belonging to Jesus

O Heavenly Father,

Teach me to see 

    that if Christ has pacified thee 

        and satisfied divine justice

he can also deliver me from my sins; 

that Christ does not desire me, now justified, 

    to live in self-confidence in my own strength, 

    but gives me the law of the Spirit of life

    to enable me to obey thee;

that the Spirit and his power are mine by resting on Christ's death;

that the Spirit of life within answers to the law without;

that if I sin not I should thank thee for it; 

that if I sin I should be humbled daily under it; that I should mourn for sin more than other men do,    

    for when I see I shall die because of sin, that makes me mourn;

    when I see how sin strikes at thee, 

    that makes me mourn;

    when I see that sin caused Christ's death, 

    that makes me mourn;

that sanctification is the evidence of reconciliation, 

proving that faith has truly apprehended Christ;

Thou hast taught me

that faith is nothing else than receiving thy kindness;

that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him, 

    love clinging to him as a branch to the tree, 

    to seek life and vigour from him.

I thank thee for showing me the vast difference 

    between knowing things by reason,

     and knowing them by the spirit of faith.

(from The Valley of Vision)

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