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Davey sizes Ron up. Ron has been “sized up” before, but this time it feels like it might be for a coffin.

Joyce is great. By page five I was already laughing.

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens;
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
You who serve Him, doing His will.
Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Psalm 103:19-22

There is no greater blessing than the gospel’s assurance that God desires to be reconciled to us, not imputing our sins to us but fully absolving us in Jesus’ name… We should continually rejoice in God and hope in him, since he has been so generous and merciful toward us… In mercy alone we will find blessing, happiness and salvation.
John Calvin

“Preacher, I took Rose for better or for worse, but she’s so much worse than I took her for!

The most obvious quality of “Joy to the World “ is the tone of exuberance that breathes through it from start to finish. The opening word gets the excitement started with the accented word JOY, and after that everything is part of a grand celebration.

This grace is even more admirable when we consider the means by which this incomparable God accomplished our recovery. He became a weak, weary, hungry, contemptible man. The Lord of All became a servant, the Lord of Glory became of no reputation, the Bread of Life was hungry, the only Blessing was made a curse, and the Prince of Life was put to death. The angels pry into this deep mystery with astonishing pleasure.

And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
I John 5:14-15

David sinned against God's enemies by encouraging their blasphemy, against God's friends by grieving their spirits, against Bathsheba by defiling her, and against Uriah by defrauding him of his wife and life. Yet David looks upon these as nothing in comparison to his sin against God. The arrow that pierced his heart was this: "I have sinned against the LORD". This is the weightiest argument to drive us from sin.

Let the boys be boys, the longer the better, and let the young men sow their wild oats if they must; but mothers, sisters, and friends may help to make the crop a small one, and keep many tares from spoiling the harvest, by believing, and showing that they believe, in the possibility of loyalty to the virtues which make men manliest in good women’s eyes.

God didn’t choose us because we never fail; he chose us because HE never fails. He is good, kind, loving, and merciful, and that is why he saved us. So we don’t boast in ourselves, but we boast in him.

I could hardly get through chapter 40. My girls said,” Mom, pull it together!”

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
Thou wilt revive me;
Thou wilt stretch forth
Thy hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And thy right hand will save me.
The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Thy hands.
Psalm 138:7-8

God speaks effectually. As He has power to command us, so He has power to enable us to obey. His power accompanies His speaking. When He says, "Let there be light," there is light in a dark mind. When He says, "Let there be life," there is life in a dead soul. If God says to a sinner who lies in the grave, "Sinner, come forth," he comes forth to live forever. If God speaks, the most obstinate sinner obeys His voice.

God speaks accomodatingly. He speaks to the condition of those whom He addresses. He considers the ability and capacity of His hearers and speaks accordingly. He observes their weaknesses and infirmities-their dullness. He teaches them as they are able to hear. There are depths in His Word where elephants can swim, and there are also shallows where lambs can wade.

She thought she was prospering finely; but, unconsciously, she was beginning to desecrate some of the womanliest attributes of a woman’s character. She was living in bad society; and, its influence affected her, for she was feeding heart and fancy on dangerous and unsubstantial food, and was fast brushing the innocent bloom from her nature by a premature acquaintance with the darker side of life.

Wasn’t it good of him? I like such things, for, as father says, trifles show character.

We treat sanctification as a doctrine to be studied rather than a calling to be pursued.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper,
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
Psalm 91:1-4

If God were as impatient as we are, there would be no hope for us. But God is so incomparable in His patience that He is called “the God of patience” (Rom 15:5) He has all manner of patience in Him.

An interesting child is a child that other people want to listen to or know more about, but an interested child is a child who wants to listen or know more about other people or other things.

For most people, happiness is tied to circumstances - to what is happening in their lives. For Christians, however, happiness or blessedness, … real happiness - that unshakable sense of peace, contentment, and well-being - comes as we remind ourselves of the blessings we have in Christ, and then respond with thankfulness.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26

Many wise and true sermons are preached us every day by unconscious ministers in street, school, office, or home; even a fair table may become a pulpit, if it can offer the good and helpful words which are never out of season. Amy’s conscience preached her a little sermon from that text, then and there; and she did what many of us do not always do-took the sermon to heart, and straightway put it in practice.

How sad that three-quarters to four-fifths of what a father imparts to his children should consist of such commonplace warnings that it is almost embarrassing to put them in writing.

Mrs March knew that experience was an excellent teacher, and when it was possible she left her children to learn alone the lessons which she would gladly have made easier, if they had not objected to taking advice as much as they did salts and senna.

Being taught not to whine as a child helps them prepare for adulthood as they practice good habits of heart training and accurate thinking. Rather than complaining (an adult form of whining), they learn to recognize that a sovereign, benevolent God is orchestrating the steps of their life, for their good and His glory, and to whine is to complain against Him.

People who hire all these things done for them never know what they lose; for the homeliest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them, and Meg found so many proofs of this that everything in her small nest, from the kitchen roller to the silver vase on her parlor table, was eloquent of home love and tender forethought.

To outsiders, the five energetic women seemed to rule the house, and so they did in many things; but the quiet scholar, sitting among his books, was still the head of the family, the household conscience, anchor, and comforter; for to him the busy, anxious women always turned in troublous times, finding him, in the truest sense of those sacred words, husband and father.