Grace Gems

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A New Year's Resolution

(Matthew Henry)

"My times are in Your hand!" Psalm 31:15

Firmly believing that my times are in God's hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God's divine providence. Whether God appoints for me . . . .
  health or sickness,
  peace or trouble,
  comforts or crosses,
  life or death--
may His holy will be done!
All my time, strength, and service, I devote to the honor of the Lord Jesus--and even my common actions. It is my earnest expectation, hope, and desire, my constant aim and endeavor--that Jesus Christ may be magnified in me.

In everything I have to do--my entire dependence is upon Jesus Christ for strength. And whatever I do in word or deed, I desire to do all in His name, to make Him my Alpha and Omega. I have all from Him--and I would use all for Him.

If this should prove a year of affliction, a sorrowful year to me--I will fetch all my supports and comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself upon Him, His everlasting consolations, and the good hope I have in Him through grace.

And if it should be my dying year--then my times are in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And with a humble reliance upon His mediation, I would venture into the eternal world looking for the blessed hope. Dying as well as living--Jesus Christ will, I trust, be gain and advantage to me.

Oh, that the grace of God may be sufficient for me, to keep me always a humble sense of my own unworthiness, weakness, folly, and infirmity--together with a humble dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for both righteousness and strength.

   ~  ~  ~  ~

"Remember that your life is short, your duties are many, your assistance is great, and your reward is sure. Therefore faint not, persevere in ways of holiness--and Heaven shall make amends for all!" Thomas Brooks

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Atheistic beliefs

("Theology Explained" Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817)

"The fool says in his heart: There is no God!" Psalm 14:1

Atheism has its seat in the heart, and not in the understanding. "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." John 3:19-20

Nothing can be more evident, than that atheistic beliefs can never be embraced from reason, or conviction, or by an unbiased understanding. They are certainly adopted under the influence of the heart. They are believed only because they are loved--or because God is dreaded and hated. Thus the heart is the true source of the belief that there is no God; and he is a fool, who, governed by his desires, thus believes against all reason and evidence.

The great danger lies in the heart--and in its hostility to God and His character. What we desire--we easily believe; and what we dread or hate--we easily disbelieve. As we dread the anger of God against sin, and against ourselves particularly as sinners, and all His designs to punish sin; and as we hate to renounce sin and its pleasures--we easily and naturally contrive to disbelieve God's designs, character, and existence. Especially is this the case, when God, provoked by our rebellion and opposition, gives us up to a reprobate mind.

"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity!" Romans 1:28-29

"They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

"So also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are reprobate." 2 Timothy 3:8

How greatly ought we then to fear this mass of atheistic guilt, danger, and ruin! How earnestly ought we to watch, and strive, and pray that we fall not into this train of temptations and miseries! Let us resolve to receive and love the truths of Scripture at all events, however humbling or painful.

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If you saw Christ standing beside you all the time

(J.R. Miller, "Intimate Letters on Personal Problems")

Scripture says of Moses, that "he endured as seeing Him who is invisible!" Hebrews 11:27. That is, Moses always remembered that God was right beside him, his friend to help him--and this made him strong. He did not actually see God--but it was as if he saw Him. That is, he realized the divine presence in all of his life.

If you saw Christ standing beside you all the time--it would not be hard for you to keep sweet, or to keep control of your temper and speech.

Well, Christ IS beside you--just as really as He was beside Mary when she sat at His feet in Bethany, or beside Peter and the other disciples as they walked together over the hills of Judea and Galilee. What you need, is to realize this fact.

We know that Jesus is present with us all the time, at every moment, by day or by night. He is closer than any human friend can be to us. Indeed, we are to practice His presence--that is, we are to live all the time, as if we actually saw Him!

You must remember that Christ is always besides you, not only to see you--but to help you, as your truest and best Friend!

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God is everywhere!

(Don Fortner)

"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." Proverbs 15:3

God is everywhere by His power--upholding, maintaining, sustaining all things, and performing with His own hands the works of His eternal purpose in all places.

God is everywhere by his providence--taking care of and governing all His creatures, executing in all places at the same time His everlasting decrees.

God is everywhere by His omniscience--beholding all things, all places, all events, all people, even the secrets of the hearts of all men at one time.

"His eyes are on the ways of men; He sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide." Job 34:21-22

"For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and He examines all his paths." Proverbs  5:21

"My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from Me, nor is their sin concealed from My eyes." Jeremiah 16:17

"Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Do not I fill Heaven and earth?" Jeremiah 23:24

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13

"O LORD, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in--behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain!" Psalm 139:1-6

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Oh, you killers of time!

(Octavius Winslow) Ephesians 5:16

Time is the preface to eternity. And as the preface indicates the character of the volume, so our present use of time is the foreshadowing of our future eternal history.

We may rob God by a misuse of time. Time is a solemn and priceless gift, and involves a responsibility and an account of a most tremendous character.

What sin, what madness, then, to abuse a privilege so solemn--to misuse a blessing so precious. To employ time in vain pleasures and frivolous pursuits; to use it in senseless levities and sinful engagements; to devote it too absorbingly even to literary and noble pursuits: the studies of the antiquarian, the researches of the historian, the fascinations of art, the discoveries of science; may verge upon the crime of robbing God of one of His most costly loans! All these absorbing engagements are limited to the present, and have no essential relation to the soul's certain and solemn future.

Oh, you killers of time! How will the ghost of your murdered hours haunt and upbraid you through the interminable centuries of eternity! Oh, what would you not then give for one hour of that precious period of your existence which now you waste and fritter and destroy--in vain, useless, and sinful trifles, dreams, and shadows.

Remember, you rob God when your time is not consecrated to His glory. Ponder well the inspired precept, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16. Consider the apostolic exhortation, "Brethren, the time is short!" 1 Corinthians 7:29

"So teach us to number our days--that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

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Home, sweet home! There is no place like home!

(James Smith, "Rills from the Rock of Ages", 1860)

"These all died in faith . . . they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" Hebrews 11:13

The day of life with them is ended. Its duties are ended. Its responsibilities are past. Its hours are fled away.

What a trying day some of them had! How stormy. How sultry. How often overcast. How gloomy. But it is now past--and past forever! The toils of the wilderness are over! They had much to afflict and pain them . . .
  a difficult and dangerous journey,
  a long wearisome march,
  many a heavy cross to carry,
  many a stubborn foe to face,
  many a painful doubt,
  numerous gloomy fears.

But now the wilderness is all behind them! The afflictions of the pilgrimage are terminated. Those sufferings were sharp, and some of them continued long. Many of them were endured in secret, without sympathy and without relief. They were soul sorrows, agony of mind--as well as sharp pains of body. But however multiplied, however severe, however protracted those sorrows--they are past and gone, never, never to return!

The sweetest repose is now enjoyed. The poor tabernacle has been taken down, and is laid in a quiet resting-place until the resurrection morning. The soul is gone to be with Jesus. It has traveled through the rough path of life--and is now in God's presence, where there is fullness of joy, and pleasures for evermore!

As Christians, we are going to the same place. The graves will soon be ready for our bodies--and the mansions of glory for our souls. We are going home! Home to our Father's house! Home where our hearts have long been. Home where all our prayers will be answered, and all our best desires will be gratified. "Home, sweet home! There is no place like home!" Especially our home! A paradise without a tempting serpent! A paradise where all are holy, all are safe, all are happy. Those pure and perpetual joys, which are at God's right hand, await us! We taste them now and are delighted with a sip--but there we shall soon drink full draughts of eternal glory, eternal joy, and eternal blessedness!

Amidst present toils and trials, dangers and distresses--when wearied, way-worn, and tempted to fret--remember that you will soon be HOME! Think, think, O my soul, of an eternity of enjoyment--when the sufferings of time are ended!

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away!" Revelation 21:3-4

(Please forward this uplifting post to all of your Christian friends who are going through times of affliction.)

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What are you doing with your time?

(J.R. Miller)

"Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time" Ephesians 5:15-16

Our days, as God gives them to us--are like beautiful summer fields.
The hours are like trees with their rich fruit, or vines with their blossoms of purple clusters.
The minutes are like blooming flowers, or stalks of wheat with their golden grains.

Oh the endless, blessed possibilities of our days and hours and minutes--as they come to us from God's hands!

But what did you do with yesterday? How does the little acre of that one day look to you now?

What are you doing with your time? Every moment God gives you, has in it a possibility of beauty or usefulness--as well as something to be accounted for.

Are you using your time for God?

"Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life!" Psalm 39:4

Jeremy Taylor: "God has given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends!"

Ryle: "No time is so well spent in every day--as that which we spend upon our knees."

Spurgeon: "Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in the light of eternity!"

"So teach us to number our days--that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

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Better to rot in prison!

(J.R. Miller, "Practical Lessons from the Story of Joseph")

"How can I do this great wickedness--and sin against God!" Genesis 39:9

"After hearing his wife's story, Potiphar was furious! He took Joseph and threw him into the prison!" Genesis 39:19-20

Sometimes it costs very dearly to be true to God. Joseph lay now in a dungeon. But his loss through doing right, was nothing in comparison with what he would have lost--had he done the wickedness to which he was tempted. His prison gloom, deep as it was--was as noonday, compared with what would have been the darkness of his soul under the blight of evil, and the bitterness of remorse. The chains that hung upon him in his dungeon, were but like feathers--in comparison with the heavy chains which would have bound his soul, had he yielded to the temptation. Though in a prison, his feet hurt by the fetters--he was a free man because his conscience was free and his heart was pure!

No fear of consequences should ever drive us to do a wrong thing.

It is better to suffer any loss, any cost, any sacrifice--than be eaten up by remorse!

Better be hurled down from a high place for doing right--than win worldly honor by doing wrong.

Better lose our right hand--than lose our purity of soul.

Better to rot in prison--than to sin against God!

It was the prayer of a young queen, which she wrote with a diamond point on her castle window, "Keep me pure--make others great." That is the lesson of Joseph's victory over temptation: dishonor, loss, dungeon, death--anything before sin!

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Prepare to meet the monster!

(David Harsha)

This young lady had been confined to a bed of severe suffering for one year. At last her soul was ripened for glory. The time came that she must die, and her death-bed was a scene of triumph. Christ was very precious to her, and His love was wonderfully manifested to her soul. She often exclaimed, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His."

The following are among her last words:

To her distant brother she thus dictated a letter: "Dear brother, I know not whether I shall meet you again on earth; but I hope to meet you in Heaven, where we shall be forever singing the praises of God; where the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall feed us, and lead us unto living fountains of waters, and where God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes."

To her father, who said to her, "I fear I must lose you." She replied, "Your loss will be my gain! I have a building from God, a house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And again when he said, "I think you will fall asleep in Jesus;" she responded, "It will be a happy change!"

She exclaimed in a transport of joy, "Oh! I would not give up Christ for all the world!"

Her earthly course being nearly finished, she opened her eyes, which were soon to be closed in death, and in the language of strong, unshaken faith, exclaimed with Job, "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!"

Her faith remained firm unto the end, and her hope and confidence unshaken to the last. Her sky was clear and serene, her mind calm and composed--and thus she fell asleep in Jesus and entered into the joy of her Lord.

A few days before this young lady died, she requested the following lines to be read at her funeral.

To my young companions:

"My youthful mates, both small and great,
  Stand here, and you shall see,
  An awful sight, which is a type
  Of what you soon will be!

"I used to appear once fresh and fair
  Among the youthful crowd;
  But now behold me dead and cold,
  Wrapped in a sable shroud!

"My cheeks once red, like roses spread,
  My sparkling eyes so gay;
  But now you see how 'tis with me,
  A lifeless lump of clay!

"When you are dressed in all your best,
  In 'fashion' so complete,
  You soon must be, as you see me,
  Wrapped in a shrouding sheet!

"Ah, youth beware, and do prepare
  To meet the monster, death!
  For he may come when you are young,
  And steal away your breath!

"When you unto your frolics go,
  Remember what I say;
  In short time, though in your prime,
  You may be called away!

"Now I am gone, I can't return;
  No more of me you'll see;
  But it is true that all of you,
  Must shortly follow me!

"When you unto my grave do go,
  That gloomy place to see,
  I say to you who stand and view,
  Prepare to follow me!"

What an awful thing it is to die without salvation by Christ, without a saving interest in him; and yet millions live without God, and without hope in the world. And millions more die in the same awful condition, and plunge into a dark and miserable eternity!

"Let me die like the righteous--let my life end like theirs!" Numbers 23:10

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He who trifles with it is a fool!

(J.A. James, "The Practical Believer Delineated")

"Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life!" Psalm 39:4

If the man who trembles at death is a coward--then he who trifles with it is a fool!
There is a thousand times more rationality in the trembler--than in the trifler!

There is a phenomenon in the rational world well worthy of consideration, inquiry and solution--the strange and fatal insensibility of men to the grand fact that they are mortal! Since it is infallibly certain that they must and will die, and since death is so solemn an event--how does it happen that so few ever seriously think of it or really prepare for it?

One would think that so grand and solemn a fact as death, especially viewed in connection with the events which are to immediately follow it--Heaven, Hell and eternity--along with the uncertainty how soon it may be realized--might operate with an unlimited and altogether overpowering influence upon men's minds and hearts!

But men wish to forget death--and alas, too often succeed in accomplishing this fatal oblivion! Yet we can scarcely wonder at this, when we consider what their spiritual condition is--and what death is!

It is the commonness of death, which deprives it of its extreme dreadfulness. If death happened in our world only once in a century, it would be felt like the shock of an earthquake--and would hush the inhabitants of earth into a breathless silence, while the echoes of the knell of the departed soul were reverberating around the globe!

Death is . . .
  the moment of destiny;
  the seal of eternity;
  the cessation of probation;
  the commencement of retribution and judgment!

The accompaniments of death are solemn, and so are the consequences!

To every sense--death is revolting!

To every social affection--death is harrowing!

To reason--death is perplexing!

To everything but saving faith--death is overwhelming!

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom!" Psalm 90:12

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Who knows the power of God's anger?

(Ralph Venning, "The Plague of Plagues!" 1669)

God always acts like Himself--like a God. When He shows mercy--it is like the God of all grace who is rich in mercy and loves with a great love.

In the same way, when He executes wrath and vengeance--He makes bare His arm and strikes like a God!

"Who knows the power of God's anger?" Psalm 90:11

None but the damned!

"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left--but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God!" Hebrews 10:26-27.

It is a terrifying a thing to fall into the hands of the living God, when He acts like a God of vengeance! How dreadful a thing then would it be to be in Hell itself--under the tortures of His executed wrath forever?

A stone thrown from a weak arm will not hit very hard--but when the hand and arm of God shall throw down that wrath from Heaven which is now only threatened against ungodly men, and turn them into Hell--how will it sink them deep into Hell!

I cannot go any further without pleading with you. Do you need anything more to dissuade you from going on in sin, which is the way to damnation--than the thought of damnation, and such a damnation, which is the wages of sin? For your soul's sake, hear and fear!

What! Will you be damned?
Can you think calmly of going to Hell?
Have you no pity on your precious soul?

If you were to go from reading of Hell--into Hell--you would surely say, "I would not believe it--but now I feel it!"

"It is Mine to avenge--I will repay! It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!" Hebrews 10:30-31

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My Father's home!

(James Smith, "The Better Land")

"Do not be troubled. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am!" John 14:1-3

How familiar with Heaven--how well acquainted with that "better land" must Jesus be! He calls it "My Father's home!" Sweet view of our eternal residence!

Dying is but 'going home!' Going home to our Father! Going to our Father's home!

And shall we fear this? Fear it! Can we do anything other than eagerly desire it? Do we not wish to go home and see our Father? We shall not be strangers there--so many of our Christian friends have gone home before us. And even if some of our loved ones are not there--we could not possibly feel unhappy where JESUS is!

"I am leaving the world," said Jesus, "and am going to My Father!" Such should be our language in the prospect of death. O that, with child-like simplicity, we could receive into our minds the testimony of God's Word! O that we could view death and Heaven--just as the Scriptures represent them! Where would our doubts and fears be then? What would become of our reluctance to leave the world then? Then, if we spoke of departed Christian loved ones--we would use similar language to that of Judah in reference to his younger brother Benjamin, "He is this day with our Father!" We would no longer talk of losing friends or relatives. Oh no! we should speak of them as being in our Father's home, or of being with our Father!

My soul, I charge you in future to look to Heaven, simply as your Father's home!

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!" 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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The world's pleasures are often curses in disguise!

(John MacDuff, "Ripples in the Twilight" 1885)

"Jabez called on the God of Israel saying: 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed!'
 So God granted him what he requested." 1 Chronicles 4:10

There is much apparent good not worth calling by the name. What the world speaks of as blessings are, some of them, often worthless; and many of them are undoubtedly evil and detrimental. They are counterfeits--they do not bear upon them the coinage and currency of Heaven. Satan has disguised them--stamped them as true metal--while they are base alloy!

Let us leave our blessings, and the method of their bestowal, with the Giver of every good and perfect gift--into His hand committing our earthly all, with this prayer of intense fervor yet of simple faith, "Oh that You would bless me indeed!" I want nothing which the world calls a blessing, unless You think it proper for me. I want no shadows--no baubles. I do not ask for riches--they may be a snare to me. I do not ask for . . .
  the cup running over,
  the barns full,
  the fig-tree blossoming,
  the home-nest without the thorn.
These might alienate me from Yourself, and bind me only closer to earth!

I want blessings indeed. God, I am no judge of this. Whatever YOU give, will be a true blessing to me. And even if You take it away--I will strive to believe that the dark and painful dealing, is Your kindness to me also.

Yes, we repeat, the world's pleasures are often curses in disguise--like Cleopatra's viper, which was hidden in a basket of flowers. There is often . . .
  an adder lurking in the bed of roses,
  a fly in the ointment,
  poison in the wine-cup!

But the blessings of God are blessings bearing His own divine seal and signature. They may come . . .
  in frowning providences,
  in baffling dispensations,
  in strokes of the chastening rod.
For the present they may seem not joyous, but grievous. But I am content to be in His hands--joyful or sorrowful, in health or in sickness, living or dying. O my Father, give Your own blessing, and I shall bow my heart in submission; for I can only hear in it accents of paternal love!

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Salvation from Hell--or from sin?

(Charles Spurgeon)

"You shall call His name Jesus--for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

The mere professor loves a salvation from Hell.

The true Christian loves a salvation from sin.

Everyone desires to be saved from the bottomless pit--but only a child of God pants to be saved from every false way. We love the Gospel because it saves us . . .
  from selfishness,
  from pride,
  from lust,
  from worldliness,
  from bitterness,
  from malice,
  and from sloth.

"Because I consider all Your precepts to be right, I hate every wrong path." Psalm 119:128

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A clean path to Hell!

(Charles Spurgeon)

Unbelief will destroy the best of us!

Faith will save the worst of us!

There is a clean path to Hell--as well as a dirty one.

You will be lost if you trust to your good works--as surely as if you trusted in your sins.

There is a road to perdition along the 'highway of morality'--as surely as down the 'slough of vice'!

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us!" Titus 3:5