Thoughts from the Valley

I wanted to share this part of a prayer called "Pride" in the amazing little book, The Valley of Vision:

"Help me to see myself in thy sight, then pride must wither, decay, die, perish. ... As water rests not on barren hill summits, but flows down to fertilize lowest vales, so make me the lowest of the lowly, that my spiritual riches may exceedingly abound. ... If I fail let me hide myself in my Redeemer's righteousness..."

The last line is essential for living the Christian life and a real joy releaser! The word "if" conveys confidence in God's answering his prayer by supplying him the power he needs to fight pride, while his acknowledging Christ's righteousness shows that his confidence in the face of pride is not in his performance, but in Jesus' performance--a perfect life and a perfect sacrifice, both of which are his by faith!

I know my only hope in the face of my own pride is that Jesus died for it and I'm forever standing before God in His righteousness, not my own.