From “Morning and Evening” by C. H. Spurgeon

“Partakers of the divine nature.”  – 2Pe_1:4

To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. “God is love”; we become love-”He that loveth is born of God.” God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and he makes us good by his grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than this-in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ quickens his people, for “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One with Jesus-so one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!

 

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My Prayer to the Father, August 25, 2012

Heavenly Father
I come to You, Father in humbleness
And praise for all that You are,
And for all that You have done.
You are the great and eternal God
Who reigns on high,
forever and ever.
You are the Author and the Creator,
And all things worthy
And deserving of praise
Are from Your hand.

Heavenly Father
You have made us in Your image;
You have made us to be people
With the capacity for thought
And the ability to feel,
And for these gifts we thank You
For without them
We would have no knowledge of You,
Nor be able to feel such love for You.
These are the gifts
Whereby You have made known
Unto man
All that they encompass
In Your Son
Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father
With what love You love us;
With what mercy You treat us.
How would any of us
Endure but a second
Life in the darkness of this world
Were You not to show us daily
Who You are and what You
Do for us.
Who of us could within ourselves
Wake and start breathing on our own?
Could awake and begin our day
And see the sun rise
and the sun set
Apart from Your desire
That we should do so.

Heavenly Father
In the midst of this world
Corrupted by sin
Let us never forget as Your children
That You have not forsaken us,
That You have not left us comfortless,
That You are not beyond us.
Help us to always remember
That we are never beyond Your
Love, Grace, and forgiveness.

Heavenly Father
I come to You with just one plea.
Father, help Your children
To remember and never forget
That we are just that,
Your children.
That we are not capable of
Walking this earth alone;
That indeed we are not even
Capable of thought
And feeling
In ways that honor You
Apart from Your Spirit.

In Jesus name, I pray,
Amen.

My Prayer to the Father, August 2, 2012

Heavenly Father,
I come to You, Father, with a grateful heart
In sincerity, in worship and praise
Knowing my position before You
As I kneel before Your throne
In humble adoration.
You, Father, who are Spirit,
You, who have the power,
Beyond anything ever known,
Beyond anything that can be
Conceived of in my humanness.
Indeed, Father, I know that
Even when I am living
In the light of eternity
I shall never know
All that You know
And are.

Heavenly Father,
Creator of the stars, Author of their every name,
Maker of the heavens that continually
Stretch forth their boundaries into infinity
How can I ever begin to understand You?
You who have not only created the heavens,
But You who were before…
You, who made something out of nothing
For that is what defines a Creator.
You, who Your created ignore
And mock, and try to imitate
As if they can in any way
Create apart from You.

Heavenly Father,
Were it not so tragic, it would be amusing
To see how like little ants
We march to and fro in our busyness
Feigning such importance as we
March along paths made by others
Subsisting on what others have provided
Glorying in our strength and intelligence
And totally dismissing the truth
That You were there first to make the path;
That You created the source
Of our provision.

Heavenly Father
I can only think of myself and others
As being amusing to One so great.
Yet, I know Father, that You
Are not amused
As You watch from Your
Exalted place
As we scurry forth in our
Never-ending quest to make of
Ourselves what we can never be
Or achieve…You;
The true God, the only God,
You,
The Eternal and forever God.
We who live within a thin
Veil of flesh
Composed of water, air, and dirt,
With a heart and mind
Brought to ecstasy
By such tiny contrivances
As mere men can make
When they are nothing
Of consequence to You.

Heavenly Father
How it must have saddened You
To see that which You made
Act in such a way
When You made them for so much more.
To see and to know that the shadow
Of darkness would come
To cloud their minds and hearts.
To make them simple and empty
Of the beauty
Of Your perfect Love.

Heavenly Father
That is what built the bridge
No man or woman can cross,.
How foolish we are to think
That our works, our possessions,
Our wealth and monuments
Could ever buy us passage
To eternal life.
How ignorant we are to strive,
To explore and search,
To create and build
A way…
When the way is here
Waiting to be embraced.

Heavenly Father
It is here that I lay down before You,
With tears of joy inexpressible in my eyes,
As I contemplate all that You
Have given me.
Your name is Wonderful,
And You have made my life so
Because You provided the Way
In Your Son,
In Your one and only,
Son,
My Savior,
My Lord,
Jesus

Heavenly Father
This night, Father, I make a request.
Father, Glorious and True,
Make Your people brave;
Make then bold.
Make then, Father, give
What in their selfishness they cling to:
Their lives.
Make them know the truth
Of what Your Son proclaimed
That those who lose their
Lives for My sake
Shall find it.

Heavenly Father
Most of all, Make me.

In Jesus name, I pray.
Amen.

Superstitious…Nah!

Jeanne over at Women’s Window wrote this Superstitious…Nah! which is a wonderful and very fine piece of writing.  It deserved to be read and appreciated imo.