The question has been asked, How can there be agreement between the statement, “I came not to send peace, but a sword,” and the song sung by the angels when Christ was born in the manger at Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”? The song of the angels is in harmony with the words of the prophet Isaiah, who, when he predicted the birth of Christ, declared Him to be the Prince of peace. The gospel is a glorious message of peace and goodwill to men; the blessing that Christ came to bring was that of harmony and peace. He left His throne of glory, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might bring back from apostasy to loyalty to God the children of men, and bind their hearts together and to the heart of Infinite Love. He came to present to a fallen world the remedy for sin, so that whosoever should believe on Him should not perish, but by becoming one with Him and the Father should have everlasting life….

The condition of the world at the time when Christ came into the walks of humanity was no exceptional condition. At that time the Scriptures had been buried beneath human traditions, and Christ declared that those who professed to interpret the Word of God were ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God….

Christ presented to His countrymen and to the world brightness, beauty, and holiness, the divine nature, by which they might be bound close to the heart of Infinite Love. He brought light into the world to dispel spiritual darkness and to reveal truth…. The truth, which was to restore and renew, is a destroyer of evil; and when evil is persistently cherished, it becomes a destroyer of the sinner also….

Sinners’ perversity, their resistance of the truth, makes the mission of Christ appear to be what He announced to His disciples—the sending of a sword upon the earth; but the strife is not the effect of Christianity, but the result of opposition in the hearts of those who will not receive its blessings.

From the first presentation of Christianity to the world, there has been a deadly warfare instituted against it…. Those who suffer for the truth know the value of a pure gospel, a free Bible, and liberty of conscience.—Bible Echo (Australia), March 12, 1894.
From the Heart p. 71
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Prayer Requests
—-We are going through various trials right now. Please pray for us. Rose
—-Gordon needs prayer. A few days ago he had surgery for A-fib. Alexandra
—-Please pray for the family of a child who died because of a car accident. Kim
—-Please pray for Bob who is in the hospital with a brain bleed. Please pray for him. Karey
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Dear Friends,

When Esther was six, we moved to Washington state. For a few weeks, while I was looking for a place to live, we lived in a hotel. While there, Eileen, who is ten years older than her sister, took Esther down to the hotel’s Jacuzzi. They really liked the warm bubbly water. Being so tiny, the force of the water caused Esther to slip under the water. Eileen quickly grabbed her little sister, and all seemed to be well. However, later all was not well. Esther got meningitis. I always wondered if it was because of swallowing some of the Jacuzzi’s water.

I was very thankful when my little girl eventually recovered and seemed to suffer no ill effects from her illness. How happy she was when she and her brother could play in the fields behind the house that we had rented. There were lots of tall weeds in the field and they pretended they were in a jungle. There was only one trouble. Esther was always getting prickers from those weeds in her eyes. At the time we did not realize that the meningitis had left her very far-sighted, so the natural inclination to blink when something gets close to the eye was not there.

Many times I had to remove those tiny specks from her eyes. One time I could not get one of those nearly microscopic prickers out. It had stuck into her eyeball. I immediately took her to the emergency room and by using a strong magnifying glass, the doctor was able to remove the offending object. Then he gave me some ointment to put into her eye. How she hated that ointment! She did not really understand why she needed it. All she knew was that it stung. She would run away from me and hide when it was time to put it into her eye. It was quite a challenge to find her. She was very good at hiding. She could curl up into a tiny ball in some out-of-sight place, hold very still, and be very quiet; but eventually I would find her and put the stuff in.

Just as that eye salve was necessary for Esther’s recovery, so our Great Physician counsels us to receive Heavenly eye salve from Him. He pleads, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Rev 3:18 The eye salve that He offers sometimes hurts and stings as we see our true condition—“wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Rev 3:17 This eye salve He longs for us to have gives us the discernment we need to detect the devises of the enemy of souls. It helps us to see the snares he lays for our feet.

How much we need the Heavenly eye salve to see the true path. The devil uses many ways to counterfeit the genuine. He has his agents to lead people into the wrong paths. Our Dear Saviour warns us, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matt 7:15 He explained that in the last days there would be many deceivers, many deceptions. “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” 24:24 How much we need the spiritual eye salve that the True Witness offers, that we might not be taken in by one of these deceivers.

May we ask our Great Redeemer for the eye salve that He so freely offers, that we may obey His Holy Word is my prayer.

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/truth-conquers-evil.html