Years ago, my mom suggested I read an author. An old author. From the 1800’s. She said, “I just know you will love her.” For some reason, I was never able to locate any books by her. And in time…although it crossed my mind, I forgot about this recommendation.
A few days ago was my 40th birthday. One of my closest friends (who knows me well) gave me a present. I got home, unwrapped it & found it was the very same author suggested to me years ago by my mom. There was no way she could have recollected or even known about the suggestion from years ago. Coincidence?
In this book lay one of the most remarkable, bold declarations I have read in a long time. It is lengthy, but so worth reading. Such truth from His Word. Made me ask a few questions…
- Do we live on safe ground, when we were meant to climb mountains?
- If we simply deducted Christ & church on Sundays…would our lives look the same?
- Are we living lives empowered by the Spirit? Full of Victory? Embracing the fullness of the offering…paid on Calvary?
Would love to hear what you think…
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“But is this all? Did the Lord Jesus only have this in His mind when He laid down His precious life to deliver you from your bondage of sin? Did He only propose this partial deliverance? Did He intend to leave you struggling under the weary consciousness of defeat and discouragement? When all those declarations were made concerning His coming, and the work He was to accomplish, did they only refer to a limited experience of victorious living? Was there a hidden clause in each promise that was meant to deprive it of its complete fulfillment? Did ‘deliver us out of the hand of our enemies’ (Luke 1:74) mean that they should still have dominion over us? Did ‘always causeth us to triumph’ (Cor 2:14) mean that we were only to triumph sometimes? Did being made ‘more than conquerors through Him that loved us’ (Romans 8:37) mean constant defeat and failure? Does ‘able..to save them to the uttermost’ (Hebrews 7:25) mean the meager salvation we see manifested amongst us now? Can we believe that the Savior, who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, could possibly be satisfied with the many meager…lives…today? The Bible tells us that ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the words of the devil’ (1John 3:8). Can we ever imagine that this is beyond His power, and that He finds Himself unable to accomplish the thing He was manifested to do?”
~ Hanna Whitall Smith
5 Comments
Hi Jen. Those are powerful words. I’m going to read them again tomorrow. Let them sink in a bit. I don’t think we realize as Christians the power we have in Christ.
God bless
Tracy
I agree with you Tracy. I totally agree! ~ Jen
I’m not exactly how I came here, to your blog, but I am glad I did. I love Hannah Whitall Smith. I look forward to perusing your blog a bit more. Thank you for sharing these rich words.
WOW…this is something to ponder on. I don’t think we are living for Christ to the fullest. It is a daily relationship that needs to be refreshed more than we know. We live our lives on the surface and never seem to let go and Let God guide. I struggle with that. To truly Let God take you where you need to be is hard, but in days like now I feel we really need to try. The only purpose we are here on earth is for Him…why is it so hard to completely Live for Him? I will ponder and I thank you for your post!!
di – Thanks. Always love your feedback. So true, we always tend to live on the surface…all of us! Take us deeper Lord!
Appreciate & value you more than you know. So thankful for the sisterhood we share! Love, Jen