God's Candid Camera

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

Read Romans  3:10-18

               "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits."
                                                                                                                   Proverbs  16:2

     Salvation consists of accepting God's estimate concerning your wicked heart.  It does not depend on how satisfied you are with your own goodness, but is God, who knows you far better than you do yourself, satisfied with you?  It makes no difference how highly your neighbors and friends think of you; the vital question is,  "What does God think of you?"  Your only hope lies in acceptance of what God says about your depraved, hopeless, lost condition.  God says about the heart of the unregenerate, no matter how moral or religious, that it is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked"  (Jeremiah  17:9).  The very first requirement for salvation is to accept this verdict of God.  Have you read Romans  3:10-18 yet?  That passage together with Psalm 14 is God's photograph of the natural human heart.  And God's  "photographs" are not "touched up" to please the subject.  The blemishes and wrinkles are all there.  Once we see ourselves in God's mirror, all pride and conceit must disappear.  Don't make the mistake of thinking you are as nice as you look to yourself.  A young girl came to her pastor and said,  "I am afraid I am guilty of the sin of vanity; for every time I look in the mirror I cannot help but admire my great beauty."  The old pastor replied,  "That's more than a sin - it is also a mistake."

     A young photographer, who specialized in "close-ups" was sent to China.  He was an unbeliever, and in the course of his business called on a leading Chinese photographer.  After talking business for awhile the Chinese photographer said,  "You specialize in close-ups of people, but have you ever taken a close-up of your own heart?"  Surprised, he asked,  "What do you mean?"  whereupon the native pulled out a copy of the New Testament and read to him Romans  3:10-18.  For the first time he was brought face to face with God's own close-up" of his unregenerate heart and was ultimately turned to the Lord.

Romans 3:10-18 kjv:

10.  As it is written,  THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE.
11.  THERE IS NONE THAT UNDERSTANDETH, THERE IS NONE THAT SEEKETH AFTER GOD.
12.  THEY ARE ALL GONE OUT OF THE WAY, THEY ARE TOGETHER BECOME              UNPROFITABLE; THERE IS NONE THAT DOETH GOOD, NO, NOT ONE.
13.  THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN SEPULCHRE; WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY HAVE USED    DECEIT; THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS:
14.  WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS:
15.  THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD:
16.  DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR WAYS:
17.  AND THE WAY OF PEACE HAVE THEY NOT KNOWN:
18.  THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.