Good morning, everyone. Today is Thursday, the 24th of July, 2025. Well, I really didn't have a lot on my mind this morning, so... It's been a while since I've read from this book, Homes for Edification. So, I'm gonna do some reading from that this morning. I've mentioned this before, but about five years ago, I guess it's been now four or five years ago. I would wake up in the middle of the night, couldn't sleep, and I'd get up and start writing, and I was given these poems. And I wrote those poems down, and I put them into a book. all poems for edification if anybody would be interested in getting that book there's two ways you can get it one you can send me an email and i'll send you a pdf copy free or you can go to lulu.com and get a copy Looking back in history, we see events unfold. And the greatest story in history is the greatest story ever told. It's not just a novel. No, this story is true. How God sent his son to die to redeem his chosen few. Praise and thanksgiving we give to the Son who in the courts of heaven with the three in one made provision for this sinner. Through his blood the work is done. The plan was determined between the Godhead You see, in this great story in history would be a certainty. God would redeem his people a ransom he would pay. Christ would be slain on Calvary in history on that day. You see, scripture tells us that he was slain in eternity before the world began. It was predetermined. Yes, it was his master plan. Satisfied. Satisfaction comes from knowing that within my heart and mind, there's an inner peace of glowing and a Christ I can find. a refuge for the soul when life is tough to take. Christ tells us in his word, I will never thee forsake. Oh, the joy and peace it gives me when I rest in what he said, believing that he is living, having raised up from the dead. Christ, the King of glory, is seated on his royal throne, and he intercedes for me when in my spirit I can only groan. Lord, show mercy to this floundering heart once more, I pray, so at sunrise, noon, or evening I may in thy presence stay. May your grace so envelop everything I say and do that the world will have no question that I am your child too. Let the tribulations I go through be a witness of your grace. May my enemies not overtake me. Let their curses be erased. May your power, love, and purpose be demonstrated in my life, and may I find satisfaction in the midst of all this strife. When I draw my last breath and am taken home to be with you, may my passing over be of satisfaction to you. I'll be satisfied in knowing, even though it's been a test, that I'm now transcending. Christ brings calm to the soul. Christ brings calm to my soul when the changes of wind blow, when it seems a mystery of which way I should go. Christ brings calm to my soul when questions vex my mind. I've always found that in Christ I can find comfort knowing He's in control. Christ brings calm to my soul when nothing seems to change. His cool waters of blessing He does for me arrange. Christ will bring calm to my soul when I'm lying close to death. May I praise His holy name when I take my last breath. My Petition Dear Lord, the reins of my heart are in your hands. When troubled waters are before me, my enemies obey your command. Who can in thy holy presence stand but those whom thou hast delivered with your mighty hand? and chose them in Christ before the world began. My hope rests in your finished work and in your Son, who gave His life a ransom for many, to rescue their souls from death for eternally. What a delight it is I trust in your grace and mercy to think that you have chosen me to raise me from death to life and set my soul at liberty. When I come to stand before your holy throne, may I trust in Christ and Christ alone, and abide forever with you, for your blood for me atones. The Trials of God's Elect Have you ever had a trial so big and difficult that it felt like to you it was a personal assault, and you could find no relief it was pressing in so hard that you were considering just throwing in the barbs? The trial had gone on with no relief. It was as if you'd been fried in a skillet of hot grease. If the burner was turned down, you might endure, but instead it was getting hotter and hotter for sure. What is the answer to this bitter fate? Should we get all angry and be filled with rage and hate? Or should we escape into an isolated cocoon and stay there at morning, evening, and noon? The answer is to listen to the Rock. He always cares for His precious flock. His name is Jesus Christ, the living Son of God. The only answer is in this veil of tears we trod. He is the hope for us when we are weary, teary, and blue. He cares, He understands, He'll make a way for you. He knows His people's hearts, their strains and tribulations, that's why He's given us eternal salvation. So when we get so low our faith seems to be shaking, we too, our Lord, should all our problems be taken. He will sustain us and hold us up for he is drunk from the most bitter cup. The cup of God's wrath poured out upon him when he was without even one sin. He bore our sins upon the cruel tree so that we would live with him eternally. The next one is entitled God's Love. When I think of God's love and what He did for me by dying on the cross unconditionally, I'm sometimes overwhelmed in my mind and in my soul why this precious Savior would even care to give Himself on Calvary for my life to spare. He could have gone about doing other things, like watching His angels or listening to them sing, but to come to this sin-cursed earth and to die for me is the greatest expression of love that I will ever see. How can I thank you, Lord, for being oh so kind to realize that before creation you had this worm in mind? To come and shed your blood and endure such scorn and pain should cause me to give you praise and an eternal refrain. Help me demonstrate in some real way this grace and love to others is my prayer today. So many times I forget what an awesome thing you did for me when you died and rose again and set my soul at liberty. Thank you. The next one is entitled Loneliness. Have you ever been so lonely and bored out of your mind? It seemed that life was meaningless if you could only find someone to talk to, something to do. Life was getting blase and really old too. Each day you awake with another day of grey, if there was just someone to talk through something new today. But it's the same old them and the same old you, now you realize why the song was written, love is blue. Then all of a sudden you hear a flutter in the trees, a squirrel has found a walnut kicking in the breeze. Next you hear a robin singing on the lawn and a puppy barking and see a baby fawn. You then hear a baby cackling and a child laughing too. Then you realize that life's not so boring all around you. Wake up and smell the coffee. God has created all things. If you'll stop and look around you, all of Earth is praise the same. From now on, don't be so sad and gray. Don't be so ever blue. Thank your Heavenly Father for making all things new. The next one is called Creation is a Wonder of Your Mind. When I awake at early dawn and the sunlight glimmers on my face, Father, I then know that creation is a wonder of your might. When my heart feels the comfort of your Spirit's wooing, I want to thank you for your amazing grace. When the flowers bend their heads waving to me at sunrise, Father, I then know that creation is a wonder of your might. When I remember resurrection morning, your Son rising from the dead, I want to thank you for your glory fills the skies. When I see the robin, the redbird, and the dove waking to a new day, Father, that I then know that creation is the one of your mind. Knowing that Christ is seated at your right hand, I know someday I to paradise will take my flight. When the squirrels rise early playing in the trees, Father, I know that creation is a wonder of your mind. I know then that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And thank you again for your love shown on Calvary. When I see and hear the waters of a creek on the mountainside, Father, I then know that creation is a wonder of your mind. And the water and blood that flowed from your ribbon side reminds me to be so thankful for the day for me you died. And in the early evening when the sun begins to set, Father, I then know that creation is the one of your mind. As the cool breeze blows and the robin returns into her nest, the rest I have in Christ your perfect sacrifice was met. When I see the fawn by the road peering through the trees, Father, I then know that creation is the one of your might. And I see your mother not very far away once again the great shepherd beckons me to my knees. When this old world with all its sin is burned up and destroyed, Father, I then know that creation is the one of your might. As the new Jerusalem descends from heaven with wonder and delight, I want to thank you for fulfilling Christ's promise and I'll be overjoyed. What marvels await for me in this new city I'm told. Father, I then will then know that creation is the one of your might. I'll live in a city where I'll never grow old and I'll forever thank you for the sweetest story ever told. The last one I'm going to do today is words and thoughts. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be focused on thee, for I know that in myself there is nothing good that dwelleth in me. But I also know that you died to save me from sin and death. You became the perfect sacrifice, and through your precious blood God's conditions were met. So, with the words of my thoughts, may I ever thankful be and express to the world what you mean to me. For I had no hope before your Holy Spirit breathed your breath of life into this dead man and made me free. Oh, what suffering you went through when you died upon the cross, separated from your Father, so my soul would never suffer loss. Thanksgiving in praise I must forever proclaim and honor and worship. your majestic holy name. Why you showed mercy and grace to the likes of me is a wonder in itself, yes, quite a mystery. An undeserving wretch worthy of only hell, but you, with your unbounding love, you showed me for which I cannot tell. You gave your son for me on the rugged tree to obtain eternal life for a sinner like me. Thank you for paying the ultimate sacrifice and giving this sinner everlasting life. Well, may the good Lord be with you this morning is my prayer. And I hope he'll be with you today in a special way. God bless.