It is the duty of the children of God to be all light in the Lord and scatter blessings upon the path of others. They are not to say, “Be ye warmed, and be ye fed,” and do nothing to relieve the necessities of those who are in want….

We are the Lord’s purchased possession, and as His human agents it is our positive duty to administer in temporal and spiritual things from the store which God has given us. Love must be kept in constant exercise to inspire faith in God, that praise may be called forth from human hearts to God and that the golden chain of love may bind the hearts of humanity together. Those who are recipients of the mercy, sympathy, and compassion of God should pass it along to others….

The Son of the infinite God is our Pattern. Heaven is full of mercy, and it is constantly outflowing not only to a favored few, but for the blessing of those who need it most, for the benefit of those who have the least pleasantness and happiness brought into their lives….

Those whom God has made stewards of capabilities and means, He commands, for their own interest, to lay up their treasure in heaven, and as He has given freely to them of His bountiful mercy, to give freely to others. Instead of living for themselves, Christ is to live in them, and His Holy Spirit is to lead them to dispense wisely their goods, being merciful to others even as He is merciful to all. No man or woman can be a follower of Christ and live for self….

In proportion as goods are entrusted they should be dispensed to others. The humblest men and women are to trade upon the Lord’s talents, realizing that what has been lent to them should be returned with usury to God. Though we have but one talent, if it be faithfully consecrated to God and employed in acts of mercy in temporal or spiritual things, we thus ministering to the wants of the needy, our talent will increase in value and be noted upon the heavenly record as exceeding our powers of computation. Every merciful action, every sacrifice, every self-denial, will bring a sure requital, a hundredfold in this time, and in the world to come everlasting life.—Signs of the Times, September 12, 1895.
From the Heart p. 190
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Prayer Requests
—-I have an unspoken prayer request. Buck
—-Please pray for my neighbor Linda. When she had blood work this week they told her she was bleeding inside. M
—-Please pray for a friend named Linda..severe lung issues..chest tubes and everything…pray for healing and salvation.. Bonnie
—-Please uplift my parents in prayers. Judi
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Dear Friends,

This morning at church, I got ready to record the special music and waited for the choir to begin. At just the right moment, I lifted my phone, pressed record, and settled back to listen. Somehow, I must have accidentally stopped recording because Esther asked me this afternoon if I had recorded the music. I told her I had and went into my gallery to get it and send it to her. To my dismay, the video I had was only fifty-three seconds long. Somehow the rest of the music did not get recorded.

That reminds me of another time years ago of a similar situation that I got myself into. It was before smartphones were available. Whenever we went anywhere or on special occasions, I liked to take photos. One time before I got a digital camera, I grabbed my film camera to take pictures on the walk we were going to take. The weather was perfect and there were many scenes that were not only beautiful, they were photo opportunities. Friends stopped by for a picnic lunch. I grabbed my camera and got some really nice shots. Later, when we were going to take a walk, the camera came along. As I picked it up this time, however, I happened to notice the film counter. It was still on “S.” “Hmmmmmmm,” I thought, “I must not have loaded the film correctly.” Carefully opening the back of the camera to reposition the film, I gasped. The camera was empty! I had forgotten to put in any film!

How often we have a similar experience. How many times we find at the end of the day that have forgotten to ask our Dear Saviour to dwell within us. We may look perfectly fine on the outside, but we are empty on the inside. We go about our day living for self. Worse still, we are as were the Pharisees to whom Jesus said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matt 23:27,28

“Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” 1 John 4:13 Our Dear Saviour never forces Himself upon us. Force is never His way. He loves us enough to give us the freedom of choice. Our Loving Redeemer stands there, knocking at the door of our heart, longing for us to allow Him to come inside. He promises, “if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20 This opening our heart’s door is not just a casual thing. We must be in earnest. We must desire to live in His presence. “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jer 29:13 We do not have to be empty inside!

“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 How much we need that new heart! How much we need to be filled with His Holy Spirit! Our Loving Saviour assures us, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:9-13 Precious promise! Think of it! As the Holy Spirit fills us, we behold, “as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [and] are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:18

May Christ dwell in our “hearts by faith; that [we], being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that [we] might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph 3:17-21

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-fruits-of-mercy.html