NEVER

God's government will never fail in any part of the world, in any event of life, or in any tumult of the nations. -- William S. Plumer

The LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? (Isaiah 14:27.)

A hymn to read, sing, play, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God:O Father, You Are Sovereign. Margaret Clarkson, 1982

SACRIFICE

Consecration is resolution that is not afraid of sacrifice. -- Anonymous

 

When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, [Jesus] set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51).  (Cf. Isaiah 50:7)

 

[Jesus said] "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (Luke 9:21-22).

 

Father, the hour is come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him" (John 17:1-2). 

 

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said..."It is finished," and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:28, 30).  

PENITENCE

True faith is suffused with penitence. And just as faith is not only a momentary act but an abiding attitude of trust and confidence directed to the Savior, so repentance results in constant contrition. The broken spirit and the contrite heart are abiding marks of the believing soul. -- John Murray

 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise(Psalm 5:17).

 

But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word (Isaiah 66:7b).

REPENTANCE

Evangelical repentance is that which carries the believing soul through all his failures, infirmities, and sins. He is not able to live one day without the constant exercise of it. It is as necessary unto the continuance of spiritual life as faith is. It is that continual, habitual, self-abasement which arises from a sense of the majesty and holiness of God, and the consciousness of our miserable failures.  ---- John Owen

 

The sacrifies of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise(Psalm 51:17).

 

Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near; Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7).

COMFORT

God sometimes brings His people into a wilderness that there He might speak comfortably to them. ---- Matthew Henry

 

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

 

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 40:1, 4-5).

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.  

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.

SCEPTRE

The Bible is the sceptre by which the heavenly King rules His Church. ---- John Calvin

 

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people (Isaiah 2:3-4).

 

...unto the Son He says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom (Hebrews 1:8).  

BURNING

When God saves us He lights a candle in our hearts that shall never be put out ---- pgs.

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! (Psalm 57:7).

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8)

Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you...and His glory will be seen upon you...Then you shall see and be radiant; you heart shall thrill and exult...and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (Isaiah 60:1, 2, 16b).  

STUDY

It is not the work of the Spirit to tell you the meaning of Scripture, and give you the knowledge of divinity, without your own study and labour, but to bless that study, and give you knowledge thereby.... To reject study on pretence of the sufficiency of the Spirit, is to reject the Scripture itself. ---- Richard Baxter

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).

For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little (Isaiah 28:10).

FOR US

The fire of God's wrath must fall on the sinner or on the substitute. ---- pgs.

Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted (Isaiah 53:4).

 ....but God shows His love for us, in that while we were still  sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been  justified by His blood, much more we shall be saved by Him from  the wrath of God. For if, while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. (Romans 5:8-10).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended, Johann Heermann (1630).

QUIETUDE

Quietude, which some men cannot abide because it reveals their inward poverty, is as a palace of cedar to the wise, for along its hallowed courts the King in His beauty deigns to walk. ---- Charles H. Spurgeon

 

Trust in the LORD and do good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.... (Psalm 37:3-5a).

 

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Peace, Perfect Peace, Edward H. Bickersteth, 1875.

Evangelism

When telling thy salvation free, Let all absorbing thoughts of thee My heart and soul engross. And when all hearts are bowed and stirred Beneath the influence of thy Word Hide me behind thy cross. ---- Anonymous

 

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet... (Isaiah 62:1).

 

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

We Have Heard the Joyful Sound: 

We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Spread the tidings all around: Jesus saves! Jesus! saves! Bear the news to ev-'ry land, climb the steeps and cross the waves; onward! 'tis our Lord's command; Jesus saves! Jesus saves! (Priscilla J. Owens, 1868)

Providence

There are three stages in the work of God: impossible, difficult, done. ---- J. Hudson Taylor

 

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them (Isaiah 42:16).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Great Is Thy Faithfulness. 

"Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with thee; thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; as thou hast been thou forever wilt be" (Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923).

Name

To "know the name of the LORD" is to lay aside every false opinion and to know Him from His Word, which is His true image, and next from His works. We must not imagine God from the fancy of man, but must comprehend Him as He declares Himself to be. ---- John Calvin

Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I. How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news...who say to Zion, "your God reigns!" (Isaiah 52:6-7).

"Isaiah envisages a day when faith will pass into sight and the Victor Himself will be seen face to face" (Alec Motyer).

....then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know even as I am fully known (I Corinthians 13:12).

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will see Him. They will see His face, and HIs name will be on their foreheads(Revelation 22:3-4).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: The God of Abraham Praise. 

 "The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above, Ancient of everlasting days and God of love. Jehovah! Great I AM! by earth and heaven confessed; I bow and bless the sacred name, for ever blest." Thomas Olivers, 1770

Jesus Alone Saves

Our faith itself, though it be the bond of our union with Christ through which we receive all His blessings, is not our Saviour. We have but one Saviour; and that one Saviour is Jesus Christ our Lord. Nothing that we are and nothing that we can do enters in the slightest measure into the ground of our acceptance with God. Jesus did it all. ---- Benjamin B. Warfield

Behold,the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him" (Isaiah 62:11).

....we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ( Romans 5:1).

....looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Ye Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim. 

The Sabbath

When there is no Christian Sabbath, there is no Christian morality; ;and without this, free institutions cannot long be sustained. ----John McLean.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work....for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Exodus 20:8). 

If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the LORD honorable, if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly, then you shall take delight in the LORD and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob our father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it (Isaiah 58:13-14). 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: O DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS.

All Creation Hails the Risen Lord

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time. Martin Luther

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12). 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of our risen Lord: I SING THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF GOD. 

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).