Closer To Heaven
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En el prólogo del Evangelio de Juan encontramos esta afirmación: “Vino a lo que era suyo, pero los suyos no lo recibieron” (Juan 1:11 NVI). Cuando leemos esto, lo primero que viene a nuestras mentes es: “el pueblo de Israel o los judíos no lo recibieron”. Aunque esto parcialmente es cierto, el factor detonante fueron […] Source: https://atoday.org/el-establishment-religioso-vs-el-evangelio/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=el-establishment-religioso-vs-el-evangelio
The parables and teachings of Jesus, the stories of Bible characters, and the counsel of Ellen G. White all indicate clearly that there is no halfway commitment to Christ. Either we are or we are not on the Lord’s side.
When asked by a scribe which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30, NKJV). When we give all to Christ, there is nothing left for another master. That is the way it is. That is the way it must be.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Notice, Jesus didn’t say that it was hard to serve God and money, or that you needed to be careful in how you served both. He said, instead, that it couldn’t be done. Period. This thought should put a bit of fear and trembling in our souls (Philippians 2:12).
No wonder Paul wrote, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Of course, that’s easier said than done, because the things of the world are right here before us every day. The lure of “all that is in the world” is strong; the pull for immediate gratification is always there, whispering in our ears or pulling on our shirt sleeves, or both. Hasn’t even the most faithful Christian felt some love for “the things of the world”? Even with our knowledge that one day it will all end, we still feel the pull, don’t we? The good news, however, is that we don’t need to let it pull us away from the Lord.
| Read 2 Peter 3:10-14. How should what he says here impact how we live, including what we do with our resources? |
(0)The post Wednesday: Priorities appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
13 March 2023 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, My unmarried, unattached daughter recently came to my wife and me and announced that she’s going to have a baby. She says she’s had no luck finding a husband she wants to spend her life with, and she’s getting older, and she’s always wanted a child, so she’s […] Source: https://atoday.org/89027-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=89027-2
What should Seventh-day Adventist Christians do in response to difficult times? Do we hunker down in a survival mode? No, in fact, just the opposite is true. Because we know that the end of the world and the second coming of Christ is near, we want to use our assets to tell others the good news of the gospel and what God has prepared for those who love Him. We understand that someday soon everything on this earth will be burned up.
Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com
We understand from the Word of God that He is not sending moving vans to take our stuff to heaven. It will all get burned up in the final conflagration when all traces of sin and evil, except the scars on Christ’s hands, will be forever destroyed.
So, what should we do with our possessions? “It is now that our brethren should be cutting down their possessions instead of increasing them. We are about to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Then let us not be dwellers upon the earth, but be getting things into as compact a compass as possible.” — Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 59.
Of course, she wrote those words more than a century ago! But still the principle remains: time is always short, because our lives are always short. What are 60 years, or 80 years, or 100 years (if you have good genes and good health practices) in contrast to eternity? Your life can end before you finish reading this week’s lesson, and the next thing you will know is the second coming of Jesus. (Wow, that was fast after all, wasn’t it?)
As Seventh-day Adventist Christians we must always live in the light of eternity. Yes, of course, we need to work hard to provide for ourselves and our families; and if we have been blessed with wealth, nothing is wrong with enjoying it now, provided we don’t become greedy and are generous with it in regard to the needy. Yet we must always remember that whatever we accumulate here is transitory, fleeting, and, if we are not careful, has the potential to be spiritually corrupting.
| If you knew Jesus were coming within ten years, how would you change your life? Or five years? Or three? |
(0)The post Tuesday: Time to Simplify? appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
William G. Johnsson, editor of Adventist Review magazine from 1982 to 2006 and founding editor of Adventist World magazine in 2005-2006, died in Loma Linda, California, United States, March 11, 2023. He was 88.
Johnsson was a missionary and theologian who authored more than 40 books and 1,000 articles. Since 2017, he published five books, including, Where Are We Headed? Adventism After San Antonio (2017); Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, His Message, His Passion (2018); Authentic Adventism (2018);…Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2023-03-13/1481/
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