the answer starts to get revealed in Leviticus:
The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying. . . (Leviticus 1:1)
God will tell his people how they may have fellowship with him.
Exodus is riveting.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34–35)
What? Moses CAN'T enter? That's a big problem. how will this problem be resolved?
Genesis is so good.
God wrote a book.
God. Wrote. A. Book.
Have you read it?!
uhhh..no, terrible idea ma'am.
our hearts are. . . not good.
“Good persons have to face trying times often, by God’s will. He allows tests to spring up from every point of the compass. Whether these are from human beings, from demons, or from a person’s own nature, let it provoke thanksgiving. God cannot pour out His favour on a person whose heart longs to dwell with Him, except by sending trials for truth’s sake. Even so, no-one can become worthy of this majesty apart from the grace of Christ. Saint Paul clearly calls it a gift: “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His name” (Phil. 1:29). Saint Peter says the same: “But even if you suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are you” (1 Pet. 3:14). God grants you a share in Christ’s agonies. A daily cross: that is God’s way. No-one has ever gone to heaven through an easy life.”
Isaac of Ninevah
~4th century
"The reason that secular progressivism has such an egregiously low view of human rights is because they don’t believe in God, and God is the only possible foundation for any kind of human dignity at all. You cannot dispense with the God who created humans without simultaneously losing what it means to be a human. And when you have lost that, you no longer have any right to speak about human rights at all."
https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/whats-wrong-with-human-rights-2.html
"new ideas are fine...but they are also...illegal." -- michael scott
Psalm 2:12:
“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way.”
All rulers of the nations are commanded to become Christians. This includes: presidents, Supreme Court justices, prime ministers, legislators, et al.
If they don’t, they will face the wrath of the resurrected Jesus.
Acts 5:38–39
“And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it.”
Nobody can overthrow Christ’s church. How could they? It’s God’s work.
As a Christian, I believe that fifty billion trillion years from now, i will be enjoying “the incomparable riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 2:7).
Christ was master of the paradox:
Last is first.
Giving is receiving.
Dying is living.
Losing is finding.
Least is greatest.
Poor is rich.
Weakness is strength.
Serving is ruling.
O Jesus, never-failing Treasure,
O Jesus, everlasting Wealth,
O Jesus, true and essential Food,
O Jesus, inexhaustible Drink,
O Jesus, Clothing of the poor,
O Jesus, Defender of widows,
O Jesus, Protector of orphans,
O Jesus, Champion of those in troubles,
O Jesus, Companion of pilgrims,
O Jesus, Pilot of voyagers,
O Jesus, Peaceful Haven of the storm-tossed,
O Jesus, raise me from my fallenness;
O Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!
O Jesus, my supremely powerful King,
O Jesus, my all-powerful God,
O Jesus, my immortal Lord,
O Jesus, my most glorious Creator,
O Jesus, my supremely good Guide,
O Jesus, my most loving Shepherd,
O Jesus, my Master so rich in mercy,
O Jesus, my Saviour, Friend of Humankind:
O Jesus, enlighten my passion-darkened senses,
O Jesus, heal my sin-wounded body,
O Jesus, cleanse my mind of empty thoughts,
O Jesus, guard my heart from sinful desires;
O Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!
O Jesus, King of peace, bestow Your peace on me.
O Jesus, sweet-scented Flower, make me fragrant.
O Jesus, longed-for Warmth, warm me.
O Jesus, eternal Temple, shelter me.
O Jesus, majestic Garment, clothe me.
O Jesus, Pearl of great price, make me rich.
O Jesus, precious Gem, enlighten me.
O Jesus, Sun of righteousness, shine on me.
O Jesus, holy Light, make me radiant.
O Jesus, deliver me from weakness of soul and body.
O Jesus, rescue me from the hands of the Enemy.
O Jesus, save me from the eternal torments of hell.
O Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!
A hymn from between 9th-11th centuries
Author unknown.
“God is the source of all law and morality and goodness, the One that you must believe in before you can deny Him, the One who is the Word and the One that enables us to speak.” AW Tozer
“There really is a difference between being brought up as a Christian and being brought up as a Jew or a Moslem or an atheist. The difference is that every Catholic child has learned from pictures, and even every Protestant child from stories, this incredible combination of contrasted ideas as one of the very first impressions on his mind. It is not merely a theological difference. It is a psychological difference which can outlast any theologies. It really is, as that sort of scientist loves to say about anything, incurable. Any agnostic or atheist whose childhood has known a real Christmas has ever afterwards, whether he likes it or not, an association in his mind between two ideas that most of mankind must regard as remote from each other; the idea of a baby and the idea of unknown strength that sustains the stars.” —G. K. Chesterton
“the scientific critic. . . mildly condemns as improbable something that we, as Christians, have almost madly exalted as incredible; as something that would be much too good to be true, except that it is true.” G. K. Chesterton.
“We have to be poor in spirit before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Negative, before positive. And here again is another example of exactly the same thing—conviction must of necessity precede conversion, a real sense of sin must come before there can be a true joy of salvation. Now that is the whole essence of the gospel. So many people spend all their lives in trying to find this Christian joy. They say they would give the whole world if they could only find it, or could be like some other person who has it. Well, I suggest that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred this is the explanation. They have failed to see that they must be convicted of sin before they can ever experience joy. They do not like the doctrine of sin. They dislike it intensely and they object to its being preached. They want joy apart from the conviction of sin. But that is impossible; it can never be obtained.” MLJ