Shiana

Do you really see sin as sin, or is it the guilt and shame that you want to get rid of?

I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as ‘God on the cross.’ In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. ‘The cross of Christ … is God’s only self-justification in such a world” as ours….’ ‘The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak; they rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but thou alone.’

Introverts are driven to distraction by the semi-internal dialogue extroverts tend to conduct. Introverts don’t outwardly complain, instead roll their eyes and silently curse the darkness.

David and Goliath is not about you overcoming the giants in your life. You’re not David. You are the cowardly Israelites over in the corner going “What are we gonna do, he’s talking so mean to us!?” Jesus is David, slaughtering the giant of sin and death. You’re not the point. He is the point.

The implications of woman’s origin are profound. Her dignity and worth, her necessity, her role in life and marriage, and her unique beauty have been established by God from the beginning. She was made to be a man’s faithful helper. And there is no greater help she can offer him than her prayers on his behalf to the One who alone can provide perfect, sovereign help…You are not sufficient succor for him. A stronger Hand must come to his aid. Blessed is the wife who pleads often for this mighty Hand to keep her husband’s life; who begs for him at the gates of Grace. This is the sort of woman who fears the LORD, feels her own weakness, and finds refuge and righteousness in Jesus Christ. She wants God for her husband. She is to be praised.