Lord, hear our prayer:
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we praise you because you are the source of all that is good and true, and you are the source of life itself. We can plan, we can build and we can make many things, but only you can create. Only you can create out of nothing. Only you can give life to what you have made.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Tuesday Reflecting
[The devil] said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:9.
Rowland Hill once began his sermon by saying, “My friends, the other day I was going down the street, and I saw a drove of pigs following a man. This excited my curiosity so much that I determined to follow. I did so; and, to my great surprise, I saw them follow him to the slaughter-house. I was anxious to know how this was brought about; and I said to the man, ‘My friend, how did you manage to induce these pigs to follow you here?’—‘Oh! did you not see?’ said the man. ‘I had a basket of beans under my arm; and I dropped a few as I came along, and so they followed me.’ “Yes,” said the preacher; “and I thought, so it is the devil has his basket of beans under his arm; and he drops them as he goes along: and what multitudes he induces to follow him to an everlasting slaughterhouse! Yes, friends; and all your broad and crowded thoroughfares are strewn with the beans of the devil.”
~ STANLEY
Tuesday July 18, 2023
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting,
because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one
of you all abounds toward each other.
When faith commences in the soul it is simply looking unto Jesus, and perhaps even then there are so many clouds of doubts, and so much dimness of the eye, that we have need for the light of the Spirit to shine upon the cross before we are able even so much as to see it. When faith grows a little, it rises from looking to Christ to coming to Christ. He who stood afar off and looked to the cross, by-and-by plucks up courage, and getting heart to himself, he runneth up to the cross; or perhaps he doth not run, but hath to be drawn before he can so much as creep thither, and even then it is with a limping gait that he draweth nigh to Christ the Saviour. But that done, faith goeth a little farther: it layeth hold on Christ; it begins to see him in his excellency, and appropriates him in some degree, conceives him to be a real Christ and a real Saviour, and is convinced of his suitability. And when it hath done as much as that, it goeth further; it leaneth on Christ; it leaneth on its Beloved; casteth all the burden of its cares, sorrows, and griefs upon that blessed shoulder, and permitteth all its sins to be swallowed up in the great red sea of the Saviour’s blood. And faith can then go further still; for having seen and run towards him, and laid hold upon him, and having leaned upon him, faith in the next place puts in a humble, but a sure and certain claim to all that Christ is and all that he has wrought; and then, trusting alone in this, appropriating all this to itself, faith mounteth to full assurance; and out of heaven there is no state more rapturous and blessed.
An American, traveling in Syria, saw three native shepherds bring their flocks to the same brook, and the flocks drank there together. At length one shepherd arose and called out, “Men-ah! men-ah!,” the Arabic for “follow me.” His sheep came out of the common herd and followed him up the hillside. The next shepherd did the same, and his sheep went away with him, and the man did not even stop to count them.
The traveler said to the remaining shepherd, “Give me your turban and crook, and see if they will not follow me as well as you.” So he put on the shepherd’s dress and called out, “Men-ah! men-ah!” Not a sheep moved. They know not a voice of a stranger. “Will your flock never follow anybody but you?” inquired the gentleman. The Syrian shepherd replied, “Oh, yes; sometimes a sheep gets sick, and then he will follow any one.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
We say it often, but how many times do we actually remember to do it? Our biggest downfall might not be a lack of compassion—it’s probably just not taking time to write down the request and not having a model of praying for others.
Some of us might feel like we’ve mastered the art of the task list, but it can still be difficult to keep up with praying for our friends. It’s easy to think, “God knows their needs, so it’s fine.” But that’s not the New Testament view of prayer: we’re meant to pray always (Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:16). And Paul himself regularly asks for prayers. If they weren’t important, he wouldn’t ask (Colossians 4:3). For this reason, it would be helpful to develop a system to track what people need prayer for, like a prayer journal. But what about the model?
When I pray for God’s will in my life, I’ve found that using the Lord’s Prayer works well when I’m having trouble praying. But I haven’t adopted a model for praying for others. Psalm 20 contains such a model, and the psalmist offers some beautiful words for others:
“May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. . . . May he send you help . . . May he remember all your offerings . . . May he give to you your heart’s desire . . . May we shout for you over your victory” (Psalm 20:1–5). And then the psalmist goes on to proclaim God’s goodness and that He will answer (Psalm 20:6). And this is the line I think I love the most: “Some boast in chariots, and others in horses, but we boast in the name of Yahweh, our God. They will collapse and fall, and we will rise and stand firm” (Psalm 20:7–8).
“They will . . . fall . . . and we will rise.” We must pray for our friends with this kind of confidence. And then the greatest challenge of all: we must pray for our enemies as well.
Scripture References: Genesis 3
The grace of God began in the heart of God. The Lord looked upon this man He had made, a man rebellious, a man who had rather follow the seductive whisperings of the serpent than to heed the word of life. What should God have done in that terrible day of transgression? Surely, not love the transgressor all the more!
The man refused to say: “God shall be my all in all. His Word shall be my light and my life. I will obey His voice. I will walk in His commandments.” No! The man God made rebelled and said: “I will not obey. I will not walk in the way. God said not to touch this thing, but I will touch it. He said not to eat from it, but I will eat from it.” In a rebellious spirit he transgressed God’s commandment.
Now, what should God have done? As I reread the story, the thought comes to my heart, why didn’t God destroy him? Why didn’t God annihilate him? Why didn’t God then and there crush him into the dust of the earth; pour him back into that ground out of which he was made?
That same thought comes with overwhelming force as I view the world scene today. All flesh seems to exhibit the same spirit of rebellion and transgression. Men following the counsels of Satan bring upon the world a misery and despair that cry in agony unto heaven. Why doesn’t God reach down out of heaven and destroy the warmongers? Why doesn’t God eradicate communism? Why doesn’t God hurl down out of His heaven those thunderbolts that would subvert the agitators who are ruining the hopes and dreams for the peace of the world? Why do wicked men still live in the presence of the Almighty who Sovereignly rules heaven and earth?
I read the story of one of a series of memorial services held for our brave young men who were killed across the waters in World War II, the body of one of our finest Christian boys lay on the cemetery green, ready for reburial, as his dear father and mother and little sister sat near by, sobbing their hearts out. Someone expressed the thought, “O God, what of this needless sacrifice? O God, why don’t you reach down and take out of this world, all the wicked people who cause such tears and anguish and heartache?” I think the same thing here when I read of the first transgression. “Lord God, why didn’t You stretch forth Your hand and destroy that first sinning couple for disobeying Your commandment and refusing to walk in Your way?”
But no! For the first time the heart of God is revealed, and the occasion of that revelation is the sin and transgression of our first parents. The reason God did not destroy them is that He is a God of mercy, of kindness, of love; not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Since that time we have known God as the mighty Creator. Until we come to the third chapter of Genesis, the Lord God is revealed as one of might, one of great creative power. In the third chapter of the book we see a new Lord and a new God. He is the Lord of mercy, of love, of forgiveness. He is the God of grace.
God is more than creative power, infinite authority, and potential judgment. He is all that, but He is more. God has a heart, and that heart goes out in love and kindness for the man He has made. He loved man before He created Him despite the knowledge of man’s rebellion. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” – Genesis 2:7. That was power. “The Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ ” That was grace—the seeking God, the shepherd heart, the father who waits and prays for the prodigal! No one can say what God sees in the lost sinner nor how much He loves him. Eternity alone will reveal it. But we know that, to God, one lost soul is worth every drop of blood on Calvary, every tear and grief of the Savior’s life. Would God have sent His Son to redeem the material world? A universe? A thousand universes? No, we think not. But He did send His Son to die for you and me that we might be redeemed from our sins. Oh, the depth of the love and grace and mercy of God!
Marvelous grace of our living Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Mighty God, wonderful Lord, we cannot praise you enough. We know that even if we could gather up all the words of praise and worship that have ever been written or offered they would be no more than a drop in the ocean of glory of which you are worthy. We praise you that we can come to you just as we are in the full assurance that we can know that we are accepted and that by the power of your Holy Spirit you will go on transforming us into the likeness of your Son.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Monday Reflecting
Then the devil . . . said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” . . . Then the devil left Him. – Matthew 4:5-6, 11.
Faith melts promises into arguments as the soldier doth lead into bullets, and then helps the Christian to send them with a force to heaven in fervent prayer; whereas a promise in an unbeliever’s mouth is like a shot in a gun’s mouth without any fire to put to it.
~ GURNALL
Monday July 17, 2023
Isaiah 53:11
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge
My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
The meaning of these “stripes” in the original language is not a pleasant description. It means to be actually hurt and injured until the entire body is black and blue as one great bruise. Mankind has always used this kind of bodily laceration as a punitive measure. . . .
But the suffering of Jesus Christ was not punitive. It was not for Himself and not for punishment of anything that He Himself had done.
The suffering of Jesus was corrective. He was willing to suffer in order that He might correct us and perfect us, so that His suffering might not begin and end in suffering, but that it might begin in suffering and end in healing.
Brethren, that is the glory of the cross! That is the glory of the kind of sacrifice that was for so long in the heart of God! That is the glory of the kind of atonement that allows a repentant sinner to come into peaceful and gracious fellowship with his God and Creator! It began in His suffering and it ended in our healing. It began in His wounds and ended in our purification. It began in His bruises and ended in our cleansing.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures . . .” The verb here is strong: He compels me, he forces me to lie down in green pastures.
An American traveling in Syria became acquainted with a shepherd. Each morning, he noticed the shepherd carrying something to the sheep. The traveler followed him one morning and found that he was taking food to one sheep that had a broken leg. As he looked at the animal, he said to the shepherd, “How did the sheep break its leg? Did it meet with an accident, fall into a hole or did some animal break the leg?”
“No,” said the shepherd, “I broke this sheep’s leg myself.”
“You broke it yourself?” queried the surprised traveler.
“Yes, you see, this is a wayward sheep; it would not stay with the flock, but would lead the sheep astray. Then it would not let me near it. I could not approach it, and so I had to break the sheep’s leg that it might allow me, day by day to feed it. In doing this it will get to know me as its shepherd, trust me as its guide, and keep with the flock.”
Sometimes, we’d rather not be teachable. When it comes to taking advice from people in my church community, it’s easier to keep an emotional distance than it is to listen. If I tread lightly on their sin, maybe they’ll tread lightly on mine. If we keep our problems to ourselves, we can maintain a certain understanding. This type of tolerance has deadly results.
Unrestrained sin and pride doesn’t just hurt the one who is sinning—its waves affect everyone (1 Corinthians 5:6). This is why Paul takes such a strong stance against it in 1 Corinthians 5:1–13. In Corinth, believers were using their freedom to commit all sorts of sordid sins. And instead of being broken about their sin, they were filled with pride—they were boasting about their freedom.
Paul knew he had to do something drastic to break through such thought patterns. His statement is startling for those who might practice tolerance for sin: “I have decided to hand over such a person to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). This type of judging is not seen as casting someone to the depths of hell; rather, it is casting someone out of the Christian community with the purpose of helping them see their sin for what it is. (For Paul, the realm of Satan was everything outside of Christ; thus, everything outside of the Church was the realm of Satan.)
We aren’t called to judge people who have no claim to following Jesus. Rather, we’re called to hold accountable those who, like us, believe the good news (1 Corinthians 5:11). Within the bounds of authentic Christian community and trust, we need to be ready to call each other out when sin and pride creep in—and we need to do it with loving intolerance.
Scripture References: Genesis 3
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” – Genesis 3:8-9.
Someone has said that the saddest sentence God ever uttered is this, “Adam, where are you?” Up until now, the man and the woman had met the Lord with heavenly eagerness. They were a happy, innocent pair, and it was always a glad, glorious hour when Jehovah came to talk with them. They had no fear. But now something grievous and sorrowful has happened. The man is afraid. Both are ashamed. And the Lord calls with a sob in His voice, “O Adam, where are you, and what have you done?” The answer to that heartbroken question is the whole story of sin and grace and atonement.
I heard a story of a wise and experienced homiletics professor, teaching his class of young ministers the art of preaching, and he called upon each one to read this section of the book of Genesis. As each student stood up to read the passage, the old professor was watchfully waiting. Some read it as though God were simply asking a question, “Adam, where are you?” Some read it as though God were angry. Some read it as though he were indifferent. But one young preacher read it in pathos, with a sob in his voice, “And the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, where are you?”
The old professor looked at the youth searchingly and said, “Young man, you will be a great evangelist. God has given you a compassion for the souls of men. When God came into the garden in the cool of the day and called to the man He had made, God was brokenhearted as He asked where he was and what he had done.”
“But,” one may inquire, “didn’t the Lord God know about the possibility of the fall before He made the man? Did He not foresee this transgression and guilt? Then how could the grief of God be sincere and genuine?” It is a reasonable query, and its answer can be found in the hearts of fathers and mothers who rear their children in this world. They send them out to live lives of their own, all the while knowing that in their going forth they must face temptation which may prove stronger than they can resist. If their children fall, is the grief of the parents none the less true and sincere because of their foreknowledge? No, no, indeed! Their hearts are still broken when they learn that one of their own has succumbed to the wiles of Satan.
Despite the fact that God did foreknow, it was in His plans for mankind to give them a way out. The grief, the heartbreak was real and sincere, nonetheless; how could it be otherwise, God’s very character and nature is love for His creation.
Said the Evil One to our first parents, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” – Genesis 3:1. Sin began with a question mark, the questioning of God’s word. The woman repeated the word of the Lord: “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” – Genesis 3:2-3. Then followed the first lie. “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’ ” – Genesis 3:4.
This is the way of the archfiend. He whispers in our hearts, “Did God really say—? Does God always say the truth?” Satan always places an interrogation point after God’s word. The father of lies says: “Does God say in His Word, ‘Except you repent of your sins and trust in the Lord, you will certainly die’? Truly, does God say that?” Then Satan answers in our hearts, “You will not die.”
“Seriously,” says Satan, “does God say in His book, ‘You will surely die, you will be lost, lost in hell, forever doomed, shut out from heaven’? Does God truly say that?” Then Satan sweetly whispers: “Never, God doesn’t mean that. There is no second death, there is no hell, there is no final judgment, there is no condemnation. God loves you. He’s just trying to scare you into being good; He doesn’t tell you the whole truth.”
However, God does say, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” – Luke 13:3, 5. But Satan denies, “No, God doesn’t mean it. A loving God wouldn’t do that. Repentance is an antiquated idea. You can be saved without repentance.” Yet God does insist, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12. Yet Satan will continue to deny: “Certainly, God is not so strict or straightlaced. He will save all men, whatever they believe; consequently, belief in Christ Jesus is optional. You can be saved without faith in Christ. There are many ways to get to heaven.” So, it is in this way that Satan blinds the hearts of men and hurls their souls into hell.
Robert Hawker: Piercing Heaven – Puritan’s Prayers
Blessed promise! Holy Spirit, make it happen in and upon my soul, day by day.
Bring me under the continued baptisms of your sovereign influence, and cause me to feel all the sweet anointings of the Spirit sent down upon the hearts and minds of your redeemed. These are the fruits and effects of Jesus, the promise of God the Father.
Yes, blessed Spirit, cause me to know you in your person, work, and power.
I need you day by day as my Comforter.
I need you as the Spirit of truth, to guide me into all truth.
I need you as the one who reminds me of the Lord Jesus, to bring to my forgetful heart all the blessed things he has revealed to me.
I need you, as the witness of my Jesus, to testify of my wants, and of his fullness to supply.
I need you as my advocate and helper, in all my infirmities in prayer.
I need you as the deposit of the promised inheritance, that I may not faint or lack faith to hold on and hold out in every dark season.
I need you, Lord. I cannot do a moment without you, nor act in faith, nor believe a promise, nor exercise a grace, without your constant hand on my poor soul.
Come then, Lord, I beg you, and let me be brought under your unceasing baptisms. Shed abroad the love of God my Father in my heart, and direct me into the patient waiting for Jesus Christ.
Amen.
NOW the reason for Abram’s wasted years and for God’s halting him at Haran is given to us clearly in Genesis 12. Abram had believed God and he had left behind, Ur of the Chaldees. So far everything is good. He is out of the city of the flame, and he is away from the land of destruction. But Abram had not fully obeyed God’s word and therefore he must now learn an important lesson in the adventure of faith. He was out of Ur, however Ur was not yet out of him. Remember what the Lord had said to him:
Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.” – Genesis 12:1.
Notice carefully, “The Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country.” But from the verses in Genesis 11, we learned that Abram had actually failed to do this. Instead, Abram took with him his father, Terah, and his nephew, Lot. God had distinctly told Abram to leave his kindred and friends; two things are represented in this; the world and the flesh. The country represents the world about him; his father and Lot were types of the flesh. When God chooses us, even today we must be prepared to leave both those things behind; the world and the flesh.
While Abram left his country, he nevertheless took the “flesh” along. For this reason God interrupts His child, to teach him the lesson of separation. Salvation is by faith and faith alone, but if there is to be progress and growth, blessing and victory, there must be separation from the world and from the flesh. That is the next step after conversion. After God had said, “Let there be light,” on the first day of creation, He performed an act of separation on the second day—separation of the waters above the earth and upon the earth (Genesis 1:3-8). The greatest need of the church and of Christians today is to learn the lesson of separation from the world and from the flesh. Thousands of Christians are at a dead standstill (like Abram was in Haran), groping in doubt and fear and uncertainty, having made no progress because of the fleshly habits and sins still holding on in their lives.
Leaders Serve People (Nehemiah 7:1-5).
SOME people regard leadership primarily as the art of getting results. Great leaders, they say, are those who get the job done. It matters very little how they operate, as long as they achieve their goals. But when we examine the great leaders of Scripture, we find that they not only accomplished much, but served people in the process.
Nehemiah illustrates the point rather well. His project of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was never an end in itself. The ultimate objective was to revitalize the people of Israel and return them to their covenant with God. To that end, after the wall was completed, Nehemiah turned the city’s management over to local government leaders (Nehemiah 7:1-2). He did not create dependency on his own skills, nor did he use the project to gain wealth or fame for himself (Nehemiah 5:18). Instead, right from the start, Nehemiah began the process of turning over management of Jerusalem to others.
Nehemiah also helped the people trace their roots by reviewing the census taken twenty-five years earlier in Ezra’s time (Nehemiah 7:5). That set the stage for repopulating the city (Nehemiah 11:1-2) and continuing the initiative of urban revitalization.
For Saturday July 15, 2023
1 Corinthians 10:13
God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will also make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it.
How many things in life (besides death and taxes) are absolutely certain? Even things like the rising and setting of the sun have a condition attached to them (Jeremiah 31:35–36). When we stop and analyze life’s contingencies, it quickly becomes apparent that outside of God’s promises, very little in life is certain.
It’s ironic that one of God’s certain promises concerns an area in which we feel very uncertain: our ability to escape temptation. When tempted, we suddenly feel unstable, insecure, and uncertain about the outcome. But here is the twofold certainty God has provided concerning temptation: you will never be tempted beyond your ability—that is, beyond your spiritual maturity level. And there will always—always—be a way to escape the temptation. By trusting in God’s provision, you will be able to “bear” the temptation and ultimately escape it. God has said it, and that makes it certain.
Whatever tempts you is covered by this twofold provision. Ask God to reveal to you the “way of escape” He has promised to provide, and you will be able to bear any temptation.
Most people who fly from temptation usually leave a forwarding address.
UNKNOWN
Show family affection to one
another with brotherly love. – Romans 12:10
This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ ” – Jeremiah 6:16.
God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. – Romans 1:9-10.
At Fort Lincoln, on June 25, 1876, the women of the garrison assembled in the quarter’s of an officer’s wife. They all felt strangely apprehensive. Someone prayed, and they started to sing “Nearer My God To Thee,” but couldn’t finish it. On July 5 they learned that at the very hour they had met, their loved ones were dying on the bluffs above the Little Big Horn River in Montana.
Golda Meir intuitively felt danger when Russian advisers evacuated their families from Syria in 1973, but her intelligence chiefs and generals dissuaded her. Her political contacts in other countries concurred, so she didn’t order mobilization—and regretted it ever after. She should have listened to her heart, she wrote, and ordered her army mobilized. Nothing anyone could say afterwards in consolation would comfort her.
Christians should be ingeniously intuitive, enlightened as we are by the Holy Spirit. He enables us to distinctly resolve difficult questions; to perceive spiritual danger in an innocent temptation; and to see sin while it is still a principle, before it becomes a practice. However, while intuition can bring to our attention the facts needed to make a decision, we must will the decision.
41
As pictures are made curious by lights and shades, which without shades could not be: so is felicity composed of wants and supplies; without which mixture there could be no felicity. Were there no needs, wants would be wanting themselves, and supplies superfluous: want being the parent of Celestial Treasure. It is very strange; want itself is a treasure in Heaven: and so great an one that without it there could be no treasure. God did infinitely for us, when He made us to want like Gods, that like Gods we might be satisfied. The heathen Deities wanted nothing, and were therefore unhappy, for they had no being. But the Lord God of Israel the Living and True God, was from all Eternity, and from all Eternity wanted like a God. He wanted the communication of His divine essence, and persons to enjoy it. He wanted Worlds, He wanted Spectators, He wanted Joys, He wanted Treasures. He wanted, yet He wanted not, for He had them.
42
This is very strange that God should want. For in Him is the fulness of all Blessedness: He over-floweth eternally. His wants are as glorious as infinite: perfective needs that are in His nature, and ever Blessed, because always satisfied. He is from eternity full of want, or else He would not be full of Treasure. Infinite want is the very ground and cause of infinite treasure. It is incredible, yet very plain. Want is the fountain of all His fulness. Want in God is treasure to us. For had there been no need He would not have created the World, nor made us, nor manifested His wisdom, nor exercised His power, nor beautified Eternity, nor prepared the Joys of Heaven. But He wanted Angels and Men, Images, Companions: And these He had from all Eternity.
Thomas Traherne (1637 – September 27, 1674) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. Traherne’s writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he saw as his intimate relationship with God. His writing conveys an ardent, almost childlike love of God, and is compared to similar themes in the works of later poets William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His love for the natural world is frequently expressed in his works.
The work for which Traherne is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. Before its rediscovery this manuscript was said to have been lost for almost two hundred years and is now considered a much loved devotional.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Heavenly Father, we praise you that though we say that you love us, we have little idea just how enormous and overwhelming that love really is. We praise you that your nature is holy and that nothing evil can live in your presence. But we praise you more that through the life, death and resurrection of Christ you have made it possible for us to enter into a new relationship with you and with each other.
Amen.
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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