Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be
open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions,
make them to ask such things as shall please thee, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen. (GS, 5th Century)
1 John 5:14-21
And how bold and free we then
become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s
listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve
asked for is as good as ours.
For instance, if we see a Christian
believer sinning (clearly I’m not talking about those who make a practice of
sin in a way that is “fatal,” leading to eternal death), we ask for God’s help
and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. There
is such a thing as a fatal sin, and I’m not urging you to pray about that.
Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal. We know that none of
the God-begotten makes a practice of sin—fatal sin. The God-begotten are also
the God-protected. The Evil One can’t lay a hand on them.
We know that we are held firm by
God; it’s only the people of the world who continue in the grip of the Evil One.
And we know that the Son of God came so we could recognize and understand the
truth of God—what a gift!—and we are living in the Truth itself, in God’s Son,
Jesus Christ. This Jesus is both True God and Real Life. Dear children, be on
guard against all clever facsimiles. The Message
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior
Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.
Let me at Thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition;
Help my unbelief.
Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.
Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in Heav’n but Thee?
—Fanny
J. Crosby, 1820-1915
practicing
the story
Find a quiet spot where you know
you will not be interrupted. In the silence, close your eyes and picture a
tomb—a cave with a large stone in front. Outside, there are flowers planted,
the stone has been painted white and all looks to be in order. Inside, it is
dark and musty. There are cobwebs in the corners, dirt that crunches under your
feet and the sounds of water dripping somewhere deep within the cave. You are
inside the cave, calmly looking around. You know this place well because it is
you.
The stone door rolls to the side
and sunshine pours in from the tomb entrance. The contrast of the light streaming
into the dark space is almost too much at first. You shield your eyes, but as
your eyes begin to adjust, you notice that the light reveals some things that
were previously hidden. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring those things into focus.
Maybe it is a word written in the dust or a picture drawn on the wall. Respond
appropriately. The word or picture may prompt you to repentance or praise, but
in either case, communicate with God about what you see and how you feel.
Hello. Thank you for this blog, I read it faithfully and drink up every word... I am not a student, just a happy onlooker. The passages of Scripture that are chosen always seem to be just what I need to read, and I enjoy the excerpts and sayings of the spiritual giants who have gone before us. That being said, I often wonder why I see a paraphrase of Scripture (The Message) being used by itself on many of these blogs... would it be possible to have the same Scripture from an actual translation along side the paraphrase when it is used? IMHO, it is important to make the distinction between the two because, while I can see the appeal of The Message, there really is no substitute for some of the more literal translations when it comes to truly understanding the heart and the message of God's Word (again, this is my humble opinion), but that's what is happening often in this blog--one man's paraphrase is being used in place of a translation as if they were the same and equally reliable.
Posted by: Elizabeth | May 31, 2009 at 12:57 AM