Monday, March 25, 2013

The Trinity: A Puritan Prayer/Devotion

THE TRINITY
from the book Valley of Vision 


Three in One, One in Three,
God of my salvation,



Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit,

I adore thee as one Being, one Essence,

   one God in three distinct Persons,

   for bringing sinners to thy knowledge and to thy kingdom.

O Father, thou hast loved me and sent Jesus to

     redeem me;

O Jesus, thou hast loved me and assumed my

      nature,

   shed thine own blood to wash away my sins,

   wrought righteousness to cover my

      unworthiness;

O Holy Spirit, thou hast loved me and entered

    my heart, implanted there eternal life,

    revealed to me the glories of Jesus.

Three Persons and one God, I bless and praise thee,

    for love so unmerited, so unspeakable,

    so wondrous, so mighty to save the lost

    and raise them to glory.

O Father, I thank thee that in fullness of grace

    thou hast given me to Jesus, to be his sheep,

      jewel, portion;

O Jesus, I thank thee that in fullness of grace

    thou hast accepted, espoused, bound me;

O Holy Spirit, I thank thee that in fullness of

     grace thou hast

       exhibited Jesus as my salvation,

       implanted faith within me,

       subdued my stubborn heart,

       made me one with him for ever.

O Father, thou art enthroned to hear my prayers,

O Jesus, thy hand is outstretched to take my

        petitions,

O Holy Spirit, thou art willing to help my

    infirmities, to show me my need,

    to supply words, to pray within me,

    to strengthen me that I faint not in

        supplication.

O Triune God, who commandeth the universe,

    thou hast commanded me to ask for those

       things that concern thy kingdom and my soul.

Let me live and pray as one baptized into the

     threefold Name.

Friday, March 22, 2013

A Preview of Whats to Come

Right now I am working on a new set of posts that is somewhat inspired by the series my young adults bible study is going through, somewhat inspired by the upcoming Holy Week, and somewhat  based on what I have been thinking about and/or studied. so here is a piece of beautiful music for you to listen to, to enjoy, to prepare you, and for you to jam out to. Until Monday when I post again enjoy:


Monday, March 18, 2013

A Series of Confessions: The Dark Side of the Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioRrydp6FTI

I have come to realize, no come to accept and acknowledge that I am very much controlled by my emotions and the circumstances around me. I sometimes feel very emotional and those emotions, whether good or bad, control me; that is until I realize how ridiculous I am being.

This being said I have come to realize, accept, and/or acknowledge that this also effects my faith and daily walk with Him who created and saved me. I am very easily swayed or distracted from my personal walk. This actually causes a vicious cycle of life for me. I know my days are infinitely better if I am in communion with God and am fully relying on Him; If I am not in communion with Him, through prayer, scripture reading, and other spiritual disciplines, I end up becoming emotional, in a bad way. I become callused, hurt, depressed, angry, or some other emotion;,which leads me not to my knees but away from that and towards some destructive thing, or other and brings me back to the place I have left. The exact place I didn't want to return to. This starts the same emotions again. Then cycle starts over and over again but in a downward spiral pattern.

How sad it is. I will be on Fire for the Lord and slowly let it fade to almost nothing, then being kicked in the butt or smacked upside the head and change and to let the fire grow to a blaze again only to allow it to fade. It all starts with how much sleep and the quality of it, friends, stress, and other stuff taking priority over what really matters; it's quite sad actually.

And in those days where I feel like "God, Why do you love me? How Can You? I am so ugly, so dark, soon and so on... "

God Shines his light in my darkness and smiles on his child, "My child, my son. yes you have fallen, yes you still have to deal with your brokenness and your sin but i have forgiven you, washed you white as snow in my eyes for not only have i cleaned the slate for you i have thrown it out and its on the ocean floor forgotten."