6 June 2023 | According to an article in Politico, there has been an 11% decrease in Americans associating with religion throughout the last decade, a shift with profound implications for the political landscape. This change affects the “God Gap” – the perception that the Republican Party champions religious individuals, particularly Christians, while Democrats have […] Source: https://atoday.org/the-shift-of-the-religious-and-political-landscape-in-america/
Filippesi 4:5 – Mercoledì 7 giugno 2023
“La vostra mansuetudine sia nota a tutti gli uomini. Il Signore è vicino.” Meditazione giornaliera Apri la porta del tuo cuore, autori vari, presentazione di Anna Cupertino Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLwGUeP2oOQ
When Sorely Tempted, Look to Jesus
And he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 1 Kings 19:4.
In all our afflictions, Jesus was afflicted. The Captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering. In this life we shall be proved whether we bear the test of God. When Satan’s temptations come, we shall have a trial. Shall we be overcome by the bewitching power of Satan or shall we overcome Satan’s temptations as Christ overcame them? Shall we have the mind stored with the heavenly treasures of truth, that we may be enabled to meet the adversary of souls with “It is written” as did Christ, and not with any of our impetuous speeches? Satan understands more of what “is written” than many a professed Christian, for he is a diligent student of the Scriptures, and his work is to pervert the truth of God, to lead people to disobedience and to neglect the searching of God’s Word….
It is a great mistake to dictate to God. Elijah knew not what he said when he told God that he had enough of life and asked to die. The Lord did not take him at his word, for he had a work to do before he would be exalted and translated to heaven. Have we forgotten that Jesus, the Majesty of heaven, suffered being tempted? Jesus did not allow the enemy to pull Him into the mire of unbelief, or crowd Him into the mire of despondency and despair….
God hates sin. Satan’s work is to allure to works of evil. How adroitly Satan worked with his bewitching power to fascinate the mind to choose sin rather than righteousness. The influence of one person on another had become dangerous because of Satan’s leading and controlling the mind and pressing this influence of one over another in his own service. But the Lord Jesus, by the agency of His Holy Spirit, changes the order of things and takes the sins and guilt of the human race upon Himself, and draws people to Himself, and sanctifies and employs the human agent as His instrumentality to engage his powers to do an entirely opposite work than Satan advised….
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” How precious to the tempted soul is this positive promise. If those in trouble and temptation keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and draw nigh to God, talking of His goodness and mercy, Jesus draws nigh to them, and the annoyances that they thought almost unbearable vanish….
Troublous times are before us, but this is not to worry us. To be worried is to be unbelieving, but Christ invites you saying, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”—Letter 43, 1892.
Christ Triumphant p. 164
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Prayer Requests
—-One of our church member’s granddaughter had surgery this morning. They think it’s cancer. Please pray for healing and for the family. M
—-I have an unspoken prayer request. CD
—-My best friend, Daniel, and I really need your prayers for guidance as to how God wants us to proceed. Danita
—-Please continue praying that Mike will soon receive the heart he needs. Roberta
—-A dear friend and her husband lost their 19 mo old baby girl to a tragic accident yesterday. Please pray for them as they navigate their grief and all the decisions they have to make while being present for their other children. Eudine
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Dear Friends,
When I was a little girl, my mother and I travelled to Wisconsin for a vacation. While there, we went to a cave called Cave of the Mounds. As we walked through that cave, I was awe-struck by the beauty there was inside the earth. It looked like a fairyland. That began a love for caves that has lasted throughout the years. Until I got too old to do so, no matter where I went, I always tried to go to a nearby cave if I possibly could. Some of the caves were much like the first cave we visited. Others are very plain limestone caves without any beauty at all. Those are somewhat of a disappointment but still interesting.
Ron doesn’t like caves much, but he went because I enjoyed them. His biggest complaint about any cave tour is that the guide nearly always got us down in the depths of the earth and then turned out the lights. The guide usually tells everyone in the tour group to be silent. There is not one tiny ray of light. The blackness is so dark that it can be felt. After what seemed like an eternity to Ron, the guide turns on a small flashlight. It is a relief to be able to see something again. After turning on the light switch, the cave is once more flooded with light and the beautiful formations are again visible.
So it is in our spiritual life. Without Jesus, Who is “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” we are in total darkness, darkness as complete as it is inside a cave. John 1:9 It seems that we would naturally stay close to That Light, but how often we turn from the True Light to explore the things this dark world has to offer. When we do this, the Light is behind us and the farther we go from the Source of all Light, the less we can see. We find ourselves in darkness as dark as in the depths of an unlighted cave. We begin looking around for light, any light, to show us the way. Sometimes we follow someone who says they have the light, but their light is the dim and shaky light of their own making. Their light will go out just when we have the most need of it.
Sometimes we rely on another’s light which they have only because of their connection with the True Light. We stay so close to them that it seems that we, too, have that True Light. We don’t realize that we do not until it is too late. Jesus told a parable about this very thing. “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Matt 25:1-13
May we continually keep our eyes on Dear Jesus, the True Light, and follow Him all the way to His Heavenly Kingdom is my prayer.
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/when-sorely-tempted-look-to-jesus.html
Adventist Church Hosts Women’s Ministries Conference in Czechia
From May 5–7, 2023, the 11th Women’s Ministries Conference took place in Strážovice, South Moravia, Czechia. The guiding principle was the motto “Love yourself so that you can love others.” On Friday,…… Source: https://adventist.news/en/news/adventist-church-hosts-womens-ministries-conference-in-czechia
Truth Matters
by David Geelan | 06 June 2023 | It’s been a bit of a mantra of mine in online debates for decades. It sometimes annoys my friends, because I tend to simply drop these two words and not elaborate. The two words? “Truth matters.” What is important about telling the truth, and what is so […] Source: https://atoday.org/truth-matters/
Можно ли христианам наносить татуировки?
Лорен Сейболд | 21 мая 2023 г. | Если бы 40 лет тому назад кто-нибудь доверил мне роль футуролога, я бы не смог предсказать, что на вершине списка популярной моды будут так широко представлены татуировки. В моей юности нательная живопись ассоциировалась с разнорабочими в портовых барах, а не с образованными профессионалами из офисов. В лучшем […] Source: https://atoday.org/%d0%bc%d0%be%d0%b3%d1%83%d1%82-%d0%bb%d0%b8-%d1%85%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%be%d1%81%d0%b8%d1%82%d1%8c-%d1%82%d0%b0%d1%82%d1%83%d0%b8%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b2/
When the Faith(fulness) of Jesus Carried me Through
Monday’s section of this week’s Sabbath School lesson asks the question,
Think about a time when life seemed to crumble around you and all that you had was your faith. How did you get by? What lessons did you learn? What did you experience that could help others who might be going through something similar?
When I saw this question I thought of a story I had just shared with some friends yesterday. Twenty-five years ago, I was engaged to be married. While I was engaged, I was working as a full-time Bible worker in a three-church district in the Fort Worth, Texas, area. However, I was a local hire with no benefits. Wanting to provide health insurance for my bride-to-be, I went to UPS where I got a part-time job working from 3:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., which provided me and my family-to-be with health insurance. This was in addition to my full-time job as a Bible Worker.
Being a Bible Worker, sitting around in people’s living rooms talking about the Gospel all the time, I was not used to strenuous physical labor. I found it very hard to get up at 2:00 every morning, and even harder to do strenuous labor when I should have been sleeping in the middle of the night. It made my whole daily routine very difficult, especially at first. There was no time for me to waste. Every moment of my day had to be carefully planned in order to make things work out. One of the hardest parts was having to go to bed around the time all my friends were getting off work. And of course, being a Bible Worker and giving Bible studies in the evenings, sometimes I had to get by on 3 hours’ sleep. I remember being at work when the sun rose and when it set, and thinking to myself: I am constantly working; I will never be able to just sit and watch a sunset ever again.
After a few weeks, my fiancée broke up with me. Why is another story, but I still had a lot of growing up to do. Anyway, I was devastated. I was stressed with a crazy work schedule between two jobs, and my motivation was gone. The night after she broke up with me, my alarm sounded as usual at 2 a.m. I rolled over in bed to turn off the alarm, feeling totally drained, emotionally and physically. I realized I was not getting married. I got this middle-of-the-night job to provide insurance for my bride-to-be, which she was now not to be. I told myself I did not need my UPS job any more, and to just roll over and go back to sleep and forget about UPS. It was a hard, thankless job in the middle of the night, one which I no longer needed. While all of that made perfect sense, I found myself going in to work. Friends, I want this to sink in, because this is where God’s grace totally took over. This is not about my faith; it is about the faithfulness of Jesus. I told myself to go back to bed and forget about UPS. I decided to quit UPS, but I still found myself going in to work regardless. I had no clue what I was doing. My heart and mind were in a blind fog, while I kept a job I did not think I needed or wanted. I kept going to a job that I had decided to quit, and had no idea why I was still going to work at 3 a.m. But I was.
While I was totally mystified and confused by my actions, just a few weeks later it all made sense. The three-church district which I had served as a Bible worker for several years, decided to let me go. They wanted to start a church school, and could not afford that and a Bible worker. Suddenly UPS, the job I thought I did not need, became my only source of income. I look back now and realize why I got up and went to work that night, even though I had actually decided to quit. I had no idea I would soon be losing my Bible worker job. That night when I told myself to roll over and go back to sleep and forget about UPS, God’s grace and faithfulness yanked me up and said, “Nope! You are going to work. You don’t know why, but God knows why.”
I kept my job at UPS and even became a part-time supervisor before it was all over. I found another day job as well and kept giving Bible studies when I could, as well as preaching every Sabbath as a lay person. I learned to organize every moment of my day, even my Bible study and prayer time. A few times over the years, I would wake up after I was already supposed to be at work, but would still pray and study my Bible before going to work. I told myself: If life gets too busy for me to spend time with God, then life has just defeated its purpose. I was not going to defeat the purpose of life just for the sake of mere “survival.” I learned to keep my Bible with me and to listen to Bible tapes in the car. While both jobs, combined, kept me away from home for 16 hours a day, I hired a housekeeper. Little by little, even while I was working 16 hours a day, my life became normal, purposeful and enjoyable. I was no longer stressed. I was happy, and my heart and mind were no longer in a blind fog.
By the way, you know how I said I felt like I would never get to watch another sunset for the rest of my life? Well, as insignificant as that may sound, God was even working on that small aspect of my life. Years later, God totally uprooted me from my life in Texas and gave me a ministry in Florida, where I have watched countless beautifully magnificent sunsets on the Gulf. God is so graceful and faithful in every aspect of our lives. Even the little things we think don’t matter in the grand scheme of the Great Controversy are still important to a gracious and faithful God. He cares so much about us!
Still, I look back to that night when I woke up with my heart and mind in a fog and decided to quit my UPS job. God’s grace and faithfulness took me to work that night. God knew something I didn’t. That night, God picked me up and carried me through the fog and into beautiful sunny days. Seems like I have been in Florida forever now. I will find myself walking along the beach with one or a few of my Floridian friends, and as we pause to watch another beautiful sunset for the umpteenth time, I will sometimes laugh to myself and think, “Back in Texas I could not see through the fog and thought I would never watch another sunset. Fool! You watch them all the time now. Great is His faithfulness!”
The post When the Faith(fulness) of Jesus Carried me Through appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/when-the-faithfulness-of-jesus-carried-me-through/
Romanian Delegation Visits Adventist Schools
A delegation of ten leaders from Adventist Education Romania was in Brazil to get to know some schools in the network. They arrived on Monday, May 22, 2023. They were in Santa Catarina on Tuesday, and…… Source: https://adventist.news/en/news/romanian-delegation-visits-adventist-schools
Adventist History: Revisiting the 45th General Conference Session
This week in Adventist history, let’s take a look at the 45th General Conference Session, which began on June 5 and ran until June 15, 1946. General Conference President, James Lamar McElhany, opened the session with an address. Secretary Ernest Delbert Dick shared greetings from many people, including delegates who were unable to attend due to the recent world war. Ashlee Chism tells us more about this story on This Week in Adventist History. Visit https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/ for more Adventist stories and events. Established in 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a global Christian family with over 21 million members who hold the Bible as the ultimate authority. We are believers who help people understand the Bible to find freedom, healing, and hope in Jesus. To learn more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church, visit https://www.adventist.org/. Subscribe to this channel and click the notification bell so you’ll never miss a new video. Follow us on these social media platforms:
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Impact of AdventHealth’s Filipino Team Members Felt Locally and Globally
Made up of over 7,000 islands, the Philippines is a Southeast Asian country with scenic views, strong family values, and vibrant culture. It’s one of 14 footprint locations in the AdventHealth Global …… Source: https://adventist.news/en/news/impact-of-advent-healths-filipino-team-members-felt-locally-and-globally
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