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

  "By His stripes ye were healed." -I Peter 2:24 [KJV] We must not think that by self-loathing, self-deprivation or self-humiliation we will be healed of the disease of sin. The healing of the soul is in the humiliation of Christ, not in ours; in His agonies, not ours; in His death, not ours. To rely on or trust in anything other than the crucified Redeemer is to set up a rival to Christ. Do not beat up on self, thinking that God will be more pleased with you. God is only pleased with His Son. Look outside of sinful self to the crucified, buried, risen and exalted Christ. Spiritual healing is by the stripes of the Savior, not the stripes of the sinner.  -preacher Jim Byrd http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=13thstbaptist

"We do not find rest, hope, nor comfort in our faith but in Christ." If you will give careful thought to that statement, it will be of great help to you. Faith is not a foundation, a refuge, nor a source of help. Faith is a means, a look, an empty hand. It is Christ Who is our refuge, Who protects from every storm. He is our rock on which we build. He is our source of every mercy and our only plea. My faith may be weak or weaker, but He cannot fail. If all my debts have been paid by my Surety, I don't have to be ashamed to come before God. The praise and credit goes not to my boldness and faith but to my gracious Benefactor! I am not debt-free because I believe (though I do, and that faith united me to Him) but because He set me free and paid my debt. Christ is our confidence and our assurance. The moment I seek a reason for hope in anything I do, even in the blessed grace of faith, I forfeit any possibility of peace. "Blessed is that man that maketh the L ORD hi...

A robe or garment is often used in Scripture to portray righteousness. "He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). "And to her (the church) was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8). When Adam and Eve sinned and "knew they were naked" (Genesis 3:7), they tried to cover their shame by making fig-leaf aprons. Their actions pictured man’s vain attempts to establish a righteousness for himself, but righteousness can only be established by the Lord, otherwise the sinner will remain "naked." Nakedness sets forth man’s unrighteousness and his exposure to wrath. The Laodiceans were "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked," and were told they needed "white raiment, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear" (Revelation 3:17-18). Thankfully, the Lord came to the rescue of our fallen parents. He provided fo...

"And ye shall seek M e, and find M e, when ye shall search for M e with all your heart." -Jeremiah 29:13 [KJV] After the Lord has quickened our souls, for a time we often go, shall I say, blundering on, not knowing there is a Jesus. We think that the way of life is to keep God's commandments, obey the law, cleanse ourselves from sin, reform our lives, and cultivate universal holiness in thought, word, and action; and so we go, blundering and stumbling on in darkness; and all the while never get a single step forward. But when the Lord has suffered us to weary ourselves to find the door, and let us sink lower and lower into the pit of guilt and ruin, from feeling that all our attempts to extricate ourselves have only plunged us deeper and deeper, and the Spirit of God opens up to the understanding and brings into the soul some spiritual discovery of Jesus, and thus makes known that there is a Saviour, a Mediator, and a way of escape—this is the grand turning-point in...