deceit

Drown my Transgressions

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

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O Father in heaven,
I come to You in lowliness of heart
begging You to drown my transgressions
in the sea of You own infinite love.

My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards,
My self-deception in the face of temptation,
My choosing the worse when I know the better,
       O Lord, forgive.
My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others,
My blindness to the suffering of others
   and my slowness to be taught by my own,
My complacence toward wrongs that do not touch my own case
   and my over-sensitiveness to those that do,
My slowness to see the good in my fellows
   and to see the evil in myself,
My hardness of heart towards my neighbors’ faults
   and my readiness to make allowance for my own,
My unwillingness to believe that You have called me to a small work
   and my brother to a great one.
      O Lord, forgive.

John Baillie, 1886–1960, Scottish theologian
A Diary of Private Prayer, slightly edited
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Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit. 

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Questions

What is it like for you when you come clean 

    and confess your heart’s attitudes to God?  
Have you ever felt cleansed and renewed by God’s spirit?

Sin’s True Colors

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
Lord God,
when the devil presents the bait,
    show us the hook.
When the devil presents the golden cup
    show the poison hidden inside.
When the devil presents the sweet pleasure of sin,
    show us the misery that will follow.
When the devil presents the profit of yielding to sin,
    show us the wrath that comes from committing it.
When Satan promises the soul honor and profit,
    give us eyes to see the shame and loss he delivers.
Strengthen our resolve
    that we keep at the greatest possible distance from sin,
    and not play with the golden bait held out by Satan.
 
May we tremble at sin, and keep our distance from it.
Give us eyes to see that sin is a bitter sweet
    whose sweetness quickly vanishes,
     replaced by lasting shame, sorrow, horror and terror.
May we fear to lose
    that divine favor that is better than life,
        that joy that is unspeakable and full of glory,
            that peace that passes understanding,
                those divine influences by which our souls
                are refreshed, raised and gladdened.
 
Help us to see when Satan paints sin with virtue’s colors:
    when pride is called neatness and cleanliness,
    when covetousness is called good stewardship,
    when drunkenness is called good company,
    when a lack of self-control is called liberality,
    and when wild living is called youthful tricks.
Help us to see through the deceits of sin.
Help us to see sin as one day we will see it:
    when what once appeared sweet will appear most bitter,
    what once appeared beautiful will appear most ugly,
    what once appeared delightful will appear most dreadful.
 
Gracious Father, may we reckon the true price of our sin:
    that it cost the best blood, the noblest blood,
        the life-blood, the heart-blood of our Lord Jesus.
 
Thomas Brooks, 1608–1680, English Puritan preacher and author
 
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Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
 

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