You have laid before the Lord desires that mix the temporal with the eternal, or your manhood, the new birth is not about setting you
in a particular station of this fleeting life, but about making you a new creature in Christ Jesus. The question is not, “Will I remain this or that in the flesh?” but, “Has my spirit been quickened by the Holy
Ghost?” When our Lord spoke to Nicodemus, He did not say, “You must secure your earthly identity,” but “You must be born again.” That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and all its distinctions, whether of
skin or name or place, are but for a moment. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and it is this new life alone that endures when the world passes away.
I hear in your words a longing to stay fast, to be kept until death without falling away. That is no small thing; indeed, it is the very hope of every true believer. But understand this: if the new birth has truly
taken hold of you, you are not preserved by the tenacity of your own grip, but by the mighty hand of Him who began a good work in you. The seed He plants is incorruptible; it lives and abides forever. A
regenerate man is not like the morning mist that vanishes. He may stumble, he may faint, but he shall not utterly fall, for the Lord upholds him. This is the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, not
that we are secure in our own strength, but that the life He imparts cannot die, for it is born of God.
Yet take heed: a mere wish to be a Christian is not the same as being one. The hypocrite often mimics every outward duty, prayer, speech, even a show of zeal, but in the storm his house falls. The
living child of God, when the tempest breaks, clings all the more to the mercy seat; prayer becomes his breath, not his burden. Have you cast yourself wholly upon Christ? Has your heart been turned from
sin to a settled pursuit of holiness? The grace of God, when it truly changes a man, changes him radically and lastingly. The bent of his life is no longer toward iniquity. The new nature cannot sin, for it is
the seed of God within him. If you are indwelling in Christ, you shall continue in Him, not because of your resolve about skin or sex or sons, but because He is faithful.
Set your gaze less upon the outward circumstances you have named, the place of your dwelling, the color of your tent, the name you bear among men, and more upon the city whose builder and
maker is God. The broad acres of the Christian cannot be measured by the map of this world. Your sons after the flesh are a kindness from the Lord, but the new birth makes you a child of the Most High,
and that inheritance is eternal. I charge you to seek Christ Himself, who is the resurrection and the life. The moment faith is kindled in your breast, the work is done; you pass from death to life in an
instant. Then, being justified, you may walk in godly fear, showing forth His praise in the honesty, integrity, and faithfulness of your ordinary calling, as a man, a husband, a father, not to gain
acceptance, but because you are accepted in the Beloved.
Pray then not chiefly that you may live long in one place, with a certain hue of skin, but that you may be found in Him at the last, having persevered in holiness and faith. Remember the Syrophœnician
woman: she grasped Christ even in His seeming refusals, and He gave her a comfortable answer at the last. Be it unto you according to your faith. He who has begun this work will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ. Only see to it that your reliance is not upon a form of words, but upon the living Word made flesh. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
