Blood kind of grosses me out. It doesn’t smell nice. And it certainly doesn’t “wash” anything. If anything, it usually tends to stain everything that it touches. So why is the blood of Christ different?

Blood is a person’s life force. Without blood, you die. If you get stabbed and the blood starts draining out, you start dying as well. The more blood you lose, the more you die.

After Christ died on the cross, the guards came to Him and stabbed Him in the side. Blood and water gushed out of this wound.

But what is the significance of this blood? And what is it’s function?

I really like the book The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee, which helped me to realize that there are three main functions for the blood:

The Blood justifies us before God

We are sinners, and therefore God, by His righteousness, cannot accept or justify us. He loves us and would love to justify us of course, but the penalty of sin is death. You might say this is unfair. We sin because we are sinners, because our forefathers were born sinners and passed on a sinning nature to us. But God wasn’t happy with the situation either. The people that He created were condemned to pay a price that none of them were able to pay. So He came and paid the price for us.

That is what we do when we apply the blood of Christ (when we tell the Lord, “Lord, I apply your blood right now” or “Lord Jesus, wash me with your blood”). We take advantage of the fact that the blood of Christ can wash us from every sin. And when it washes us, it is as if we never had sinned. Because God’s righteousness at that point is satisfied, God literally doesn’t remember our sins at all. He fully considers the blood of Christ to pay the price for every sin that we have ever committed.

This has nothing to do with how we feel. Even if we don’t “feel” justified, this doesn’t mean that we aren’t justified. God’s righteousness is not based on our feelings. But the awesome thing is, once we are washed with the blood of Christ, God’s righteousness, which previously condemned us, now justifies us. We are in His eyes perfect. And it has nothing to do with what we do. His blood justifies us.

The Blood satisfies our conscience

God created us with a conscience. This tells us what is right and wrong. Through sin, our conscience becomes dull. But when we come to Jesus and touch this living wonderful person, we are immediately aware that there is something wrong between us and God. Sometimes we are discouraged by this feeling, but actually the solution to the problem is so simple. The blood of Christ is fully able to cleanse our conscience. This does have something to do with our feelings.

This is the wonderful, awesome feeling of peace and joy that we get once we tell the Lord to wash us from our sins. We no longer have to worry about the things that we have done. We can just concentrate on enjoying the living God Himself.

The Blood defeats Satan, the accuser

But sometimes, even though we apply the blood to a particular situation, even though we are, according to the Bible, completely justified in the eyes of God, we don’t actually feel justified. This is because Satan, the accuser, also has access to our feelings and is able to manipulate them so that we don’t feel justified. This is an accusation. He then comes to us and tell us that the blood of Christ isn’t sufficient. Even though we asked the Lord to forgive our sins, it isn’t enough. We need to do more. We need to do something.

This is the idea of penance. And it is WHOLLY FROM THE DEVIL. God has already paid the highest price for our sins. He neither wants, nor expects us to do anything else. So how do we overcome this accusation? The devil accuses us my making us look at our self, our poor pitiful condition. We defeat him by telling him to look at the blood. We often do not treasure the power that the blood has. But the devil, Satan, is fully aware of what the blood does. And as soon as we tell him to look at the blood, he can no longer accuse us any more.

The article basically calls attention to the fact that according to the Bible, there are really only three interpretations about who the man Jesus was. He clearly said that He was Lord. So He was either a liar, completely crazy and disillusioned, or He was in fact Lord. I really liked two of the quotes from the original post, so I thought I would repost them:

Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Faith, 1936

“How can Jesus of Nazareth claim to be God? Before going on, we have to pause for a moment to seriously consider the matter. It is not a light thing to claim to be God. A person who makes such a claim falls into one of three categories. He must belong to one of these three categories; he cannot belong to all three. First, if he claims to be God and yet in fact is not, he has to be a madman or a lunatic. Second, if he is neither God nor a lunatic, he has to be a liar, deceiving others by his lie. Third, if he is neither of these, he must be God. You can only choose one of the three possibilities. If you do not believe that he is God, you have to consider him a madman. If you cannot take him for either of the two, you have to take him for a liar. There is no need for us to prove if Jesus of Nazareth is God or not. All we have to

do is find out if He is a lunatic or a liar. If He is neither, He must be the Son of God… Was Jesus insane? Did He speak pure nonsense just to cause people to kill Him? Or was He a swindler setting up some kind of a scheme? If so, what was He trying to gain? Was He trying to gain death?”

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1942

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. … Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”

But in which part of our being does He live?

2 Thessalonians 5:23 And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We see in this verse that we are made up of three parts: our spirit, our soul, and our body. The terms “soul” and “body” are not really hard to understand. But what is our spirit?

Our spirit is the deepest part of our being. This is where God lives.

There are many verses in the New Testament which speak of the spirit.

John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.

This verse speaks of two spirits. The Spirit written with a large “S” refers to the Holy Spirit, which is God Himself who is available to us at any time. The second spirit with a small “s” refers to the human spirit, the place where God. So we look something like this:

The spirit is the deepest part of our being. It is sometimes hard for us to figure out what exactly is going on. We know what our body is because we can physically touch it. We also are certain that we have a soul because we have feelings and can think critically. But what does our spirit do? It contacts God! It is pretty simple actually. Every part of our being corresponds to some function. Our eyes see. Our legs move. Our stomachs digest food. Our minds think. And our spirit is the organ created by God to contact Him.

This is the reason that humans are the only species on Earth who have ever shown the inclination to think about God, to think about the afterlife, to wonder what the meaning of life is. It is human to need God. We were created with an organ that can contact God, receive Him, and enjoy Him to the uttermost. And when this organ is not in function, it is as if we don’t have any meaning to our life. We wander around aimlessly trying everything and finding lasting satisfaction in nothing.

So yes. We can say that He is everywhere at once. We can say that He is in heaven. But we can also be certain that he has an address in the deepest part of our being. My dear Lord Jesus resides in my human spirit and the spirits of all those who have believed into His name.

(In writing this post, I found the third chapter of The Economy of God  by Witness Lee to be very helpful)

I am not usually a big fan of family comics. Adam@Home is the exception to that rule. I think the kids (Clayton and Katy) are absolutely adorable, and the comic strip makes actual family situations funny without feeling contrived (I thought the above comic strip was a good example of this). I have many comic strips that I love for various reasons, but I am most jealous of the cartoonist style of Adam@Home. I wish I could draw like that!

The chocolate is pretty decent (and reasonably cheap). Ritter Sport and Milka are both brands of German chocolate which are quite delicious. But my personal favorite is Moser Roth. You can buy it at Aldi. So if you are traveling to Europe and someone asks you to bring some chocolate back, that is the place to look. It is especially good for presents because you can buy one package of Moser Roth which contains five smaller bars, so if you have to buy chocolate for a lot of people, you can just buy three or four packages. I usually pick up five or so before I go back to visit the U.S.A. My family and friends all love it!

Depending on your taste in chocolate, you can buy different sorts. The regular milk chocolate, mint, and caramel bars are all excellent. But I think that Moser Roth really excels in their dark chocolates. I have taken to eating one 25g bar of dark chocolate a day. I read somewhere that dark chocolate is good for your circulation, so I use that as an excuse. I actually only recently started eating my chocolate dark. You can hardly blame me. American dark chocolate (which was all that was available while I was growing up) is really bitter and pretty much has the consistency of a cracker. But taking a bite of German chocolate is more like biting into a hot fudge sundae. Even the 85% Moser Roth chocolate melts in your mouth. It also has such an intense chocolate taste that I sort of get a “chocolate high” by eating one 25g bar. I haven’t tried the 90% chocolate yet, but I look forward to doing so.

The title comes from one of my favorite verses in the book of Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:19 And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.

The love of Christ is knowledge-surpassing. But, through our experience of Him, we can know it, we can touch it, we can appreciate it.

I have been considering the love of Christ over the past couple of weeks. I realized something rather profound: The Love of God is greater than any love that I could ever come close to comprehending (Yes. I know this is exactly what the verse says. But it was one of those profound “aha” moments).

My parents love me. My friends love me. Someday, I will hopefully find the man of my dreams who will also love me. But God’s love is greater than all these loves. He loves me more than my parents love me. He loves me more than my friends love me. He even loves me more than any man on this planet will ever be able to love me.

And when we realize this, we can’t help but just love Him back.

I really love the following quotation:

The wonderful Jesus, who is enthroned in heaven and crowned with glory and honor, is the greatest attraction in the universe. He is like an immense magnet, drawing all His seekers to Him. It is by being attracted by His charming beauty that we look away from all things other than Him. Without such a charming object, how could we look away from so many distracting things on this earth? (Footnote 2  of Hebrews 12:2 in the Recovery Version of the Bible)

But how can we practically experience this love? When we say “Lord Jesus, I love You”, we are filled with a sweet sense with Him. He comforts us. He fills us with a sense of peace and comfort. And He causes us to fall deeper in love with Him.

I mix together half an avocado, sheep’s cheese, Kalamata olives, part of a cucumber, a tomato, and lettuce and pour some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top. Today I also added a couple of carrots and pickles to munch on. Delicious, healthy, and colorful! (It’s around 600 calories total which is, in my opinion, the perfect amount of calories for a meal. Any less, and you feel hungry. Any more, and you feel full).

My list of must-reads would not be complete without the famous detective. And, he is famous enough that I hardly feel that I have to justify my selection at all.

Who is without a doubt the most prominent literary addition to the in the past 150 years? Sherlock Holmes.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle really hit the gold mine when he came up with the brilliant, eccentric detective. So who is Sherlock Holmes? He possesses in great measure that “power of deduction” that enables him to identify the culprit in one of his cases by one hair, a couple of scuffed footprints, and a trail of cigarette ash. Or maybe less. I wouldn’t know because I’m not Sherlock Holmes. The character holds the Guinness world record for the most portrayals in films. He’s attained the status as a literary figure equalling that of King Arthur or Cinderella.

But why?

It definitely worth it to check out the original stories. By using trusty sidekick Watson as a framing device, Doyle creates a character that sort of transcends the literary world. Everybody knows that biographers are biased, and because Watson is so obviously enthralled and astounded by Holmes, it is easy to assume that he is even more biased in his representation of the character. This means that readers and writers alike are able to speculate about him, his motives, and his personality. We can choose to trust Watson’s  story implicitly, or we can wonder.

But what about the story? We know that the Sherlock Holmes’ Canon created one of the greatest literary figures of all time (and also had an incredible impact on forensic science). You really have to read the original stories to understand exactly why. The stories are gripping. They are fast paced. They are logical. We sit in the shoes, not of the detective himself, but of the sidekick. We only figure out what is going on when Watson figures out what is going on (usually when Sherlock explains it to him). And we enjoy it.

But, as with all the books I posted this week, don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself!

I found a website with the ten most famous Sherlock Holmes’ quotes. This was my favorite one of them:

You will not apply my precept,” he said, shaking his head. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room, as there is no concealment possible. Whence, then, did he come?”

I also picked out one of my personal favorite quotes from Sliver Blaze (I think it very typical of Sherlock):

“Hullo”, said he, suddenly. “What’s this?” It was a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood.

“I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector, with an expression of annoyance.

“It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”

“What! You expected to find it?”

“I thought it not unlikely.”

And now for the Canon itself. I haven’t posted a link to it yet because it isn’t actually available on Gutenberg.org as a complete volume, so I am posting links to the individual novels and collections of short stories here. I suggest reading them in this order:

1. A Study in Scarlet
2. The Sign of the Four
3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (This is actually the most downloaded book on Gutenberg)
4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
5. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
6. The Hound of the Baskervilles
7. The Valley of Fear
8. His Last Bow
9. The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (which is unfortunately not available on Gutenberg.org much to my utter disappointment. The Problem of Thor Bridge is, in my opinion, one of the most ingenious short stories in the Canon).

If you like the books, I recommend checking out The Beekeeper’s Apprentice series by Laurie King and the BBC show Sherlock. Have fun!

As soon as Luneta heard her father come in the side door from the fields, she hurried to the upstairs sitting room. She had discovered just recently that if she closed her eyes and listened very intently at the chimney in this room, she could hear everything that was said in her mother’s parlor, which was directly below. Today not having gone well, she suspected that her mother would have some things to say.

This is the most modern book that I am presenting this week. It is therefore also the least well-known and the book which is least likely to have been read by any of my readers. However, I hope you take this post as a recommendation. It is a really fun read with excellent character development and a crisp, fresh narrative style.

The Lioness and her Knight by Gerald Morris is actually the seventh book in the Squire’s Tale series which is a retelling of the epic King Arthur legend. This book retells the poem The Knight of the Lion by Chrétien de Troyes. When I was around fourteen or so, my dad read Le Mort d’Arthur by Thomas Malory (in the original Middle English). I learned that “thee” and “thou” were originally the informal way of addressing someone, and I learned that the tales of King Arthur were full of people killing other people for apparently no reason. I pretty much decided right there and then to never read any book having to do with the Arthurian legends (I mean…knights? Killing? Why?).

But, when I started reading The Lioness and her Knight, I was kind of tricked into reading about him anyway. It could be because I actually started reading right in the middle of the series. It could be because King Arthur’s court isn’t actually mentioned until two pages into the story. But, at that point, I couldn’t put it down. After reading two pages, I was hooked.

Gerald Morris is just absolutely superb at narrating a story. As far as I am concerned, the character development in the story is the absolutely most important and integral part. And this book nails it.

The characters are so full of life that they almost walk off the pages.

Luneta, the main character, is pithy, interesting, and manipulative. She has a skill at getting other people to do what she wants (which often gets her in trouble. But also gets her out of trouble sometimes). Ywain, Luneta’s handsome cousin, visits and gives her a chance to go away travelling. They meet Rhience, the fool, on the road who adds a lot of fun dialog and humor (his fool costume allows him to say anything that he wants because no one takes him seriously). Sir Gaheris and Lynet, Luneta’s parents, make an appearance in the story (they are actually introduced in book three of the series: The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf). The travellers also meet up with an airhead, Laudine, and her evil steward Malvolus, who walks “as if he has boils on his bottom.”

Gerald Morris’ stories are even more funny because you already sort of know the characters. King Arthur, Sir Kai, Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot, and all of the other knights of the round table appear in the story (as well as the enchantress Morgan). And his renditions usually make more sense. For instance, in The Ballad of Sir Dinadan, Morris portrays Tristan and Iseult as being raving idiots. Which, if you think of the story of Tristan and Iseult, makes a ton of sense. Morris also adds a lot of original characters like Terence, Sir Gawain’s squire, and the mischievous elf boy Robin. The series as a whole tells the story of the fight of King Arthur against the enchantress Morgause.