Moments with the consoling Christ/Christ Our Pledge Of Grace
Christ our Pledge of Grace
If I have found favour in Thy sight, show me Thy Face, that I may know Thee, and may find grace before Thy eyes. — Ex. 33:13.
I WILL speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.
IF I repute myself greater than this, behold, Thou standest against me; and my sins bear a true testimony, and I cannot contradict it.
BUT if I abase myself, and bring myself down to very nothingness, and divest myself of all self-esteem, and reduce myself, as I really am, to mere dust, Thy grace will be favorable to me, and Thy light will draw nigh to my heart; and all self-estimation, how small soever, will be sunk in the depth of my own nothingness, and there lose itself forever.
IT is there Thou showest me to myself, what I am, what I have been, and to what I am come; for I am nothing, and I knew it not.
IF I am left to myself, behold, I am nothing, and all weakness; but if Thou suddenly look upon me, I presently become strong, and am replenished with new joy.
AND truly wonderful it is that I am so quickly raised up and so graciously embraced by Thee; I who, by my own weight, am always sinking down to the lowest depths.
IT is Thy love that effects this, gratuitously preventing and assisting me in so many necessities, preserving me also from grievous dangers, and, as I may truly say, rescuing me from innumerable evils.
FOR by a perverse loving of myself, I have lost myself; and by seeking Thee alone, and purely loving Thee, I have found both myself and Thee; and by this love have more profoundly annihilated myself.
BECAUSE Thou, most sweet Lord, dost deal with me above all desert, and above all that I dare hope or ask for.
BLESSED be Thou, my God; for though I am unworthy of all good, yet Thy generosity and infinite goodness never cease to do good even to those who are ungrateful, and that are turned far away from Thee.
OH, convert us unto Thee, that we may be humble, thankful, and devout; for Thou art our salvation, our courage, and our strength.