Hymn of the Day
How firm a foundation, Ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, On the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
When through the deep waters, I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove,
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake.
-----0-----
Today's Hymns
Majestic Sweetness # 52
O Worship the King #6,
And Can It Be? #cb7
Special Dates: Tricia Drenth – 14 ~ Madilyn Rose Vlastuin- 16
Fred & Anne – 20 ~ Barney and Tricia – 20 ~ Cornell and Shaina - 21
Nevaeh Sandbulte – 22 ~ Jason & Diane – 22
-----0-----
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
~Proverbs 4.23 (ESV)
There is a simplicity in God's wisdom. It is not made up of multiple laws by which we attempt to guide our lives in the proper path. Rather, it is in a single thing: guarding or keeping our hearts. Everything about our lives flows from our hearts. Guarding our hearts is the means of guarding our lives; if the heart is right, so will be the life. Our Lord said that where our treasure there will our hearts be also. Our treasure is that in which we invest our time and resources. So, keeping the heart must have something to do with investing our time and resources in the pursuit of the right things. Paul said that, forgetting all else, he pressed on to lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of him. When we pursue Christ and His salvation with all our hearts, it guards our hearts and, in turn, our hearts direct our lives. -Joe
-----0-----
Faith must be tried. It can only be proved by trial. Faith is too often counterfeited; so trials are sent by our heavenly Father that we may determine whether we truly believe Him, or whether we are leaning on the flesh. If I would know the genuineness of my faith that I am not a stony ground hearer, that I have not run in vain my faith and profession must be tested in the furnace of affliction and the fire of trial. -Henry Mahan
-----0-----
The Lord said to His disciples in Luke 22:34, "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of this life, and that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap." We know that eating and drinking in an intemperate manner can make us feel sluggish and weighted down. But the "anxieties of this life" can likewise render us sluggish and overburdened. that is why the Lord gives us this warning. Beware of becoming overburdened with the cares of this life. Remember, this life is so temporary! "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these other things shall be added unto you." -Todd Nibert
-----0-----
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
-Isaiah 61:1
This has always been the one undeniable mark of the Holy Spirit's presence. The Spirit of God can enable a man to do many things, but, in every case of the Holy Spirit's anointing of a man, the preaching of the good news, the gospel, is found. May the Spirit give us this anointing! -Joe
-----0-----
While I am enabled to see that Jesus is my portion, every dispensation comes in a way of mercy. When my heart is under the assurance that my Lord is in it, it matters not what it is. His presence alone hath the wonderful property of converting crosses and pains into enjoyments and pleasures. Every affliction which comes directed by His hand hath the sure mark of affection folded up within the cover, and while I sit down with tenfold pleasure to the enjoyment of the thousands of mercies which my God is continually giving me, because I behold with the eye of faith his presence at the table smiling graciously upon all, I no less am enabled, in the hour of calamity to await the issue, because I can and do hear with the ear of faith that soul-sustaining voice, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." Oh, the sweetness of having "Jesus for our portion!" and "of living a life of faith upon the Son of God, who hath loved me, and given himself for me!" -Robert Hawker
-----0-----
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after;
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in his pavilion:
In the secret of his tabernacle shall He hide me;
He shall set me up upon a rock. -Psalm 27.4, 5
-----0-----
Think on this, brethren. Our Substitute who put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself, our Advocate who ever lives to make intercession for us, our Judge who declares we are completely innocent of all guilt before his holy judgment seat, is also our Governor constantly governing with equity all our interests in this present evil world. For each of his own, our Governor will execute judgment and do only what is best for us. He will not deny His governing hand to those He has washed in his blood. And that is not all: The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble (Psalm 9.9). Who will enter this Stronghold? "And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee" (Psalm 9:10). -David Eddmenson