Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Let my soul be anchored and firmly set in Your Word, corrected by it, instructed by it, sustained by it, and strengthened by Your grace, so that my mind may be fixed upon all that glorifies You.

For You know, O Lord, how prone I am to wander, how readily my heart inclines toward what is opposed to You. Yet You have worked so powerfully and effectually in this wayward heart: exposing its corruption, making it new, and leading it in the paths of righteousness, so that now it finds delight where once it found only ruin, and longs ever more for what is holy and true.

And yet I am not without remaining weakness. Were it not for Your gracious and powerful work of the Spirit within me, the tempter would surely prevail, and I would be consumed again in the conflict within. But even this struggle becomes a testimony, O God, that You are faithful, and that You will complete what You have begun.

How weak is the flesh, and how great is Your Word, Your Spirit, and the certainty of every promise You have spoken. I am not torn now between two masters or two loves. No, what once I embraced with affection, I now behold with sorrow and repulsion. And this is not to my boasting, but to the sweetness of Your grace at work within me, teaching me to hate evil and love what is good, to resist temptation, and to cleave to righteousness.

Even this warfare, O Lord, is the evidence of Your grace sustaining me, the proof of Your power preserving me, and the assurance of Your promise keeping me.

Do not let my heart grow weary in the waiting, nor be dulled by time, age, or repeated temptation, so that I forget the hope set before me. Let not this heart find its rest or satisfaction in anything apart from You, now and forevermore.

Lead me, O God of my righteousness. Set my heart and mind continually upon You.