For one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. Matthew 23:8.
Before God’s servants take up any work, they are to pray to God in all humility, with a sense of their dependence upon God, realizing that they must be worked by His Spirit. They are to guard against setting themselves up as kings, because if they do this, they will dishonor the Lord and make a failure of their work. “All ye are brethren.”
Man’s ingenuity, his judgment, his power to execute, all come from God. To God’s service all should be devoted. The principles of the Bible are to control the Lord’s servants. His workers are ever to do justice and judgment, steadfastly keeping the way of the Lord. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Make this the point round which your life centers, and then all things needful will be given you. Put the Redeemer’s interests before your own or those of any other human being. He has bought you, and all your powers belong to Him.
Make no man your king. Who is our King? He who is called, “Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). He is our Saviour, our King. To Him you may always go with your burdens. However great your sins, you need have no fear of repulse. If you have injured your brother, go to him, and confess the wrong you have done him. When you have done this, you may come to your King, asking Him for pardon. He will never take advantage of your confessions. He will never disappoint you. He has pledged His word to forgive your transgressions and to cleanse you from all defilement. The names of all His people are written in His book of life.
Remember that Christ is our only hope, our only refuge. He “bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:13-15).—Manuscript 3, March 1, 1903, “To Every Man His Work.”
The Upward Look p. 74
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Prayer Requests
—-I have several prayer requests—The McDougal family, some neighbors of ours, yesterday their 24 day old daughter died of SIDS. The grief is deep.
Travis D – Just had part of his leg amputated. He is not diabetic. His body is poisoned somehow and they don’t know what is wrong. Having trouble with other organs now and is in serious condition and depressed. Praying they can figure out what is ruining his body.
Jenna a 16 year old with acute leukemia would like prayers to continue and said to thank everyone and that God is in control. M
—-Asking for prayer again for my daughter Marcy that her heart will be softened. Shari
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Dear Friends,
As soon as Esther could crawl, she often found some tiny space to get into and sleep. This she continued to do all through her childhood. She liked tight, closed-in spaces. They made her feel very secure. This made it necessary for me to hunt for her quite often.
One day, after having looked in all of her favorite spots, I still could not find her. I searched everywhere. Finally as I was in her bedroom looking for her, I saw a slight movement in the top shelf of her closet. Soon I saw her face looking down at me. I asked her how she had gotten up there. She told me that by putting her arms and legs on each side of the closet door frame, she had “walked” up all that way.
In these frightening and confusing time, we, too, can have a hiding place just as Esther had found. We, too, can have a safe and secure place where we can go for rest amid the storms of life. David prayed, “Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.” “Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.” “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” Ps 143:9;119:114;32:7;27:5
Psalm 91 is a psalm that speaks of the Hiding Place and one our family most often reads when we are traveling or parting from one another. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”
Our Dear Saviour bids us, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” Isa 26:20 “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 11:28-30 Think of it! The Great King of the Universe will be our comfort, our protection from the storm, our Guide through all the rugged way. We can put all of our trust in Him.
May we find in Him a hiding place from the storm. May we be secure in His great love. May we continually cling to the precious promises of His Holy Word is my prayer.
Rose