He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. Psalm 91:1-3
Submit Yourselves to God
“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Submit yourself therefore to God” (James 4:6-7).
The way to overcome pride and defeat the spirit of envy, strife, and contention is to SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD.
1). To His will regarding gifts, natural or spiritual.
2).To leave it to God to make us what He would have us to be.
3). To leave it to God to prosper or empty us.
4).To leave it to God to honor or humiliate us.
Resist thoughts of envy, jealousy, covetousness, and fretting, and submit yourselves to God. Our Lord is mindful of our needs and will supply (Phil. 4:19).
Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1987)
Our Steps Are Ordered Of The Lord
What will happen in the days to come? Everything the Lord has wisely decreed in His eternal purpose for us to experience (Rom. 11:36; Eph. 1:11). The Lord gave David these words in Psalm 37:23; “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” Our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples in their day; “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The apostle Paul declares that every believer has won the victory of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ forever; “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). We can be assured by the word of our blessed God and Saviour; that every promise of God will be fulfilled (Joshua 23:14; 2 Peter 1:3-4); that our gracious Lord will provide for our every need (Phil. 4:19); that He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6). As the old writers used to express it; “The Lord will give us all grace now and glory forever. We don’t know what the future holds but we know who holds the future.” (Psalm 31:15).
Sins Taken Away
There is a chorus that we love to sing which says: “Did you hear what the Lord Jesus said to me? They’re all taken away, away! Thy sins are pardoned, and you are free. They’re all taken away!” With that good news declaration being proclaimed to sinners in the word of God, the apostle Paul said; “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13, 14).
Pastor Gabe Stalnaker
Faith, Hope And Love
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1 Cor. 13:13).
What great blessings the Lord has freely and eternally given unto His church (Rom. 8:32). Indeed, Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). The apostle Paul makes mention of these three great and spiritual blessings that abide in every believer; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Why would Paul say that? Because it is true!
Every believer lives by faith (Rom. 1:17), walks by faith (2 Cor. 5:7) and will die in faith (Heb. 13:5), always looking and trusting Christ (Heb. 12:2). But one day faith will end in perfect and complete sight, when we behold the Lord Jesus Christ face to face (1 John 3:2).
Likewise, every believer lives with a fervent hope, a living hope and a blessed hope (Titus 2:13); because it is a good hope through grace (2 Thes. 2:16). Hope springs from faith in Christ (Heb. 11:1), for He is our hope (Col. 1:27; 1 Tim. 1:1). But the good hope we have in Christ, that too will one day come to an end in the certain expectation of the reality of that hope being predestinated to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29-30).
But the greatest of these gifts is love; the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5) will never end. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:38). Our love for the Lord Jesus Christ had a beginning but it will never have an end. We only love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). When did the Lord start loving His own? From eternity in the covenant of grace (Jer. 31:3)! The Lord’s love for His church is a sacrificial love (Eph. 5:25; 1 John 4:10). He laid down His life for His church (John 13:1). Oh how precious is that love for us. May God grant us to be always thankful for this gift of His love unto us and may He cause it to grow in such a way as to glorify Him now and forever. One day soon every believer will sing forever; “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen (Rev. 1:5-6)!
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