Hymn of the Day
(tune: "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners, p.49"
Can there be a time or season,
When our thanks must silent lie?
Times when saints can find no reason,
To lift up their praise on high?
No, there's always blessing flowing,
Even when our tears flow too!
For His mercy is ongoing,
Grace is given each day, anew.
Oft, we find our tongue is ready,
To sing out our grateful song;
When the pantry, filled with plenty,
Speaks of food for days to come.
Then we must not trust the blessing,
For 'tis but the Blesser's store.
Our dependence still confessing,
Let us thank Him all the more!
When the stall and store are empty,
And it seems there'll be no more;
When, with doubting, Satan tempts thee,
Loudly sounds His frightening roar,
With still louder thanks and praises,
List those everlasting goods:
He our sin fore'er erases,
Fills our souls with heav'nly food.
Are we stunned with grief expressless,
For the Lord has taken away,
One our heart held close and precious?
One whose presence brightened our days?
Thank the Lord for, though He's taken,
He it was Who first did give!
And, though weeping, thanks be making,
And our joy again shall live.
Measure not the Lord's great blessings,
By conditions of the day;
In all things - His will expressing –
All, for good, He'll work His way.
Everything for us is blesséd,
Not one thing shall bring us ill.
Whether it pleases or distresses,
All is good within His will!
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Today's Hymns
How Sweet and Wondrous is the Place – cb17
Only a Sinner - #474
I Will Sing the Wondrous Story - 468,
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Special Dates: Aimee Koedam -27
Jerry & Pat – 30 ~ Carolyn Bakker – 2
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We are saved by grace, free grace, rich grace, sovereign grace, distinguishing grace without one atom of works, without one grain of creature merit, without anything of the flesh. Oh! Sweet grace, blessed grace! Oh! what a help, what a strength, what a rest for a poor toiling, striving, laboring soul to find that grace has done all the work, to feel that grace has triumphed in the cross of Christ, to find that nothing is required, nothing is needed, nothing is to be done! -J.C. Philpot
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How faint the best praise! How wandering the best prayer! How selfish the best gift! When we feel that we are nearest to God, how far off we are! When we feel we are most like God, how unlike God we are! What did the apostle say? "When I am weak, then am I strong." Our strength is always Christ, never in anything we are or do. -Henry Mahan
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By grace you have been saved. -Ephesians 2.5
I have known this doctrine for just about as long as I have known anything. Yet even now, I feel I scarcely grasp the wonder of it. In fact, it is safe to say that the many years that have passed since I first learned this blessed truth have, in some ways, made it even more difficult to believe. This may seem strange, for should we not expect that passing years would produce a stronger confidence in the grace of God?
But what the passing years have shown me is that I am no better now than when I started. And that makes me feel as though I am worse now than when I started, for is it not reasonable to assume that many years of living in grace would produce a better person? Yes, it is reasonable to assume that, and many do assume that and even press the point in their preaching. But, in truth, the very concept of grace addresses us as those who have nothing – NOTHING – to commend ourselves to God: not when we begin our journey of grace, not at any point in our journey, nor even at the end of it.
But there is one thing that has most definitely grown since I first learned of God's grace: I have grown in the realization of my utter dependence on God's grace. Every year convinces me more of the truth that if this business of salvation is not entirely of God's grace, I SHALL NOT BE SAVED!
Whatever else "growing in grace" may mean, it must mean this: a person grows in his dependence on the grace of God. If my growth in grace has any other manifestations, I am unaware of them. As my years fly by, sin abounds. But thanks be to God, where sin abounded, grace abounded more! -Joe
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The average person who gives money, gifts, or charity to others may think that this gift or whatever he gives should be regarded as a loss, certainly not called assets or investment or gain. This is not so! Gifts, money, and alms given to others is no more loss than the seed planted by the farmer is loss. Anything given to others in the name of Christ, for the glory of our Lord, is not loss, but gain in every way. Our Lord said in Luke 6:38, "Give, and it shall be given unto you...for with the same measure that you give withal it shall be given to you. This is saying that God uses the same container or measure for your gifts to us as we use for our gifts to others. The more generous the farmer is with the seed, the greater the harvest; and the more generous and loving and giving we are enabled to be, the greater the blessing. No! giving is not a loss, but a great gain. A person may say, "I cannot afford to give." If we have an understanding of the grace of God, we cannot afford not to give. -Henry Mahan
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The way we resemble Christ the most is when we freely and unconditionally forgive others. -Todd Nibert
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The unsoundness of a vessel is not seen when it is empty, but when it is filled with water, then we shall see whether it will leak or not. It is in our prosperity that we are tested. Men are not fully discovered of themselves till they are tried by the fullness of success. Praise finds out the crack of pride; wealth reveals the flaw of selfishness; and learning discovers the leak of unbelief. David's [troublesome] sin was little seen in the tracks of the wild goats, but it became conspicuous upon the terraces of his palace. Success is the crucible of character. Hence, the prosperity which some welcome as an unmixed favor may far more rightly be regarded as an intense form of test. O, Lord, preserves us when we are full as much as when we are empty! -Thomas Manton