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

  Now I have found the ground wherein My anchor, hope, shall firm remain, The wounds of Jesus, for my sin Are born away in the Lamb slain; Whose mercy shall unshaken stay, When heaven and earth are fled away. [O grace, thou bottomless abyss, My sins are swallowed up in thee! Covered is my unrighteousness; From condemnation I am free. For Jesus’ blood, through earth and skies, Mercy, eternal mercy, cries.] Jesus, I know, has died for me; Here is my hope, my joy, my rest; Hither, when hell assails, I flee; I look into my Savior’s breast. Away, sad doubt and anxious fear; Mercy and love are written there. Fixed on this ground will I remain, Though my heart fail and flesh decay; This anchor shall my soul sustain, When earth’s foundations melt away. Mercy’s full power I then shall prove, Loved with an everlasting love. Tune: "Faith of Our Fathers"

"And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt."   -Hosea 2:15  [KJV] Now the "valley of Achor" signifies the "valley of trouble." It was the valley in which Achan was stoned. And why stoned? Because he had taken the accursed thing; because his eye had been captivated by the Babylonish garment and golden wedge, and he had buried them in the tent. This may throw a light on what the "valley of Achor" is spiritually. Perhaps you have been guilty of Achan's sin; you have been taking the accursed thing; have been too deeply connected with the world; have done things which God's displeasure is against. Let conscience speak in the bosom of each. The consequence has been, that you have got into the "valley of Achor!" Trouble, sorrow, and confusion are your lot, and you do not ...

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."   - Proverbs  18:10 [KJV]

"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." - I Corinthians 2:5 [KJV] It is true that real grace can suffer neither loss nor diminution, but its manifestations and its actings may. Who that possesses faith is not conscious that it ebbs and flows, rises and sinks, is strong and weak, and varies from day to day and from hour to hour? Thus when a sharp trial comes, its immediate effect is to depress faith. It falls upon it like a weight, and bends it down to the ground. Faith may be compared to the quicksilver in a weather-glass, or in a thermometer. The quantity of mercury in the bulb never varies; but it rises or falls in the tube, according to the weight of the air, or the heat of the day. Thus faith, though it abides in the heart without loss or diminution, yet rises or sinks in the feelings, as the weather is fair or foul, or as the sun shews or hides himself.   Did Job's faith, for instance, mount equally high when "...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands( 18-20 DEC20) Heads-Up --- Please find enclosed encouragement in SO GREAT SALVATION by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace - God's unmerited favor - from their sins and from Hell: The more convinced we are of our utter helplessness before God, the more dearly we will prize and appreciate His free and sovereign grace given us in Christ Jesus. Let others boast of their supposed free will, their decision, and their choice; let them brag about "letting Jesus save them". But as for this sinner (and every sinner saved by God's almighty and amazing grace) I know I was dead in sin, but God raised me from a spiritual grave. I was blind but He gave me sight to see Him as the only Savior of sinners; I was lost but the kind Shepherd found me; I was filthy but He washed me in His sin-atoning blood; I was naked but He wrapped me in His pure and...

"That I may be found in Him." -Philippians 3:9 [KJV]   The apostle knew a time was coming when God would search Jerusalem as with candles. He knew a day was hastening on when the secrets of all hearts would be revealed. He knew an hour was approaching when the eyes of the Lord would try, and the eyelids of the righteous judge would weigh the words and actions of men. And he knew in his own soul's experience, that all who, in that awful day, were not found in Christ, would be consigned to the eternal pit of woe. He knew that when the judge took His seat upon the great white throne, and heaven and earth fled away from His presence, no one could stand before His look of infinite justice and eternal purity, but those who had a vital standing in the Son of God.    And therefore, looking to that awful time, and the solemnities of that day of judgment, that day of wonders, this was the desire of his soul—and towards that he pressed forward, as an active runner press...

  The Pharisees were very offended that some rag tag fishermen would follow Jesus and teach contrary to what they taught. They said to Christ, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the traditions of the elders?" (Matthew 15:2) A tradition is something that is passed down from generation to generation and with the Pharisees it was the oral law. It was not the scriptures but what they and those like them that preceded them, said about the scriptures and the rules they added to them. They could not defend their teachings from the scriptures alone so they accused the disciples of teaching contrary to "the traditions." Our merciful God spoke audibly from heaven on one occasion some very important words. "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him..." The Word of God supersedes all the teachings of men, especially what they teach about the Word! Christ said to these Pharisees, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" ...