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

"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me " (Isaiah 49:15-16) . This is a revelation of the Lord’s everlasting concern for and faithfulness to His people; here is our eternal security. How delightful to meditate upon our Lord’s unceasing care and concern for His children. If we could by faith behold the Lord’s unending designs of grace toward us, then like Paul we would be joyful in the Lord even in the midst of dark trials. We would lean upon His word of promise, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5) . Pay special attention to those words, "I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands." Our names are not painted on His hands lest we might think they could be rubbed out. Neither are our names said to be written on His hands lest we concl

Then learn one thing! Jesus Christ is ALL in our justification before God! Only through Christ can a sinner have peace with the Holy God. Only by Christ alone can a sinner be accepted and admitted into God’s presence. HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS is the only robe which will cover us. HIS BLOOD is the only mark that will save us from eternal death. HIS NAME is the only name by which we shall obtain an entrance through the gate of eternal glory. I pity those who try to obtain God’s favor by their works; and I sound a clear warning—you are building on sand; you are spending money for that which is not bread; you will hear Him say, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23) . BUT THIS I KNOW—not one person has ever entered heaven’s courts with any testimony but this: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood—to Him be the glory” (Rev elation 1:5, 6) .   -preacher Henry Mahan http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=mahan

"Blessed is the man whom T hou chastenest, O L ORD , and teachest him out of T hy law." -Psalm 94:12 [KJV] We may observe in the words before us, that the Lord puts chastening before teaching. Is there not something remarkable in this? Why should chastening precede teaching? For this reason. We have no ear to hear except so far as we are chastened. It was so with the prodigal. Until he was brought to his right mind by strokes of hunger, he did not think of his father's house; he had no heart to return; but a mighty famine sent him home. So it is with God's children; as long as they are allowed to wander in their backslidings, they have no heart to return. But let the rod come; let them be driven home by stripes; then they have an ear to listen, while God teaches them to profit, instructs them by His blessed Spirit, and speaks into their heart those lessons which are for their eternal good.   "And teachest him out of T hy law." "The law" in th