“And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well:..” Mark 7:37

Yes, from first to last, from our cradle to our grave, from the earliest pang of sin’s conviction, to the last thrill of sin’s forgiveness, from earth to heaven–this will be our testimony in all the way the Lord our God has led us in the wilderness: “He hath done all things well!”

In providence and in grace,
in every truth of His Word,
in every lesson of His love,
in every stroke of His rod,
in every sunbeam that has shone,
in every cloud that has shaded,
in every element that has sweetened,
in every ingredient that has embittered,
in all that has been mysterious, inscrutable, painful, and humiliating,
in all that He gave,
in all that He took away,
this testimony is His just due, and this our grateful acknowledgment through time and through eternity: “He hath done all things well!”

Has He converted us through grace by a way we had thought the most improbable?
Has He torn up all our earthly hopes by the roots?
Has He thwarted our schemes, frustrated our plans, disappointed our expectations?
Has He taught us in schools most trying, by a discipline most severe, and lessons most humbling to our nature?
Has He withered our strength by sickness, reduced us to poverty by loss, crushed our heart by bereavement?

And have we been tempted to exclaim, “All these things are against me!”
Ah! no! faith will yet obtain the ascendancy, and sweetly sing:
“I know in all things that befell,
My Jesus has done all things well!”

Beloved, it must be so, for Jesus can do nothing wrong!

Study the way of His providence and grace with the microscopic eye of faith–view them in every light, examine them in their minutest detail, as you would the petal of a flower, or the wing of an insect; and, oh, what wonders, what beauty, what marvelous adaptation would you observe in all the varied dealings with you, of your glorious Lord!–Octavius Winslow

You can tell a lot about a person by learning what brings him pleasure. Pleasure is good. God has wired us to pursue pleasure. The question is: Will we seek the truest and highest pleasures, or will we settle for lesser ones? Will we, in the oft-quoted words of C.S. Lewis, accept the holiday by the sea or will we continue to fuss about in the slums with our little mud pies?

What makes you happy? What pleasures do you pursue? That might be one of the most important things about you. Where your pleasures are, there your heart will be. And let’s ask a related question: What makes God happy? What pleasures does God pursue? That might be one of the most important things about God.

Paul has an interesting answer for us in 1 Timothy 2:4: God desires all people ‘to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” God’s desire unveils his pleasure: God loves to save the lost. This brings him great joy.

God’s desire to save the lost is not idle or casual. It is not a desire he merely feels. Rather, this desire has led him to action—the action of providing “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). God’s desire to save people from their sin has led him to take the costliest action imaginable in the sending and sacrificing of his own Son.

Do you share God’s desire? Do you long to share God’s pleasure? If it is so good to God, shouldn’t it be so good to you?

What fascinates me about this text is how God calls us to action. He does not immediately tell us to go out and share the gospel. Not yet. The clear call to action is prayer: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions…” He goes on to say, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior…” The good here is the good of prayer. God deems it good that we plead with him for the souls of the lost. He deems it good that we pray before we go, that we pray as we go, that we pray after we go. God’s desire and God’s provision meet at the point of prayer.

If you share God’s desire for the pleasure of seeing the lost come to a saving knowledge of Christ, you will pray. You must pray. You must pray that God will extend his grace by extending the gift of faith.–Tim Challies

“He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee“– Psalm 81:16

There are great lessons to be learned even from the failures of God’s people recorded in the Scriptures. God says if His people had obeyed His voice He would have subdued their enemies and fed them with honey out of the rock. But they rebelled and walked in their own counsels.

How sad that a people who that could have enjoyed the richest of blessings from their gracious God were instead given up to their own desires and suffered the consequences of their disobedience.

How often have you neglected the place of blessing? There is counsel and comfort in God’s Word but you have spent little time reading it. There are rich mercies to be found at the throne of grace but you have neglected prayer. There are joys and blessings to be found in God’s house but you have been attracted by the empty promises of the world.

Churches sometimes mourn the loss of spiritual fervor enjoyed in former days. But instead of being brought to repentance for sin and neglect, the excuse is made that we live in difficult times. The lack of power in preaching is a concern but still messages to make people feel good take precedence over sound biblical exposition.

The next time you are facing temptation to sin or to squander God’s blessings, remember this: God is willing and able to bless His people. Today, heed His call to return. Call upon Him, knowing He is willing to hear and ready to bless.–Baptist Bible Hour

“Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.” (Prov. 14:13)

Nothing is perfect in this life. All laughter is mingled with sorrow. Every diamond has a flaw. Each person has some character defect. In all of life, there’s a worm in the apple.

It is good to be idealistic; God has set within us a longing for perfection. But it is also good to be realistic; we never will find absolute perfection under the sun.

It is easy for young people to think that their family is the only one that has quarrels. Or that their parents are the only ones who don’t have scintillating TV personalities.

It is easy to be disappointed with our local church fellowship, all the time supposing that everything is rosy in the church across the street.

Or it is easy to go through life forever looking for friends who are absolutely ideal. We expect perfection in others even though we can’t produce it ourselves.

We should face the fact squarely that everyone has personality flaws, some more glaring than others. Often the more outstanding a person is, the more obvious his faults are. Instead of being disappointed with the flaws, we would do well to emphasize the good qualities in other believers. Everyone has some of these too. But only one Person has all of them combined, that is, the Lord Jesus.

I often think that the Lord has purposely left us with an unsatisfied desire for Perfection down here so that we will look off to Him in whom there is neither spot nor blemish. He represents the sum of all moral beauties. There is no disappointment in Him. –William MacDonald