Are you familiar with the story of me wrestling with Jacob? Do you remember what time of day it happened? It was at night. Do you think this is a significant detail? It is because I wanted to break off the engagement before dawn. So he was wrestling with me in the dark. This is pertinent because those who wrestle with me do so in the dark. Do those who struggle with the difficult questions of being describe this as wrestling with me? But that is exactly what is happening, and it works better if they are ‘in the dark’ about it.

I said that those who mourn were blessed, for they would be comforted. Do you mourn? Do you think this only applies when you experience the death of someone close to you? Do you consider yourself blessed when you experience the mourning that accompanies it? Is death the only thing that causes you to mourn, or are there other things that cause this reaction? As you progress and grow in life you will need to let go of old things that you may embrace the new things I am leading you into.

There were Roman soldiers who were sent to apprehend me. You may guess from this description that they were not leaders, or well learned, or people of the covenant. Yet they returned to their superiors empty-handed, although they had the authority and the weapons to take me into custody if they wanted. When asked about this by their superiors they said never a man spoke like this. What kind of an answer is that? A good question here is what did they see in me that neither the Roman civil authorities nor the Jewish religious authorities could see?

What food do you enjoy most? Do you eat it in unlimited amounts, or do you discipline yourself to eat limited quantities? Most people learn to control their appetites even for things they like for their ultimate benefit. How do you view your spiritual life? Is it a matter of denying yourself things that you want? There may be some validity in this concept, but it presents spirituality from a negative viewpoint. How do you present your faith to others? Is it primarily positive or negative? Do you see a correlation between this and the number of people who respond to your message?