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

"O wretched man that I am!" -Romans 7:24 [KJV] Now, these feelings which the apostle groaned under are experienced by all the quickened family. Blessed then be the name of God most High, that He inspired him to trace out and leave upon record his experience, that we might derive comfort and relief from it. What should we otherwise have thought? We should have reasoned thus: 'Here is an apostle perfectly holy, perpetually heavenly-minded, having nothing but the image of Christ in him, continually living to the Lord's glory, and unceasingly enjoying communion with Him!'  We should have viewed him as a perfect saint, if he had not told us what he was; and then, having viewed him as a perfect saint, we should have turned our desponding eyes into our own bosom, and seen such an awful contrast, that we should despair of ever being saved at all! But seeing the soul conflict which the Apostle passed through, and feeling a measure of the same in our own bosom

"Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the L ORD their God, and David their king." -Hosea 3:5 [KJV] What a sweet scripture is this, and what abundant gospel contained in the bosom of it? "Afterward shall the children of Israel return." After having been long scattered on every high mountain, wandering over the face of the whole earth, the Lord will bring them back; "He that hath scattered Israel will gather him." There shall be abounding grace, for abounding transgression; and what sin hath ruined, grace shall restore. But to whom shall they return? To seek the Lord their God! Yes! This may be done, and this will be done, if the Lord incline their hearts; the same that gives the grace to seek, will give the mercy to find.  He hath never said to the praying seed of Jacob, Seek ye my face in vain! But it is said also, that they shall return to "David their king." Alas! David king of Israel, bad been dead many a y

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." -Hebrews 2:14, 15 [KJV] It is only because of the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ that believers may face death without fear. Death, the penalty of sin, has already been endured for us by the Savior. In fact, rather than us dying, the Savior said to Martha, in John 11:26, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? "   When believers pass from this life, they "sleep in Jesus" [I Thessalonians 4:14] ; the soul goes to paradise and the body sleeps in the dust, awaiting a glorious resurrection. "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp because the everlasting dawn has finally

“But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid .” -Matthew 14:27 [KJV] He who loves us with an everlasting love sends every storm in love for our souls, not in anger. Be assured that it is “that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” The trial will not be forever. It will not always cast you down.     “It is I” who ordered, arranged, and controls it. In every stormy wind, in every dark night, in every lonely hour, in every rising fear, may God the Holy Spirit give us grace to hear our Savior’s voice, saying to us, “Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.”   -copied

1 . To be justified is to HAVE PEACE WITH GOD! (Romans 5:1) . " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God." 2 . To be justified is to be FREE FROM ALL CHARGES! (Romans 8:33) . " Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifieth."   3 . To be justified is to HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND GLORY! (Romans 8:30) . " And whom He justified, them He also glorified."   4 . To be justified is to BE AN HEIR OF GOD! (Titus 3:7) . " Being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." These riches of His grace make all the more im­portant the question raised in Job 25:4, " How then can man be justified with God? " Find the answer and one will find all that he needs in this life and in the life to come. -preacher Henry Mahan

" Is any thing too hard for the L ORD ?" -Genesis 18:14 [KJV] A clergyman went to read prayers on a working-day. There was but one person in the church, beside himself and the clerk. On which he said to the clerk, As there is nobody else here, what signifies my reading prayers? Sir, said the clerk, Is not God present? O, said the priest, I forgot God. Do not we too often the same? Is it not hence, that our minds are exercised with doubts, fears, and distress? This question the Lord put to Sarah, when an unbecoming laugh of incredulity appeared, and this unbelieving speech dropt from her lips, Shall I, of a surety, bear a child, who am old?   O the longsuffering kindness, the condescending goodness of our Lord! He is Jesus the Saviour, for instead of striking her dead at His feet, for her contempt of His word, He mildly reasons with her. As though He had said, Sarah, look not at yourself. Consult not flesh and blood. Judge not according to nature, reason, and th

"And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me 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-p

"Thy holy child Jesus." -Acts 4:30 [KJV] There is somewhat so very sweet and precious in this expression, that, my soul, I would have thee to meditate upon it. Surely the apostles had a special meaning in calling the Lord Jesus, "the holy child Jesus:" and no doubt the Holy Ghost did not cause His servants thus to express themselves for nought. It will be thy wisdom, therefore, to inquire. I do not find a similar phrase in all the word of God. The Redeemer is spoken of, in the days of His infancy, as "the child Jesus;" and when twelve years of age, He is still called "the child;" see Luke 2:27, 34, 43 ; but no where, that I recollect, does He receive the blessed appellation that He is here distinguished by, of "the holy child Jesus." It would be presumption in thee, to determine the cause of this distinction; but it can be none to inquire. Sit down then, this evening, favourable as it is to solemn meditation, and ponde