Lord, I Come

Posted by jerrywhite on Jun 1, 2009

“Lord, I come to You in Jesus’ name! I have sinned and gone astray like a lost sheep; I have followed the devices of my own heart, I have wandered after other lovers, I have wounded my peace, and grieved Your Spirit; but, behold, I come to You, I fall down at Your feet, I dare not so much as look at You, I blush to lift up my face. Receive me graciously, pardon me freely; so I will loathe myself, hate the sin You pardon, and love and adore and serve the God who forgives and remembers it no more! As one whom his mother comforts, so may You comfort me!”
(Updated and personalized)
Octavius Winslow
Morning Thoughts, August 5 (p. 403)
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For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
Psalm 38:4 (ESV)
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The total price for your sin has been paid. “It is finished!” The debt is cancelled. God’s justice was completely satisfied. The pen of your Heavenly Father’s sovereign grace has written with the ink of His own Son’s blood, “You are forgiven for all, and you are Mine forever.” Nothing more can be done. No one can sew back the veil that was torn in two at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. The Father Himself tore it from top to bottom because His Son’s torn flesh and shed blood paid the full price. Bring your sin and shame before Him and He will cleanse your soul and conscience once again, and He will do it as often as you need it. You can rejoice—truly rejoice—in His steadfast love for you. Hate the sin and shame because of the grief it causes your Heavenly Lover; be honest with Him about it; thankfully receive the gift bought by His Son, the Lord Jesus, and rejoice with praise.

True Repentance

Posted by jerrywhite on May 25, 2009

“True repentance must include awareness of the magnitude of our spiritual destitution; therefore real repentance must begin with recognition of God’s incomparable and unachievable holiness.
When we do not apprehend the true nature of our wrongdoing, we do not hate it sufficiently to seek its expulsion. True repentance requires grief and remorse that cries out, ‘How could I have done such a thing? Please, God, take the guilt and presence of this evil from my life!’
Without such a loathing of the sin that has been magnified by God’s holiness, not only will we fail to repent, we will not even see our wrong.”
Bryan Chapell
Holiness By Grace, p. 74
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O Father, I have sinned! I have done
The thing I thought I never more should do!
My days were set before me, light all through;
But I have made dark—alas, too true!
And drawn dense clouds between me and my Sun.
Septimus Sutton
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For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV)

Do You Watch With Him?

Posted by jerrywhite on Nov 30, 1999

“These three [Peter, James and John] were appointed by our Lord for one purpose—to see His agony. ‘Tarry ye here, and watch with me.’ He did not put them there to go to sleep; He put them there to wait and watch. The twelve disciples were all He had; He knew that one had gone to betray Him, that Peter would shortly deny Him with oaths and curses, and that all of them would forsake Him and flee; but He took these three with him to see the unveiling of His heart—and they slept for their own sorrow.”

Oswald Chambers

If You Will Ask, 19-20

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“In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us—that we be men and women of prayer, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the root of peace. We have that peace when the gracious God is all we seek. When we start seeking something besides Him, we lose it.”

Brennan Manning

The Ragamuffin Gospel, 46

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Prayer was priority in the life of the Lord Jesus. Prayer was priority in the early church. Prayer was priority in the life of the apostles. Prayer was priority in Paul’s ministry. With Biblical commands like, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and “continue steadfastly in prayer” (Colossians 4:2), and “praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18), there comes a compelling question, “Does prayer hold that kind of priority in my life?” Do I watch with Him to see the unveiling of His heart, or do I sleep in my own selfishness?