About 240 Internally Displaced Persons, mostly women and children, were being sheltered at the Adventist university in Bucha, Ukraine in March. Everyone was evacuated from the university before a massive attack, according to a video report by Highland Adventist Church in Tennessee, U.S. Bilyi family also managed to flee Bucha safely, and led 40 people […] Source: https://atoday.org/escape-from-bucha-adventist-university-evacuated-family-leads-others-to-safety/
Looking for Treasures
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Matthew 13:44.
In our day the church has been to a great degree content with the surface truths of revelation, made so plain and easy to be understood that many have thought these supplied all that was essential, and in accepting them they have been content. But the Holy Spirit, working upon the mind, will not allow it to rest in indolence. It awakens an earnest desire for truth uncorrupted with error and false doctrines. Celestial truth will reward the diligent seeker. The mind that is really desirous to know what is truth cannot be content in indolence.
The kingdom of heaven is likened to treasure hid in a field, “the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” He buys it that he may work it, plow up every part of it, and take possession of its treasures. It is the Holy Spirit’s office to direct this search and to reward it. The searcher, while digging the field, finds leads of precious ore of which he seeks to estimate the value, and he sinks the shaft deeper, for still more valuable treasure. Thus many a rich lode is discovered. The gold fields of the earth are not so interlaced with veins of precious ore as is the field of revelation with leads that bring to view the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The Lord would have every one of His believing children rich in faith; and this is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. From the heart the Spirit works outward, developing a character that God will approve. What a vast field of the treasures of truth did Christ add to the domain of faith to be appropriated by His disciples! We need greater faith if we would have better knowledge of the Word. The greatest hindrance to our receiving the divine illumination is that we do not depend on the efficiency of the Holy Spirit.—The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1537, 1538.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 105
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for E and children. R
—-Please lift up my friend Dr. Luke as he is dealing with colon cancer. A good man. Michael
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Dear Friends,
This is the time of year where Christians remember the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Even those who only go to church at Christmas and Easter rejoice that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 How good God is! He has provided His Greatest Gift, the gift of His only Son. Paul exclaims, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Rom 11:33
During those thirty-three years His Dear Son was upon this earth, God was tenderly watching, feeling every hurt, every disappointment, every care. Three times the Great Sovereign of the Universe spoke audibly to mortal man. At Jesus’ baptism He announced, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matt 3:17 Again on the Mount of Transfiguration He declared, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” 17:5 Near the end of Jesus’ earthly life, He again spoke. When Jesus told the people, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” John 12:27,28 What a privilege the disciples had hearing the very Voice of the Great King of the Universe! Yet it was but a foretaste of the time when we will not only hear His voice but see Him face to face!
In the Garden of Gethsemane, our Dear Saviour began to feel, stronger than He had ever felt before, the weight of the sins of the whole world being placed upon His shoulders. As our sins threatened to crush out His very life, Jesus committed His will to His Father. God answered by sending an angel to strengthen Him to endure His Great Sacrifice. Then, He withdrew His presence and allowed Jesus to go through the awful sense of separation from God. That separation was far worse than the physical pain of crucifixion. It was a difficult time for Jesus: it was equally difficult for the Father. Think of the heart-wrenching agony God the Father felt as Jesus was upon the cross. The pain that pierced His Great Heart of Love is beyond our comprehension. Yet He willingly sacrificed His Dearest Treasure in order that we may be saved. What wondrous love!
Yet how rarely we think of His Great Sacrifice. How many times we turn away from spiritual things and allow our mind to dwell upon the fleeting pleasures of this world. How easy it is for us to get so busy that we hardly have a thought Heavenward. How often we become so self-centered that our needs, our desires, our momentary happiness is all that matters to us. How our self-centeredness must hurt our Loving Redeemer Who longs for close fellowship with us. He Who has given His life for us desires above all else to spend every moment right beside us, communing with us, leading, guiding us, giving us a peace that passes all understanding.
May we respond to His great love by giving to Him our whole heart, our entire life, our thoughts, our words, our everything. May we daily claim His assuring promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Heb 13:5 May we reach out and take His Hand as would a little child and let Him guide us to Himself for He calls, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: 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. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Rev 3:20,21
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/looking-for-treasures.html
ATSS: What Happened to the Wonder of Creation?
6 April 2022 | by Mathilde Frey Genesis 1–2 contains the two primary biblical stories about creation of the universe where God brings order to the sky, the land, and the seas and fills the earth with living beings. These chapters stand in contrast to other ancient creation stories which center around chaos, warring gods, […] Source: https://atoday.org/atss-what-happened-to-the-wonder-of-creation/
Thursday: Human Destiny
Read Genesis 3:15-24. As a result of the Fall, what happened to Adam and Eve?
While God’s judgment of the serpent is explicitly identified as a curse (Genesis 3:14), God’s judgment of the woman and of the man is not. The only time where the word “curse” is used again, it applies only to the “ground” (Genesis 3:17). That is, God had other plans for the man and the woman, as opposed to the serpent. They were offered a hope not offered to him.
Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com
Because the woman’s sin is due to her association with the serpent, the verse describing God’s judgment of the woman was related to the judgment of the serpent. Not only does Genesis 3:16 immediately follow Genesis 3:15-16, but the parallels between the two prophecies clearly indicate that the prophecy concerning the woman in has to be read in connection to the Messianic prophecy in Genesis 3:15. God’s judgment of the woman, including childbearing, should therefore be understood in the positive perspective of salvation (compare with 1 Timothy 2:14-15).
Because the man’s sin is due to his listening to the woman instead of listening to God, the ground from which man has been taken is cursed (Genesis 3:17). As a result, man will have to work hard (Genesis 3:17-19), and he will then “return” to the ground where he comes from (Genesis 3:19), something that never should have happened, and that was never part of God’s original plan.
It is significant that against this hopeless prospect of death Adam turns, then, to the woman, where he sees the hope of life through her giving birth (Genesis 3:20). That is, even amid the sentence of death, he sees the hope of life.
Meanwhile, as would any loving parent, God had wanted only good for them, not evil. But now that they knew evil, God was going to do all that He could to save them from it. Thus, even amid these judgments, all hope was not lost for our first parents, despite their open and blatant disobedience to God; even though they — living truly in paradise — had absolutely no reason to doubt God, to doubt God’s words, or to doubt His love to them.
| Though we tend to think of “knowledge” in and of itself as good, why is that not always the case? What are some things that we are better off not knowing? |
Amen!
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Death of Pastor Jack Sequeira
Pastor Jack Sequeira was born on 25 September 1932, in Nairobi, Kenya, to parents from Goa, India. Sequeira lived a long and fruitful life. He suffered a disabling stroke and fell asleep in the Lord on 26 March 2022 at a hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Sequeira served the Seventh-day Adventist Church in many capacities in England, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and the United States.
After graduating from Newbold College, he trained students in the colporteur work for the South England Conference….Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2022-04-06/1110/
