I do fear that I fail to have the confidence I ought to have in the gospel of our sovereign God. Paul said, " For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Rom 1:16) Though it be in the hands of a weak preacher and weak witnesses, this does not diminish or restrict its power. The gospel is not weak in power but we are often weak in faith. Oh God, grant to us faith and confidence in your sovereign power through that great instrument, the gospel. Awaken your people from spiritual death and call them from darkness to light with this Word. It is the "gospel of Christ" the sovereign, successful Savior and cannot fail. It is the summons of the King and none of your sheep will successfully resist it. I am ashamed of my lack of confidence but I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Lord, give your word success and increase in us a confident faith!

Gary Shepard

THANK GOD FOR HIS FREE WILL!

If you think your will is free, why have you not willed yourself to come to God? Why have you not willed yourself righteous? Why have you not willed yourself to believe on Christ? Why have you not willed yourself to glorify God? Why have you not willed yourself to leave your sin? You say, "Because I will do what I want to." That's right! The problem with your will is in your want! Your will is in bondage to your fallen nature and therefore not free. But do not despair, since your will was never free, it could not have saved you. "It is not of him that willeth but of God that showeth mercy!" (Rom. 9:16) God’s will alone is free; but, thank God, He has willed to save a people in Christ and none can stay His hand! Furthermore, He makes all He saves willing in the day of His power! “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Gary Shepard

The death of a loved one is certainly a loss for us who are left here on earth. We grieve over their absence. But the grief of those who know the Lord, those who have been brought by God to trust Christ for all salvation, righteousness, and glory, is different. As human beings we sorrow, and this is natural, but we do not sorrow “as others which have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). If our loved one knew the Lord, we sorrow but we also rejoice with and for them; for they are in the presence of their dear Savior. It our loved one did not know the Lord, we sorrow, but we rest on the wisdom and purpose of God to do that which is right according to His sovereign will – “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).

Bill Parker

"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "All," not one, or two, or ten, or a million only, but "all." And observe wherefore? They are the Father’s gift to Jesus, and therefore they must come. He said elsewhere, "that I should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me" (John 17:2). Hence, therefore, there is a blessed provision, a blessed security, that they shall come; for they are the Father’s gift to Christ, as well as the purchase of Christ’s blood; and the promise is absolute in the charter of grace; "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power" (Psalm 110:3). And, to give every possible encouragement to the poor coming sinner, whom God the Holy Ghost is leading by the hand to the all-precious Jesus, He adds, "And him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out."

Robert Hawker

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. “ (John 4:23) True worshippers worship the true God, they worship Him now, they worship Him according to the Word of truth and by the work of the Spirit of truth and they worship Him because He has sought them to do so. These things being true, am I, are you, a true worshipper? GS

A MONUMENT OF GRACE

John Kent

Indulgent God, how kind are all Thy ways to me;

Whose dark, benighted mind was enmity with Thee;

Yet now, subdued by sovereign grace,

My spirit longs for Thy embrace!

My spirit longs for Thy embrace!

How precious are Thy thoughts, which o'er my bosom roll!

They swell beyond my faults, and captivate my soul!

How great they seem, how high they rise,

Can ne'er be known beneath the skies.

Can ne'er be know beneath the skies.

Preserved in Jesus when my feet made haste to hell;

And there should I have gone, but Thou dost all things well;

Thy love was great, Thy mercy free,

Which from the pit delivered me!

Which from the pit delivered me!

A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood;

The streams of love I trace, up to the fountain God;

And in His wondrous mercy see

Eternal thoughts of love to me!

Eternal thoughts of love to me!

(Tune: Arise, My Soul, Arise)

He can never be said to trust God with his soul, who is over anxious in providing for the body. And very sure I am, that he is really lean in spiritual things, who is fattening on temporal things.