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

  "But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God ." - James 4:6,7 [KJV] The way to over come pride, envy, and the spirit of carnal ambition is to submit yourselves to God! Submit to His will and purpose regarding gifts, talents, and possessions; to His place of service, be it lowly or great; to His will to prosper or empty us, to honor or humiliate us. There is ONE NAME to be praised, ONE WILL to be done, ONE LIFE to be imitated, ONE PERSON who must have the pre-eminence... our LORD JESUS CHRIST! - preacher Henry Mahan http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=mahan

If you think your will is free, why have you not willed yourself to come to God? Why have you not willed yourself righteous? Why have you not willed yourself to believe on Christ? Why have you not willed yourself to glorify God? Why have you not willed yourself to leave your sin? You say, "Because I will do what I want to." That's right! The problem with your will is in your want! Your will is in bondage to your fallen nature and therefore NOT FREE. But do not despair, since your will was never free, it could not have saved you. " It is not of him that willeth BUT OF GOD THAT SHOWETH MERCY” (Romans 9:16) ! - preacher Gary Shepard https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=allsovgrace

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." - I John 3:14 [KJV] The Lord's people in their early days have a measure of heavenly love. Though perhaps they cannot say that Jesus is theirs; though they dare not declare they shall certainly go to heaven when they die; though they sometimes cannot even assert that the work of grace is really begun upon their souls; yet there is love manifested in them to God's word, God's people, God's servants, and God's truth. There is in them, in their weakest and tenderest days, a separation from the world, a casting-in of their lot amongst the people of God, a going-out in the tenderness of their heart and affection towards them. We see this in Ruth: though she was a poor heathen idolatress, no sooner was her heart touched by the finger of God, than she clave to Naomi.   Divine love can only spring from the teachings and operations of God upon the heart. Our "carnal mind is...