Monday 7 January 2019

Have You Gotten Used to the Goodness of God?



His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.  2 Peter 1:3-4
It really has nothing to do with me.

I am so undeserving.

I mean, I know my heart.

I know my willful, stubborn pride.

I know my slothfulness, my quest for ease.

I know my inconsistent attempts to be good.

Yet…

It is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul - It Is Well With My Soul hymn

Despite the corruption that is in the world... in me, I’ve been miraculously rescued, and my soul is nestled securely in my Saviour’s loving arms.

That truth knocks me right out of my senses.

Leaves me speechless, dumbfounded, amazed.

If I were to keep that truth always before me…

If I were to live amazed

I would be so much more grateful, so much more humble and so much more merciful.

My life would be a song.

A sweet, melodious song of praise to my Saviour, one that warmly attracts others into the safety of the nest.

But…

I don’t stay amazed.

Not consistently anyway. Not in a way that shows up in my day-to-day.

I become impatient and critical of others just as undeserving as me, because I fail to marvel at the amazing grace my Lord and Saviour extends to me - the chief of sinners.

Sometimes, I steal God’s thunder… secretly crediting myself… my abilities, my efforts for the fruit I see in my life…  because I stop being in awe that the Spirit of the all-powerful Creator chooses to live inside of me - a vessel He has crafted.

Yes, when my ‘I’m-accustomed-to-it’ attitude mixes with a generous helping of ‘I’m-not-so-bad-after-all’, I become ungrateful, whiny, and self-motivated.

And self-motivation, especially at this time of year, can be hazardous.

So, I’m pausing now to pray.


O Lord God, Who Inhabitest Eternity,

The heavens declare thy glory,

The earth thy riches,

The universe is thy temple,
Thy presence fills immensity,
Yet thou hast of thy pleasure created life, and communicated happiness;
Thou hast made me what I am, and given me what I have;
In thee I live and move and have my being;
Thy providence has set the bounds of my habitation,
and wisely administers all my affairs.
I thank thee for thy riches to me in Jesus,
                for the unclouded revelation of him in thy Word,
                where I behold His Person, character, grace, glory,
                humiliation, sufferings, death, and resurrection;
Give me to feel a need of his continual saviourhood,
                and cry with Job, ‘I am vile’,
                with Peter, ‘I perish’,
                with the publican, ‘Be merciful to me, a sinner’.
Subdue in me the love of sin,
Let me know the need of renovation as well as of forgiveness,
                in order to serve and enjoy thee for ever.
I come to thee in the all-prevailing name of Jesus,
with nothing of my own to plead,
no works, no worthiness, no promises.
I am often straying,
                often knowingly opposing thy authority,
                often abusing thy goodness;
Much of my guilt arises from my religious privileges,
                my low estimation of them,
my failure to use them to my advantage,
But I am not careless of thy favour or regardless of thy glory;
Impress me deeply with a sense of thine omnipresence,
                that thou art about my path, my ways, my lying down, my end.
Amen.

I’m using this profound prayer entitled, ‘God the Source of All Good’ taken from ‘The Valley of Vision – A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions’ as a prompt to encourage my heart’s prayer to live amazed.

I want to remain there… to wonder at the incredibleness of it all… to continually marvel at God!

I want to peer into His word and His world, to see and savor the beauty, the goodness, the love, the mercy, the power of the LORD and to live amazed by who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing.

Then…

prayerfully and through His power…

my life can be a sweet song.


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What about you?

Have you gotten used to the goodness of God?
Or do you live amazed?
How would your life… 
your plans, your relationships, your day-to-day 
be different if you lived amazed? 


Grace to you,
Carlie

Please enjoy this special bonus video - 'No Ocean Big Enough - The Beauty of God in the World He Made - John Piper'.

Also sharing today over at #TellHisStory link up. 




30 comments:

  1. Beautiful reminder of a great, big, loving God!

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    1. Thank you, Becky; He sure is worthy of our praise!

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  2. Carlie, this is just a beautiful post in so many ways. This month of January, I am trying to take the 31 days and fill them with praise for our God. I am joining you in asking the Lord to keep me living amazed at His goodness, His grace, His mercy - all of which He pours out abundantly and freely. Blessings!

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    1. Thanks so much, Joanne; 31 days of praise sounds heavenly. So happy I visited your site today to get some inspiration. So many verses... so many reasons to praise Him. Thank you.

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  3. Thank you, Carlie, for inspiring us to live amazed at the wonderful works and presence of the God we serve. Let us see always with grateful eyes and hearts.
    Blessings!

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    1. Praying right alongside you, Martha Jane. May He always give me fresh eyes to see His glory and a grateful heart to praise Him.

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  4. This is a beautiful prayer! I was reading just this morning about the woman who poured perfume over Jesus' feet and was challenged by her example of pouring out everything because she really grasped grace and how much Jesus had done for her. This is obviously something God wants me to take notice of today!

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    1. I love it when God does that. He surely is personal. Yes, I've been blown away with the Valley of Vision book; glad you liked the prayer. The prayers challenge me to pour it all out to God. They're absolutely beautiful.

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  5. Beautiful prayer, Carlie! Pinned twice today.

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    1. Thanks for pinning, Sarah. I pray others would be blessed by this prayer. The 'Valley of Vision' book is chock-full of beautiful prayers like this. They challenge me to go deeper in my talks with God.

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  6. Thank you soo very much for this honest post. I am right there with you. I feel like an Israelite over and over again. Forgetting ALL that God has already done, and not holding on to all that He promises to do! I need to remember that despite all of this His amazing Grace covers me and without looking behind I can press on toward the upward call in Christ Jesus because the Victory is already His.

    This was a great post! Thank you so much for sharing the prayer from the Valley of Vision. I need to find where my copy of that book is. The prayers contained within truly draw you into the presence of the Lord.

    Blessings,

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    1. Thank you so much, Karen for your thoughtful comment. I love your reminder that 'the Victory is already His' - such an incredible reason to live amazed! Amen. Yes, the prayers in the 'Valley of Vision' are wonderful for helping to deepen your talks with God. So grateful I found it.Blessings!

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  7. Carlie, first time here and visiting from Debbie Kitterman's linkup. His goodness? Unravels me. I love Him so.

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    1. Oh, I love that, Susan! 'Unravels me.' Wow! Such an amazing word picture of how we respond to His awesome grace. Thanks for visiting today; it's such a blessing to have you.

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  8. Carlie, what a post! I've been on both sides of what you described....living amazed at how God shows up in each day, and also on the side of taking His goodness for granted and struggling with the entitlement mentality. Sometimes, I don't live on one side or the other, but somewhere in the middle. This leads me to apathy and introspection. I need to move to the living amazed side of the spectrum.

    Thanks for this exhortation! I enjoyed your place here.

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    1. Thank you, Jeanne. I love your apt description of our problem. Somewhere in the middle... apathy and introspection. But God... thanks be to God... through His power and grace, we can live amazed. Thanks for visiting; so blessed to have you.

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  9. Carlie, I love how you are focusing on these old and precious prayers. I often find myself being helped in prayer by the borrowed words of others.

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    1. I'm grateful to God, Michele. 'Iron sharpeneth iron' even across time and place through the power of words cried out to God.

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  10. Beautifully written! I, too, want to live amazed at the glory of God and what He has done and is doing! Blessings to you, Carlie!

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    1. Thank you, Gayl! Praying we'll never cease to be amazed by our heavenly Father.

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  11. I love the Vally of Vision! And living AMAZED is what I do so often. AMAZED by God's goodness. AMAZED by His timing. AMAZED that He could ever love someone like me. H is an AMAZING God, so it's not surprising that we live AMAZED!

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    1. Oh, I love your enthusiasm, Patsy! Thanks for dropping by and leaving some encouragement to live amazed.

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  12. Yes, I relate-thank you for your beautiful words.

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    1. Thank you, April! And thanks for visiting; I was so blessed by your site today.

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  13. Carlie, this is a very heartfelt and beautiful prayer. Living amazed takes on a whole new meaning when we simply allow ourselves to pause and take in our moments as gifts.

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    1. Amen, Crystal. Each moment a gift! So grateful to God! May we continually live amazed at His goodness.

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  14. Hey Carlie, I have come back to this time and again this week. And wanted to let you know I am featuring this post tomorrow on Candidly Christian for our weekly Grace and Truth Link Up. I can so relate to your wrods and this is a reminder I need more often than not.

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    1. Thank you, Heather! So grateful that the spotlight shines on our amazing God and that He gives us all that we need to live amazed. Grace and peace to you my friend!

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  15. Good morning Carlie...loved this post. It totally peirced my heart with truth! Especially being inpatient and critical of others when I too am underserving! Beautiful reminder of God’s constant goodness...His love, grace and mercy in my life ����

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  16. I love your final question and it's one I really need to sit and ponder. I have a feeling though that the way I view life on this side of heaven would look quite different if I truly live amazed!

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