By the Grace of God
The Proper Attitude of Man Under Grace:
Things Which Gracious Souls Discover:
- To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
- To refuse to make "resolutions" and "vows"; for that is to trust in the flesh.
- To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth....
- To rely on God's chastening [child training] hand as a mark of His kindness....
Things Which Gracious Souls Discover:
- To "hope to be better" [hence acceptable] is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
- To be disappointed with yourself, is to have believed in yourself.
- To be discouraged is unbelief,--as to God's purpose and plan of blessing for you.
- To be proud, is to be blind! For we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
- The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion....
- To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God's order, and preach law, not grace. The Law made man's blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so,--in proper measure.
Thanks for posting that, Jacob. It's a refreshing reminder that I needed to hear.
Posted by
Karen |
8:39 AM
Karen--
My pleasure. This book (Principles of Spiritual Growth by Miles J. Stanford) is filled with those sorts of insights. Although I think that most books I read are worthy of others' reading them, I endorse few as must-reads. This one, though, is perhaps the most profound book I've ever read (I've already read it once, but it's worth going through again), and I do not hesitate to put it in my must-read category. Of course, the Bible would come first, but this is profound because it so clearly explains who we are in Christ (concepts which, of course, come from the Bible). The chapters are only about four pages long, so I try to read about a chapter a day (which is often more than enough for a day's meditation).
Posted by
Jacob |
11:55 AM