Thursday, August 2, 2012

Penitence, a Puritan Prayer from the “Valley Of Vision” , edited by Arthur Bennet, Banner of Truth

Penitence
O Lord Of Grace,
I have been hasty and short in private prayer,










O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,
to bewail this ingratitude;










 
My first sin of the day leads into others,














and it is just that thou shouldst withdraw
thy presence
from one who waited carelessly on thee.

Keep me at all times from robbing thee,
and from depriving my soul of thy due worship;
Let me never forget
that I have an eternal duty to love, honour
and obey thee,
that thou art infinitely worthy of such;
that if I fail to glorify thee
I am guilty of infinite evil that merits infinite
punishment,
for sin is the violation of an infinite obligation.
O forgive me if I have dishonoured thee,
Melt my heart, heal my backslidings,
and open an intercourse of love.
When the fire of thy compassion warms my
inward man,
And the outpourings of thy Spirit fill my soul,
then I feelingly wonder at my own depravity,
and deeply abhor myself;
then thy grace is a powerful incentive
to repentance,
and an irresistible motive to inward holiness.
May I never forget that thou hast my heart
in thy hands.
Apply to it the merits of Christ’s atoning blood
whenever I sin.
Let thy mercies draw me to thyself.
Wean me from all evil, mortify me to the world,
and make me ready for my departure hence
animated by the humiliations of penitential love.
My soul is often a chariot without wheels,
clogged and hindered in sin’s miry clay;
Mount it on eagle’s wings
and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Your good things are all yet to come!

(From Grace Gems)(J.C. Ryle)
"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!" Hebrews 12:1-2

We must run with perseverance--or we shall never obtain. There may be many things we cannot understand, much that the flesh could perhaps wish otherwise--but let us endure unto the end, and all shall be made clear, and God's arrangements shall be proved best. Think not to have your reward on earth--do not draw back, because your good things are all yet to come.
Today is the cross--but tomorrow is the crown.
Today is the labor--but tomorrow are the wages.
Today is the sowing--but tomorrow is the harvest.
Today is the battle--but tomorrow is the rest.
Today is the weeping--but tomorrow is the joy.

And what is today, when compared to tomorrow?
Today is but seventy years--but tomorrow is eternity!

"Run in such a way as to get the prize!" 1 Corinthians 9:24