glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the heart be strengthened It is now in the flow of Divine Providence 2:16 PM Sunday afternoon. I found the courage to go to a grocery store to buy food for Sunday dinner this afternoon. I am always amazed Carol and I have the financial meets to go buy food anytime we need food. Food to eat is such a blessing since we deserve nothing from the Lord's hands. His mercies are new every morning. As I was driving up our driveway from going grocery shopping a mail lady delivered two books I had pre-ordered from Amazon. I received these two books- "Called By Triune Grace: Divine Rhetoric and the Effectual Call" [Studies In Christian Doctrine And Scripture] by Jonathan Hogland "The Message Of Spiritual Warfare" [The Bible Speaks Today] by Keith Ferdinando I am right now down in the lower level drinking coffee and reading from a book I recently mentioned in a BookTube video titled, "Armilla Catechetica: A Chain of Principles" by John Arrowsmith [Westminster Assembly Facsimile Series]. I like to quote from this old book this afternoon- "6. Yea but how manifest soever it be that when the flesh faileth the heart may be strengthened, how the heart it self should fail and yet be strengthened is not so evident. I am therefore to make it appear in the next place; that these two clauses, My heart faileth, and God is the strength of my heart, may both be verified at once without a paradox in different respects. By reason of remains of unbelief in the most regenerate on this side of heaven, when Satans temptations shall strike in with their corruptions, holy men may be induced in a fit of dejection because the Lord hath cast them down, to conceive and say he hath cast them off. David once said, I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Such fainting flows from not believing, such unbelief is much fomented by not considering that (as no outward blessing is good enough to be a sign of eternal Election, seeing God often filleth their bellies with hid treasure, who treasure up themselves wrath against the day of wrath, so) no temporal affliction is bad enough to be an evidence of Reprobation; seeing the dearest Son of Gods love was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Yet may the same heart at the same time be strengthened from another cause, namely God, who can easily can, and usually doth supply such effectual grace as is able to keep the head above water, when the rest of the body is under it, able to preserve the Spouse in a posture of leaning upon her beloved in a wilderness; to make one with Abraham believe in hope against hope, and say with Job, Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him. Faith can support when Nature shrinks; call God father when he frowns; and make some discovery of a sun through the darkest cloud. 3:03 p.m. - 2016-11-20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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