"Total Depravity"

Of the five doctrines of grace, Total Depravity is perhaps the most humbling. It strips away every ground of human boasting and brings the sinner face to face with the terrible reality of his natural condition. Scripture does not present mankind as spiritually sick, needing only a little help from God. It presents us as spiritually dead, alienated from God, enslaved to sin, and unable to save ourselves.

The Bible declares, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins." (Ephesians 2:1) A dead man does not need encouragement to make himself alive. He needs life to be given to him. In the same way, the natural man does not merely need better teaching, stronger determination, or a more favorable environment. He needs the sovereign God to give him spiritual life.

Total depravity does not mean that every person is as wicked as he possibly could be. God's common grace restrains sin, and men may perform outwardly good and admirable deeds. But beneath the outward appearance lies a heart corrupted by sin. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Sin has affected every part of our being:  our minds, our desires, our affections, our wills, and our actions.

Paul gives us a devastating description of fallen humanity: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)

Notice the words: "no one." Left to ourselves, we do not naturally seek God. We may seek religion, happiness, morality, success, or even the blessings of God but fallen man does not, by nature, desire God Himself.

This is why Jesus said, "No one can see the kingdom of God, unless he is born again." (John 3:3) The word "can" is important. Our problem is not merely that we will not come to God. Apart from divine grace, we cannot come. Jesus later declared, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me, draws him." (John 6:44)

Ephesians 2 gives us the glorious answer. We were "dead in transgressions," but "because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ." (Ephesians 2:4-5) Salvation begins not with man's decision, but with God's mercy. The spiritually dead do not raise themselves. God gives life. The blind do not create sight for themselves. God opens their eyes. The rebellious sinner cannot manufacture a new heart. God creates in him what nature could never produce.

This truth makes salvation entirely a work of grace. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) The sinner has nothing in which to boast. Even our salvation is designed to silence human pride and magnify divine mercy.

Total Depravity therefore does not leave us without hope. Quite the opposite! It shows us why the grace of God is so astonishing. If our problem were merely weakness, we might boast that we contributed something. If our problem were ignorance, we might boast that we learned something. If our problem were merely a lack of opportunity, we might boast that we seized an opportunity. But when Scripture tells us that we were dead in sin, the only explanation for our salvation is the sovereign mercy of God.

What a Savior Jesus is!

He did not come merely to make salvation possible for men who could save themselves. He came to save His people from their sins. He bore the wrath that their sins deserved. He died as the Substitute for sinners who could never rescue themselves. And through His sin-atoning sacrifice, God receives all the glory.

The doctrine of Total Depravity brings the sinner low, so that the grace of God may be exalted high. It leaves no room for boasting in human goodness, human wisdom, human will, or human achievement. "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:31)

Beloved, never minimize the depth of your natural ruin, for when you see the greatness of your sin, then you will marvel all the more at the greatness of God's grace.

You were not rescued because you were worthy. You were not chosen because you were better than others. You were not saved because you possessed some natural goodness that distinguished you from the rest. Salvation is entirely of grace.

And this is the wonder of the gospel: God takes those who are spiritually dead and makes them alive in Jesus. He takes those who were enemies and makes them His children. He takes those who were lost and brings them home. He takes those who had no righteousness of their own and clothes them with the perfect righteousness of Jesus.

The deeper we understand the ruin of man, the higher we will lift our eyes to the Redeemer. The more clearly, we see our helplessness, the more precious His grace becomes.

"To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:6

[AI Generated]

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Take Me as I Am

Here is this sin, Save me from it! 

Here is this snare, Break it to pieces! 

Here is this lust, Lord, subdue it! 

Here is this temptation, Deliver me out of it! 

Here is my proud heart, Lord, humble it! 

Here is my unbelieving heart, Take it away, 

and give me faith, give me submission to Your mind and will. 

Take me as I am with all my sin and shame and work in me everything well pleasing in Your sight!

[Joseph Philpot]

Jeremiah 17:14 ... Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.❤

Unsearchable Riches

In books I converse with men; in the Bible I converse with God. The more I read, the more I long to read. The Scripture is always new, always instructing, always delightful. The value of the Bible is inestimable. It is not only a perfect map of the spiritual world; but the believer surveying its riches and beauties and pleasures, has a good warrant to say, "All these are mine, for God Himself is mine!" God has spared me to read through His Word once more. 

Oh, what a treasure what unsearchable riches there are in this golden mine! I have never dug deeper, nor found more precious jewels than upon this last perusal. Indeed, upon every reading of the Bible it grows more precious to me, as it has become the conveyance of the unsearchable riches of Christ to me. It is our duty to read and meditate on the Word, but we should always do it with the fixed dependence of our hearts upon His divine teaching. Without meditation, the Word itself will profit us nothing. 

The Word of God can be made useful to us, only by the enlightening of the Spirit of God. It is by continual dependence on the teaching of the Spirit, that we come to find its value and to taste its pleasures. For it then opens a new world to us a spiritual and eternal world. Thanks be to Him who revealed His Word to me, who opened my eyes to see wondrous things out of His Word, who often made me look up and say, "Oh, how sweet are Your Words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" 

God has made His Word very precious to me. My love for it has grown much in taste and value. In taste, it is sweeter than honey. In value, it is more precious than gold, yes, than much fine gold! As I dig deeper, the mine becomes richer, and the treasures of grace are greatly enhanced by their being the pledges of glory. The great end and design of the Scripture is to conform us to itself. When the Word is understood and believed and lived upon God makes it the means of conforming the whole man to it. It is so assimilating that every tint is to be seen upon him.

[William Romaine] 

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Job 23:12 ... Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Psalm 119:103 ... How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Jeremiah 15:16 ...  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. ❤

Society's View of Salvation

Just as our culture has redefined sin, and reshaped its understanding of God, it has also radically distorted the meaning of salvation. The prevailing message is that people are essentially good, that no one is truly guilty, and therefore no one needs to be saved from the righteous wrath of God. Salvation, if it is considered at all, has been reduced to becoming a better person, doing one's best, finding personal peace, discovering one's true identity, or simply being a decent human being.

But the Bible presents a radically different picture. Salvation is not self-improvement; it is deliverance from the guilt, the power and ultimately from the presence of sin! Salvation begins with the devastating recognition that we are heinous and destitute sinners who deserve God's righteous wrath and cannot save ourselves. It is not something we achieve; it is something God graciously accomplishes for helpless sinners. We are not saved because we imagine that we are better than others and deserve to be saved. We are saved because Christ died for undeserving, ill-deserving, and Hell-deserving sinners bearing the wrath which our sins deserved.

Our society instinctively resists this message because it wounds human pride. We want to believe that we are "good people", hence we deserve to be saved. We prefer a salvation that requires no repentance, no submission to Jesus, and no acknowledgment of guilt. Many have embraced the comforting idea that there are countless paths to God, that sincerity is what matters, and that a loving God would never condemn anyone. But Scripture offers no hope for such vain delusions.

Biblical salvation is therefore exclusive by the fact that there is only one way to be saved. Salvation is not found in our goodness, our religious achievements, our morality, or our sincerity; but by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone. The same holy God whom sinners have offended, has provided the only sufficient sacrifice for their sin.

And this salvation is received only through sincere repentance and faith. We are not merely called to profess that Jesus lived and died for sinners. We are called to turn from sin, surrender to Jesus, and trust wholly in Him for salvation. The gospel does not promise that God will receive us, so long as we are sincere and desire to go to Heaven. It promises that in Christ alone, sinners can be forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, and made new.

The world imagines that we all have good hearts at the bottom, and that God will receive everyone into Heaven. But the Scripture says, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked!" (Jeremiah 17:9)

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Romans 5:8 ... But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ❤

Like a Fire

When our Father uses the word “argue," clearly, He’s not implying we’re to verbally fight with Him to have our own way. For its every evil thing, NOT YHWH, that dwells with strife and self-ambition. (James 3:16) Instead, we’re to “plead and argue” our case with Him just as attorneys do in earthly courtrooms. And since we know attorneys need to research the world’s laws before arguing their cases, how much more should we research YHWH’s Laws before arguing a case before Him? For example, can we successfully argue in Heaven’s Court that the curse of poverty, disease, or confusion is bound (declared unlawful) in our lives, then loose (declare lawful) YHWH’s Laws of prosperity, health, and wisdom? Yes! Those Laws to name a few are found in: Matthew 18:18; Galatians 3:13-14; Deuteronomy 28; 1 Peter 2:24; Jeremiah 30:17; James 1:5; and Colossians 2:2-3.

But remember, we must always remain careful in our representation of the Kingdom of Heaven; we should never use our Yah-given power to “bind” and “loose” in vain by commanding laws that He DID NOT give, nor for our own selfish reasons. Otherwise, then we become the one who is actually illegal and, thereby, become exposed to all the wiles of the devil without the protection of YHWH’s Word to stand on. If the Judge of the Universe is to rule in our favor and grant our petitions, He must first determine that we are in compliance with His Law. Therefore, because YHWH watches over HIS Word, not ours, to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12), let us first research His Word for all the Laws, He’s given that specifically apply to whatever case we’re bringing before Him, then line up our prayers to agree with them, line upon line and precept upon precept. (Isaiah 28:10)

We cannot imitate what we do not know, and what we do not know has the power to destroy us. (John 7:49; Hosea 4:6) However, by studying and imitating the example Yeshua, The Word of YHWH (John 1:14; Revelation 19:13) came to give us, we’re able bring our case before His Throne of Grace EXPECTING to be proved right! And even if a case should prove to be too hard for us, never fear. For our merciful, loving Father is Elohim, Creator and Judge of the Universe, and has promised to argue that one for us.

[Tracie Justice]

Deuteronomy 1:17  ... Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

Isaiah 43:26 ...  Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. ❤

Seeking God ...

Scripture demands that our seeking God should be done with all our heart. There are several ways of seeking God which must prove to be utter failures:

One is to seek him with no heart at all. This is done by those who take their book and read prayers, never thinking of what they say; or who attend a place of worship, and hear others pray, but never enter in. This is done by those who bend the knee in the evening, and mutter pious words, but never think; or those who rise in the morning and read sacred sentences but never consider; or those who with regard to divine things, are as little concerned as if the gospel were all a legend or an old wives' tale, not worth a moment's thought.

When I have been traveling, I have sometimes seen women reading those trashy novels. I have seen them waste their tears on some imaginary heroine or hero and yet they and others hear about the majesty and the love of God, without emotion. They read of Heaven and Hell, and Christ and God, with scarcely a thought.

Dear friend, you will never find the Lord if you seek him in a heartless, unthinking manner. God is not mocked. If any of you have fallen into a formal religion and seek the Lord without your heart, then your seeking is in vain.

Some seek God with a false heart. Their piety is a transient feeling, and not deep soul-work. It is mere sentimentality, and not the engraving of God's Spirit upon the heart. Beware of a false religious excitement of being borne up with religious gas as some are, inflated like balloons by a tear-jerking sermon, only to burst by-and-by when most they need something to support them. May God grant us to be saved from a lie in the heart, for it is a deadly canker, fatal to all hope of finding the Lord.

Some seek him, also, with a double heart. They have a heart towards God, and they have a heart towards sin. They have a heart towards the pardon, but they have also a heart towards the transgression. They would gladly serve both God and Mammon. They would build an altar for Jehovah and still keep Dagon in his place.

If your heart is divided, then you will be found lacking. Those prayers will never get to Heaven, which only fly upward with one wing. If one oar pulls towards earth and the other towards Heaven, then the boat of the soul will revolve in a circle of folly but never reach the happy shore. Beware of a double heart.

Some seek God with half a heart. They have a little concern and are not altogether indifferent. They somewhat think when they pray, or read, or sing but their thoughts are quite trivial and inconsequential. Superficial in all things, the seed is sown in stony ground, and soon it is withered away because there is no depth of earth. May the Lord save us from this.

Now, you who are seeking Christ, remember that if you would find Him, then you must neither seek Him without heart, nor with a false heart, nor with a double heart, nor with a half heart. But "You shall find Me," says the Lord, "when you shall search for Me with all your heart."

If your hearts are not right with God, then you must take your place with the wicked in Hell. Lost man! What will you do when you go down to eternal Hell?

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

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Jeremiah 29:13 ...  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Acts 17:27 ... That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Mark 4:16-17 ... And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. ❤

An Immense Ocean ...

Dear friend, 

May Jesus be yours-all that He is, and all that He has. Then you will be as rich as an archangel! May He captivate you more with His infinite beauty and enable you to live more blessedly upon His infinite fullness, that He may keep His royal court in your soul! 

The more you are acquainted with Him, the more you will grow in love to Him; for He is altogether lovely, an immense ocean of everlasting love! The loveliness of the whole world is but a drop compared to His immeasurable love. What must Heaven be, where His love is to be fully manifested and enjoyed forever! There we shall see Him! 

Oh, for that day! But even along our pilgrim way, He walks with us and makes our hearts burn within us. These sweet foretastes of His love draw us on and whet our appetite for Heaven. A few more of these foretastes, and we shall get to the fountainhead and drink rivers of pleasure forevermore! 

To His precious dear heart's love, I commend you and yours, and am for His sake your friend and servant, 

William Romaine

Jeremiah 31:3 ... The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

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Seasons of Darkness

The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God's Word, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;" and it is a great truth, that saving religion is calculated to give a man happiness here below as well as bliss above. Experience tells us that if the course of the just is, "As the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day,"(Proverbs 4:18) yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods, clouds cover the believer's sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light.

There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season. They have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian pilgrimage. They have walked along the "green pastures," by the side of the "still waters." (Psalm 23:2) But suddenly they find that their glorious sky is clouded; and instead of the fertile land of Goshen, they have to tread the barren desert. And in the place of sweet waters they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste. And they say, "Surely if I were a child of God, then this would not happen to me!"

Oh, say not so, you who are walking in darkness. The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of His redeemed children must bear the cross. No Christian has ever enjoyed perpetual prosperity. At times, every believer must hang his harp on the willows.

Perhaps the Lord allotted you a smooth and unclouded path at first, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the harsh north wind, to the shorn lamb. But now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God's full-grown children. We need strong winds and tempests:  to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Jesus.

The day of evil, reveals to us the value of our glorious hope!

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Jeremiah 17:17 ...  Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

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Until ...

 Pray. 

Not until God hears you, pray until you hear God!!

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1 Thessalonians 5:17 ... Pray without ceasing.

James 1:5 ... If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Jeremiah 33:3 ... Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. ❤

You are Sons and Daughters!

YHWH sent us the Spirit of His Son because He desires that we know Him as Abba-Father (or, Daddy-God). He is NOT God-too-High-or-far-off-from-us but through His Son is “God with us”. 

And with Almighty YHWH, Creator of Heaven and Earth, not just FOR US but living WITH US as Abba-YHWH, can anything be too hard or impossible for us? (Ephesians 2:13; Jeremiah 32:27; Matthew 1:23; Romans 8:31; Mark 14:36) 

And since our Daddy-God is KING of the Universe, doesn’t that make each of us either a PRINCE or PRINCESS of the universe, as well?

[Tracie Justice]

Romans 8:15 ...  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Galatians 4:6 ... And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. ❤

Preaching Into Heaven ...

Most ministers dare not speak hard truths, for fear of offending but it is better to offend men, than to flatter them into Hell! It has become tragically common that, no matter how a person has lived whether in open rebellion against God, mockery of His Word, or a life utterly void of repentance and faith the minister preaches him into Heaven at his funeral.  This betrayal is not merely a sentimental error it is a grievous sin against God, a deception to the living, and a dishonor to the truth of the gospel.

God has solemnly charged His ministers to proclaim the truth without fear or favor. Yet too many of them care more about their paychecks and pleasing men than in pleasing the God who sees and judges all things in truth.  They comfort the hearers with lies, rather than confront them with the solemn realities of death, judgment, and eternity. Ministers who love popularity and money more than truth, will always preach the kind of gospel that fills pews and Hell!  To tell the unconverted that they are safe while they continue in sin, is to murder their souls with a lie!

The prophet Jeremiah condemned the false prophets of his day who committed the same evil: "From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit! They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace!' they say, when there is no peace!" (Jeremiah 6:13-14) Those who mocked God and His Word while they lived are not "at peace" after they die. They are damned, and their condemnation is just.

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?" (Ezekiel 34:2) Such ministers have no true concern for the perishing people whom they teach. They do not fear God they fear man. They are like those of whom God says: "The prophets prophesy lies...and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?" (Jeremiah 5:31) Yes, what will they do in the end when they must give their account to the all-knowing and inexorably just Judge of the universe?

Genuine love always speaks truth. A faithful minister must declare, even at a funeral, that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment!" (Hebrews 9:27) Eternity is too serious to deceive men with false hopes and lies!  May God raise up men who will proclaim His Word with holy fear and fearless faithfulness.

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Galatians 1:10 ...  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

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Distant God

Millions of people attend church, week after week, month after month, year after year.  For decades we think to ourselves, “this is what Christians do.”  For millions, the empty, faithless (weekly) pattern becomes their only form of Christian expression.  A place where the pastor is the only minister the only storyteller and the only teacher perpetually, while the rest are conditioned to be stagnant spectators {only.}  

The dangers of this are very real because it is NOT real Christianity.  It does NOT transform.  It does NOT engage and activate. It does NOT produce real disciples.  It does NOT equip for ministry.  It does NOT teach how to hear God.  It multiplies hearers rather than doers. It multiplies [pastor dependence] rather than [Holy Spirit dependence]. This was me for twenty years. I thought I was in real Christianity.  But God seemed so distant to me. This in turn caused a stagnant carnal Christianity to develop that became the breeding ground for hidden addiction, earthly mindedness, and selfish ambition. Which eventually came crashing down all around me 20 years later. 

There is a famous saying that says, “Catch me a fish, I eat for a day. Teach me to fish, I eat for a lifetime.”  I often see most churches like a Costco, where a pastor cuts up a Bible fish that he spent all week catching.  People show up week after week to get a sample of the fish.  Who doesn’t like free samples?  But is that the gospel? 

The Holy Spirit showed me something closer to the heart of God and His will for each one of us.  Jesus tore the veil to make access into the Holy of Holies.  What does that really mean?  Jesus Himself is sitting in the middle of a river full of living words where He Himself wants to sit with you and talk with you and teach you (Himself) how to hear Him daily.   The journal has revolutionized my engagement with God times 1000.  

He has told me great and mighty things that I did not know. He Himself has led me to see a multitude of miracles. He Himself has led me to my perfect spouse.  He Himself has led me by green pastures, and beside still waters.  And has restored my soul countless times. Even as I write this, our house overlooks sheep. He fills me with Joy and my cup overflows.  This is why for the past few months I am working on a variety of things that will help anyone learn the most important lesson on earth, how to hear God.  

Anyone that gets Him, gets everything of lasting value. To miss Him is to lose everything. My job is to introduce people to the living experience and let the Holy Spirit take it from there. God is NOT distant. He is Emanuel, God ‘with us.’

Learning how to hear God is the foundation to truly knowing God, and the most important lesson on earth. 

[Troi Nelson Cockayne]  

www.KingsGallery.net

Jeremiah 33:3 ... Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Matthew 1:23 ... Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Psalm 23 ... The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. ❤

Near At Hand!!

Christian! God is near at hand whenever you approach Him in prayer. 

Oh, comforting truth! You have a God at hand to listen to the softest breath of prayer, to listen to every confession of sin, to listen to every cry of need, to listen to every utterance of sorrow, to listen to every wail of woe, to listen to every appeal for counsel, strength, and support! 

Arise, O my soul! and give yourself to prayer for God is near at hand to hear and answer you! 

[Octavius Winslow]

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Psalm 6:9 ... The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

Proverbs 15:29 ... The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

Jeremiah 33:3 ... Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. ❤

The Source!!

God reminds us how foolish and unwise it is, thus, to forsake the sole source of true happiness. It is a very forcible image that is here employed God is a Fountain, a Well of Life. He is the source and spring of all true life, pleasure, holiness, and hope! In Him is a continual freshness of all that can fill the soul with joy. In Him are inexhaustible streams of mercy, grace, and consolation. But men forsake this Fountain, for cisterns yes, for broken cisterns, from which soon leak out the few drops of water they may contain. 

A traveler in the Holy Land tells us that he found the land riddled with the remains of these broken cisterns. When water was needed, they would just dig one of these little clay cisterns in the ground. It would hold water for a time, but soon, when the sun was hot and weather dry, it would crack and leak and so another and another would be needed. 

Ah, what pains and trouble men take in hewing out broken cisterns like these wealth unsanctified by true riches, the acquisition of knowledge with no end beyond its possession, a position and name that shall dazzle those around, schemes of self-indulgence and pleasure, a comfortable home where God is forgotten, some object of affection which engrosses every thought; how often something of this kind steals the heart from God! But before long there is sure to be a crack, a leak; and the joy and the comfort is dried up and gone! 

So, God in His tender compassion would have us see this and remember that nothing can ever take the place of Himself as our well-spring of joy. 

[George Everard] 

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Jeremiah 2:13 ... For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

John 4:13-14 ...  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ❤

Seeking Faith...

Some of you seek for faith much in the same way as you would dig for a well. You turn the eye inward upon yourself and search amidst the depths of your polluted heart to find if faith is there; you search amid all your feelings at sermons and sacraments to see if faith is there; and still, you find nothing but sin and disappointment.

Look full in the face of Jesus.

Drink in His Word.

Faith comes by hearing the voice of Jesus. 

[Robert Murray McCheyne]

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Jeremiah 29:13 ... And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Romans 10:17 ... So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Mark 11:22 ... And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. ❤

Right To Live

Like toddler and adolescent, the terms embryo and fetus do not refer to nonhumans but to humans at various stages of development. It is scientifically inaccurate to say a human embryo or a fetus is not a human being simply because he is at an earlier stage than an infant. This is like saying that a toddler is not a human being because he is not yet an adolescent. 

Does someone become more human as he gets bigger? If so, then adults are more human than children, and football players are more human than jockeys. Something nonhuman does not become human or more human by getting older or bigger; whatever is human is human from the beginning, or it can never be human at all. The right to live does not increase with age and size; otherwise, toddlers and adolescents have less right to live than adults. 

[Randy Alcorn]

Psalm 139:13 ... For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

Jeremiah 1:5 ...  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Psalm 127:3 ... Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  ❤

Regeneration

Regeneration (or the New Birth) is the sovereign act of God, performed by the Holy Spirit through the Word, bringing a Hell-deserving sinner from spiritual death to life in Christ. 

1. The NECESSITY of regeneration. Every man and woman enters this world not as a blank slate, but as a fallen creature "dead in trespasses and sins." (Ephesians 2:1) Our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked! (Jeremiah 17:9) By nature, we are enemies of God (Romans 8:7), children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), and slaves to sin and Satan. (John 8:34) In our natural state, we have no spiritual life, no spark of goodness, no inclination toward God. Our will is bound by sin, our affections are corrupt, and our understanding is darkened! (1 Corinthians 2:14) Since this is the spiritual condition of every person, then nothing short of a new birth can save us. The words of Jesus to Nicodemus are absolute unless one is born again, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. Neither reformation, education, morality, or religion; can produce spiritual life from spiritual death. The heart of man is a little Hell; full of sin and only fit for the eternal fire. We are all born with a bias toward evil and leave the womb as heirs of wrath! "Do not be amazed that I told you, that you MUST be born again!" (John 3:7) To be born again is not a luxury, it is a necessity. There is no other way to Heaven. Without the new birth, you can never enter the kingdom of God. 

2. The SOURCE of regeneration. Regeneration is not man's work, but the Spirit's work from beginning to end. Man can no more create a new heart in himself, than he could create the world! It is the sovereign act of the Holy Spirit, applying the saving work of Jesus to the heart. The Spirit quickens whom He wills, through the preaching of the Word, according to the Father's eternal decree, and the Son's redeeming grace. (Titus 3:5)

3. The EFFECTS of regeneration. When the Spirit regenerates, He gives a new heart. The man now loves what he once hated Jesus, holiness, and truth; and hates what he once loved the world, the flesh, and the devil's delights. In regeneration, the man becomes a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17); his affections are transformed, his desires are sanctified, and his life is increasingly conformed to the Lord Jesus. 

4. The eternal END of regeneration. The life begun by regeneration on earth, is consummated in the glories of Heaven. The believer, once a child of wrath, is now an heir of God and a co-heir with Jesus. (Romans 8:17) The end of regeneration, is eternal communion with Jesus, and the enjoyment of His presence forever! (Revelation 22:4–5) Christian, marvel at the sovereign mercy of God that when you were dead in sin, He made you alive in Jesus! (Ephesians 2:5) Let this truth humble you, sanctify you, and move you to worship Him who has rescued you from the dominion of darkness, and brought you into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, and the forgiveness of sins! (Colossians 1:13–14)

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

John 3:3 ... Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

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12 Promises...

12 Promises Every Parent Should Ask God to Fulfill:

Isaiah 59:21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Psalm 102:28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.

Psalm 112:1-2 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!  His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed

Isaiah 44:3-5 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.  This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.

Isaiah 61:8-9 I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.

Isaiah 65:23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.

Proverbs 20:7 The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him.

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.

Jeremiah 32:39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.

Deuteronomy 4:40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

Acts 16:31-33 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.

[12 Promises Every Parent Should Ask God to Fulfill - Topical Studies | Bible Study Tools ]

Don't stop praying for your children!!

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