A Sunday Sweetness

Maybe you're like me.  On a daily basis I am frequently reminded of my own deficiencies.  Always driven off-track by my own selfish desires, while they promise to provide me with contentment.  Yet as I walk with the Lord, all these things, in fact, only lead to a theft of my joy and contentment in Him.  The evil one is in constant cooperation with the sin left within me, in an effort to torment me and steal that joy.  So great is that power that without some help, I would be overcome with its evil.  Praise God for His love for us, His desire for mercy towards us, and glorious graces He gives to us, to those who believe in His name.

Again, another quick word from Owen on this same subject (Overcoming Sin and Temptation, p194).  Paraphrasing:

One method that the Lord preserves us from sin and temptation:  Apart from God's grace to us, we have no strength to resist temptation, and will pursue its sin, when it comes to us with its propositions.  We have no power or wisdom to keep ourselves from following after these temptations. As a result, we must be, and can be, kept by His power and wisdom only - being preserved by His grace, while sin abounds all around (1 Peter 1:5).  We are "protected by the power of God." The Lord directs us to this, not only in the Lord's prayer by asking to not be led into temptation (Mat 6:13), but also by His own prayer for us, that we may be kept:  " I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15).

How great and wonderful is the grace and mercy of our God to save us from such a persistent and powerful enemy.  Let us not forget, but instead be grateful of the many mercies He has given to us.  "For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47)

Praise Him and rest in His Glory.