FORGIVENESS

The strongest inducement for a Christian to obey the divine law is the fact that he has been graciously pardoned for having broken it. ---- Ernest F. Kevan

David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die." (II Samuel 12:13).

"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 1:18).

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin" (Romans 47-8).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Wretched (Joseph Hart, 1759.  

MEDITATION

What is the reason there is so much preaching and so little practice? For want of meditation... Constant thoughts are operative, and musing makes the fire burn. Green wood is not kindled by a flash or spark, but by constant blowing. ---- Thomas Manton.

This Book of the Law shall  not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle,to the glory of God:  O Christ, Our Hope, Our Heart's Desire(Latin hymn, 7th. or 8th. century).

JERUSALEM

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. Thy will be his people, and God himself will be with them and their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:1-5a)

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God:

Jerusalem the Golden (Bernard of Cluny, 12th. century.)

SEPARATE

There is no cross or misery that befalls the church of God or any of His children, but it is related to God. --- Samuel Rutherford

I am convinced that neither death nor life...nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God:

Loved With Everlasting Love (George W. Robinson 1890).

CHIEF END

A current TV ad declares that "Life is knowing what you live for." I would add that this is true if you know that what you live for is to know God and make Him known. --- pgs

 

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever and ever(Romans 11:36).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (From Psalm 103. Joachim Neander, 1680.

FORGIVE

(Forgive? Forgiven!)  We need not climb up into heaven to see whether our sins are forgiven; let us look into our hearts, and see if we can forgive others. If we can, we need not doubt but God has forgiven us. --- Thomas Watson.

If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15).

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matthew  6:12).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Forgive Our Sins As We Forgive. Rosamond E. Herklots, 1969) 

SUFFERING

We are called servants, to show how we must obey. We are called soldiers to show how we should suffer. --- Henry Smith. .

Be dressed, ready for service, and keep your lamps burning..." (Luke 12:35-38).

 Endure hardship with us, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus (II Timothy 2:3).

Hymns to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Take My Life, and Let It Be (Frances R. Havergal, 1874).

Am I a Soldier of the Cross (Isaac Watts, 1724)

WORLDLY

Nothing is more contrary to a heavenly hope than an earthly heart.--- William Gurnall.

 

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions -- is not from the Father but from the world. And the world is passing  away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (I John 2:15-17).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: More Love To Thee (Elizabeth Payson Prentiss, 1869).

INCARNATION

 The early Christians did not say in dismay, 'Look what the world has come to,' but in delight, 'Look what has come to the world!' --- Carl F. H. Henry

 

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:20-23).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Good Christian Men, Rejoice (Medieval Latin carol).

LIVE & DIE

All living is preparation for dying. --- John Blanchard

 

It is appointed unto men once to live, then to die (Hebrews 9:27).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God:

 O Come, My Soul, Bless Thou the Lord (Psalm 103, The Psalter, 1912).

     

We fade and die like flowers that grow in beauty, like tender grass that soon will disappear; but ever more the love of God is changeless, still shown to those who look to Him in fear 

(4th. stanza).

DO

Doers of the Word are the best hearers. --- Thomas Watson.

 

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to God's glory: Break Thou the Bread of Life, Mary A. Lathbury, 1877.

MOMENTS

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God

Every moment, love God! --- Selected.

 

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, 'magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together' (Psalm 34:1-3).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God:

When Morning Gilds the Skies (ca. 1800; German).

CHARITY

First daughter of the love of God, is charity to man. William Drennan.

 

Is not this the fast that I choose to loose the bonds of wickedness...Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ?hen shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you  shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am."  Isaiah 58:6-9)

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God:Take Time to Be Holy. William D. Longstaff, 1887.

CHEERFULNESS

Cheerfulness is a friend to grace; it puts the heart in tune to praise God, and so honors religion by proclaiming to the world that we serve a good master.  Be serious, yet cheerful. Rejoice in the Lord always. ---- Thomas Watson.

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!(Psalm 32:11).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Rejoice, the Lord is King (Charles Wesley, 1746).

VICTORY

We will be controlled by Satan, by self or by God. Control by Satan is slavery; control by self is futility; control by God is victory. ---- Anonymous.

But thanks be to God He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians15:57). 

A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: Onward, Christian Soldiers (Sabine Baring-Gould, 1865).

BURDENS

He that takes his cares on himself loads himself in vain with an uneasy burden. I will cast my cares on God; He has bidden me; they cannot burden Him. ---- Joseph Hall.

 

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 read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: What a Friend We Have in Jesus(Joseph Scriven, ca. 1855).

MEDITATION

There is one art of which every man should be a master ---- the art of reflection. If you are not a thinking man, to what purpose are you a man at all? Samuel Coleridge.

 

Blessed is the man....[whose] delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1a, 2).  

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: Blessed is the Man (MIchael Boughan, 1969).

LITTLE

Little things. Not for this mighty world, O Lord, tonight, nations and kingdoms in their fearful might --- let me be glad the kettle gently sings, let me be glad for little things. ---- Edna Jaques.

 

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew6:26).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: Consider the Lilies (Grace Hawthorne, 1977).   

MORALITY

In Christianity there can be no divorce of religion from morality ---- justification and sanctification are forever united. ---- The heathen notion of religion as something apart from moral life, is forever thrust out of our sight by the Gospel. ---- M. Valentine.

 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men(Romans 14:17-18).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Love Divine, All Loves excelling (Charles Wesley, 1747).

INTEGRITY

Give us the man of integrity, on whom we know we can thoroughly depend; who will stand firm when others fail; the friend, faithful and true; the adviser, honest and fearless; the adversary, just and chivalrous; such an one is a fragment of the Rock of Ages. -----J. P. Stanley

 

I am speaking the truth in Christ ---- I am not lying, my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit....  (Romans 9:1).

 

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God (II Corinthians 4:1-2).

 

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart (Psalm 86:11).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: Teach Me, O Lord, Thy Holy Way(William T. Matson, 1866).

FALLING

The more anyone excels in grace, the more he ought to be afraid of falling. --- John Calvin

 

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (I Corinthians 10:12)

 

But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one (II Thessalonians 3:3)

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Yield Not to Temptation (Horatio R. Palmer)

LIBERTY

What then is the nature of true liberty? Not being free to do anything you want to do, but in coming to the place where you delight in the performance of what you ought to do. ---- Al Martin.

 

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).

 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9)

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum or whistle to the glory of God: Go, Labor On (Horatius Bonar, 1843).

DEATH

Death is a blessing. Death is not so much something which happens to the Christian as something God works for him. ---- J. Alec Motyer

 

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed ---- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the  perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory" (I Corinthians 15:51-54).

 

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (Psalm 116:15).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God:When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder(James M. Black, 1856-1938).