Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, … even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31, 32.
The great controversy going on in the world is waging more sharply today than at any period of this world’s history between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness. Bear the fact in mind that, wherever there are plans set in operation to advance the cause of God in the world, Satan will be on hand to counteract, if possible, the workings of our merciful heavenly Father…. He will use every possible advantage you give him to control minds….
God’s people, rescued from the fire by Jesus Christ, have a sense of their sin, feel humbled and ashamed. God sees and recognizes their repentance, and notes their sorrow for sin, which they cannot remove or cancel themselves. But as they pray their prayers are heard, and this is the reason that Satan stands by to resist Christ; because He hears their prayers, He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. He regenerates the sinner, and pardon is written off against his name. This stirs Satan up to resistance. He steps in between the repenting, believing soul and Christ. He seeks to cast his hellish shadow before that soul, to dampen faith, and to make of none effect the words of God….
If Satan stands between the soul and Jesus Christ, then the love and acceptance and pardon of Christ are eclipsed—man will be constantly striving to prepare a robe of righteousness to cover his deformity and sin, when Christ wants him to come to Him just as he is, and believe in Him as his personal Saviour. In His tender love, a forgiving Father brings forth His best robe in which to array His returning child….
Satan is a vigilant, untiring foe, and he sleeps not. He knows that his time is short, and he will work until the end with every species of deception to draw souls into his snare and ruin them. I have a message for you—“Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Give no place to the devil to stand between you and Christ, lest you savor of the things that be of men and not of God. If your faith is genuine, it must and will produce obedience. God commands us to do nothing which we cannot do. He will give strength to every believing, trusting soul….
Cherish the love of Jesus in the heart, respect each other, for Christ has given His life for you. Every soul is precious in the sight of God. It is a wonderful thing to be remembered and cared for every hour by God.—Letter 65, January 6, 1894, to the ship’s crew on board the Pitcairn.
The Upward Look p. 20
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Prayer Requests
—-Paul was just rushed to ER with bad chest pain and blurry vision. Requesting prayer please. Arlene
—-My grandma’s health is failing and she can’t see the cardiologist for a week. Please pray she will be ok and the procedure she needs goes well. Also for her husband’s comfort and strength. Daisy
—-Could you please say some prayers for my grandson? He is autistic and getting very violent towards his parents and they cant get him to his doctor until Friday. I am getting pretty scared for my daughter so please pray for her too. Becky
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Dear Friends,
Many years ago, my mother discovered an old family Bible in the attic. The first entry in the title page of that Book was “Jeremiah Carpenter, 1749.” As she was leafing through the pages in the front of the book, she found a genealogy page that began from that point. From that moment, she became interested in researching our family tree on both the Harmon and the Phillips sides. She really put her whole heart and soul into this project interviewing elderly relatives, checking birth and death records, etc.
As I was reading it one day, I noticed that in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, the infant mortality rate was very high. Many of my ancestors had lots of children, but only one or two of them reached adulthood. It made me feel so sad for them. How hopeful they must have been as they held their little one in their arms and how devastated they were when that little one was snatched away from them by death. The saddest of all was a man and his wife who, as they began to have children, started naming them according to what was in their heart. “Hope,” “Faith,” “Victory,” but there was no victory for them. Every one of their babies died. Eventually, they died childless. It was passed down through the generations that they died of a broken heart.
Our pastor, Vernon Bliss, used to say that no one ever died of natural causes. Death is always unnatural because death was never in God’s plan. He desired this world to be like the rest of the universe: perfect, beautiful, filled with happy, holy beings. God assures us, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil. Jer 29:11 What sadness must fill His heart as we live our lives with hardly a thought heavenward. How His eyes must fill with tears as He watches us destroy ourselves through our own selfish desires. He pleads with us, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11
Praise God! He has provided a way of escape. He has sent His only Son, to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins. Paul tells us, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil 2:5-8
All Heaven is a bustle of activity working together to help mankind find “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Jesus bids us, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev 22:17 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
May we come to Him just as we are—all sin-sick and weary, full of cares and sorrows and disappointments. May we give ourselves to Him unreservedly. May we serve Him this day with our whole heart and mind and strength is my prayer.
Rose