We often declare we know certain truths but they have yet to change our lives.
In this episode, I want to give you a test to see if you genuinely know Calvary Love.
Calvary Love is not something to merely esteem or know information about—it is something to embrace, experience, and be transformed by.
Though short, this episode dives into Amy Carmichael’s book “If” and reads several of her “Calvary Love” statements and we listen to the lyrics of a new song written about Calvary Love from a good friend of mine.
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Show Notes / Additional Resources
Amy Carmichael – “If”
Do you know Calvary Love?
- If I find myself taking lapses for granted, “Oh, that’s what they always do,” “Oh, of course she talks like that, he acts like that,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind word, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I do not feel far more for the grieved Savior than for my worried self when troublesome things occur, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I can rebuke without a pang, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If my attitude be one of fear, not faith, about one who has disappointed me; if I say, “Just what I expected” if a fall occurs, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I am afraid to speak the truth, lest I lose affection, or lest the one concerned should say, “You do not understand,” or because I fear to lose my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the other’s highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I am content to heal a hurt slightly, saying “Peace, peace,” where there is no peace; if I forget the poignant word “Let love be without dissimulation” and blunt the edge of truth, speaking not right things but smooth things, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I hold on to choices of any kind, just because they are my choice, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I am soft to myself and slide comfortably into self-pity and self-sympathy; If I do not by the grace of God practice fortitude, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I myself dominate myself, if my thoughts revolve round myself, if I am so occupied with myself I rarely have “a heart at leisure from itself,” then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in conversation, or even in thought, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If I have not companion on my fellow-servant even as my Lord had pity on me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
- If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
As Amy Carmichael once wrote: “From all that dims Thy Calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me. Give me the love that leads the way, The faith that nothing can dismay. The hope no disappointments tire, The passion that will burn like fire; Let me not sink to be a clod; Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.”
“Calvary Love” – A song by Kate Rosen
Chorus:
Place in me a heart like Yours
A passionate life that’s pure
Not my will but Yours be done
Make my life a vessel of Calvary love
A vessel of Calvary love
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Question: What is your favorite Amy Carmichael “If – Calvary Love” question and why?
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About NRJohnson & the Deeper Christian Podcast
NRJohnson (Nathan Johnson) is a Christian who has an overwhelming passion for Jesus, the Gospel, and Studying God’s Word. He is a writer, teacher, and communicator who helps other believers understand and apply the Bible as they grow and mature in their faith—desiring that they gain greater intimacy with Christ, experience the victorious Christian life, and transform the world through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Read more about him here.
The Deeper Christian Podcast is the podcast to help you study God’s Word, know Jesus intimately, and discover how you can build your life around Jesus Christ. This weekly audio program, hosted by NRJohnson, dives into Scripture and encourages Christians to keep their focus upon Jesus Christ—equipping believers in how to study the Bible and know God’s Word, grow in their spiritual lives, and change the world. Main discussion topics center around practical advice on Christian living, Bible study, prayer, the Gospel, freedom from sin, evangelism and how to share your faith, the Christian disciplines, and the lives and messages from the Christian heroes from yesteryear such as A.W. Tozer, Charles Spurgeon, Major Ian Thomas, Oswald Chambers, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Corrie Ten Boom, C.T. Studd, George Müller, Andrew Murray, Leonard Ravenhill, E.M. Bounds, and others. Learn more about the deeper Christian life.