Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 8 (Free-will? What Free-will? Part 2: “Little Jack Horner Salvation”)
By admin On January 19th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 8
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Free-will? What Free-will?
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Part 2:
“Little Jack Horner Salvation”
To read part 1, click here…March 9th (“Free-will? What free-will!?”, Part 1)
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“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil,
who are taken captive by him at his will.”
2nd Timothy 2:25, 26
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Little Jack Horner
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Sat in the corner,
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Eating a Christmas pie;
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He put in his thumb,
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And pulled out a plum,
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And said ‘What a good boy am I!’
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An old southern radio preacher once compared the idea that mankind is capable of choosing God to that old Mother Goose rhyme, “Little Jack Horner”.
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And truth-be-told, this above nursery rhyme does indeed seem to be a pretty good metaphor concerning Salvation by good works!
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In other words, there are many who are under the notion that they have merited Salvation by some good work!
They did some good work, just like Little Jack Horner!
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But listen to what God says…
“For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8, 9.
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Here we see that Salvation is by grace alone, and nothing can be added to that grace!
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
(The Full Project Gutenberg License in Legalese (normative): This Picture from the eBook is by www.gutenberg.net)
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OUR GOOD WORK MUST BE ADDED
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Nevertheless, we humans insist on a religion which requires some good work on our part.
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For some, it is the good work of water baptism.
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For others it is the good work of law-keeping, or starting some ministry, or living a moral life.
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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WHO CHOSE WHO?
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Now there are many who are led to believe that they first chose to follow Jesus.
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For these, it is the good work of choosing Jesus.
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And so, all such feel that they can boast that “I chose Jesus”.
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Of course, all this is complete and utter nonsense!
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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NOTHING GOOD IN MAN!
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After all, if there are some who chose Jesus and many others who didn’t choose Him, then this would have to be considered as some little spark of innate goodness within those who chose to serve Jesus!
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Think about it! There must be something in me that caused me to choose Jesus: some little spark of goodness that other people do not possess!
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But listen to Paul’s testimony…
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:
for to will is present with me;
but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
Romans 7:18
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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WE’RE UTTERLY & HOPELESSLY WICKED!
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And listen again to Paul’s testimony…
“What then? are we better than they?
No, in no wise:
for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles,
that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one…”
Romans 3:9-18
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But for some reason, it is nearly impossible for us to give up the false notion that, “God sees something good in me!”
And so, the Devil capitalizes on this false notion, and draws me into a counterfeit gospel which requires me to exercise “that little spark of goodness” which supposedly unlocks the doors of Salvation!
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And all who are under this erroneous notion are under a works/grace gospel, which is no gospel at all!
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This, in essence, is a Little Jack Horner religion…“I did that one good work!
I signed on the dotted line!
I have done something that others did not!
Oh what a good boy am I!”
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Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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GOD CHOOSES US!
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Oh yes, God asks us to choose whom we will serve! The Bible makes that clear!
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But the fact is, nobody will choose to serve Christ!
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Listen… “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44
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So here it is made clear, that no man can come to Christ, except the Father draws him! We all love the darkness.
Salvation is the total gift of God!
It is only when His Holy Spirit indwells the human heart, that we then can choose to serve Him.
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But that is the work of God, by grace alone!
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And may God’s mercy be upon us!
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CONTINUED TOMORROW…
” FEBRUARY 9 (Free-will? What Free-will? Part 3: Little Jack Horner Salvation, Continued)”
Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Keep me from adding my own good work to Christ’s all-sufficient grace…
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… January 1st (Good Shepherd Finds Us”),
or you can also read… “January 30th (ABC Christianity)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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ORION, THE GOOD SHEPHERD
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This star-chart from Wikipedia, has Orion sketched in by the editor of this website.
With the addition of a single star, Theta Geminorum (the left hand of the Castor twin of Gemini), the sickle in Orion, the Reaper’s hand (sketch to left), now extends the blade, thus transforming that sickle into the hook of a shepherd’s rod and staff.
And so now this little Gemini star becomes the tip of Orion’s Shepherd’s rod & staff.
Thus with this additional star, Orion the Reaper Constellation now becomes the 5th personality of Orion: The Good Shepherd (sketch below right).
Theta Geminorum is a class A3, 4th magnitude star, which means it is much fainter than either of the stars, Castor or Pollux.
But faint as This little star may be, it nevertheless presents a giant concept, turning Orion’s sickle into a shepherd’s rod.
And this is a very wonderful and beautiful Bible truth: namely, that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, as is written…
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“As a shepherd seeketh out his flock
in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered;
so will I seek out My sheep,
and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”
Ezekiel 34:12
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Orion, The Good Shepherd”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
FEBRUARY 9 (Free-will? What Free-will? Part 3: “Little Jack Horner Salvation” Continued)
Little Jack Horner – WW Denslow – Project Gutenberg
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20 MINUTE+ AUDIO STUDY IN JEREMIAH 
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS STUDY #404 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING, FORMER CEO OF FAMILY RADIO…
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above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain