REALIZING THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF
“To be humble as we should be, we must know ourselves. There must be no disguising of our true condition from ourselves or from God. Where love declines, there must be a cause; and, when found, it must be immediately removed” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jul 16th).
“Some people feel pure, but they are filthy and unwashed” (Prov 30:11-12 NLT).
“[T]here is none who does good, not even one” (Ps 53:3 ESV).
“[T]here is only one way I know to realise the love of God, and that is to realise the truth about myself. We have to be made worse before we can be made better; there are times when we have to be cruel to be kind. We may have to clean that wound before we can put in the oil that will soothe it. We must get rid of certain things, and that is a painful process. Therefore, the highway to realising the love of God is to realise the truth about ourselves. [T]hat is to realise that you are a hopeless, damned sinner, that you can do nothing about yourself. You can never put yourself right; you can never make yourself fit to stand in the presence of God. You must realise that you are altogether lost and undone and heading straight for hell, and that is where you would arrive, were it not that God in His infinite, everlasting love sent His only begotten Son not only into the world, but to the cruel death of the cross, so that you might be forgiven, that you might be saved” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#332, p524).
“God loves: an open, honest confession of sin. Though He searches and knows all hearts, He yet delights in the frank and detailed acknowledgment of sin from His backsliding child. Is this all He requires of His poor wandering child? That is all! I am a backslider, a wanderer, a prodigal. I have strayed from Thee like a lost sheep. My love has waxed cold, my steps have slackened in the path of holy obedience, my mind has yielded to the corrupting, deadening influence of the world, and my affections have wandered in search of other earthly objects of delight. [A]ll we do is defaced with sin” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Jul 17th).
“ [S]top having fellowship with the unfruitful works of this darkness, but rather be rebuking them so as to bring out confession and conviction” (Eph 5:11 Wuest)
“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression” (Ps 19:13 ESV).
Bonnie's Prayer Affair 