Blessed are the broken in spirit,
'Blessed are those who are completely broke and have nothing to lose.' The more I think about it, the more shocking it becomes.
When I reach my end and realize that I have nothing to give, then the kingdom of God begins within me.
It is completely contrary to the logic of this world.
How do people who have completely failed behave? They don't act as if the world is in their hands.
He doesn't act like he knows all the answers.
His mind is in the gutter.
But Jesus praises this very spirit.
They say that man in the trash heap is truly blessed.
The world always teaches us to be confident.
In short, 'Be rich in spirit or whatever!', 'Stand on top of the world, not on a pile of garbage!'
But the kingdom of God begins when the balance becomes '0'.
Only when you look hard enough to find nothing to offer do you begin to move forward. --- p.31~32


After washing your eyes clean with tears, strangely enough, the intruder begins to look like a welcome guest.
In the midst of suffering, we see only the empty space left by the things we once cherished.
But at that moment, God fills that void.
When you open your eyes, you begin to see God filling not only that space, but even spaces you didn't even know existed before.
Everyone experiences loss.
Everyone mourns.
But those who follow Jesus realize that suffering is not in vain.
There are blessings that seem completely out of the ordinary.
To find this blessing, you have to go to the bottom of a pitch-black pit without even a flashlight.
There is a blessing there, and that blessing is worth staking everything on. --- p.58


The most dangerous thing in life is to rely on anything other than Jesus.
Yet, many people who grew up in church rely on a performance-oriented religion.
Like the Pharisees, they are obsessed with what they should do for God.
Although I may not pray like the Pharisee, I have my own certificate ready to submit at any time.
It's so easy to focus on external behavior like this.
But Jesus looks at our inner self.
A place only He can see, our true nature, something that can never be falsified. --- p.83


There aren't many people who deliberately try to deceive.
But most people live their lives with at least a little bit of decoration on their true selves.
Every instinct inside me whispers to hide the guilt and put on a bright smile on my face, pretending that nothing is wrong.
But ending me means overcoming this instinct.
Then, the real me can enjoy the real life in Christ. --- p.115-116


Life forces us to let go of things we hold onto unwillingly.
For example, life takes away the people we love.
They also take away homes and jobs.
They dig under our skin and steal our health and hope.
There are times in life when you feel a sense of despair, as if you have nothing left.
At times like that, unwanted emotions surge in like angry waves.
Emotions like fear, loneliness, and anger.
The worst feeling of all is the feeling of emptiness itself.
This feeling that life is over is called 'despair'.
But what if that emptiness is exactly what God wants? --- p.124


“Do you want to get well?” (John 5:5-6).
That's a really strange question.
A man is seriously ill and spends his days lying around the healing pond.
Does he want to get better? Do people who work out at the gym want to lose weight? Does Robinson Crusoe want to escape from a deserted island? It seems like a silly question.
But isn't there a deeper meaning behind it? The more I minister, the more I understand Jesus' question.
The answer seems obvious, but it isn't at all.
There are more people than you might think who wander around the pond without actually wanting to be healed.
There are so many people who come to church but do not want God's help.
People act for reasons they don't even understand.
So Jesus points out the crux of the matter.
'You've been stuck in a gray area for a long time.
Do you truly want to get better? Or are you truly rooted in the soil of despair and low expectations?'--- p.152


Jesus could have been born in one of the world's greatest cities.
Then people say, “It’s the perfect time and place.
He would have said, “As expected, the one prophesied to be the Messiah is different no matter where he is.”
Jesus could have been born into a billionaire family.
Then people would have been amazed at the power of money.
Jesus could have been born the son of an emperor.
Then people would have praised the power of authority.
But Jesus was born into a poor, weak, and obscure family, and we cannot help but say, “God’s power is truly amazing.”
God waved the brush of His power over a blank, empty sheet of paper.
'Now, look!'

--- p.197~198