Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 1 John 3:1.
“Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” It does not understand the principles that underlie our course of action. We must stand before God with a conscience void of offense. There are wonderful privileges for every one of us. God never places before us a requirement without giving us the power to perform it. He never asks us to take one step in advance of Him. He leads the way, and we are to follow after. Following Him, we are in no danger of going astray. Thus only can we perfect a Christian character as stewards of the grace of God.
To us have been entrusted the truths of the gospel for this time. It is a wonderful, wonderful treasure, and the Lord desires us to have our eyes enlightened and our hearts quickened. He desires us to be nerved and strengthened by the power that He will give us if we will only be true to Him. He desires every one of us to perfect a character after the divine similitude. The Christian who does not do this casts a reflection on God. He dishonors his Saviour. Those who have access to the words written in Scripture are without excuse if they do not apply these words to themselves, if they do not thus cleanse their hearts from sin. By the lights shining from the throne of God upon our pathway, we shall be judged at the last great day….
To have light shining upon the pathway in the clearness of the gospel of Christ, as it has shone upon our pathway, is a fearful responsibility. We are to follow on step by step, with our eyes fixed upon our Leader. He will not lead us one step out of the right way.
God gave Christ to our world to save us from eternal death. Behold Him, behold Him! Keep looking upon Him till you reflect His image. Do not accept the words of any man, unless you can see that he is conformed to the divine image, because if you do, you sustain him in doing wrong; you sustain him by asking his counsel and following his directions.
What we need is the pure word from the Holy Bible. Christ has bidden us conform our lives to His life. We are to know what it means to keep the commandments of God in truth and righteousness. The love that was in the heart of Christ is to be in our hearts, that we may reveal it to those around us. We need to be daily strengthened by the deep love of God, and to let this love shine forth to those around us.—Manuscript 66, May 25, 1905, “The Need of Home Religion,” a talk.
The Upward Look p. 159
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Prayer Requests
—-A friend of mine’s son is in the hospital with serious complications due to vaping. Please keep him in your prayers. Valerie
—-Please pray for Ron and Eileen today as they both have doctor appointments that could be scary. Rose
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Dear Friends,
When the weather is nice, we used to like to walk along the river or at a local nature preserve in the evenings after work or on weekends. Ronnie Jay photographed many animals in those places—-beaver, deer, raccoon, herons, ducks, coyote, etc. On those walks, I often thought about how much more interesting it would have been taking those walks with Darlene, my best friend who died some years ago of cancer. We enjoyed the walks we took with her when we lived in Washington state as she was very knowledgeable in the things of nature. She could name the rocks, trees, plants, and flowers and would often point out different plants that were edible just in case we ever got lost in the woods. Sometimes we would sample them. They were not very tasty, but it was good to know what was edible and what was not. Our walks with Darlene was like a school to learn new things. How I miss her.
We have a better Best Friend who will never die. What blessing is ours to have the Great Creator of the Universe love us and lead us ever upward on the path to the Heavenly Kingdom. We have the privilege of walking with Him each day. He has promised, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Ps. 32:8 What a wonderful blessing! To be taught by the One Who loves us so much that He died to save us, to walk with Him each day as He unfolds new and beautiful truths from His Word.
Moreover, as we behold Him in His Word and allow Him to direct our path, we are changed into His likeness. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:18 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Eze 36:26, 27
May we place our hand in our Dear Saviour and walk with Him each day is my prayer.
Rose
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/01PKbV61Zok/behold-him.html
