Christian Life

Brought to the Valley of Vision

Lord, High and Holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
they joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

– taken from The Valley of Vision –
(a collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions)

Being Broken – Roy Hession

Being broken is both God’s work and ours. He brings His pressure to bear, but we have to make the choice … All day long the choice will be before us in a thousand ways.

– Roy Hession –

God Is Not Looking For Brilliant Men – Henry Ironside

God is not looking for brilliant men, is not depending upon eloquent men, is not shut up to the use of talented men in sending His gospel out in the world. God is looking for broken men who have judged themselves in the light of the cross of Christ. When He wants anything done, He takes up men who have come to the end of themselves, whose confidence is not in themselves, but in God.

– Henry Ironside –

Don’t Refine But Save – Charles Spurgeon

Paul saw people sinking toward hell and did not talk of refining them, but of saving them from the wrath to come. He laid aside his preferences to prevent prejudice; He submitted his will in things indifferent, and if humankind would but receive the Gospel, he raised no questions about forms or ceremonies. Are we possessed with the same all-absorbing desire? Jesus died for sinners, can’t we live for them?

– Charles Spurgeon –

The Man Who Gazes – Alan Redpath

The man who gazes upon and contemplates day by day the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who has caught the glow of the reality that the Lord is not a theory but an indwelling power and force in his life, is as a mirror reflecting the glory of the Lord.

– Alan Redpath –

Prayers That Have Been Prayed – EM Bounds

A man can pray better because of the prayers of the past; a man can live holier because of the prayers of the past; the man of many and acceptable prayers has done the truest and greatest service to the incoming generation.

– EM Bounds –