Sublime

12Be strong, and let us be courageous for the sake of our people, and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what seems good to him.”

for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

30And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.

In the midst of this psychological climate Jesus began his teaching and his ministry.

One of my early mentors, the late Dr. Emol Fails of Raleigh, North Carolina, said you

Who is the most successful entrepreneur in human history? Henry Ford? Steve Jobs, perhaps? For my money, that distinction, hands down, goes to Saul of Tarsus—later Saint Paul, to Christians. Even if you aren’t a Christian, hear me out: He was the first-century convert to the teachings of Christ who organized the work of a messianic itinerant preach

As long as we do not look beyond the earth, being quite content with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue, we flatter ourselves most sweetly, and fancy ourselves all but demigods.

‘A great man shows his greatness,’ said Carlyle, ‘by the way he treats little men.’