dmonyx
The Mystery of Divine Personality, "He was the meekest and lowliest of all the sons of men. Yet he spoke of coming on the clouds of heaven with the glory of God. He was so austere that evil spirits and demons cried out in terror at his coming, yet he was so genial and winsome and approachable, that the children loved to play with him and the little ones nestled in his arms. His presence at the innocent gaiety of a village wedding, was like the presence of sunshine. No one was half so kind or compassionate to sinners, yet no one ever spoke such red-hot scorching words about sin. A bruised reed he would not break. His whole life was love. Yet on one occasion he demanded of the Pharisees, how they were expected to escape the damnation of hell. He was a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions, yet for sheer stark realism, he has all of us self-styled realists soundly beaten. He was the servant of all, washing the disciples' feet, yet masterfully he strode into the temple, and the hucksters and moneychangers fell over one another to get away in their mad rush from the fire they saw blazing in his eyes. He saved others, yet at the last, he himself did not save. There is nothing in history like the union of contrasts which confronts us in the gospels; the mystery of Jesus is the mystery of divine personality." -James Stewart
There is, for me, immense comfort in a Christ who was not always smiling. As I picture his face set as flint toward Jerusalem, my fear is unfastened by his fortitude. As I imagine the urgency in his voice as he defended a guilty woman amidst a crowd holding rocks, my shame is freed by his mercy. And as I picture him weeping at the grave of Lazarus, crying out at injustice, sweating blood in the garden of Gethsemane, my tears are given depth by his own cries. I do not grieve alone."
“All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you” (Mark 11:24).
As people living within a world that bombards us with reasons not to believe, with reasons to accept half-truths as truth and sin as mere psychosis, it is an active task to remain thinking, to keep our hearts and minds continually renewed by truth, beauty, hope, and love as it comes from God's Word. It is necessary to recall the faithfulness of God in our lives, to hold before us the promises Christ has made, to daily keep our eyes sensitive to his presence. For God has called us to worship in spirit and in truth. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God, seen in the face of Christ, actively proclaimed in our lives, continually pursued and held before us, pierces through the fog of sin and death and falsehood. It is light that cannot be overcome, and we must look to it. "I am the light of the world," Jesus proclaimed. "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). Let us be encouraged even in the fog of life, for the light of Christ cannot be extinguished."
"Your bid for God or no God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity, will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high."
