sharing my love of books with you

Author: Cadie (Page 2 of 41)

I’m Saved, but I’ve Sinned

Psalm 51: 1-4a & 11 (KJV) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight… Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

             I heard a preacher say once that David is known for two things: killing Goliath and sinning with Bathsheba.  One was a great victory; the other a great defeat.  All of his life, David not only believed in God but built a close relationship with God.  His life of faith is recorded by others in 1 & 2 Samuel and by himself in the Psalms.  He trusted God for protection (1 Samuel 17: 37), thanked God for great military victories (2 Samuel 8), and tried to be an example to others (1 Samuel 24).  However, after all of this, David was still subject to sin.  He lusted after Bathsheba, sinned with her, and eventually killed her husband so he could make her his wife.  It seemed as though the man after God’s own heart had turned his back on God.

            Have you ever been in a situation like David, where it feels like you have forsaken your relationship with God and turned to sin instead?  Those awful questions begin to rise: Have I fallen too far?  Can God still hear me?  Does He still love me?  Could He ever forgive me?  I’ve asked myself these questions before, and I found the answers in God’s forgiveness of David.  

            Although David had shut the door of communication between himself and God, God kept knocking and pushing that door open.  He sent Nathan the prophet to confront David with his sin (2 Samuel 12).  I can see him, pointing at David as he said, “Thou art the man.”  And I can see David, as his walls come crashing down.  David could only reply, “I have sinned against the Lord.”  Perhaps by this time, he was weeping, acknowledging his sin, and knowing he needed forgiveness from God.  Nathan’s reply was quick.  “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”  All that was needed for God to forgive was for David to admit that he had sinned.  Repentance and forgiveness happened in the same moment.  

            I believe it was not long after Nathan left his presence that David penned Psalm 51.  I encourage you to read the full Psalm; it’s only 19 verses.  This is the passage that I run to when I need forgiveness in my life.  It is a constant reminder that God can forgive and that He will forgive.  He is a God of mercy.  To answer those questions from before: We can never fall too far.  God will still hear us; He wants us to cry out to Him.  He does still love us.  He wants to forgive us.  He wants to give us a clean heart, like a new slate, so we can start again.  God didn’t throw David away, and He won’t throw us away either.  God was quick to forgive when David repented, and He is just as quick to forgive us.

One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp

I have started One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp several times over the last few year (three to be exact), but inevitably, something would get in the way of me finishing it. I am a fiction reader; I love action and adventure, mystery and intrigue. So it takes dedication for me to want to finish a non fiction (even inspirational) book.

Well, now that I have have read (and finished) One Thousand Gifts, I must say I’m sorry I didn’t stick with it before.

The subtitle of the book pretty much sums it up: A dare to live fully right where you are.

Ann shares with readers how a seemingly simple challenge changed her life. But she doesn’t begin with the premise of the challenge. She begins with the heartbreaking tale of an accident that tore her family apart and plunged her deep into despair. Though she tried to fix it, then to hide it, she lived many years under a cloud of sorrow, anger, and bitterness.

Until her friend emailed her this challenge: create a list of one thousand blessings from God.

One thousand things to be thankful for.

One thousand gifts offered freely by the Father of Love.

As Ann shares glimpses of her list, she describes how she began to change. The active seeking of blessings in ordinary things changed the ordinary into extraordinary. The drivel of laundry becomes thankfulness for the husband and children who are healthy enough to dirty clothes. The always filling dish sink become thankfulness that there is plenty of food to go around. And these lay the foundation for her to say Thank You for the surgery because it will save the child’s finger. Forming the habit of thankfulness helps her get through hard things with the peace of knowing all things come from God even when we don’t know why.

As Ann searches for God’s gifts, she begins to see thankfulness throughout the Bible. She describes the greatest example of thankfulness: Jesus Himself. Every time Jesus sat down to a meal, the Creator of the universe gave thanks. Even as He sat at His last meal, with Judas his betrayer, Jesus gave thanks.

I was surprised that Ann’s full list was not given in the book until I got to the middle and she said she had long passed one thousand. But even after she quit numbering her list, she continued searching for moments in which to give thanks. She kept an open notebook with her at all times. She shared how her walk with God deepened when she began the journey of thankfulness. She found when giving thanks for every small moment the presence of God seemed to grow around her. Ann’s challenge to readers is not just to begin to live a life of thankfulness. It is a challenge to let God show Himself real in their lives.

I thoroughly enjoyed One Thousand Gifts. Ann Voskamp has a beautiful way of saying things, of describing things, that just pull you in. One of my favorite examples is that she calls her children love-children, and she calls her husband the Farmer. She is simplistic and real. She is like a cup of tea on a cool morning, refreshing and sweet. And while I bemoan the fact that I hadn’t finished it before, I know I needed to read One Thousand Gifts this year. I started reading it the day of my husband’s brain surgery. I took Ann’s challenge and kept a journal close to me every day in the hospital, the rehab, and the months of healing at home. I jotted things down like successful surgery, 2nd surgery moved from afternoon to morning, burned bacon and the hand that grasped min and eyes that softened and the words”I will love you eve if you always burn the bacon”, and quiet mornings for more than physical healing.

And I have seen my walk with God grow and strengthen as I’ve told Him “Thank you” over the last few months.

I’m going to challenge you now: read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Start your own list, and see where thankfulness will take you.

Dictum

Dictum – an authoritative assertion; a saying; in law, a statement of opinion expressed by the judge on some point not vital to the principal issue of the case

“Everyone who contributes to the Dictionary will leave a trace of themselves, no matter how uniform Father, or Mr Dankworth, would like it to be. Try to take Mr Dankworth’s comments as suggestion, not dictum.”

Elsie to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Loquaciousness

Loquaciousness – loquacity (talkativeness; the habit or practice of talking continually or excessively)

“Mr Pope and Mr Cushing rose from their chairs every time Elsie, Rosfrith or I entered, and competed to help or pay the nicest compliments. Their loquaciousness was an irritation to almost everyone except Da, who rewarded their attentions to me with small smiles and nods. Dr Murray was not so encouraging.

“Gentlemen, the more words you employ to flatter the ladies the fewer you define. Your constant use of the English language is, in fact, doing it a disservice.” They quickly turned to their work.”

The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Catarrh

Catarrh – an inflammation of a mucous membrane, more particularly of the throat and nose, accompanied by an increased secretion of mucus

“You need to eat more fruit, Mabel,” I said. “Keep the catarrh out of your chest.”

Esme to Mabel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams

Worthy is the Lamb

Revelation 5: 12-13 (KJV) And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

             Earlier this year, I had the honor to hear a live production of several selections from Handel’s Messiah.  My favorite selection is from this portion of Scripture.  The Messiah follows Christ from prophecy to His birth to that glorious day when He is seated on His throne with believers of all ages praising Him.  The audience stood when the choir sang “Worthy is the Lamb”, the words of which are from this passage of Scripture in Revelation.  “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God – to God by his blood.”  As they sang, I began to imagine singing it with them.  Not just here in an earthly choir, but at the throne of Jesus Christ with my loved ones who have gone to heaven before me.  

             Imagine it for just a moment.  There’s a rainbow around the throne – a reminder that Christ has kept every promise throughout the ages.  And He who sits on the throne is more beautiful that any jewel or gemstone known to man.  And around Him, there is throng of grateful believers.  And I am there too.  I am one of those praising Him because He is worthy to receive all my praise.  I am the one singing “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” to my Savior.  He is so worthy!  

             The greatest exhibition of the love of Christ was His death on the cross for the sins of the world.  Isaiah prophesied Christ’s horrible death.  Here are some passages from Isaiah 53.  “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief… he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities… and with his stripes we are healed… and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.”  

             The afflictions Jesus suffered on the cross are unimaginable.  Doctors have tried to tell us what His physical pain must have been, and preachers have tried to explain the pain of God the Son being separated from God the Father.  And yet, I believe it must have been much worse than we could ever express with words. But Christ was willing to go to the cross because He loved us.  He loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8).  He loved us even when He knew who we were.  He even loved those who He knew would reject Him.  There is truly no greater love than this.  That God Almighty, Creator of the universe, perfect in every sense of the word, would shed his blood for me, die in a horrible, painful, shameful manner, so that I could be with Him in heaven.  He truly is worthy of an eternity of praise and glory and honor and blessing.

Prevaricate

Prevaricate – to quibble; to shift or turn aside from or evade the truth; to equivocate or speak evasively

“[Da] opened the door of the Scriptorium. Instead of going in, he turned and looked up at me. I knew this look and waited for him to invoke Lily’s greater wisdom. She would know what to do, he would say, without offering his own encouragement or warning… But this time he did not prevaricate.”

Esme of her father, The Dictionary of Lost Words, pip Williams

I also defined Prevaricate here.

Fascicle

Fascicle – a small bundle; one of the installments of a book published in parts

“As we stood on the threshold, I felt all the responsibility of introducing Ditte to the pigeon-holes full of words and quotations, to all the old dictionaries and reference books, and to the fascicles, where the words were first published before there were enough for a whole volume.”

Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words

Provenance

Provenance – derivation; origin

“You might be surprised to learn that some words take their provenance from nothing more substantial than a technical manual or a pamphlet. I know of at least one word that was found on the label of a medicine bottle.”

Aunt Ditte to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
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