The story of God's Word is a story of redemption. God is actively using our failures and transforming them when we bring them to His grace. We don't have to defend ourselves when we go to trial. Jesus does that. He is our advocate, our defense attorney; He has already interceded on our behalf.

Sin is when we substitute ourselves for God. In our arrogance, we demand that God come and pay for our sins; that He come and be judged for the crimes we've committed. If we truly believe that Jesus was the Judge that was judged for you and me, we wouldn't have to live like we're always on trial.

The mocking of Jesus reveals how we are hostile to the claims of Christ. You either completely adore Him or you completely despise Him. But God works in the midst of weakness. The world is looking for control and weakness, but Jesus transforms and redeems weakness. Through shame and weakness, Jesus gives us a new hope and a new name.

Our judgment day occurred on the cross. Jesus endured all the shame, pain and loss we deserved. He experienced ultimate separation from God on the cross so that we would never know the wrenching pain of being abandoned. It was a day of great darkness... disorienting and disintegrating. As long as we continue to put something else in the center of our lives to bring us identity, purpose and intimacy, we will continue to walk in darkness.

When you get to know Jesus, there are going to be some things you do not like. He is a threat to us because believing in Him means we lose control. You need a God who is not a product of your needs, but one who you can believe in not because He meets your needs, but because He is true. Though, because He is true, He will meet your needs.

There is an art to loving. In the first chapters of Genesis, God gave us marriage to shape and fulfill us. Often, however, we take what God designed and make our relationships personal idols. We lose sight of the reality that God needs to be our first priority.

How do our hopes, dreams and ideas of relationship turn into expectations? When we elevate ourselves over the other person in our relationship, expectations steal away choice and intimacy. "I know better, I deserve more, I should have..." The reality of this is expectations are the acid of intimacy.

The agape style of love that God has given us to live out is a love that is based on sacrifice, sculpture and seeking. The job of a sacrifice is to die, to give up itself for something else. Our relationships are gifts that give us opportunities to do just that. As we learn to die to ourselves, God is shaping us like a sculpture, molding our hearts towards agape. This love seeks you out; you cannot escape it.

A covenant relationship is a relationship that is not determined by what the other party does. It is determined by what each of you has committed to do. Regardless of what you do or do not do, that commitment will be honored. For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health... It does not matter how bad it gets. That commitment will be honored. That is a covenant relationship.

Jesus looks very different in the Second Coming. People often read it symbolically, but Jesus is speaking quite literally. It's physical, and it's personal. Be on guard. Stay awake. This doctrine is vital to the Christian faith.