glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- blessed are they that mourn It is 9:37 AM Tuesday morning here in West Michigan. It is 62 degrees and raining this morning. There is no evidence of sunshine this morning. I got up this morning around 5:50 AM, but did not come upstairs till 7:30 AM. I got up and basically dozed till 7:30 AM. I came upstairs to find Carol dozing in her chair (she could have been praying). I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then we had devotions. Carol left after we prayed to do some more grocery shopping. I have written in my paper diary and have been reading for devotions from a book titled, 'The Abuse of God's Grace' by Nicolas Claget (1610-1663). I will quote from Claget- "3. When the heart is sorrowless for sin, such as an offence to God, an unkindness to Christ, a defilement of the Spirit, an obstruction to fellowship with the holy God; and upon gospel considerations of spiritual ingenuity and love for the Lord does not have a broken heart and a contrite, melting spirit in close soliloquy with God by meditation and supplication, but is as hard as a stone, without any mourning and relenting upon the fore-cited grounds. Here is a clear abusing of God's grace. It was never offered to harden, but soften heart, as it did the hearts of Peter (Matthew 36:75), Mary Magdalene (Luke 7:38), and humble Paul (Romans 7:24-25). "O Lord are not Thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved" (Jeremiah 5:3). God strikes wicked, rocky hearts with afflictions, reproofs, errors, smitings of the conscience, and fears of hell; but their sorrows are not to discerned, but are hypocritical, or slavish and brutish, which vanish when the smart is gone. These are strangers to godly sorrow, that works out the love-liking delight, the reigns of sin. While God's mourners are in secret, and looking over their sins with heavy hearts and weeping eyes, these are wantonly leaping and triumphing in the hellish mirth of sporting in sin (Proverbs 10:23). They take pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:12). It is a clear evidence that they who never had true gospel mourning for sin, or have forsaken the exercise of it, or think it needless, of scoff at it (as if there were no Scriptures such as, "Blessed are they that mourn." Godly sorrow works repentance. "A broken heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.") are wanton abusers of both the time and grace of repentance." pg. 83 It is now 9:58 AM Carol just got home from grocery shopping and taking some groceries to her house bound friend Patty. It is still raining outside. Last night Carol went to bed early and read late into the night from a novel titled, 'Darconville's Cat' by Alexander Theroux. There is not much else to report. Today is Marika's fourth birthday. Last night we had face time with Marika, Josiah and baby Lydia. Josiah is back to school teaching after the school had to close due to a outbreak of COVID-19. Carol has noticed stores running out of paper products. It seems this COVID-19 plague has slowed down our economy. Not only America's economy but world economies. We are in the End Times. I will close to ponder. 10:06 a.m. - 2021-10-12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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