Sermons & Devotionals by Grace Gems

ALL OF "GRACE QUOTES" FROM MAY 2003 IN ONE FILE Microscopic love? (John MacDuff, "The Night Dream of the Desert") Our Omnipotent God keeps watch over the lichen on the rock, and the lily on the mountain side. He tempers His wind to the fragile flower as it trembles on the lip of the Alpine glacier. ... Read More

ALL OF "GRACE QUOTES" FROM NOVEMBER 2002 IN ONE FILE All these foes and fears? (J. C. Philpot, "King Of Kings") We daily and hourly feel the workings of.... mighty sins, raging lusts, powerful temptations, besetting evils, against the least and feeblest of which we have no strength. But as the eye o... Read More

Grace Gems for April 2005 Pilgrims and strangers on this earthly ball (J. C. Philpot) "To God's elect, strangers in the world." 1 Peter 1:1 "Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." 1 Peter 1:17 Our life on earth is but a vapor! We are but pilgrims and strangers on this earthly ball, mer... Read More

To a vile Magdalene (Gleanings from the Inner Life of Ruth Bryan) Never had anyone . . . so rich a Banker, so kind a Husband, so tender a Shepherd, so forbearing a Captain— as I have in my glorious Christ! The more I venture—the more He encourages. The bolder I am—the kinder He grows. The more I exp... Read More

Grace Gems for AUGUST 2005 I follow like a little blind child (J. A. James, "The Practical Believer Delineated") "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 Strong faith has a firm persuasion of God... Read More

Grace Gems for DECEMBER 2004 Building air-castle upon air-castle! (John MacDuff, "Thoughts for the Quiet Hour", 1895) He who goes about whining all day long about some imaginary drawbacks in the sphere which Providence has assigned him--when all the while he is situated so much better than thousands... Read More

Grace Gems for DECEMBER 2005 The path of the scissors! (Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611) "For who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have, that you did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7 We are all . . . fashioned from the same mold, hewed out of the same rock, made as it were,... Read More

Grace Gems for February 2005 Not made of feathers, nor lined with velvet (Charles Spurgeon) "Take up your cross, and follow Me." Mark 10:21 You have not the making of your own cross, although 'unbelief' is a master carpenter at cross-making. Neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, althou... Read More

Grace Gems for February 2006 Altogether lovely! ("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799) "Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" (Song of Solomon 5:16) Why does the world reject the Savior of the world? Why do they abhor Him who is altogether lovely, and h... Read More

Grace Gems for January 2005 Oh heart, heart, what are you? (John Berridge) Oh heart, heart, what are you? A mass of fooleries and absurdities! The vainest, foolishest, craftiest, wickedest thing in the world! And yet the Lord Jesus asks me for this heart, woos me for it, and died to win it! O incred... Read More

Grace Gems for January 2006 It was not the nails! (J. C. Philpot) "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Mark 15:34 It was not the nails driven through His hands and feet; it was not the crown of thorns placed upon His brow; it was not the stripes which mangled His back; it was not the languor ... Read More

Grace Gems for JULY 2005 Like a ball and chain around his ankle! (John Angell James, "Christian Progress" 1853) "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin which so easily besets you." Hebrews 12:1 Besetting sins are powerful hindrances to Christian progress. In the case of most people, th... Read More

Grace Gems for JUNE 2005 The pursuits of butterflies and grasshoppers, and canary birds! (J. A. James, "The Great End of Life" 1825) Pleasure is the supreme good, and chief object of pursuit of many. To pleasure, they have devoted their lives. Some are living for sports, others for the gratification... Read More

Grace Gems for JUNE 2006 I am not what I once was (John Newton) I am not what I ought to be. Ah, how imperfect and deficient. I am not what I wish to be. I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good. I am not what I hope to be. Soon I shall put off, with mortality—all sin and imperfectio... Read More

Grace Gems for March 2005 Sovereign, supreme disposal (J. C. Philpot, "Meditations on Ephesians") "And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and He gave Him this authority for the benefit of the church." Ephesians 1:22 God has put all things, events, and circumstances under the autho... Read More

Grace Gems for MARCH 2006 Yours! Mine! (John Flavel, "The Fountain of Life") Lord, the condemnation was Yours, that the justification might be mine! The agony was Yours, that the victory might be mine! The pain was Yours, and the ease mine! The stripes were Yours, and the healing balm issuing from t... Read More

Grace Gems for MAY 2005 All the fickleness, sinfulness, and unworthiness (Octavius Winslow, "The Divine Attributes Entwining Around the Tempted and Trembling Believer") "I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already completely destroyed." Malachi 3:6 The be... Read More

Grace Gems for MAY 2006 Dig into these golden mines! (Robert Leighton) Let this commend the Scriptures much to our diligence and affection--that their great theme is our Redeemer, and redemption wrought by Him. They contain the doctrine of His excellencies, and are the lively picture of His matchles... Read More

Grace Gems for NOVEMBER 2004 A little drop of purity in the midst of impurity (Letters of J. C. Philpot) How mysterious is the life of God in the soul. It seems like a little drop of purity in the midst of impurity. We shall always find sin to be our worst enemy, and self our greatest foe. We need n... Read More

Grace Gems for NOVEMBER 2005 How can I flaunt myself proudly? (A Puritan Prayer) Merciful Father, Do not let pride swell my heart. My body is made from the mire beneath my feet, the dust to which I shall return. In body I am no better than the vilest reptile. Whatever difference of form and intellec... Read More