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

"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek T hy servant; for I do not forget T hy commandments." -Psalm 119:176 [KJV] If the Lord did not seek us, we should never seek the Lord. That is most certain. If you are one that seeks the Lord in prayer, in supplication, in secret desire, with many a heartrending groan, and often by night and by day, be well assured, that you would never have sought the Lord, had not the Lord first sought you . He is now seeking you. It may be (as you fear), some time before He finds you; but He will find you at last.   How sweetly the Lord has set this forth in the parable of the lost sheep! The poor sheep has gone astray; and having once left the fold, it is pretty sure to have got into some strange place or other. It has fallen down a rock, or has rolled into a ditch, or is hidden beneath a bush, or has crept into a cave, or is lying in some deep, distant ravine, where none but an experienced eye and hand can find it out. And so with the Lord

  “ But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” -Galatians 6:14 [KJV] In the cross of Christ we see the rights of divine justice maintained, the designs of divine mercy revealed, sin appearing exceedingly sinful, the law magnified and honored, and the law-breaker pardoned and delivered! At the cross, God and sinners meet and a reconciliation takes place. Here, man drops the weapons of rebellion, and God lays aside the sword of divine displeasure. Here, the works of Satan are destroyed, and the gates of paradise are thrown open. Here, the creditor is discharged, his every crime is atoned for, and everlasting righteousness is completed! Here, God is "just, and the justifier of him which believeth Jesus" (Rom ans 3:26) . -preacher James Smith