I wrote this about 16 years ago, and I can see how God has taken hold of my life since then and directed it, after giving my life wholly to Him:
My heart's desire is to be totally faithful to God. I have set my foot to the plow and I will not look back. He has loosed the chains from my neck and the weights upon my shoulders. I was in bondage to sin, but He has set me free. I will not forsake Him. He has opened my eyes to see, my ears so I can hear. He has healed my soul. God has spared me from death - I will live for Him. He has given me life from the dead; I owe my life to Him. I will not surrender to the world. I no longer want what the flesh desires. How can I let sin reign in my life when God is on the throne? His presence has filled my heart and mind. He is my God! I will have no other gods before Him. The free will He has given me I give back to Him. This life He has given me I gladly offer to Him. I will do the work God gives me to do even if it costs my life, for I do not live for this life but the life that is to come. I submit all I am and all I ever shall be to the great I AM, the God of Abraham. There is nothing I have that does not belong to Him. I submit not only out of obedience but also out of love, because He bought me with a price. I was a slave to sin, but now I'm free. So I desire to be a slave to God, yet He has made me to be a son. What can this world offer? What can take the place of the one and only God, the Creator of every living thing? I have a relationship with the living God! Will I fear my fellow man? No. My God is the Creator of all, I will bow before Him. The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Why should I fear? What could separate me from the love of God? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or the sword? In all these things I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved me. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Messiah Jesus my Lord. This life is but a vapor. It appears a short time and then vanishes away. What would it profit me if I were to gain the whole world and lose my own soul? Yet my life is not lost, God has redeemed me. I will put nothing before Him. This world offers nothing in comparison to God. I am but a stranger in a foreign land. I set my sights on the kingdom of God, not treasures on earth. Yet even my faith is given to me. I am what I am by the grace of God. I would be like those living in Sodom and Gomorrha, like the world we live in today, if it were not for God coming into my life and His continual hand on me. God has opened my eyes, showing me that true life is in following Him; everything else is vanity. I am not ashamed, for the strength I have to live for God is provided by God. Without Him I am nothing. Through all eternity I will praise Him, for He has saved my soul from Hell. He has written my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. With eagerness I await my Lord's coming, when He will take me home. Even so, come Lord Jesus, come!
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6 comments:
"I am what I am by the grace of God."
As long as I have known you Triston, (and that goes back 16 years I think), you have always had a heartfelt love for God's grace. We all love the Lord, because He first loved us, but you have had an extra love for His grace and mercy as well. You have always tried and fought to give the glory to His grace. And that has always been an encouragement to me.
Keep preaching His Gospel of grace bro! I know you will, by His grace. It's the power to save a dead spirit and soul: The only power.
I am glad you are safely home.
How are mom, daughter and baby?
So - how about an update on mom and the kiddos! I'd like to know especially how Jada is doing with the baby and if your trip was successful.
You will like Martin's blog - he is wickedly funny sometimes but hasn't been blogging for a while. It's a little off color sometimes, as such things will be, but he seems a nice guy who is genuinly witty. He is friends with Lorenzo who children are now in Nepal - while she is in Peru!
Thanks Don!
Some how I missed that you had wrote comments here. You wrote right around the time I was coming back from Thailand. That's probably why I missed it. I really appreciate the kind words, brother. I think your passion for the gospel of grace is what rubbed off on me, though. After all, you were the first to disciple me, Don. I really appreciate you bro. We both have a common love for the grace of God and have such, almost identical, doctoral beliefs. It’s pretty neat. I always love discussing the things of God with you.
Hey Susan,
Sorry I've been so tardy in responding to you. It has been a really hectic time here. My trip was wonderful; the leadership course was great. The hotel and surroundings couldn't have been better, but boy is it hot and humid in Thailand! After 3 weeks there, I've had my fill.
Jaya is doing good. She has had too much swelling in her feet though. The doctor has her on 100% bed rest to get the swelling down. The doctor even threatened to hospitalize here if it didn’t get better. But things are good—just 7 weeks to go before the baby should come!
Blessings,
Triston
OK - just 6 more weeks to go - how are the feet?
thanks for your comments. We have lost Maalie though - right now he is in Lapland and after that a short trip to Vienna again. It is hard to say if he will come back to the blog after he returns to the UK - I think he has turned his attentions elsewhere - but, what matters is we were faithful when given the chance!
Glad to hear the good news that things are going pretty well there and the conference went well. I had no idea it was 3 weeks! Tell Jaya to behave herself - she will have plenty of running around to do once the baby gets here - that will keep her plenty busy. How is your other daughter - I don't remember how old she is. Is she excited for the baby to come and helping take care of her mom? I hope so - trust me - with 3 older step children that I raised - I remember that "fetch and carry" were wonderfully helpful!
I loved the bootlegged movie comments about the guys shadow across the screen - cracked me up. It's not a life that I would find easy, that's for sure!
Hey Susan,
I'm sorry to hear we've lost Maalie. He makes blogging more fun somehow.
Mary is 11 years old and a big help to us. She is looking forward to being a big sister.
Jaya tried just sitting down yesterday but the swelling began coming back with a vengeance. She seems to have to keep lying down with her feet propped up to keep the swelling at bay. She's fine though. Thanks for asking.
I probably sound even more like the real Martin Luther in these last comments to Simon (like Luther's awful "Sin boldly" comments), but I'm not sure how else to deal with him. It is hilarious to me that he is trying to teach me how to be a Christian witness, when He thinks God is a myth.
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