“O What blessedness accompanies devotion, when under all the trials that weary me, the cares that corrode me, the cares that corrode me, the fears that disturb me, the infirmities that oppress me, I can come to thee in my need and feel peace beyond understanding.” pg 116

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

Thought Patterns: Questions to ask yourself

- How does what we are doing point us towards the gospel?

- How does the Gospel impact what we are doing?

Words | Actions: Things to say and do

- Hug when greeting one another, and when parting.

- Ask “How’s your soul?” instead of “How are you doing?”

- Ask “How is the truth of the Gospel impacting your life?”

- Ask “How can I be praying for you?” and actually pray for that person then

Group Activities: What you can do while thinking through these things

- Sit together at lunch time

- Go to sporting events together

- You get the drift: do what you would normally do alone, together with other believers.

The tough part:

It’s easy to be secluded to your group of Christian friends, but we are to be in the world and reaching out to unbelievers. So in all these suggestions, don’t forget those who don’t believe in Christ. You sit with your Christian friends at school, don’t forget your atheist class mate who is sitting by himself. Be actually caring for the people around you, and pay attention to their needs.

(photo from: http://abyss.hubbe.net/jeremiah/gallery/jim.pike?key=ep&page=28)

                          

“I deserve that thy kingdom be taken away from me. Lord, I confess my sin with feeling, lamentation , a broken heart, a contrite spirit, self-abhorrence, self-condemnation,self-despair. Give me relief by Jesus my hope.”  pg 190

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“I deserve that thy kingdom be taken away from me. Lord I confess my sin with feeling, lamentation, and a broken heart, a contrite spirit, self-abhorrence, self-condemnation, self-despair. Give me relief by Jesus my hope. ” pg 190

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“O thou Father of my spirit, thou King of my life. Cast me not into destruction, drive me not from your presence , but wound my heart that it may be healed; break it that thine own hand can make it whole.” pg 38

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

From Monday, June 28 to Wednesday, August 25, you have the chance to join Atmosphere in redeeming time this vacation. Click on over to our Don’t Waste Your Summer page to find out how you can get involved in what we’re doing.

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“May I confide in His power and love, commit my soul to Him without reserve, bear His image, observe His laws, pursue His service, and be through time and eternity a model of His efficacy and grace.” pg 37

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“My Father, when thou art angry towards me for my wrongs I try to pacify thee by abstaining from future sin; but teach me that I cannot satisfy thy law, that this effort is a resting in my righteousness, that only Christ’s righteousness, ready made, already finished, is fit for that purpose; that thy chastising me for my sin is not that I should reform, but only that I may be more humbled, afflicted, and separated from sin, by being reconciled and made righteous in Christ.” pg 96

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“He humbled Himself.”—Philippians 2:8.

JESUS is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. We need daily to learn of Him. See the Master taking a towel and washing His disciples’ feet! Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble thyself? See Him as the Servant of servants, and surely thou canst not be proud! Is not this sentence the compendium of His biography, “He humbled Himself”? Was He not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honour and then another, till, naked, He was fastened to the cross, and there did He not empty out His inmost self, pouring out His life-blood, giving up for all of us, till they laid Him penniless in a borrowed grave? How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark His scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and His whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in His outward frame; hear the thrilling shriek, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know Him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten. Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness at His feet. A sense of Christ’s amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt. May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn our lesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.

On-line: HERE | Amazon: Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

                          

“O fountain of all good, destroy in me every lofty thought, break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds, annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness. Implant in me true lowliness of spirit, abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, open in me a fount of penitential tears. Break me up then bind me up; thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God.” pg 6

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“O God, thy main plan and the end of thy will is to make Christ glorious and beloved in heaven where He is now ascended, where one day all the elect will behold all His glory and love and glorify Him forever. Though here I love Him but a little, may this be my portion at last.” pg 22

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

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“O my Savior, I thank thee from the depths of my being for thy wondrous grace and love in bearing my sin in thine own body on the tree.” pg 170

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“O God, the author of all good, I come to thee for the grace another day will require for its duties and events.  I carry about with me an evil heart, I know that without thee I can do nothing.” pg 118

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions

                          

“O Lord, help me never to expect any happiness from the world, but only in thee. Let me not think that I shall be more happy by living to myself, for I can only be happy if employed for thee, and if I desire to live in this world only to do and suffer what thou dost allot me.” pg. 166

Valley of Vision is a series of blog post that will contain quotes from the book Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions