Kept By God

Thou Creator, Upholder, Proprietor of all things,

I cannot escape from thy presence or control, nor do I desire to do so.

My privilege is to be under the agency of omnipotence, righteousness, wisdom, patience, mercy, grace.

Thou art love with more than parental affection;

I admire thy heart, adore thy wisdom, stand in awe of thy power, abase myself before thy purity.

It is the discovery of they goodness alone that can banish my fear, allure me into they presence, help me to bewail and confess my sins.

When I review my past guilt and am conscious of my present unworthiness

   I tremble to come to thee,

   I whose foundation is in the dust,

   I who have condemned thy goodness,

   defied thy power,

   trampled upon thy love,

   rendered myself worthy of eternal death.

But my recovery cannot spring from any cause in me,

I can destroy but cannot save myself.

Yet thou hast laid help on One that is mighty, for there is mercy with the, and exceeding riches in thy kindness through Jesus.

May I always feel my need of him.

Let thy restored joy be my strength;

May it keep me from lusting after the world,

   bear up heart and mind in loss of comforts,

   enliven me in the valley of death,

   work in me the image of the heavenly,

   and give me to enjoy the first fruits of spirituality,

  such as angels and departed saints know.

-The Valley of Vision

Gracious God

Gracious God,

My heart praises thee for the wonder of thy love in Jesus;
He is heaven’s darling, but is for me the incarnate, despised, rejected, crucified sin-bearer;
In him thy grace has almost out-graced itself,
In him thy love to rebels has reached its height;
O to love thee with a love like this!
My heart is stone, melt it with they love,
My heart is locked, let they love be the master key to open it;
O Father, I adore thee for thy great love in the gift of Jesus,
O Jesus, I bless thee for resigning thy life for me,
O Holy Spirit, I thank thee for revealing to me this mystery;
Great God, let they Son see in me the travail of his soul!
Bring me away from my false trusts to rest in him, and him only.
Let me not be so callous to his merit as not to love him, so indifferent to his blood as to not to desire cleansing.
Lord Jesus, Master, Redeemer, Saviour, come and take entire possession of me; this is thy right of purchase.
In the arms of love enfold and subdue my willful spirit.
Take, sanctify, use my every faculty.
I am not ashamed of my hope, nor has my confidence led me into confusion.
I trusted in thee regarding my innumerable sins,
I trusted in thee when evils encompassed me, and thou broughtest me out into a wealthy place.
I trusted in thee in an hour of distress, and thou didst not fail me, thou faith trembled.
O God of the eternal choice,
O God of the restored possession purchased on the tree,
O God of the effectual call,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I adore thy glory, honour, majesty, power, dominion for ever.

Boundless Guilt In The Boundless Price

O Lord God,
Thou art my protecting arm, fortress, refuge, shield, buckler.
Fight for me and my foes must flee; uphold me and I cannot fall; strengthen me and I stand unmoved, unmoveable;
Equip me and I shall receive no wound;
Stand by me and Satan will depart;
Anoint my lips with a song of salvation and I shall shout they victory;
Give me abhorrence of all evil, as a vile monster that defies thy law, casts off thy yoke, defiles my nature, spreads misery.
Teach me to look to Jesus on his cross and so to know sin’s loathsomeness in thy sight.
There is no pardon but through thy Son’s death, no cleansing but in his precious blood, no atonement but his to expiate evil.
Show me the shame, the agony, the bruises of incarnate God, that I may read boundless guilt in the boundless price;
May I discern the deadly viper in its real malignity, tear it with holy indignation from my breast, resolutely turn from its every snare, refuse to hold polluting dalliance with it.
Blessed Lord Jesus, at thy cross may I be taught the awful miseries from which I am saved, ponder what the word ‘lost’ implies, see the fires of eternal destruction;
Then may I cling more closely to they broken self, adhere to thee with total being, detest sin as strongly as thy love to me is strong,
And may holiness be the atmosphere in which I live.

- Valley of Vision

My Salvation Story

Glorious God,

I bless thee that I know thee.

I once lived in the world, but was ignorant of its Creator,

was partaker of thy providences, but knew not the Provider,

was blind while enjoying the sunlight,

was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices all around me,

understood many things, but had no knowledge of they ways,

saw the world, but did not see Jesus only.

O happy day, when in thy loves sovereignty

thou didst look on me, and call me by grace.

Then did the dead heart begin to beat,

the darkened eye glimmer with light,

the dull ear catch thy echo,

and I turned to thee and found thee,

a God ready to hear, willing to save.

- Valley of Vision

God saved me from a life of drugs, alcohol, and sex at a very young age. My salvation story isn’t dramatic, in one sense. I wasn’t snatched form a life of habitual and “bad” sin. I was snatched as a girl and kept from those sins. And yet I was snatched and redeemed from my sin. Because, you see, a bad attitude sent Christ to the cross just as much as adultery or murder. I sit here trying to remember a day before I was saved and I cannot. I cannot remember a day in my life that I did not love my Savior. Of course that day exists, but I have no memory of it. This blows me away. It leaves me in awe. That God would save me. That He would soften my heart towards Him at sucha a young age. That He would purposefully protect me from so many things. And even when my rebellious heart reared against Him; He kept me and protected me. When I purposefully and willfully (as a traitorous child of the King) sinned and tried to do my own thing, He would only le me go so far. And when He decreased, He pulled me back to Him. I cannot remember a time He has not sovereignly lead and orchestrated my life. How amazing is that? The almighty Creator, Lord of the Universe, King of kings; He lovingly leads, protects, guides, and gives grace…to me! I don’t deserve it. There's nothing good or desirable in me. He could have left me to myself for years. I could be in such different circumstances. Yet, in His great mercy, God plucked me as a little girl! He set a song in my heart and cleansed my wicked heart. He put a desire for Himself within me. He stirred (and continues to stir) my heart towards Him. What amazing grace to such a an undeserving sinner!!!