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AMEN KAYAK!

GRACE TO ALL!

Sovereign Lord,

Thy will is supreme in heaven and earth,

and all beings are creatures of thy power.

Thou art the Father of our spirits;

thy inspiration gives us understanding,

thy providence governs our lives.

But, O God, we are sinners in thy sight;

thou hast judged us so,

and if we deny it we make thee a liar.

Yet in Christ thou art reconciled to thy

rebellious subjects;

give us the ear of faith to hear him,

the eye of faith to see him,

the hand of faith to receive him,

the appetite of faith to feed upon him;

that we might find in him light,

riches, honour, eternal life.

Thou art the inviting One,

may we hearken to thee;

the Almighty Instructor,

teach us to live to thee;

the Light-Dweller,

inaccessible to man and angels,

hiding thyself behind the elements of creation,

but known to us in Jesus,

Possess our minds with the grandeur

of thy perfections.

Thy love to us in Jesus is firm and changeless,

nothing can separate us from it,

and in the enjoyment of it nothing

can make us miserable.

Preserve us from hypocrisy and formality

in religion;

Enable us to remember what thou art

and what we are,

to recall thy holiness and our unworthiness;

Help us to approach thee clothed with humility,

for vanity, forwardness, insensibility,

disorderly affection, backwardness to duty,

proneness to evil are in our hearts.

Let us never forget thy patience, wisdom,

power, faithfulness, care,

and never cease to respond

to thy invitations.

A PURITANS PRAYER!

"And will manifest myself to him."
- John 14:21

The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of himself to his people. Even if
Scripture did not declare this, there are many of the children of God who
could testify the truth of it from their own experience. They have had
manifestations of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a peculiar
manner, such as no mere reading or hearing could afford. In the
biographies of eminent saints, you will find many instances recorded in
which Jesus has been pleased, in a very special manner to speak to their
souls, and to unfold the wonders of his person; yea, so have their souls
been steeped in happiness that they have thought themselves to be in
heaven, whereas they were not there, though they were well nigh on the
threshold of it-for when Jesus manifests himself to his people, it is
heaven on earth; it is paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun. Especial
manifestations of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer's
heart. One effect will be humility. If a man says, "I have had
such-and-such spiritual communications, I am a great man," he has never
had any communion with Jesus at all; for "God hath respect unto the lowly:
but the proud he knoweth afar off." He does not need to come near them to
know them, and will never give them any visits of love. Another effect
will be happiness; for in God's presence there are pleasures for evermore.
Holiness will be sure to follow. A man who has no holiness has never had
this manifestation. Some men profess a great deal; but we must not believe
any one unless we see that his deeds answer to what he says. "Be not
deceived; God is not mocked.
" He will not bestow his favours upon the wicked: for while he will not
cast away a perfect man, neither will he respect an evil doer.
Thus there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus-humility,
happiness, and holiness.
May God give them to thee, Christian!

C.H.SPURGEON.

SOLI DEO GLORIA!