Accept the sacrifice of my confessions. Heal all my bones, and let them say, "O Lord, who is like You?"
A closed heart does not shut out Your eye, nor can man's hardness push back Your hand — for You dissolve it at Your will, and nothing can hide from Your warmth.
Let my soul praise You, that it may love You; and let it confess Your mercies to You, that it may praise You.
Augustine reverses the order: let my soul praise You, that it may love You. The praise comes first. The love follows. Let me praise You, and in the praising, the love will come. The morning devotion is this — praise that opens the heart to love.
Nothing can hide from Your warmth. His warmth dissolves the hardness. Not His anger — His warmth. The confession is the soul placing herself in that warmth.
Though they have forsaken their Creator, You have not forsaken Your creation. You are there in their heart, in the heart of those who confess to You,
and cast themselves upon You, and weep on Your chest after all their rough ways. Then You gently wipe away their tears, and they weep the more, and rejoice in weeping;
for it is You, Lord — not any man of flesh and blood — who remake and comfort them.
Sixteen hundred years before it happened, Augustine told Le's story. The rough ways. The casting upon God. The weeping on His chest. And then — rejoicing in weeping. The 500 denari soul at midnight in Lubbock. Augustine in the garden in Milan. The same tears. The same chest. The same gentle hand.
It is You, Lord — not any man of flesh and blood — who remake and comfort them. Father Joe James was there. But the remaking was God's. She left. He stayed. And when she returned — He was already there. Waiting.
Where was I when I was seeking You? You were before me, but I had gone away from You; nor did I find myself, how much less You!
The whole gospel in one sentence. God was always ahead — before. And the double loss: by going away from God, the soul loses not just God but herself. Kempis said it: by loving myself amiss, I lost myself; by seeking You alone, I found both myself and You. Augustine and Kempis — twelve centuries apart — the same truth.
He chose us in Him before the creation of the world. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ —
to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us.
Ephesians 1 is a great reminder that we belong to the Lord.
He chose us before the creation of the world. Before Lubbock. Before Dallas. Before Portugal. Before creation — Le was chosen. The midnight was not an accident. It was a plan made before the foundation of the world.
Grace lavished. Not measured. Lavished. Augustine's God who overflows. Kempis's Fountain. Paul's grace. Three voices. One generosity.
We belong to the Lord. Not we chose Him. We belong to Him. Chosen. Predestined. Adopted. Redeemed. Lavished upon. The belonging was decided before the world began.
"You were before me. I had gone away from You; nor did I find myself, how much less You."
Saint Augustine · Caldas da Rainha · Day three of the Confessions · We belong to the LordThe Confession That Praises
Praise first, love follows. Nothing hides from His warmth — His warmth dissolves the hardness.
Rejoicing in Weeping
They weep on His chest and rejoice. Augustine told Le's story sixteen hundred years early. The same tears. The same gentle hand.
Lost Twice, Found Once
By going away from God, the soul loses God and herself. By returning, she finds both. Augustine and Kempis — the same truth.
We Belong to the Lord
Chosen before the foundation. Grace lavished. The midnight was a plan. We belong.