By nature I was too blind to know Him, too proud to trust Him, too obstinate to serve Him, too base-minded to love Him.
JOHN NEWTON
Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
ZECHARIAH 4:6
I once was lost, but now an found; was blind, but now I see. These words are from the song Amazing Grace written by John Newton. Something happened to John that brought about a miraculous change in his life and it wasnt natural. In the quote he says that by nature he was too blind, proud, obstinate, and base-minded to know Jesus, but later he penned the words of the most famous Christian hymn ever, in which he spoke of Gods amazing grace. Something happened to John and it wasnt of nature, or natural, or by his own might and power. It was a profound personality change brought about by a spiritual awakening that came to John through prayer, the prayer of a very sick man physically who was at the end. Johns life had been up to that point had been one of the pursuit of worldly desires and many disappointments. Johns mother died when he was very young and at a young age he went to sea with his father who was the captain of a merchant ship, the time was the mid 1700s.
Share this quote with me from Lindsay Terry: From that day Newton began a decline into rebellion and degradation that lasted until his twenty-fourth year. His willful and wanton disregard for all that is right and holy led him into a life plagued with despair, dangers at sea, abuse, public floggings, destitution, depression, near drownings and miraculous escapes. Newtons misfortunes were largely the result of his own choosing, except that is, for the miraculous escapes. Something happened to John and it wasnt natural. John went on to work on a slave ship, after that he worked on a merchant ship that had trouble at sea and they all thought they were going to starve. That was when he decided to change his life and come to God, but the change did not happen quickly. Sometime later he was on a small island off the coast of North Africa and became deathly sick with fever.
Here is a quote from his own autobiography, Weak and almost delirious, I arose from my bed and crept to a secluded part of the island; there I found a renewed liberty to pray. I made no more resolves, but cast myself before the Lord to do with me as He should please. I was enabled to hope and believe in a crucified Savior. The burden was removed from my conscience. There it is, his spiritual awakening came about by complete surrender and prayer. What happened to John did not happen by might or power but by the loving Spirit of the Lord. I can relate to old John Newton, I also experienced public floggings, not of the physical type, but of the social type, I was a drunk. I experienced despair, and depression because of the abuse of drugs, and I also engineered many escapes that allowed me to continue on in my lifestyle. Then I reached a point where I was sick, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I had to give up. My, how God answers the simple prayers of need. The prayers with no demands, just a simple I cant do it by myself. Today God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself JRE
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be the firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built.
A.A. 12X12 page 21
JOHN NEWTON
Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
ZECHARIAH 4:6
I once was lost, but now an found; was blind, but now I see. These words are from the song Amazing Grace written by John Newton. Something happened to John that brought about a miraculous change in his life and it wasnt natural. In the quote he says that by nature he was too blind, proud, obstinate, and base-minded to know Jesus, but later he penned the words of the most famous Christian hymn ever, in which he spoke of Gods amazing grace. Something happened to John and it wasnt of nature, or natural, or by his own might and power. It was a profound personality change brought about by a spiritual awakening that came to John through prayer, the prayer of a very sick man physically who was at the end. Johns life had been up to that point had been one of the pursuit of worldly desires and many disappointments. Johns mother died when he was very young and at a young age he went to sea with his father who was the captain of a merchant ship, the time was the mid 1700s.
Share this quote with me from Lindsay Terry: From that day Newton began a decline into rebellion and degradation that lasted until his twenty-fourth year. His willful and wanton disregard for all that is right and holy led him into a life plagued with despair, dangers at sea, abuse, public floggings, destitution, depression, near drownings and miraculous escapes. Newtons misfortunes were largely the result of his own choosing, except that is, for the miraculous escapes. Something happened to John and it wasnt natural. John went on to work on a slave ship, after that he worked on a merchant ship that had trouble at sea and they all thought they were going to starve. That was when he decided to change his life and come to God, but the change did not happen quickly. Sometime later he was on a small island off the coast of North Africa and became deathly sick with fever.
Here is a quote from his own autobiography, Weak and almost delirious, I arose from my bed and crept to a secluded part of the island; there I found a renewed liberty to pray. I made no more resolves, but cast myself before the Lord to do with me as He should please. I was enabled to hope and believe in a crucified Savior. The burden was removed from my conscience. There it is, his spiritual awakening came about by complete surrender and prayer. What happened to John did not happen by might or power but by the loving Spirit of the Lord. I can relate to old John Newton, I also experienced public floggings, not of the physical type, but of the social type, I was a drunk. I experienced despair, and depression because of the abuse of drugs, and I also engineered many escapes that allowed me to continue on in my lifestyle. Then I reached a point where I was sick, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I had to give up. My, how God answers the simple prayers of need. The prayers with no demands, just a simple I cant do it by myself. Today God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself JRE
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be the firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built.
A.A. 12X12 page 21
