Gotta Love Those Dead Puritans

I shared with you in my last blog post how difficult last year was for me.  (Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement.  That means so much to me!)

What I didn't share with you (but should) was one thing that helped tremendously through it all.  And that was...reading some old, dead Puritans.  They know a little something about life and salvation and sin and suffering... and they aren't afraid to tell you like it is.

Friends and family can rally alongside you and love you, care for you and encourage you.  (And that is much needed.)  But one thing they don't often do (and if they did, it would be hard to take) is to offer you a stern REBUKE.

And friends, there were plenty of times in this last year when that is precisely what I needed.  

There are plenty of times I still do.

And those old, dead Puritans sure know how to convict and rebuke in a fruitful way!  A way far different than a friend coming alongside you in your deep pain and saying "Buck up you sinner and KNOCK OFF the SINNING."  It just lands better when they are too dead to be mad at.  😊

So if you find yourself in a crisis of any sort, might I encourage you to find some dead puritan friends?

Thomas Watson.  John Owen.  Richard Baxter.  These are a few friends of mine.  (If you have any Puritan pals, let me know in the comments!  I'd love to meet them.)  

A few quotes I clung to last year...

From Thomas Watson:

“Oh, Christian, if you are overspread with this fretting leprosy, you carry the man of sin about you, for you set yourself above God and act as if you were wiser than He, and would sassily prescribe to Him what condition is best for you.”

“Contentment is the true philosopher’s stone, which turns everything to gold. It is the mysterious enamel and embroidery of the heart, which makes the Church, the bride of Christ, “all glorious in her chamber.”1 Every Christian should long to wear such a sparkling diamond!”

"Whoever brings an affliction, it is God who sends it."

“God’s providence, which is nothing but the fulfillment of His decree, should be a guarantee and an opposing force against discontent. In His wisdom, God has set us in our current station.”

From John Owen:

"The duties God requires of us are not in proportion to the strength we possess in ourselves. Rather, they are proportional to the resources available to us in Christ. We do not have the ability in ourselves to accomplish the least of God's tasks. This is the law of grace. When we recognize it is impossible for us to perform a duty in our own strength, we will discover the secret of its accomplishment."

"The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you."

From Richard Baxter:

“Above all be much in secret prayer and meditation. By this you will fetch the heavenly fire that must kindle your sacrifice: remember you cannot decline and neglect your duty to your own hurt alone, many will be losers by it as well as you.”

“Take heed to yourselves, lest you perish while you call upon others to take heed of perishing, and lest you famish yourselves while you prepare their food.”