“When Jesus looked down from the cross, he didn’t think “I am giving myself to you because you are so attractive to me.””

We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that.

The great basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably his heart is set on us.

I am going to judge my circumstances by Jesus’ love, not Jesus’ love by my circumstances.

In religion, you obey because God is useful. In Christianity, you obey because God is beautiful.

All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.

Since they were saved by sheer grace, not by their perfect doctrine or strong moral character.

When we grasp that we are unworthy sinners saved by an infinitely costly grace, it destroys both our self-righteousn ess and our need to ridicule others.

Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves. Joy-based repentance makes us hate the sin.

We come to God saying, “Look at all I’ve done,” or maybe “Look at all I’ve suffered.” God, however, wants us to look to him – to just wash.

The purpose of Jesus’s coming is to put the whole world right, to renew and restore the creation, not to escape it.

Christ’s resurrection not only gives you hope for the future; it gives you hope to handle your scars right now.

Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.

How does Satan accuse us? By causing us to look at our sin rather than our Savior.

Think like a prophet, serve like a priest, and plan like a king.

We tend to see God as a means through which we get things to make us happy. For most of us, He has not become our happiness.

The basic purpose of prayer is not to bend God’s will to mine, but to mold my will into His.