Jesus was sent by God to be the chief persuader. He was on a mission to convince, and in John 11:32-44 he is faced with grief, one of the most traumatic afflictions of faith any human being can experience. The sisters of Lazarus had watched their brother die when Jesus failed to arrive, and were plunged into deep grief accompanied by doubt. This grieving doubt had an emotional effect on Jesus as Scripture says he was “deeply moved” (John 11:33,38).
Jesus and anyone who chooses to live like him will be controversial, and that isn’t a negative thing. Unless we decide to live in a society where everyone believes and thinks the same thing controversies will abound.
Jesus was cagey and colorful all the time. We seriously need to evaluate how we see Jesus!
When an individual can “hold the attention of someone by being extremely interesting, exciting, charming, or attractive,” then that person is captivating. This brings us to a question. How captivating was Jesus?
Jesus's confidence was in God, so when people were fickle he remained faithful, which is why I think so many people found him attractive. We must read the scriptures with greater intensity to learn this confidence, so we continue to keep the dream of Jesus alive and build his kingdom, regardless of whether we are many or few, important or irrelevant, succeeding or failing, being criticized or praised.
Redefining our view of Jesus should include not only identifying compassion in his life, but exhibiting compassion in our own.
How different might you or your church be if courage was taught, encouraged, and expected from everyone in every area of their lives?
Conquer is a word descriptive of but rarely used to define Jesus. It means “to defeat an enemy, or take control or possession of a foreign land.” In this sense, Jesus comes as the light to conquer a world filled with darkness.
We must recognize, reject, and conquer our easy inclination toward ‘religious humanism’ if we are going to experience “Deep Change.” If we do not, then like the Pharisees we will become opponents of “Deep Change.”
“Deep Transparency” is a spiritual state of security with God, where we overcome our fear of being emotionally honest with him and people.
Change is only possible if we embrace “Deep Spirituality,” and relying on God watch the miraculous transformation only he can work in our lives.
“Deep Awareness” is a spiritual sensitivity to God and his Word that awakens our conscience, and stirs up the transformative power of the Holy Spirit for change. This awareness keeps us from slipping back into old patterns of life or attitudes of mind.