We become more like Jesus when we put our strength under His control.

Becoming more like Jeusus means that we move toward the deep feeling of mourning instead simply living on the surface.  When we move toward mourning, we allow mourning to move us to action and in that place Jesus promises us comfort.   

The starting point for becoming more like Jesus is becoming people who are poor in spirit.  But what does that mean?  It means that we realize that we're hurt beyond what we can heal on our own, that we owe more than we could ever pay on our own, and the only way that anything gets fixed or dealt with is for Jesus to show up.

When Jesus blesses people it changes who they are.  We become "the blessed ones" and are no longer "throw away people."

Jesus makes being in a relationshiop with God possible through His perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection.  When it comes to Jesus, we need ALL of Him...not just the parts we pick and choose.

Sin at its core is unbelief.  It's NOT believing that God's word or God's work are good.  That leads to action that's rooted in unbelief.  Sin always leads to death.

The gospel begins with God's heart for realtionship with us.  We were created on purpose, with a purpose: to reflect Him and what He is like to the world He created.  

Hope in the Old Testament comes from a mash up of 2 words that when put together mean: "Waiting in tense expectation."  We don't like tension...especially tension with open/ended and uncertain resolution.  Yet the hope we find in the bible looks back to what God has done, believes in what He's doing now, and trusts that He will do what He says in the future.

At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves: what does faithfulness do?  When we see the kind of faithfulness that comes from the WITH GOD LIFE and compare that with the "Faithfulness" that our world tries to pawn off on us, we can see that there is a better way to be faithful.  Faithfulness in the WITH GOD LIFE lands in a place of redemption and restoration, not because we're good enough, but because God is.

Faithfulness at some point will require obedience.  Obedience isn't conformity or compliance.  Obedience is the love language of The Father, because it says: "I love you and trust you enough to do what you say, because I believe you want the best for me."