we communicate standards of what we want people to be, rather than affirmation of what they actually are. Have we taken time to help people discover a motive to do the things we press on them? Are we creating people in our image of them, or are we helping them to discover their true selves and potential? Is our love quietly conditioned on their performance? Are they free to fail and begin again without incrimination?”
“Now the parable takes on a very personal focus. We can no longer enjoy observation without participation. We are part of the drama that is staged in this parable. Jesus came. What have we done with the truth of His message and the gift of His forgiving death?”
“The parable challenges us to clarify and claim our purpose and live it with absolute earnestness. Our ultimate purpose is Jesus Christ: to know Him, allow Him to love us, love Him in response, and love others as He has loved us. Each of us is called to live out that purpose in the unique circumstances and opportunities of our individual lives. That will mean several crucial things:”
“Our personal relationship with the Savior will re-create us in His image. He is to be our purpose and passion. We are to long to know Him better and make Him known to others.”
“When we drift from a deep, intimate companionship with God, we become negative, critical, judgmental and recalcitrant. We resist the repeated overtures of God’s love. Neutrality and detached aloofness eventually result. We become respectably unresponsive. It happens to all of us at times. The telltale signs are equivocation, vacillation and pretense.”
“is our problem also. So seldom do we learn from past mistakes. We fail to trust God, we get into trouble, and we miss what the mistake has to teach us. We all have compulsive, repetitive patterns that get us into the same old problems again and again. The Lord wants to change that. We can overcome the past, not repeat it. December 12 Heresickness Job 36:1-33 Elihu continued and said, “Wait for me a little, and I will show you that there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.”
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