The mind is the servant of the heart. The mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart. The highest point of glorifying God is enjoying Him with the heart. But this is only an empty emotionalism if the joy is not awakened and sustained by correct knowledge of who God is. The saddest predicament of our age is for Christians to think that using our intellect to know God is unspiritual.
–Adapted from John Piper’s THINK
Indeed, thoughts and affections are sibi mutuo causae—the mutual causes of each other: “Whilst I mused, the fire burned” (Psalm 39:3); so that thoughts are the bellows that kindle and inflame affections; and then if they are inflamed, they cause thoughts to boil; therefore men newly converted to God, having new and strong affections, can with more pleasure think of God than any.
–Thomas Goodwin
The one thread that binds the whole book of Genesis (and the entire Bible, for that matter) is the theme of God’s grace in relation to the plan of redemption. As I read Genesis, it almost felt like the old, familiar children’s stories are literally leaping off the pages of the Bible in different shades and colors of grace. Adam and Eve’s clothing, Cain’s mark in the forehead, the choosing of Noah, the language confusion in Babel, Abraham’s call, Hagar’s desert wandering, Jacob’s complicated story and Judah’s trysts all point to the dismal failure of humanity and the staggering magnitude of the grace of God.
What’s especially significant to me was the often repeated theme of men trying to forge progress without the blessings of the divine. The lineage of Cain and the builders of Shinar were a curious case study of humanity’s relentless pursuit of the good life apart from God. It’s both sobering and revealing to me because historically speaking, and even today in our larger society, we see it happening the same way it happened to them.
People who simply ride the roller coaster of emotional [Christian] experience are cheating themselves out of a deeper and richer Christian faith by neglecting the intellectual side of that faith.
—Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig
The angel struck Jacob on the hip to make him understand at least two things: One, that even the injured and the broken can win if God wills it; and two, to mark him for life, reminding him that winning and success should be tied to humility. For if our own strength remains intact and we never suffered any injury or dislocation, we would become too proud of our achievements and we would forget that the only reason we won is because God allowed us to.
When you discover weaknesses and faults in the lives of the leaders you respect, you don’t necessarily dismiss them as bogus leaders. You simply recognize that they, too, are humans who are in need of the grace of God. They are being tempted just as we are. They may have golden torsos and heads but they have feet of clay- susceptible to decay and could crumble anytime if not for the upholding power of the grace of God.
Jojo Agot 