Excerpt from Daily Steps Towards Heaven, or Practical Thoughts on the Gospel History, and Especially on the Life and Teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ: For Every Day in the Year, According to the Christian SeasonsIf the thoughts appear in some instances too severe and discouraging, it may be truly urged, that while meditation on the love of God in Christ to sinners is the true antidote to formality, so is the habit of practical self - inquiry, in some form, what ever it be called, an essential safeguard against a vague and mere general profession Of religion. But still more safely it may be urged that the practical part of the Christian life, so especially needful to all in secular callings, is the daily struggle to conform to the will of God, to compare ourselves with His standard, to know and confess our guilt, and to set ourselves steadily on the work of amendment. It is the office <1 tthe Spirit of God, the Comforter, to reprove and convince, and of the word of God to pierce even to the dividing asunder of soul and Spirit, and to be the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Except there be any to whom from the first dawn of infancy it has been granted to abide in Him, untainted by habitual or wilful sin, and filled with His Spirit and His love, the first step to all love of God is the fear of Him, and the consequent conviction of sin, self-condemnation and self - abasement which must follow in all who are led of the Spirit to true conver sion of heart. Nor would it be safe to shrink from the knowledge of ourselves, or from this humbling comparison. These steps once gained, the balm is at hand. There are, indeed, many cases in which the work of penitence is long, and full of painful doubts and harassments, and far be it from any to say that this may not be in the end both the deep est and most abiding work. Yet to others the mercy of God has vouchsafed speedier consolation and peace, and earlier visions of His love. But of each it is true, that they who know themselves best, will desire to know Him most. To have any other refuge than the cross of Christ, is to have no shelter at all. They who have any real hope seek it here. This will, in His own good time, be found alike the stay of all, and the knowledge of Jesus, and com munion with Him, will increase hour by hour to those that seek it, until the soul loses the remem brance of its own misery in the abiding sense of His presence and His love.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.