“Herein is love, when I cannot rise to Him He draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to Himself.”  —  The Valley of Vision

Whenever I am feeling dry and far from the Lord, crying out to Him, wanting to be close but not knowing how, I read that old Puritan prayer.  And I realize that instead of thinking, what can I do to get close to God again? I must not make it about me, but about Him.  And so I simply remember. HIS love, HIS grace.

It was He who drew me to Himself in the first place, it must be Him who draws me near once again.  The moment I try to crawl my way back to good standing with God is the moment that I become me-centered instead of God-centered, because it becomes about what I can do.  No!  Just know Him.

Know Him.

Remember the gospel.  Remember what He has done.  It.  Is.  Finished.

Jesus finished it at the cross.  He paid for sin once and for all.

I must cling to the gospel.  Religion merely shows me that I need to love God.  The gospel alone gives me the power to do it.

I love these lines from the song, ‘All I Have is Christ,” by Sovereign Grace Music:

“I had no hope that You would own

A rebel to Your will

And if You had not loved me first

I would refuse You still.”

And so I press on, remembering that it was God who loved me first, and God who overcame my rebellious will with His grace, and God who holds me and keeps me by His grace.

Oh, how I need Him.  The more I am sanctified, the more I realize how sinful I am and am in need of JESUS.

Jesus, I plead to You for help.  Only You can revive this dry and desert soul.

I love You because You first loved me.

 

“Herein is love; when I cannot rise to Him He draws near on wings of grace to raise me to Himself.”

Thank You Lord for Your grace.