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Genevieve_87
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Name: Jenna
Gender: Female
Interests: Reading, writing, spending time with family and friends, playing the piano, surfing the web, all types of handwork, Lord of the Rings, and having theological discussions. ^_^
Expertise: I don't think I'm an "expert" in anything at the current time. :)
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Member Since:
11/16/2004
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| Thoughts on a Sermon 10 - The Cost of Freedom(Written Sunday evening) “Freedom is never free.” It’s something we have all heard many times, but something we don’t necessarily think about often, especially in the context of our freedom as Christians. But it is an extremely important concept, which I was reminded of very strongly today. This evening’s sermon focused on this topic, particularly upon the freedom that Christ died to give us, and what that freedom means. Many times, perhaps, we are tempted to reduce and oversimplify the true depth of what it was that Christ came to do for His people. He didn’t just come to live a pure life as the perfect example to us, nor did He come merely to expose the corruption of the religious leaders of the day and bring a message of peace and freedom and love for all men. These elements had their place in Christ’s ministry, of course, but first and foremost, He came to set His people free from their bondage to sin. We know the truth of this, of course, but we don’t think about it enough—nor do we think enough about the cost at which this freedom came. We need to be reminded of the reality over and over again: our freedom cost Jesus everything. From His coming to the earth as a man, enduring the trials and temptations of human existence (yet without sin), to His humiliation and physical anguish on the cross, suffering that knew no bounds, spiritual separation from the Father that caused the perfect Lamb to cry out in torment—this was the cost of our freedom from sin. That reality must always be before us. We can never forget—we must never allow it to lose its astonishing impact—that this suffering of the spotless lamb of God was to grant us freedom from our sin. If we keep that truth always before us, how could we possibly ever sin? Does that ultimate sacrifice mean so little to us? When we see the reality of Christ’s suffering clearly, we will better understand how every single sin is equivalent to spitting in the face of the crucified Savior. Every sin that we commit says that we regard that sin more highly than the sacrifice of Christ. When we sin, we are not holding Christ before us, observing the crown of thorns and the nails in the cross. Instead, we are esteeming that sin more highly than our suffering Savior. When we sin, we are in effect spitting in the face of the One who bought our freedom at such a horrific price. How can we sin when we truly remember the cost of our freedom? How can we spit in the face of the Savior who is full of nothing but love and mercy toward us? How can we in when we remember that our freedom from bondage was anything but free? | | |
| It is 1792, and the reign of terror has engulfed the beautiful city of
Paris in a sea of blood. Madame la Guillotine has claimed hundreds upon
hundreds of lives, and day by day more of Paris’s leading citizens are
being thrown into the jaws of death—each of them guilty of no crime but
being aristocrats, the bitterest enemy of the new social order. But now
there seems to be a small ray of hope for the innocent French families
accused of crimes they did not commit. Many aristos are daily being
snatched away from Madame la Guillotine, and the stories grow stronger
and more fantastic—stories of a small band of Englishmen, willing to
risk their lives to rescue their fellow men from an untimely death, and
of their leader, the mysterious and enigmatic man known as... the
Scarlet Pimpernel.
It is against this backdrop that Emma
Magdalena Rosalia Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy narrates what has been
called “one of the most enthralling novels of historical adventure ever
written.” Within the pages of The Scarlet Pimpernel,
we meet the elusive Pimpernel himself, the brilliant man who has
pledged himself to rescuing innocent human beings from unjust
condemnation; his cunning and merciless arch-enemy, the Frenchman
Chauvelin, who has in his turn pledged himself to hunting down once and
for all the man who keeps meddling in the affairs of the Revolution;
members of the loyal band of nineteen Englishmen who are willing to
risk all for the sake of their brave and bold leader; and above all,
Lady Marguerite Blakeney, the “cleverest woman in Europe” and also
perhaps the most beautiful, a former actress who led the French stage
and who now finds herself caught in a terrifying dilemma that will test
all her loyalties and her love.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is
perhaps the grandest novel of the French Revolution, with a vivid story
that captures both the imagination and the heart. Baroness Orczy is a
supremely talented writer, bringing her tale to life with superb wit
and passion. On the surface, it is a classic tale of adventure, with
all the right elements of conflict, suspense, and drama. At its heart,
though, The Scarlet Pimpernel.
is also one of the most captivating and beautifully compelling love
stories ever written. This is a tale that must not be missed!
Most highly recommended. | | |
| The Joy of Thy Salvation: Thoughts on Psalm 51(Cross-posted from my Blogger.)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within
me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy
Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me
by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and
sinners shall be converted to You.” - Psalm 51:10-13
I once
heard a distinction made about this passage, referring specifically to
the phrase “restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” It is easy to
become spiritually discouraged at times, to feel alienated from the
Lord, to struggle with Christian duties, and above all, to lose the joy
of being a Christian. We look back on times of joy and great spiritual
blessings, and it is easy to become despondent during times when we
find ourselves so far from that state. But perhaps we look in the wrong
place for that joy to return.
The distinction I heard—I
believe it was through a story our pastor once told—was of a man
despairing at how he had lost the joy of his salvation, until a friend
reminded him that it was not the joy of his salvation, but the joy of Christ’s salvation. David does not beg the Lord to “restore to me the joy of my salvation” but to “restore to me the joy of THY salvation.” When we look to ourselves—my experience of salvation, my joy in the Lord, my
spiritual encouragement—it is, of course, incredibly easy to become
discouraged. Why? Because our hearts are sinful! This is why we are
directed to look to Christ, and not to ourselves.
The joy of my salvation will never be evident unless I see it as the joy of His
salvation. My spiritual zeal and encouragement does not come from
looking into my own heart, but from looking to the cross and to Christ,
at whose feet my burden fell.
Lord, never restore to me the joy of MY salvation, but always restore to me the joy of THY salvation! | | |
| Contentment vs. complacency(Cross-posted from my Blogger)
Back in January, our pastor gave his usual pastoral message at our annual congregational meeting, and something he said in that message really resonated and has “stuck” with me ever since. It is a thought that can sometimes be encouraging and can sometimes be overwhelmingly convicting: the idea of contentment versus complacency. Pastor talked about how, as Christians, we are commanded to be content, but that command should never be used as a license for complacency.
This idea could, of course, be applied in a plethora of ways. A man should not envy his neighbor’s possessions, but instead be content with what God has given him; however, that doesn’t mean that he should become complacent about his job and not care whether or not he is working hard to make his situation better for himself and his family. A student should not be jealous of a fellow classmate’s higher grade, but that doesn’t mean he should become complacent and not care whether he is doing good work or not because, after all, that other student is going to score higher than him anyway. A music student should not give up in despair if she doesn’t have the talent of a concert pianist, but nor should she become complacent and fail to exercise the gifts that God has given to her, for His glory.
Being content has to do with being satisfied and rejoicing in what one does have, while refusing to dwell on what one doesn’t have; being complacent, on the other hand, has to do with thinking that one is “good as is” and not having the willingness to work hard in order to grow and mature.
This issue goes hand in hand with another concept that I hold very near and dear: namely, that our lives are to be an experience of constant learning in nearly every aspect, whether it is formal education or not. Many people—especially, I will freely admit, young people of my own generation—seem to think that education happens during the K-12 and college years, but that once a person graduates with a diploma, whatever that diploma might be, he or she is done learning. Such young people cannot wait to “get through school,” and there seems to be some sort of misconception among my generation that “real life” cannot possibly begin until after graduation. The reality, however, is that a person’s whole life should consist of learning, to one degree or another. When formal education is over, a student should not think, “Oh good, that’s over—now I can get on with my life and forget about school.” While this is true to a certain extent, I believe that we should never abandon learning; we should continue to seek knowledge through various means, learning and growing and educating ourselves in every way we can throughout the balance of our lives. Contentment with one’s formal education (which is a good thing, by the way) should not be used as an excuse for complacency with regard to learning for the rest of our lives.
Of course, there are even more profound spiritual applications to this as well. Yes, we are to be content and rejoice wherever God has placed us, but that does not give us a license to become complacent and start acting as if we have nothing left to learn. I believe that this is a particularly great danger in the Reformed community, almost to a greater extent than anywhere else. We often tend to think that we “know our stuff” so well, and that we don’t really need to try to learn anything more. We assure ourselves of how we know so much more than the vast majority of the rest of the Christian community, so why should we bother to keep learning more when we already have a level of spiritual maturity that’s so much higher than the average American Christian?
What an incredibly dangerous idea this is! How easy it would be to move from this position to arrogance, haughtiness, and selfish favoritism! Instead of such hypocritical complacency, we need to practice humility, always recognizing how much we still have to learn and not becoming apathetic through the argument that we “know enough.” Our Christian lives should be a journey of constant learning and maturing, and we should never use a false “contentment” as a shield behind which to hide and avoid spiritual growth. As Christians, we are called to be sanctified, to become more like Christ each day, and that means constantly growing and never becoming complacent. We should have a hunger for the Word and for spiritual things that is never satisfied; we should never be “content” with where we are, but always push ourselves and seek to grow and learn more throughout the entirety of our spiritual lives.
Contentment, when it is godly and in the proper context, is a blessing and a gift from God. But we must never let that contentment become an excuse for laziness and a reason to grow stagnant in our growth, whether it is spiritual or otherwise.
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| Do it with your might!Whatsoever thy hand
findeth to do, do it with thy might.
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Ecclesiastes 9:10
'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do' refers to works that are
possible. There are many things which
our heart finds to do which we never
shall do. It is well it is in our heart; but if we would be eminently useful,
we must not be content with forming schemes in our heart, and talking of them;
we must practically carry out 'whatsoever
our hand finds to do.' One good deed is of more worth than a thousand
brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different
kind of work, but do just the things we 'find to do' day by day. We have no
other time in which to live. The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we
never shall have any time but time present.
Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into
maturity before you attempt to serve God. Endeavor now to bring forth fruit.
Serve God now, but be careful as to the way in which you perform what you find
to do - 'do it with thy might.' Do it
promptly; do not fritter away your
life in thinking of what you intend to do tomorrow as if that could recompense
for the idleness of today. No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow. If
we honor Christ and are blessed, it is by the things which we do today. Whatever you do for Christ, throw
your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little slurred labor, done as a
matter of course now and then; but when you do serve Him, do it with heart, and
soul, and strength. But where is the might of a Christian? It is not in himself,
for he is perfect weakness. His might lies in the Lord of Hosts. Then let us
seek His help; let us proceed with prayer and faith, and when we have done what
our 'hand findeth to do,' let us wait upon the Lord for His blessing. What we
do thus will be well done, and will not fail in its effect.
~ From Spurgeon's morning reading for November 26 | | |
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