a Prayer

"O Lord God,
Teach me to know that grace precedes, accompanies, and follows my salvation, that it sustains the redeemed soul, that no one link of its chain can ever break
From Calvary's cross wave upon wave of grace reaches me,
Deals with me sin, washes me clean
Renews my heart, strengthens my will
Draws out my affection, kindles a flame in my soul
Consecrates my every thought, word and work
Teaches me Thy immeasurable love.
How great are my privileges in Christ jesus
Without Him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast;
In Him I draw near and touch His kinglly scepter;
Without Him I dare no lift my guilty eyes;
In Him I gaze upon my Father, God and Friend;
Without Him I hide my lips in trembling shame;
In Him I open my mouth with petition and praise;
Without Him all is wrath and consuming fire;
In Him is all love and repose of my soul;
Without Him is gaping hell below me and eternal anguish;
In Him its gates are barred to me by His precious blood;
Without Him darkness spreads its horrors in front;
In Him and eternaty of glory is my boundless horizon;
Without Him all within me is terror and dismay;
In Him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace;
Without Him all things external call for my condemnation;
In Him they minister to my comfort and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving

Praise be to Thee for grace, and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus!"

Fear

"Shall I bring you to the point of birth and not give delivery?" says the Lord. " Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?" says your God. ~Isaiah 66:9

This verse gives me such hope. God is telling the nation of Israel that He would be faithful to her in her deliverance. He is promising that He who has brought them through the pains of childbirth (exile) will complete the good He is doing in their lives. He is reminding them of His faithfulness. The next few verses talk about the joy that Jerusalem will experience after their deliverance. This verse is at the end of the book of Isaiah as a promise following the proclimation of God's judgement. What a comfort these verses must have been to the nation.

And what a comfort this verse can be for me (no I am not at the point of birth, haha). I don't need to fear the hard times in my life, that WILL come, because I know that my God is faithful. He will bring me through difficulty to the joy of deliverance.

my mouth...

what an ugly thing that it is. When I am angry I can say some pretty ugly things. I don't mean to... and as soon as I say them I regret it. I used to feel traped in this world of snappy come backs and insults. My temper is one of the shortest that I know. But over the last few years I have seen God do an amazing work in my life. You might not realize this if you have only known me a year... But I snap slower now than I did before. The real test to all this is when I am at home with my family. How will I act then? I like to think that I am getting better. You would have to ask my siblings and parents for accurate information. But I know that I am quicker to apologize now than I used to be. The most amazing part of all this is that this is not due to my effort (in fact when I rely on my effort then I fail), this is truly a work of God in my life. I cannot tame my own tongue, but God can tame it for me. This is my prayer: God tame my tongue.