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The Pearl of Great Price

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45, 46.

By comparing the kingdom of heaven to a pearl, Christ desired to lead every soul to appreciate that pearl above all else. The possession of the pearl, which means the possession of a personal Savior, is the symbol of true riches. It is a treasure above every earthly treasure.

Christ is ready to receive all who come to Him in sincerity. He is our only hope, our Alpha and Omega. He is our sun and shield, our wisdom, our sanctification, our righteousness. Only by His power can our hearts be kept in the love of God….

On one occasion Christ warned His disciples to beware how they cast their pearls before those who had not discernment to appreciate their value…. “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” He said, “neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” …

When people show themselves unimpressionable, unable to appreciate the pearl of great price; when they deal dishonestly with God and with others; when they show that the fruit they bear is the fruit of the forbidden tree, beware lest, by connecting with them, you lose your connection with God….

Truth as it is in Jesus sets us right and keeps us so. The truth is an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast. But the truth is no truth to those who do not obey it. When men and women drift away from the principles of truth, they always betray sacred trust. Let every soul, in whatever sphere of action, make sure that the truth is implanted in the heart by the power of the Spirit of God. Unless this is made certain, those who preach the Word will betray holy trusts. Physicians will make shipwreck of the faith. Lawyers, judges, senators, will become corrupted, and yielding to bribery, will allow themselves to be bought and sold. Those who do not walk in the light as Christ is in the light are blind leaders of the blind, “Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.”—The Review and Herald, August 1, 1899.

From the Heart p. 120
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Harley. He was taken to the hospital during the night. The doctor said he needs a pacemaker. He will get it done tomorrow. Pray also for his mother who is in her nineties and needs prayer for health issues. M
—- Please pray for my son. He was in a car accident and he’s in the hospital. My prayer is that this will be a spiritual awakening for him cause it’s not good. He totaled his car. Apparently he had been drinking and he ran into the front of a dollar store & put a big hole in it. And when he did that he hit a propane tank! Blessed be the Lord- it did not explode. I pray this is the start of what I’ve been praying for “a conversion.” He has been estranged from me for years… Angela
—-Please pray for James who was in a motorcycle accident and is in the hospital. Pray also for Ron who is still having problems with his blood pressure. Rose
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Dear Friends,

During this time of year, when we especially think of the death and resurrection of our Dear Saviour, I thought I would share the passage in Isaiah which so plainly prophesies of Him. “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isa 52:13-53:12

The Crucifixion (this song was written by Esther when she was about sixteen)

At the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus felt the need to pray
And as He walked He stumbled and fellowship
Under the weight of our sin.
Soon you could hear the mob
Rushing for our Lord
And then Judas kissed the Lord
And sold Him to the crowd.
Jesus was wounded and bruised
And yet He remained so calm
And as He looked upon the crowd
Love filled His eyes.
“Crucify the Lord! Crucify the Son of Man!
“Crucify the Lord! Crucify the Son of Man!”

Jesus walked down the road
The cross was laid on His back
But soon He fell under the weight
He couldn’t bear the pain.
They reached the hill of Calvary
Jesus was laid on the cross
But when they pounded the nails through His hands
He never uttered a sound.
They raised the cross into the hole
Jesus had blood on His face
But through the storm He looked to the sky
And cried out to our God
“Father why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Father why has Thou forgotten Me!”

And then with these last words
He cried out through the pain
“It is finished!” And then He died!
His heart broke from the weight of our sin.
Then Joseph asked for His body
He gently took Him down
And then he laid Him in his tomb
That’s all he could do for his Lord.
Soldiers guarded the tomb
They didn’t want Jesus to escape
But then the angel come with a great light
And they fell to the ground as dead.
Jesus is alive! Jesus did rise again!
Jesus is alive! He saved us from our sins!
Jesus is alive! Jesus will come again!
Jesus is alive! He has saved us from our sins!

May we accept His great sacrifice for us. May we praise Him for His Great Love. May we so live that when He comes we will look up with rejoicing and exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa 25:9

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-pearl-of-great-price.html

The Sabbath Has No Borders

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Every seventh day, God's people around the world stop, rest, and remember. We don't all say it the same way, but we're all saying the same thing. How do you say Happy Sabbath where you're from? Let's celebrate together in the comments. Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kibmPaw3C3w

Can You Spot Humility or Pride?

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The Servant by Darrel Tank

Can you easily spot whether someone is proud? Or whether someone is humble?

“We’ve all known people with big egos … ” our lesson author writes. It might be worthwhile to remember that we most frequently see our own faults in others. So if we often spot the sin of pride in others, that might well be an indicator of the state of our own hearts. 

Since my teen years, I’ve been attracted to people who seem humble. One of my college profs seemed so humble that I was sure he was very close to God. I was excited when he offered me the job of working under him to run the college bookstore. What a blessing! I determined to be worthy of his confidence in me. 

After my senior year in academy, I was working full days during the summer to earn part of my college tuition. We were getting ready for the school year, and this morning Dr. I. laid out the day’s work. I worked hard and was done by about 1:30 pm. What to do? There was no way to contact my boss. But then I had a lightbulb moment: Elder F. in the business office across the hall had been in charge of the bookstore for years. Perhaps he could help me. And he did, by suggesting helpful things I could do.

When Dr. I returned at the end of the day, I was quite proud of myself for having completed the assigned tasks and then some! But Dr. I. was not pleased. He gave me what I still consider to be the worst dressing-down of my life, warning me against the sin of pride and telling me what a terrible sin it was for me to try to take his job from him! It was doubly traumatic because I had looked up to him so much. To this day, I can feel the utter devastation I experienced – that this man of virtue and humility could be so cruel to a 17-year-old student.

I went to my dorm room, threw myself on my bed and had a long cry over the wreckage of my idol, missing supper in the process.

I don’t know if anyone else found out about this incident, because I didn’t tell anyone. I worked for this same prof for a couple of years in different capacities, including personal secretary. And I saw conscious humility up close. It was not pretty. Note

Trying to be humble might not be a good idea. 

So how do we recognize humility? Or pride, for that matter? 

Should we even try to recognize humility or pride in others? If we had been among the Israelites in the desert, would we have recognized humility in our stern leader? Or might we have thought him to be proud, like Miriam and Aaron did?

I know I’m easily fooled by apparent humility – not just once. (I’m a slow learner.)  I’ve also known some obnoxious folks who seemed full of themselves, but I suspect pride is much subtler. It sometimes masquerades as humility or spirituality – as in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. 

Perhaps we should stop for a moment and consider the situations in which we use the word “proud.” Do they all refer to the same quality? 

  1. Pride in doing a job well.
  2. Pride in being in the wealthy class.
  3. Pride in being a member of a respected church. 
  4. Pride in being better than a drug addict.
  5. Pride in being gay OR pride in being straight.
  6. Pride in being a son or daughter of the King of heaven.

Can you add to this list? (Let me know in the comments.)

We probably should not be looking for humility or for pride in others, because I believe these are symptoms of something deeper. They are heart issues, and we cannot read the heart. The first place to look is my own heart. 

Our lesson author assumes that “We’ve all battled with pride.” Is this true? A battle means an active fight. How do we fight pride, if we know we are better than others, as the author suggests?

The way I see it, looking to Jesus is the only cure for the pride we all have. And I believe a continuing focus cannot help but make us humble, as we realize that Jesus values the drunk in the gutter as much as He values the preacher in the pulpit. In fact, the drunk who realizes he’s a sinner and pleads with God for help is likely closer to heaven than the preacher who is conscious of his humility. Our need is our greatest argument for salvation.

We probably all know the story of the mighty angel, Lucifer, who became proud enough to covet the position of the Son of God in heaven. But how did this pride arise? If Lucifer had not first focused on his own beauty and goodness, would he have become proud? So was the very first sin not a focus on self?

To undo the damage of sin and to save us, Jesus Christ came to this sin-damaged planet and modeled the “law of self-renouncing love, the law of life for earth and heaven.” 

it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her own” has its source in the heart of God. (See context in Desire of Ages, p. 19)

To “know God,” we need to understand the fundamental principle of God’s Kingdom which Christ came to demonstrate. He modeled not looking out for self, but renouncing self. What does that look like? (Check Phil 2:6-8 ESV) In Christ’s Kingdom, greatness is not measured by being over others, but by serving God and others. (Matt. 23:11)

Jesus emptied Himself, and in all that He did, self did not appear. He subordinated all things to the will of His Father.  (Check context in Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, p. 14)

Perhaps we could all learn to be more humble by following the counsel to “spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.” (Read more at Desire of Ages, p. 835)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/can-you-spot-humility-or-pride/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=can-you-spot-humility-or-pride

Religious Liberty Commission Declares Separation of Church and State “a Lie” that Should Be Done Away With

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by Robert Crux  |  17 April 2026  |   The religious liberty ground on which the Adventist Church has stood for several decades could be about to shift dramatically. If the Trump Religious Liberty Commission’s emerging religious liberty policy recommendations on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment are adopted as part of the 250th-anniversary celebration […] Source: https://atoday.org/religious-liberty-commission-declares-separation-of-church-and-state-a-lie-that-should-be-done-away-with/

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