The Cup

What does "The Cup" mean in Christian terms. I wrote a poem explaining the meaning of "The Cup" as revealed in Scripture.

The Cup
Written by: Kirsten Bryant

“The cup?” some may ask, “What can you mean by this?”
“It’s such a short title and seems quite amiss.”
But these two small words make me tremble and shake
Just like a leaf blown in the wind, I do quake
You see, I had a cup that I deserved to drink
A cup that was filled, overflowing the brink
But this cup was not filled with water or tea
It was filled with God’s just, holy wrath, for me
“Wrath?” you ask, “Why do you deserve such a thing?”
“What vast sin have you done that fierce wrath would bring?”
My answer to this is every sin is vast,
Yes, immense; whether present, future, or past
To God, lying is an abomination
With this one sin, there’s no hope for salvation
For in Revelation the liar is doomed
God says in this Book that he will be consumed
Yet just this one sin is not all I have done
My test on righteousness has only begun
A thief cannot enter the Kingdom of God
His fierce wrath will strike him like a lightening rod
Guilty you will be if you take His name in vain
He will not hold you guiltless, His justice shall reign
Christ says lust is adultery of the heart
And from the adulterer God will depart
Looking at just these four commandments, I see
Standing before God, my plea will be guilty
So understand, this cup I am worthy of
I’m a vile creature that deserves no love
God, the holy, just One had this cup prepared
My punishment was hell and I was ensnared
Yes, I deserve this fate, for God should be adored
Instead, His name I blasphemed and abhorred
He made the wind, the trees, the sun, and the birds
Out of all creation, men heed not His words
So, I’m standing here now with no hope in sight
Trembling before Him whose justice is right
Wait just a moment, something seems to be wrong
There’s a Man on trial that doesn’t belong
Yes, this Man is also God of creation
This God was here before the world’s foundation
But why is He standing where the guilty pleads?
He’s not ever done any unrighteous deeds
This holy, perfect One, Jesus is His name
He stands before the Father, taking my blame
He was beaten and scorned and hung on a tree
And yet all of this He was doing for me
This spectacle has me falling to my knees
He’s taking my cup, my wrath He will appease
Christ, who was perfect, has justified the vile
Through His blood He’s brought together the hostile
For we were hostile toward God, from our sin
But through His precious blood, new life can begin
He rose from the grave, defeating death and hell
Through His great defeat, now with Him we can dwell
By repentance and faith, salvation can come
Because of theses truth’s, Christ Jesus will save some
Instead of His wrath, I now hold in my hand
A cup of salvation that’s mighty and grand
It was not of me that God’s wrath was dried up
It is all because of Christ, who took the cup!

Love is Selfess

Wow, what a long drought. I think I'm going to try as hard as I can to start posting on this again. I'm sure that there hasn't been many to check my blog, since it's been such a long time since I wrote. But, I want to start up again. I want to talk about my walk with Christ and the great things He's doing in my life!

First off, umm... there's soo much to say! So, I think I will write about what's happening in my life later. I want to post an atricle I wrote for a school essay that I did. I chose the subject I wanted to write about. The article is called "Love is Selfless". Enjoy!

In Christ, Kirsten

“Love”, it’s such a strong word with a deep meaning. But what’s true love? Love, as revealed in Scripture, is a complete self denial and a selfless attitude and heart. Yet, in today’s cultural world, it’s the absolute opposite. It’s a selfish, “I want this now” attitude. Love today means when you’re satisfied or when your needs are met. Love’s true meaning is found in Scripture, where “Love” is revealed as selfless and devoid of your own desires and wants.

Selfishness is condoned in the Bible and does not lead to love. In fact, selfishness leads to wrong, ungodly attitudes. It leads to a neglect of the poor. “But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (New American Standard Version 1 John 3:17). It also leads to greediness and no satisfaction. “And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied … they have all turned to their own way, each one to his unjust gain…” (Isaiah 56:11). Selfishness is inconsistent with Christian love. “…They who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:15). “[Love] … does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). So, if selfishness is inconsistent with Christian love, it’s not love at all. “For where … selfish ambition exists, there is disorder and every evil thing” (James 3:16). We are told to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). A selfish person can’t do that.

Since we know that love is not selfish, then we can come to the conclusion that love is selfless and finds joy in others instead of themselves. “Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor” (1 Corinthians 10:24). Love looks after the interests of others. “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). Therefore, caring for others interests, needs, or feelings is selfless love. “It is good not… to do anything by which your brother stumbles” (Romans 14:21). “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise" (Luke 3:11). This is the kind of love that a Christian is called to, a self denying love for people and mostly for God. Jesus says, “None of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions” (Luke 14:33). He says in another passage of Scripture, calling us to deny ourselves, “He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:38). Given that we are called to selflessness, we should be willing to obey this calling.

We know that true love is selfless from the example that Christ, love incarnate, gave us of His selflessness and self denial. He came to this earth not seeking His own desires or will, but His Father’s. “Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34). Again, He says, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). Christ did not seek to please Himself. “… Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME’” (Romans 15:3). In fact, He didn’t seek His own, but gave Himself for His people. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). The love that Christ has for His Father and the love that He has for sinful humans shows His selfless nature and the greatness of His love. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). “Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7).

Our love should be selfless, like that of Christ’s love for us. Our love is to be selfless in all situations; in friendships, family, marriage, and in our relationship with Christ. Our love is to be characterized by a selfless denial. Love truly is selfless and we need to not follow today’s “trend” of love and follow Christ’s perfect example of what love truly is. “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME’” (Romans 15:1-3).

Great God!

Well, I think that it's about time for an update...lol. :) I haven't been on forever. Sorry! I recently had a surgery and then school and the Holidays was hectic.
But, I'm posting now! I recently wrote another poem. This time it's different from all my other poems. I had a school project that I had to complete on a form of poetry called a sonnet. So, here is my sonnet in iambic pentameter (poetry word, I'm smarter than you think...) form.

Great God

The sounding of a great thunder I heard
Trembling and full of fear I became
For there was great majesty in His name
Yet it was me to whom He had referred

In His presence I could not say a word
At this site I could never be the same
It is true that “this Lion can’t be tame”
Still He is kind, for my heart He had stirred

This One that I speak of, His name is Lord
He was the Great King, yet became a man
To bear the sins of His people wholly

He shed His blood so we could be restored
This God was here before the world began
To glorify His name through the lowly

This Fathomless Love!

There is a song by Sovereign Grace Ministries that I enjoy called, This Fathomless Love. It's probably one of my favorite songs, although, that's hard to say with Sovereign Grace music. I recently made a video to this song. It's my 5th video that I have made, and I think it's my favorite. I will post the video and the lyrics to the song. The words are so beautiful!



This Fathomless Love

Lord, what moved Your heart to love lowly man
before any star could herald Your praise?
And why did You come, abasing Yourself,
veiled in a robe of frail human clay?
Why would You the pure give Your life fore the vile,
the innocent seeking the guilty to be reconciled?

I can't comprehend this fathomless love.
I'm gripped and amazed at what You have done.
Why would the adored become the despised
to bear all the furious wrath that was mine?
How awesome this mystery
of Your fathomless love for me.

Why would You adopt and take as Your own
those who had crushed Your one precious Son?
Why mercy and grace towards Your enemies?
Your name they have cursed and Your throne they have shunned.
Oh how could You choose to show kindness to these?
The ones who would mock You and hate You,
the ones just like me?

The Glory of the Cross

I finished up yet another video yesterday. It's different than the rest of my video's, but it's still very powerful! Enjoy and praise God for His love for us.




In His marvelous and beautiful love,
~Kirsten~