Thomas Brooks wrote this really cool reference-devotional for people struggling with various plaguing thoughts and habits. In a way, it is a guide for self-counseling, which has been weird at times, but fun. When a dear friend gave it to me, I thought, “What a strange title,” but it has turned out to be one of the sweetest gifts ever.
Some of the chapters are about ‘Keeping the soul from holy duties,’ ‘Keeping the soul in a sad, doubting, uncomfortable state,’ and ‘Drawing the soul to sin.’ These chapters then include subsections like, “By (Satan’s) causing [souls] to be still poring and musing upon sin,” and “By (his) presenting to [souls] the danger, the losses, and the sufferings which attend the performance of such and such religious services.”
Like The Valley of Vision, Precious Remedies is written in a more antiquated, British English. But if you give it a chance, like I did, you might find short (one or two paragraph!) answers to big questions that you’ve had all your life. I now recognize Satan’s work just a little more when I’m in a “sad, doubting, questioning” frame of mind. It helps me not only recognize, but name certain attitudes of my heart so that I can more effectively battle them!
In a way, certain sections are even like the prophet Nathan coming to King David to talk to him about his great sin with Bathsheba—sometimes unless someone tells me about sin in my life, be it God, a friend, or a Bible verse, how will I know how to repent?
Pick this book up from an online store in paperback or view the whole pdf here:
Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices
