Valley of the Vision

Heavenly Father, if I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty, make my heart prize Thy love, know it, be constrained by it, though I be denied all blessings. It is Thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants, for by these trials I see my sins, and desire severance from them. Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations, if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil, and be delivered from it with gratitude to Thee, acknowledging this as the highest testimony of Thy love.

When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but in Christ I am reconciled and live; that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest, but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace; that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good, but in Christ I have ability to do all things. Though now I have His graces in part, I shall shortly have them perfectly in that state where Thou wilt show Thyself fully reconciled, and alone sufficient, efficient, loving me completely, with sin abolished. O Lord, hasten that day.

Like the Sun

Like the sun, He is free to all. All may look at Him and drink health out of His light. If millions of mankind were mad enough to dwell in caves underground, or to bandage their eyes, their darkness would be`their own fault, not the sun. So likewise, if millions of men and women love spiritual  "darkness rather than light", the blame must be laid on their blind hearts, and not on Christ. J. C. Ryle *The gospel of John.

O for a better heart! O for a heart to love God more; to hate sin more; to walk more evenly with God. Lord! deny not to me such a heart, whatever thou deny me; give me a heart to fear thee, to love and delight in thee, if I beg my bread in desolate places.
(Keeping the heart)

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
You realize you're morally bankrupt.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
You mourn because of your sin.

Blessed are the meek, for the will inherit the earth.
You become meek and humble

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
You develop a thirst to be righteous

Blessed be the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.
You become merciful realizing you deserve hell and mercy is applied

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Your purity comes from being justified as the poor tax collector who cried out, "be merciful to me oh Lord",

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
You become a peacemaker seeking the reconciliation of man to God in others and from man to man.
 
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Then you also have to deal with persecution from the world.
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/...eatitudes.html (sermon)

The Way of Salvation

by

J. C. Ryle
(1816-1900)

Where must a man go for pardon? Where is forgiveness to be found? There is a way both sure and plain, and into that way I desire to guide every inquirers feet.

That way is simply to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. It is to cast your soul with all its sins, unreservedly on Christ - to cease completely from any dependence on your own works or doings, either in whole or in part - and to rest on no other work but Christ's work, no other righteousness but Christ's righteousness, no other merit but Christ's merit as your ground of hope.

Take this course and you are a pardoned soul. "To Christ", says Peter "give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins". (Acts 10:43). "Through this Man," says Paul at Antioch, "is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things." (Acts 13:38). "In Him," writes Paul to the Colossians, "we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:14).

The Lord Jesus Christ, in great love and compassion has made a full and complete satisfaction for sin, by suffering death in our place upon the cross. There He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, and allowed the wrath of God which we deserved, to fall on His own head.

For our sins, as our Substitute, He gave Himself, suffered, and died - the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty - that He might deliver us from the curse of a broken law, and provide a complete pardon for all who are willing to receive it . And by so doing, as Isaiah says - He has borne our sins; as John the Baptist says - He has taken away sin: as Paul says - He has purged our sins, and put away sin; and as Daniel says - He has made an end of sin and finished transgression.

And now the Lord Jesus Christ is sealed and appointed by God the Father to be a Prince and a Savior, to give remission of sins to all who will have it. The keys of death and hell are put in His hand. The government of the gate of heaven is laid on His shoulder. He Himself is the door, and by Him all that enter in shall be saved.

Christ, in one word, has purchased a full forgiveness, if we are only willing to receive it. He has done all, paid all, suffered all that was needful to reconcile us to God. He has provided a garment of righteousness to clothe us. He has opened a fountain of living waters to cleanse us.

He has removed every barrier between us and God the Father, taken every obstacle out of the way, and made a road by which the vilest may return. All things are now ready, and the sinner has only to believe and be saved, to eat and be satisfied, to ask and receive, to wash and be clean.

And faith, or simple trust is the only thing required, in order that you and I may be forgiven. That we will come by faith to Jesus as sinners with our sins - trust in Him - and forsaking all other hope, cleave only to Him - that is all and everything that God asks for. Let a man only do this, and he shall be saved. His iniquities shall be found completely pardoned, and his transgressions completely taken away.

Who, among all the readers of this paper, desires to be saved by Christ, and yet is not saved at present? Come, I beseech you: come to Christ without delay. Though you have been a great sinner, COME - Though you have long resisted warnings, counsels, sermons, COME - Though you have sinned against light and knowledge, against a father's advice and a mother's tears, COME - Though you have plunged into every excess of wickedness, and lived without a Sabbath and without prayer, yet COME - The door is not shut, the fountain is not yet closed. Jesus Christ invites you. It is enough that you feel laboring and heavy- laden, and desire to be saved. COME: COME TO CHRIST WITHOUT DELAY!

Come to Him by faith, and pour out your heart before Him in prayer. Tell Him the whole story of your life, and ask Him to receive you. Cry to Him as the penitent thief did, when He saw Him on the cross. Say to Him, "Lord save me also! Lord remember me!" COME: COME TO CHRIST!

Lv.13:13-17

On Sunday, the elder of my church read and explained this at church. I have read Leviticus before... yet when he read it, is was as if I have never read it before... seriously! I do not remember ever reading this.

Any how...  it reads as follows:
"... the priest is to examine him, and if the desease has covered his whole body, he shall pronounce him CLEAN. Since it has all turned  white, he is clean. But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce him unclean..."

Well, the sick person, in order to be pronounced clean, the desease had to be ALL OVER THE BODY!, showing no raw skin. He made the similarity to our sin... we have nothing to boast about... we are ALL covered.. no raw skin is exposed!.. if we see anything of "cleanness"in us... we are unclean.. we need to see ourselves covered completely. Sin from head to toe... to be clean completely! We have nothing to cling to and say: but this part was not infected... this part was ok... NO!.

How much I need this, and to be remended that NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in me, was clean.. that in order to be called "clean", I need Jesus and His blood!

Oh, His precious blood!

God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Blessings... unknown

As days pass, and His grace proves to be sufficient, not because I am better but because He makes His grace to be sufficient in me; He opens my eyes to see His precious providence in a different light. When God says that we should not covet what unbelievers have or covet when it goes well for them yet we, His people, are having trials and difficulties, we still, should not to covet them... and say: why does it goes well for them and not for us!, why would you allow us to suffer? your people that love You and that You love?!.

Why? Because we need to realize that our sufferings bring perseverance and holiness, so that we may be perfect one day, fit for heaven and to understand that the blessings God gives to the ungodly brings them condemnation... just imagine! The ungodly, receive freely from God, mercies, and children, and health, and wealth... and yet, will face Him and give account. Imagine the day they will face God and hear: I gave you blessings, I provided for you, and still you hated Me!

 But us, His people, will know, that it is He who gives and He who takes away.. that it is because of Him that we have all things, and that even in distress, we know Him! We know salvation from our sins. We will stand before Him covered with the blood of Christ. Justified by faith alone that once was given to us.  Washed from all our iniquities, and be called His loved ones. And hear the words: My good and faithful servant, come into your rest!

Why do we covet them? why do we covet their blessings that will act as judgement one day? why do we not pity them and cry to God for their salvation even harder? it should hurt us instead of bring envy or self pity. It should make us cry on our knees pleading to God for their eyes to be opened. We should fear for them the judgement day.

Oh! that we may truly understand God's providence and thank Him for His good and His hard gifts to us... because one day, we are promised rest from all these! It would be better for them to receive nothing from the Lord than to have an abundant life here on earth and have their heaven now... it would be better to have suffering today and rest tomorrow; sorrows today and everlasting joy tomorrow; being close to the cross in the necessity than far from the cross living merry all day.

Sisters, may we treasure the cross, may we set your eyes on Christ. Be close to His feet, kissing His wounds and hoping not in vane but with assurance of that day that will come.. when our eyes will be open completely, and we will see!

Let us dwell in His Word, let us dwell in the knowledge and understanding, that the Lord bless us according to His good purpose. And He will finish  the work He started. We are undone. We need Him. We need His precious providence and learn to hurt for the lost.

Affliction

Affliction, we all know, is a word that many experience at different times in their lives, and  at different degrees. Pain that for every circumstance and for every person feels very different. But one thing is sure, God loves His people so much, that He let us be hit by affliction in this world that we may hate it. To remind us that as shiny and pretty this place may seem, it is broken. There is nothing to cling to that will last, nothing so precious and perfect as Him. And in this, we may be sanctified. Affliction brings humility... it leaves nothing to boast about, but in Jesus Christ, specially when when people see the strength that is clearly not yours, but His. When you so desperately need Christ to be enough. When there is no hope but in the hope that He gives you every morning. When you see His mercies every morning and His faithfulness at nights, it humbles you again in gratitude.

When you feel like you hate the pain the affliction has caused you, it serves as a reminder of sin, and what sin causes, the pain, the tears, the hurt, death, the consequences, the broken dreams, ... and with this, helps you hate it, helps you want to get rid of it all... get rid of those precious sins that we treasure, those that we cling so dearly...... they are not lovable, they are just poison in pretty bottles!

Oh! that with time I don't forget this lessons! , that I may not forget and start clinging to sin again!, that my heart will truly hate sin for good and love what is holy more! It is so easy to forget, so easy to get busy with the vanities of this world and forget not so much the "how" affliction was brought to you, but the lessons and the humbleness, and the tenderness to hear and beg every day for God's mercies, depending on Him... for your next breath, for your next hour, for the next day, for the next week, for the rest of your days! I have now a scar on my belly, that serves as a reminder of the pain that we went through, BUT also, serves as a reminder of how God was so merciful to us, his providence, His love, His comfort, His patience, His teachings, the perseverance that He is giving us though this... As the Israelites used markers as reminders of the work of God for the purpose that they may not forget and they could tell their children and their children's children of the work of their God, so is this scar in me; so I can tell the generations after me, that the Lord is good!, that He is faithful and tell them about Him with confidence, because I know Him.

Time is one of God's mercies to help heal, but also, if we do not heed to His teachings and are like a quick fire that burns big but extinguishes quickly... our suffering may be in vane. But I pray, that this fire will last. I pray that no distractions will come in the way or that when they come, God will tenderly remind me of how He was sufficient for me in the time of trouble, that He will remind me of his love, His faithfulness, His teachings and that He will bring me to this place of need often, that I may not grow cold in my love for Him.

With the death of someone so dear and close to you, it is a blessing every year, every month, every time that the day of the death comes, to come to the Lord and ask to be reminded again about the reason we should die to ourselves and have more of Him and less of us. Oh what a providence of God that is! A painful providence! A providence of love!

Oh!, the wait of the day, when the exchange of tears for joy and fear for peace will happen! Oh! what a hope! what a blessing to put our eyes on that day, on Him who will make that precious exchange.