There is a Fountain filled with Blood

This life on this fallen world is tough to say the least.  Being sad and struggling with sadness is a part of life.  Run to the One who is your safety, and trust Him with your life.

Be encouraged by Joni and William

Power in the Bloodby Joni Eareckson Tada

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  1 John 1:9

It bothers me when I hear people say that only the weak-minded struggle with severe depression. That's 'cause I sometimes get hit hard with more than just downhearted feelings. There are times I feel like disappearing -- I don't want to talk to anyone, and I don't want to face the world.

I'm not the only one who has days like that. I think of them as "the day of evil" spoken about in Ephesians 6. When they come, I hang on for dear life to a couple of well-worn Scriptures that assure me joy will come in the morning.

And I take encouragement that the great hymn writer, William Cowper, suffered from depression. He constantly struggled against suicide. Once he even tried to hang himself. Another time he fell on a knife but the blade broke, and at one point, he threw himself into a river hoping to drown. He had a mental breakdown and was placed in an insane asylum for eighteen months. During his detention, he read Romans 3:25, the part about the blood of Christ being so powerful as to cleanse us from all unrighteousness -- even the guilt of suicidal thoughts.

After his conversion, he became friends with John Newton, who wrote "Amazing Grace." It was just the inspiration Cowper needed to write the beautiful hymn, "There Is a Fountain."

Throughout his life, Cowper continued to be plagued by severe depression, and often he sought to end his life. His most powerful hymns were written after those times.

We may become depressed on this side of eternity, but aren't you glad that little by little, inch by inch, day by day, God renews our minds... all because there is a fountain filled with blood?

Thank You, Father, for the encouragement of past saints' lives. They remind us there is no permanent cure for our woes here on earth, which makes us long all the more for Your transforming grace and mercy.

Blessings,

Joni and Friends

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There is a Fountain Filled With Blood

  There is a fountain filled with blood,  
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in His day;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away:
Washed all my sins away,
Washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are safe, to sin no more:
Are safe, to sin no more,
Are safe, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are safe, to sin no more.

E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save:
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.
by William Cowper

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