Grace

Good afternoon!

 

Grace is something more than 'unmerited favor' ... grace is favor shown where there is positive demerit in the one receiving it. Anonymous.

 

But whatever gain I had I counted as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that come from the law, but that which comes thourgh faith in Christ, the righeousness from God that depends on faith (Philippians 3:2-9).

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them(Ephesians 2:8-10).

Forgiveness

Good morning!

 

The forgiveness that there is with God is not like that narrow, difficult, halving, and manacled forgiveness that is found among men; but it is full, free, bottomless, boundless, absolute, such as becomes His nature and His excellencies. -- John Owen.

 

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Isaiah 5:18).

 

Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7)

 

And you were dead in trespasses and sins...by nature children of wrath....  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ --- by grace you have been saved --- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1a, 3b, 4-7).

 

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  

Omniscience

Good morning!

 

Have you ever realized that things occur to us, but nothing ever occurs to God? --- Selected

 

From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? God understands the way to it, and He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees all his steps  (Job 28:20, 23-24; 34:21).

 

He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure (Psalm 147:4-5).

 

For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose...' (Isaiah 46:10). 

 

The LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts (I Chronicles 28:9).

 

Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:8).

 

And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must given account (Hebrews 4:13).

Dead in Sin

Good morning!

 

This is the true explanation of sin not felt, --and sermons not believed, -- and good advice not followed, -- and the Gospel not embraced, --and the world not forsaken, --and the cross not taken up, --and self-will not mortified, --and evil habits not laid aside, --and the Bible seldom read, --and the knee never bent in prayer. Why is all this on every side? The answer is simple. Men are dead. (J. C. Ryle).

 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience --- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath... (Ephesians 2:1-3).

True Self-Knowledge

Good morning!

 

The sinner knows what's coming to him, but he refuses to believe it. -- pgs.

 

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world...so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking...  Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (Romans 1:18-21a, 32).

Humility

Good morning!

Humility. The best of God's people have abhorred themselves. Like the spire of a steeple, we are least at the highest. ---- Thomas Manton

How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in His eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!" (Job 25:2-6).

Have this mind among yourselves, which is ours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human fashion, he humbled himself,  becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:5-8). 

A hymn to read, sing, whistle or hum to the glory of God: HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD.

Prayer

Good morning!

Prayer. You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed. ---- John Bunyan. 

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will you Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:7-11) !

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will act (Psalm 37:4-5).

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' (Psalm 58:9a). 

A Hymn to read, sing, whistle or hum to the glory of God: WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS. 

Theology

Good morning!

Theology. All my theology is reduced to this narrow compass, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." ---- Archibald Alexander.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (I Corinthians 2:2).  

A hymn to read, sing, whistle or hum to the glory of God:JOIN ALL THE GLORIOUS NAMES. 

God's Providence

Good morning!

God's Providence. We must consider every aspect of our lives as from the hand of God, for this, indeed, is the truth ---- there is a dynamic, divine purpose in all things. Our Creator is in complete control, and every happening reveals an unfolding pattern, contributing to an overall masterpiece in which He is working all things for His own glory and the good of those who by grace through faith are in Christ. He is their joy and security. --- pgs 

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live....this is the gift of God. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before Him (Ecclesiastes 3:11, 12, 14; see also verses 1-8).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son....and those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:28-29a, 30).

A hymn to read, sing or hum to the glory of God: Day by Day and With Each Passing Moment.

Love, Sing, Wonder, Praise

Good morning!

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood ...to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! (Revelation 1:5,6). 

Let us love and sing and wonder, let us praise the Savior's name!

He has hushed the law's loud thunder, He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame;

He has washed us with His blood, He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord who bought us, pitied us when enemies,

Called us by His grace, and taught us, gave us ears and gave us eyes;

He who washed us with His blood, He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing, though fierce temptation threaten hard to bear us down!

For the Lord, our strong salvation, holds in view the conqu'ror's crown;

He who washed us with His blood soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder; grace and justice join and point to mercy's store;

When through grace in Christ our trust is, justice smiles and asks no more:

He who washed us with His blood has secured our way to God.

Let us praise, and join the chorus of the saints enthroned on high;

here they trusted Him before us, now their praises fill the sky;

"You have washed us with your blood; You are worthy, Lamb of God!"

John Newton, 1774 

Comfort

Good Morning! 

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Isaiah 40:1,2

Comfort, comfort ye my people, speak ye peace, thus saith our God; comfort those who sit in darkness, mourning 'neath their sorrow's load. Speak ye to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them; tell her that her sins I cover, and her warfare now is over.

Yea, her sins our God will pardon, blotting out each dark misdeed; all that well deserved his anger he no more will see or heed. She hath suffered many a day, now her griefs have passd away; God will change her pining sadness into everspringing gladness.

For the herald's voice is crying in the desert far and near, bidding all men to repentance, since the kingdom now is here. O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way; let the valleys rise to meet him, and the hills bow down to greet him.

Make ye straight what long was crooked, make the rougher places plain; let your hearts be true and humble, as befits his holy reign. For the glory of the Lord now o'er earth is shed abroad; and all flesh shall see the token, that his word is never broken.  ---- Johannes Oleanius, 1671.

Love

Good morning!

God is Love. Love  is an image of God, and not a lifeless image, but the living essence of the divine nature which became full of all goodness. ---- Martin Luther.

The LORD did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you. And He will love you, and bless you, and multiply you (Deuteronomy 7:7, 8, 13). 

A hymn to read, sing, or hum to the glory of God: O PRAISE THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD.

Sympathy

Good morning!

Sympathy. God does not comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters. ---- J. H. Jowett.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (II Corinthians 1:3-4). 

A hymn to read or sing or hum to the glory of God: BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS.

Christlikeness

Good morning!

Christlikeness. A Christian's life should be nothing but a visible representation of Christ. ---- Thomas Brooks.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son(Romans 8:29). 

As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (I Peter 1:15-16). 

Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked  (I John 2:6). 

A hymn to read, sing, or hum to the glory of God:     LORD, I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN.

My Father's World

Good morning!

The whole world is a phylactery, and everything we see is an item of the wisdom, power, or goodness of God. ---- Sir Thomas Browne.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard (Psalm 19:1-3). 

A hymn to read, sing or hum to the glory of God: THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD. 

Afflictions and Trials.

Good morning!

Afflictions and Trials. All whom the Lord has chosen and received into the society of His saints ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious and full of countless griefs. ---- John Calvin. 

Where there is grace there will be a conflict. ---- J. C. Ryle.

....as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left, through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything (II Corinthians 6:4-10).

A hymn to read, sing or hum to the glory of God: "TAKE UP YOUR CROSS," THE SAVIOR SAID.

Beneficent Providence

Good morning!

Beneficent Providence. What God is and has, He is and has for all His people's good. ---- William S. Plumer. 

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing (Psalm 34:7, 9).  

A hymn to be read, sung or hummed to the glory of God: GLORIOUS THINGS OF THEE ARE SPOKEN.

Christ's Love

Good morning!

Christ's love to His people is not a lip-love, from the teeth outwardly, but a real love, from the heart inwardly. --- W. Dyer.

Jesus...having loved His own which were in the world...loved them unto the end.  A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:1, 34). 

A hymn to be read, sung or hummed to the glory of God: O THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS!

Worry

Good morning!

Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through your mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained. --- A. S. Roche

Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved (Psalm 55:22).  

A hymn to be read, sung or hummed to the glory of God: CAST YOUR BURDEN ON THE LORD. 

Idolatry

Good afternoon!

Idolatry. 

The dearest idol I have known,

Whate'er that idol be,

Help me to tear it from Thy throne,

And worship only Thee. -- William Cowper

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak, eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them,; so do all who trust in them. O Israel, trust in the LORD! (Psalm 115:4-9)

A hymn to read or sing aloud or hum to the glory of God: WE COME, O CHRIST, TO YOU 

Trust and Contentment

Good morning!

Trust and Contentment. It was characteristic of Paul under difficult circumstances to fix his mind on the purposes of God in his life rather than on his immediate confinement. ---- Sinclair Ferguson.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ, and most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear (Philippians 1:12-14). 

A hymn to read, sing, or hum to the glory of God:  GOD MOVES IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY.  

Creeds

Good morning!

Creeds. A good creed is a gate to the city that has foundations; a misleading creed may be a road to destruction, or if both misleading and alluring it may become what Shakespeare calls a primrose path to the eternal bonfire. ---- Joseph Cook. 

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine (Titus 1:7). 

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith  in Christ Jesus (II Timothy 3:14-15).

A hymn to be read, sung, or hummed to the glory of God: FOREVER SETTLED IN THE HEAVENS. 

Home

Good morning! 

Home   When home is ruled according to God's Word, angels might be asked to stay with us, and they would not find themselves out of their element. C. H. Spurgeon.

For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has promised him (Genesis 16:19).

A hymn to be read or sung aloud to the glory of God: A CHRISTIAN HOME.