Memorization Monday - Romans 6:8

Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.

The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

When Christ became our sacrifice, he bore away our sins. The word 'to bear' is a full and emphatic word signifying not only  to bear, but to bear away. This is a real purging of sin. How great a mercy is this! 'Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered' (Psa. 32:1), Who can express the happiness of such a state as this? Pardoned reader, let me beg you, look over the cancelled bonds, and see what a vast sum has been remitted to you. Remember your natural state, and yet pardoned. Fully, finally, and freely pardoned! What can you do less than fall down at the feet of free grace that moved so freely towards so vile a sinner? Not long ago your iniquities were upon you. Now they are as far as the east is from the west (Psa 103:11-12). O the unspeakable effectiveness of Christ's sacrifice; it extends to all sins (1 John 1:7); past, present, without exception, and all sins to come! God 'did not spare his own Son'. Sparing mercy was denied to Christ. Not a moment of time was lessened for the suffering and wrath that was appointed for him. Justice will not bend in the least. What a sad case for your soul, O reader, if you have no interest in this sacrifice! Consider how you can support the infinite wrath that Christ bore in the place of Gods elect. Woe and alas for evermore to that man who meets a just God without a mediator!  I beseech you, but the mercies of God, in the light of all the love you have for your own soul, do not neglect this opportunity. Get an interest in this sacrifice quickly. What will your state be when vast eternity opens to swallow you up? Happy is that man who can say in a dying hour: 'This is my comfort--"Forgiven!"' Remember, no sin can stand before the effectiveness of his blood (1 John 1:7).

From works of John Flavel, 1:161-164 as quoted in Voices From the Past, Edited by Richard Rushing, Banner of Truth Trust, 2009, Page 21

That's What Faith Must Be by Michael Card

 That's What Faith Must Be  by Michael Card

*Chorus*
To hear with my heart,
To see with my soul,
To be guided by a hand I cannot hold,
To trust in a way that I cannot see,
That's what faith must be.

When the universe fell from His fingertips,
He decided He wanted some fellowship.
But the man and the woman would not submit,
So He made a better way

When the moment was right, He sent His own son,
And He opened the way so that everyone
Could have hope and believe that when time was done,
He'd be able to make us one

*Chorus*
To hear with my heart,
To see with my soul,
To be guided by a hand I cannot hold,
To trust in a way that I cannot see,
That's what faith must be.

Now I understand that there is a key.
It's Jesus in me, a reality,
That God is in Christ, and that Christ's in me,
That with faith I see what is unseen

*Chorus*
To hear with my heart,
To see with my soul,
To be guided by a hand I cannot hold,
To trust in a way that I cannot see,
That's what faith must be.
That's what faith must be.

There is a Joy in the Journey by Michael Card

One of my favorite songs by Michael Card is "There is a Joy in the Journey".  Perhaps the lyrics can be an encouragement to you today.

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born in the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin

Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey...

Memorization Monday - Romans 6:7

I'm a day late, but here are the verses from Romans I'm working on this week.

Romans 6:7,8  For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.

Hymn of the Week - How Sad Our State by Nature Is

How sad our state by nature is 
Our sin how deep its stains 
When Satan takes our captive minds 
And binds us with his chains 
But there’s a voice of sovereign grace 
Within Your sacred Word 
“Come you hopeless, lost sinners come
And trust upon the Lord”

My soul obeys the mighty call
And runs to this relief
I have believed Your promise, Lord
Oh help my unbelief
To the fountain of Your own blood
Incarnate God, I fly
Here let me wash my spotted soul
From crimes of deepest dye

Stretch out Your arm, victorious King
My reigning sins subdue
Defeat the pride that dwells within
Keep Calvary in my view
A guilty, weak, and helpless soul
Into Your hands I fall
Lord, be my strength and righteousness
My Jesus, be my all

"Jesus, Be My All"
Original words by Isaac Watts (1707), music and additional words by Devon Kauflin.
© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)
[Looked Upon]

Where Is Happiness Found?

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,   John 6:68

Have you taken God for your happiness?  Where does the desire of your heart lie?  What is the source of your greatest satisfaction?

 Come then, and with Abraham lift up your eyes eastward, and westward, and northward, and southward, and look around you; what is it that you would have in heaven or on earth to make you happy?  If God would give you your choice, as he did to Solomon, what would you ask?  

Go into the garden pleasure, and gather all the fragrant flowers there; would these satisfy you?  Go to he treasures of mammon, and to the trophies of honour; would any of these, would all of these satisfy you and make you to consider yourself happy?  If so, then certainly you are carnal and unconverted.  

If not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies, the store of his mercies, the hiding of his power, the depths unfathomable of his all-sufficiency.  Does this suit you best and please you most?  Do you say; ‘It is good to be here; here will I dwell, and here will I live and die?’  Will you let the whole world go rather than lose this?  Then it is well between God and you; happy are you, O man – happy are you that you were born. 

If God can make you happy, you must be happy, for you have taken the Lord to be your God.  Do you say to Christ; ‘Your Father shall be my Father, and your God my God?’  Here is the turning point.  An unsound convert never takes up his rest in God; but converting grace does the work, and cures the fatal misery of the fall by turning the heart from its idols to the living God.  Here, the soul centres, here it settles.  It is the entrance of heaven to him; he sees his interest in God.  Is this the case with you?  Have you experienced this?  If so then, ‘blessed are you of the Lord.’

Taken from, Voices from the Past - Puritan Devotional Readings, Edited by Richard Rushing, Banner of Truth Trust, 2009, Page 12

Memorization Monday-Romans 6:6-7

Romans 6:6-7 Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.