"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

" When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fainteth for thirst, I the L ORD will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them ." -Isaiah 41:17 [KJV] It is common to hear people say, ‘Such-an-one is a great believer.’ What idea strikes our mind of such a person? Are we not apt to think he is very rich in himself, having a vast stock of inherent righteousness? This is wrong: he is just the reverse. He is one, who knows himself to be poor and needy. His great faith leads him out of himself, to the great God and our Saviour, to receive, out of His fulness, grace upon grace .  He confesses, I am a poor and needy sinner, living upon the unsearchable riches of Christ . The sight of our poverty, and sense of our need, the Holy Spirit keeps up in our minds all through life. This makes Christ, and His riches of grace, precious to us. Some say, Such-an-one is only a seeker of the Lord. This is just what God’s children are all th...

"The prisoner of Jesus Christ." -Ephesians 3:1 [KJV] My soul! art thou a prisoner of Jesus Christ? See to it, if so, that, like the apostle, thou art bound with Jesus' chains for "the hope of Israel." They are Golden chains. When Paul and Silas were fast bound in the prison, the consciousness of this made them sing for joy. Men have their prisons, and God hath His .  But here lies the vast difference: no bars or grates, among the closest prisons of men, can shut God out from comforting His prisoners; and, on the contrary, nothing can come in to afflict Jesus' prisoners, when He keeps them by the sovereignty of His grace, and love, and power. Blessed Lord! look upon Thy poor prisoner; and come in, dear Lord, with Thy wonderful condescension, and do as Thou hast said: sup with him, and cause him to sup with Thee.   -preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)

"Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing." -Psalm 145:16 [KJV] That word has been sweet to me sometimes, "Every living thing." How comprehensive it is! And how low it descends! How it comes down to the weakest and lowest and least of God's family, if he is only "a thing," only "a living thing!" if he cannot see himself "a man in Christ;" no, nor see himself a child of God; no, nor see himself a new-born babe! If he cannot see in himself the features of a child even, yet to be "a living thing!" Now, perhaps, if you cannot trace the features of a grown-up man as stamped upon you, and are exercised with distressing doubts whether your experience even amounts to the new-born babe, you may yet come in here, as being "a living thing," a  nondescript;  a sort of person that cannot make yourself out, having an experience which you think nobody can fathom, having exercise...

An Immense Truth  by D.G. Miles McKee It has been pointed out many times that salvation is entirely found in Christ. We are in Him! We are blessed in Him, Chosen in Him, Accepted in Him, Redeemed in Him, Given an inheritance in Him, We are complete in Him, There is no condemnation in Him. Recently, I read about a very wealthy man who, with his devoted son shared a passion for art collecting. They travelled around the world together, adding only the finest paintings to their collection. Included among them were works by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet.  The old man was a widower, but his son filled up the void in his life, and this was their common bond.  However, war erupted, and the young man enlisted and was sent overseas. Day after day, the old father prayed, held his breath, and waited for news.   One autumn day near Thanksgiving the dreaded telegram came, bordered in black. The young man had died in combat, trying to evacuate those caught und...