“But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her , and pulled her in unto him into the ark.”–Gen. 8:9

One night in a home by the sea, the family sat around the evening lamp. Within, all was peace; without, however, the storm was wild. Rain and sleet beat against the windows. During the evening, one of the group heard a strange fluttering outside one of the windows. Making careful examination, it was found that there was a little bird flapping its wings against the pane. It had been caught in the storm, and was unable to find shelter. The light in the window had attracted it, and there it was beating against the glass. Quickly the window was opened, and the little thing flew in, drenched and faint—but happy and safe. Inside it found shelter, light, warmth, and food.

Often there are lives among us, like the bird caught in earth’s storms, swept by temptation, by sorrow, or by passion; defeated, weary, with no shelter. For all such, the only refuge is in the heart of God, under the shadow of the wings of divine love. There the weary heart finds all it craves of refuge, love, warmth, joy, and satisfaction. Flying to the window of the divine ark—a strong, gentle hand draws it in.–J. R. Miller

As soon as I read this I began to think of this song—- perhaps you should:

“….He will be very gracious….”. – Isaiah 30:19
There are some things in life that we just can’t get enough of— a favorite food, a hobby that makes us happy, the fellowship of a friend, or a number of other things. But when it comes to words, I suspect “grace” is at the top of the list. Whether in sermon or song, it is a word that reaches out and grabs you by the throat, so to speak. We hear that glorious word and our pulse quickens, our heart skips a beat, our ears perk up, and a smile comes to our face. If we try to describe it we soon come to the end of our ability and sum it up with the word “amazing”–indeed it is! That’s the way I felt when I read this text—-“ For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more : he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry ; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.“. I was also  blessed by these words from the pen of James Smith:

“We are often very miserable, always very unworthy; but the Lord is very merciful, and He will be very gracious. He will glorify His grace before angels, men, and devils, in His exceeding kindness toward us; therefore if a sense of our deep depravity and entire unworthiness discourage us, let us appeal to the graciousness of our God, and rely on that.

“He will be very gracious unto us at the voice of our cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer.” He has said that when, forsaking our evil courses, we return unto Him, He will prove Himself gracious. “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am.” Yea, He will prove Himself very gracious, for He says, “Before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.”

Oh the infinite grace of a gracious God! Lord, keep it uppermost in our minds, and before our eyes continually; let it be our encouragement under all the discoveries of depravity we make, and our comfort under all the trials we endure. Let us endeavour to give our God credit for being “VERY GRACIOUS.”

Dear friend, regardless of your need, grace is the answer! Regardless of your unworthiness, inability, severity of pain, number of enemies, or lack of supplies, God’s grace is sufficient! It is abundant and free and available to all who will call on the name of the Lord. With His grace we lack nothing. Without His grace we have nothing. We therefore sing, “O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be”.

“ But if our gospel be hid , it is hid to them that are lost :  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. ” (2 Cor. 4:3-5)

We should never forget that the gospel is the good news of the glory of Christ. True, it concerns the One who was crucified and who was buried. But He is no longer on the Cross, no longer in the Tomb. He has risen, has ascended to heaven, and is the glorified Man at God’s right hand.

We do not present Him as the humble Carpenter of Nazareth, the suffering Servant or the Stranger of Galilee. Neither do we present Him as the effeminate do-gooder of modern religious art.

We preach the Lord of life and glory. He is the One whom God has highly exalted and given a Name which is above every name. At His Name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess Him Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is crowned with glory and honor, a Prince and a Savior.

Too often we dishonor Him by the message we preach. We exalt man with his talents and create the impression that God would be lucky to have such a man to serve Him. We make it sound as if man were doing a colossal favor to the Lord by trusting Him. That isn’t the Gospel which the Apostles preached. They said, in effect, “You are the guilty murderers of the Lord Jesus Christ. You took Him and with wicked hands nailed Him to the tree. But God raised Him from the dead and glorified Him at His own right hand in heaven. He is there today, in a glorified body of flesh and bones. His nail-scarred hand holds the sceptre of universal dominion. He is coming back again to judge the world in righteousness. And you’d better REPENT and turn to Him in FAITH. There is no other way of salvation. There is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

O, for a fresh vision of the Man in the glory! And for a tongue to tell forth the myriad glories that crown His brow! Surely then, as at Pentecost, sinners would tremble before Him and cry out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” —William MacDonald

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”–Prov. 22:1

Suppose someone who knows you well wrote a book about you, without using your name, identifying places, events, etc. that would enable others to identify you. The story would be about a person reflecting your values, behavior, habits, etc.– basically a word picture of your character. How would you feel about the person in the book? And how would you feel about what others would think about that person? Naturally our feelings would depend on what they wrote–whether it was flattering, inaccurate, unfair, or truthful. But let’s suppose it was a spot on accurate depiction of your character, be it good or bad. How would you answer?

Brought face to face with their faults some would have a sense of remorse and would determine to amend their ways. Others, however, wouldn’t respond in such a manner. Some would try to excuse themselves—usually blaming others. Of course some wouldn’t care how they are perceived. They might even boast about things of which they should be a shame. And that’s shameful.

The Bible commands us to be blameless and warns us about being a stumbling-block to others. Anyone who doesn’t care what the Bible says and what others think has a serious spiritual problem. Having a Christ-like spirit and godly character should be every believers goal. What our story would be should be of great concern to us. By the way, what would the title of your story be? If the story of your life was written what short phrase would sum up the contents? Wouldn’t it be great if we could use Phil. 1:21 for the title?

Actually, whether you realize it or not, a book of your life is being written, and you are the author. Although it will never be published it will be read by those who observe your manner of life. Others may never write about you, but they will read what you write by your daily behavior. So what is your story? How will it impact others? Not only do you need to think about how your life is affected, you need to consider how it affects those who know you. Sadly some parents are leading their children on a collision course with trouble and heartache. If you see no other reason to change you ought to do it for their sake. You ought to do it for your own sake– there is great reward in a life well lived. Most of all you ought to do it for Christ’ sake! As Christians we must give an account for the way we live and we will be rewarded accordingly. We get just one chance to get it right, make sure you do.

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool“– Isaiah 1:18

This verse is a parenthesis in the midst of Isaiah’s prophecy of rebuke and warning.

We might have expected for Isaiah to speak of how justified God’s judgment would be because of Israel’s sinful rebellion. But he also surprises us with this reasoning from the Lord: “if you turn to God in repentance, then all your past mistakes (sins) will be utterly washed away.”

This does not at first sound reasonable, or rational, at all. We all know that an apology cannot undo a wrong that has been committed. Saying one is sorry for adultery or murder does not undo the unfaithfulness or loss. So how then does repentance somehow make our red-handed sins clean and white before God?

The answer, the rationale, from the Lord is found later in this same prophecy. A suffering Servant would come, who would be “wounded for our transgressions;” our chastisement, our punishment would be put upon him, and with his wounds he would heal us, clean us (53:5).

You see, there is nothing you can do to take away your past sins and guiltiness before a holy God. But God has promised, when you turn to him in repentance, that your sin-stains will be washed completely away by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Come now, says the Lord, to hear and consider this promise of forgiveness. Do not distance yourself, but come; do not delay, but come now.(Baptist Bible Hour)