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

“ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the L ORD . And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the L ORD . And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the L ORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” - G ENESIS 4:1-5 [KJV] We live in a most religious world. In every county, country and culture; among all people, without exception there is some form of religion. Did you know that all religions can be summed into two groups? The way of Cain or the way of Abel. Cain represents the way that seems right unto men [PROVERBS 14:12 ] , the way of the flesh, works, self-righteousness, self-glory, do t...

"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts." -P ROVERBS 31:6 [KJV] The wise mother of king Lemuel gave her son gracious directions when she spake these words. It is when we begin to feel the misery into which we have been cast by sin, and thus become ready to perish, and of heavy hearts, that the pure wine of gospel grace is suitable to our lost condition . As the holiness and justice of God are discovered to the conscience, and we are made to see and feel the depths of the Adam fall, we look out of ourselves for a salvation which we could not find in our fallen nature or in our deeply corrupt and unbelieving heart. When, then, we obtain by living faith a view of the Son of God as a Mediator between God and men, when we see by the eye of faith the blood of the cross, and the full and complete atonement which He, as the Lamb of God, made for sin, then we heartily embrace Him as "of God made unto us wi...

Paul asked the Lord that his thorn in the flesh be removed. We have no knowledge of what that thorn was, but such was the painfulness and seriousness of it that Paul requested three times to be freed from it. The Lord’s answer was, “ My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” [II CORINTHIANS 12:9 ] . When the Lord’s children are afflicted with sickness or disease, we ask the Lord to remove the thorn, if it be His will. After all, is He not the Great Physician? Many times, however, it is not His will to heal us. The word given to Paul, however, remains valid to all who love Christ: “ My grace is sufficient for thee.” We have our Redeemer’s promise, He will give sufficient grace (saving and supporting grace) to endure whatever trial He, in His infinite wisdom, sends our way. “Lord, make this promise be a soft pillow for all Your suffering children.” The Sender of the trial will give grace and will uphold us by His strength in our tim...

“ He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” - ROMANS 8:32 [KJV] We may observe, in one view, the wonderful goodness and inflexible severity of God. So great was His goodness that, when man was by sin rendered incapable of any happiness, and obnoxious to all mercy; incapable of restoring himself, or of receiving the least assistance from any power in heaven or in earth; God spared not His only begotten Son, but, in His unexampled love to His own, gave Him Who alone was able to repair the breach . Every gift of God is good. The bounties of His common providence are very valuable that He should continue life, and supply that life with food, raiment, and a variety of comforts, to those who by rebellion had forfeited all, was wonderful: but what are all inferior blessings compared to this unspeakable gift of the Son of His love ? Abraham had given many proofs of his love and obedien...

"Wilt T hou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise T hee? Shall T hy lovingkindness be declared in the grave, or T hy faithfulness in destruction?" - P SALM 88:10, 11 [KJV] This is not the language of a soul dead in trespasses and sins, but it is the breathing of a living soul struggling and grappling with death. What a difference there is, where there is life working in and under death, and where death reigns absolutely! between the quickened soul and that in which there is nothing but death, death without one spark of spiritual life, death without one ray of heavenly teaching. There is no groan, no sigh, no lamentation, no piteous inquiry, no pouring out of the heart before God, where the soul is utterly dead, any more than there is life and breath in a corpse in the tomb.  But wherever life is implanted in the soul from the Fountain of life , that life groans under death . It sighs from out of the grave; it gasps for breath, under the c...

As we begin the new year, let’s be thankful for all the great blessings our sovereign Lord has freely given us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s remind ourselves that all good things are due to the greatness and goodness of Christ. The Lord our Righteousness. Salvation, along with all physical temporal blessings we have enjoyed, has nothing to do with what we deserve or have earned. For the people of God, it is all of grace. Let’s remind ourselves also that our future is in God’s hands and not ours. Our lives, now and forever, are to be testimonies of His grace, love, and mercy in Christ, and testimonies of our love and gratitude to Him for eternal life secured for us in Christ. This is to be our attitude in every facet of our lives here on earth, whether on our jobs, in our earthly families, or in our church family. May the Lord our God bless us all with His goodness and truth as revealed in the glorious Person and finished work of our Savior and Lord Jesus Chri...

In this house, O great Jehovah, God of everlasting days; Humbly now we all assemble, to begin this year with praise. Lord we thank Thee for Thy mercies, which to us are new each day; And with gratitude we bless Thee, Thou hast led us all the way. Bless’ed Lord and only Savior, Thou didst full salvation bring; We would praise Thee without ceasing, of Thy glories we will sing. With the promise of Thy presence, now we face another year; Since Thy hand shall always guide us, free us from all doubt and fear. Lead us on our pilgrim journey, guide us safely by Thy grace; Keep us looking unto Jesus, till we finish life’s short race. Then receive us into glory, O Thou God in Whom we trust; Take our souls away to heaven, and protect and guard our dust. -Tune “Come Thou Fount” -Words by preacher Jim Byrd