The only cross in all of history that was turned into an altar was the cross on which Jesus Christ died. It was a Roman cross. They nailed Him on it, and God, in His majesty and mystery, turned it into an altar. The Lamb who was dying in the mystery and wonder of God was turned into the Priest who offered Himself. No one else was a worthy offering.
Once, for Paul, as for his contemporaries, Israel’s electionand the demand of the law stood side by side in unresolved tension. Now he found their resolution, not in some synthesis or new idea, but in an event: the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of the Son of God. In Christ the demand of the law and the fulfillment of promise meet.
Fortunately Jesus didn't leave [the disciples]-or any of us-without hope or direction. Where we fail, Jesus succeeded. The only One who as able to recognize and follow His purpose from the beginning was Jesus. He alone was able to obey consistently and please God completely. And His divine mission was to make a way for each of us to do the same.
Had it been the object or the intention of Jesus Christ to establish a new religion, he would undoubtedly have written the system himself, or procured it to be written in his life time. But there is no publication extant authenticated with his name. All the books called the New Testament were written after his death. He was a Jew by birth and by profession.
There is nothing that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand, and He waits for us to go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. If we will be obedient and if we are diligent, our prayers will be answered, our problems will diminish, our fears will dissipate, light will come upon us, the darkness of despair will be dispersed, and we will be close to the Lord.
There will be times in your life when you want to pray but feel so far from God that prayer seems impossible. The flesh will tell you that God is against you, that you have gone too far and that He is no longer interested in you. But faith defies the flesh. It contradicts Satan’s lies. It rises up against defeat, gloom, and despair and finds hope in God.
If Christianity was only about finding a group of people to live life with who shared openly their search for God and allowed anyone regardless of behavior to seek too and who collectively lived by faith to make the world a little more like Heaven would you be interested ’ ‘Hell yes ’ was his reply. He continued ‘Are there churches like that
It became obvious why Catholics had built such beautiful cathedrals and churches throughout the world. Not as gathering or meeting places for Christians. But as a home for Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament. Cathedrals house Jesus. Christians merely come and visit Him. The cathedrals and churches architecturally prepare our souls for the beauty of the Eucharist.
If you perceive a world where there are separate images and you still feel a charge about anything, that is the indicator that you want to ask for Help. Lord, help me today. I am determined to see. Help me to see. That is where the openness and the humility come in. If you feel a charge about something, you not only are not seeing clearly, you are not seeing at all.
It makes a world of difference to know that God loved you enough to send His only begotten Son to suffer and die for you. Suddenly our lives and sufferings aren't meanigless accident, but part of God's loving plan for us. And our acceptance of that plan becomes our own loving response. It is the difference between being in love and living a dreary existence!
Vita ya dhambi hupiganwa katika uwanja wa akili na katika uwanja wa mwili kati ya Shetani na Mungu. Hutumia silaha kuu ya uongo na silaha kuu ya ukweli. Mungu anataka tuujue ukweli. Shetani anataka tuujue uongo. Kushinda vita ya dhambi huna budi kutumia neno la Mungu, kama Yesu alivyolitumia kumshinda Shetani wakati akijaribiwa katika Mlima wa Majaribu wa Jangwa la Yuda.
Kufanikiwa katika maisha lazima kitu fulani ambacho si cha kawaida kitokee katika maisha yako, bila kujali uko upande wa Yesu au upande wa Shetani. Kufanikiwa katika maisha ni sawa na kwenda mbinguni, au kuishi mbinguni duniani. Kitu ambacho si cha kawaida kutokea katika maisha yako ni sawa na kifo. Fanya kitu ambacho hujawahi kufanya kupata kitu ambacho hujawahi kupata.
I am the true God; I am the living God, the eternal King. I am the Most High over all the earth; I am exalted far above all gods. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of my throne; love and faithfulness go before me. My plans stand firm forever, the purposes of my heart through all generations. The heavens proclaim my righteousness, and all the peoples see my glory.
After Peter came to recognize his own inadequacy, his utter inability to fulfill his destiny apart from obedience to his only true responsibility, he became a rock-solid leader. As his story unfolds in the book of acts, we can clearly see that when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus and followed Him, others followed to. And they followed by the thousands. Needed today: more Peters.
No tabloid will ever print the startling news that the mummified body of Jesus of Nazareth has been discovered in old Jerusalem. Christians have no carefully embalmed body enclosed in a glass case to worship. Thank God, we have an empty tomb. The glorious fact that the empty tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not stop when death comes. Death is not a wall, but a door.
