glorycloud's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- grace never fails in those whom God has destined for salvation It is 12:35 PM Wednesday afternoon here in Western Michigan. It is a cold gray cloudy day. This morning I got up around 7:45 AM. When I came upstairs I found my wife having her morning devotions. In our household my wife and I seek to live a life of reading the Bible and unceasing prayer. As we have gotten older my wife and I realize more and more how short life is and then there is Eternity. In eternity one will either be in Heaven or Hell. Now is the time to make sure one does not die and go to Hell. Now is the time to seek salvation and to receive the gift of eternal life purchased by the blood of the Messiah (what we celebrate on Christ Mass). This morning after Carol and I had devotions I read 'Some Pastors And Teachers' by Sinclair B. Ferguson and wrote in my paper diary. Carol left to do errands and has not returned home. I have been sitting in the living room this afternoon reading, 'The Spiritual Life' by Campegius Vitringa Translated And Edited By Charles K. Telfer Foreword By Richard A. Muller. I will now quote from this book by Vitringa- "Two beneficial characteristics always accompany and complement this great work of regeneration when it takes place in adults. First, the operation of divine grace and the emergence of the new man never take place except through vigor and great exertion. There is no place for inaction or slackness. The man convinced of the ugliness of sin rejects it with horror and casts it away like clothing stained with menstrual blood. "Get away from me!" he says (Isa. 30:22). Effectively called to Christ and persuaded about the necessity of having communion with God through Him, he does not merely go, he runs (see Song 1:4; Ps. 119:32; Isa. 40:31). Blazing and ardent, "fervent in spirit" (Rom. 12:11), he does nothing with sloth or indifference. Second. the operation of divine grace always brings corresponding changes to a person's affections and actions. One man weeps in repentance, shame, and mourning over his unworthiness and the irregularities of his previous life (Jer. 31:19). Another man embraces Christ Jesus with both arms by faith. Another rejoices in the firm confidence that he has the right to stand squarely on God's grace. These affections are particularly dominant in a person who experiences a second renewal, a person who already had come into communion with God but fell back into some serious sin. In the present new economy, it often happens that when a person is regenerated, all his grief is absorbed by the consolation and joy of the Holy Spirit. This delight, I say, is connected with the most tender love and the deep and active stirrings of gratitude in the soul as in the sinful woman of Luke 7:47." pg. 39 'The Spiritual Life' by Campegius Vitringa It is now 12:39 PM Carol just called to say she was still at Maplewood Auto and would be home after they switch the tires on the front end of the car. Last night I mainly read my books and Carol got home from a Woman's Ministry Meeting late. I went down into the lower level and read till around 11 o'clock PM. Now it is another day in Time Span. I will close to wait. 1:04 p.m. - 2022-12-07 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||