Topic: Jesus Christ

When God’s ways confuse us, the answer isn’t to demand our way. It’s to look at what He is actually doing. He is always working, it may just be different than we think.

Real repentance, John insists, is ethical & relational—not merely emotional & ceremonial. The fruit tells the truth that the feeling often conceals.

The devil doesn’t need bars, porn shops, neon signs, or pentagrams. He just needs moralism without Christ; religion without repentance; churches without the gospel; spirituality without Scripture; & inspiration without salvation.

The devil knows your weaknesses. He knows your insecurities. He knows your patterns. He knows your pressure points. And he will use whatever those are to: steal your hope, kill your worship, & destroy your witness.

If the cross is not about wrath, then:
• Christ did not take your punishment
• Christ did not bear your guilt
• Christ did not satisfy justice
• Christ did not remove condemnation
• Christ did not reconcile you to God
And if Christ did not take your wrath… then you must.

We try to fix ourselves with self help. God fixes us with salvation. We try to build our own lives. God gives us new life. We try to make our own world. God is making a new heaven & new earth. We try to save ourselves. God sent a Savior. God says: “You cannot cover you. But I can. And I will.” This is the gospel.

The serpent did not deny God’s existence; he questioned God’s Word, stirred desire, & taught Adam & Eve to interpret reality through what looked good, felt good, & seemed wise. This shows how sin distorts perception—& how the God we ran from is the God who came looking for us.

The truth is centering, stabilizing, clarifying—if we are willing to upend our devotion to our preferred vision of the truth.

The lie says: “God just wants you to be happy.” The truth says: “God wants you to be holy — and in holiness you will find a joy deeper than happiness.” The lie says: “God doesn’t care about your happiness.” The truth says: “God cares so much about your joy that He refuses to let you settle for anything less than Himself.”