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.

A Series of Confessions: O me, O my...

This post is in a series of posts; to understand The Reason(s) for these posts please click the hyper link.


Well in spite of "not having anything to post at the moment" I will post something.: A reflection if you will and a prayer. I had finished reading a book two months ago called O me of little faith by Jason Boyett. Also, in chapel on my campus there was a great speaker/pastor. He had spoke on counting trials, pain, and our "thorn in the flesh" pure joy. These two sermons with the addition of the book have caused me to think again. To think about how we as Christians who grew up in the church could be so hypocritical, lukewarm, cynical, and outright doubtful of things. I am one of those Christians; I am a bit cynical; I have doubts at times; I struggle and fail. Yet dispute all of this I am still Loved by God, one of His children, and a Christian. I'll put it this way, I am a passive-aggressive rebellious child of God, who every once and a while needs a reminder of the fact of the matter is still a Christian. This is kinda one of the reasons I want a Tattoo, but until that day comes I have been writing on my wrists with pen: on the left it says "Forgiven" and on the right "Loved". This allows me to see them and be reminded constantly that I am Loved and Forgiven by God and I am his; especially during the "face-palm" situations I have. I need to remember that I am a sinner saved by grace or how my pastor put it today in church, "I am a recovering hypocrite." 


So in light of that last paragraph over this past school year I have noticed some trends in my life and here are some of the findings. I find that when I am in a routine, getting enough sleep, low stress, and so on I tend to be a better person. I tend to deal better with people, and not be fake. I hate being fake, it makes me feel like I am an actor playing this character rather than a human being, living and breathing outside of the theater. It takes Shakespeare's quote "All the worlds a stage, And all the men and women merely players:" to a whole new  level. I almost feel like the actor in me never turned off. I have also realized that when I don't get sleep and I am stressed, I don't spend time with God and if it is is mediocre at best. At this point I start  depressed, cynical, and for lack of any other term, "Blarg." I need the very friends I push away and shut myself in a dark place away from others. I then feel alone and unwanted and unloved; I start to compare myself to who I want to be or to others and become a shell or a ghost of who I am and who I want to be. 


I Deal with these feelings of depression, being unloved, alone, and unwanted even in a room full of friends or people I know. I am human, broken and afflicted living in a broken world and both it and I have been marred by sin. Yet there is Redemption and Reconciliation. I am not alone at all; I am not unwanted or unloved. For One can never be too high to not need salvation and love nor can one ever be too low to receive salvation and love.


Dear Father,


You are great and mighty, you have laid the foundations of the earth and are the "cosmic-glue" that holds everything together. You know my heart, my deeds, and my thoughts and yet you love me anyway. Thank you for that. Thank you for your Son and that he died but also raised again that I too could be raised up and be apart of your Kingdom. I Pray for all those in the south who have lost their homes, loved ones, and livelihood. I pray for the pastors, allow them to care for your sheep there as you would. Please let the Christian Community rise up among these hurting people and show them Your love and Your Kingdom. "Lord, may Your Kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," and may I be apart of your work.


Love, ME 

So Live your life...

Are you living a great story with your life? from Donald Miller on Vimeo.


I finished this wonderful book by Donald Miller called A Million Miles In A Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life a while ago. This Book challenged me and also made me realize things in life. The book talks about a "good story"  and that fear hold us back from living out a good story. We also know, and he point out, that we as humans never hit a full climax with a resolution; we have mini-climaxes in our story building up to another story in our life; the story always moves forward. I want to live a good story so when the credits role people remember me and have good things to say. But I also have to remember that I am just an extra/supporting role charter in the grand scheme of things, in the story of this world. My life is a mini-series i guess and the rest of the movie is History. So I cannot point out my 10secs in the movie and say its about me; no it not about me or you its about Love, God and His Love. So I highly Suggest this book to you and any other Donald Miller Books... I plan to read another one of his books this summer.

Books, Books, and Yes More Books

Books, I love books don't you? They are marvelous things, books; they hold a vast amount of knowledge and can take you anywhere you like. Distract you from reality and take you to where imagination rules. They are great things books are, but they are not reality. So please don't confuse the two

I had a goal of reading the bible over this past year (1//1/10-12/31/10) from cover to cover (in chronological order for personal growth and not academic studies), but failed in the end. Therefore I am finishing the Bible now while I am dedicated top finishing that old goal and then I will start writing out the Bible in journals. I am planning to start in the Gospel of John. It is a simple Gospel but full of great insight from Jesus' Beloved. 

In addition to reading the Bible, I have a stack of books to read and i mean a stack of books; no they are not for school, that's a different stack. These are books I read for fun. and i just added like four (4) books to the list. and i have the two books I wanted read over this past summer that i put off, to read. but I get so excited over new books I read them first. So I just Finished two of the four books. I have Read Touching Godliness Through Submission by K.P. Yohannan and Just Do Something: How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc. by Kevin DeYoung. I am now reading Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life then I plan to read The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillip. All along with the 18 credit hours I am taking and working. Sigh this is why I never have anytime to read or enjoy books anymore. I hope you all have a chance to read and learn something from the books in life.


Speaking of Life, Life is a story book that is blank; you are the author writing your own story in it. each day is a blank page, each year a new chapter in life.Are you living the story you would want to read, one that is inspiring or a good moral story, or a Story you would want to live out? Let life's road take you where you need to go and learn along the way but live life, don't just cruise along. So go live and learn from life, books, friends, mentors and other things.God Bless Your Journey. Enjoy!