Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. Isaiah 43:1. Every obstacle to the redemption of the people of God is to be removed by the opening of the Word of God and the presentation of a plain “Thus saith the Lord.” The true light is to shine forth, for darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. The truth of the living God is to appear in contrast with error. Proclaim the glad tidings: We have a Saviour who has given His life that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Obstacles to the advancement of the work of the Lord will appear, but fear not. To the omnipotence of the King of kings, our covenant-keeping God unites the gentleness and care of a tender shepherd. Nothing can stand in His way. His power is absolute, and is the pledge of the sure fulfillment of His promises to His people. He can remove all obstructions to the advancement of His work…. The church of Christ is God’s agency for the proclamation of truth, empowered by Him to do a special work, and if she is loyal to God, obedient to all His commandments, there will dwell within her the excellency of divine power. If she will honor the Lord God of Israel, there is no power that can stand against her. If she will be true to her allegiance, the forces of the enemy will be no more able to overpower her than is the chaff to resist the whirlwind. There is before the church the dawn of a bright, glorious day, if she will put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness, withdrawing from all alliance with the world. The members of the church need now to confess their backslidings, and press together. My brethren and sisters, allow nothing to come in that will separate you from one another and from God. Talk not of differences of opinion, but unite in the love of the truth as it is in Jesus. Come before God and plead the shed blood of the Saviour as a reason that you should receive help in the warfare against evil. I assure you that you will not plead in vain. As you draw near to God, with heartfelt contrition and in full assurance of faith, the enemy who seeks to destroy you will be overcome. Turn to the Lord, ye prisoners of hope. Seek strength from God, the living God. Show an unwavering, humble faith in His power and willingness to save. From Christ is flowing the living stream of salvation. He is the Fountain of life and the Source of all power.—Letter 199, September 8, 1903, to “My Brethren in Positions of Responsibility in the Cause of God.”
The Upward Look p. 265
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Prayer Requests
—-I would ask for prayers for a young lady fighting depression. Her name is Courtney. She is constantly crying and cannot receive professional help till the 25th of this month. Lift up the husband also as he is terribly frightened. Ernest
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Dear Friends,
A friend often talks of her verbally abusive father and all of the hurt that caused. She and her siblings determined to be “cycle breakers” and raise their children in a loving manner. Sometimes, as she is talking of the things that they suffered at their father’s hand, I think of my own grandfather when he was a little boy. His father was not only verbally but physically abusive to him and his brother. They greatly feared their father, but they had no love for him. In fact, they hated to see him come home from work. He would not allow the boys to talk at the table or to laugh or sing in his presence.
Worse still, my great-grandfather, when he came home from work each day, made the boys come to him for their punishment. He had no idea if they had done something wrong or not. He just figured that they had to deserve punishment just because they were boys and he knew that boys got into mischief.
First, my great-grandfather would make Harold lie across his knees and the spanking would start. This was no gentle spanking: it was way too hard. Harold had a way of coping with this injustice, however. Almost immediately, he would start crying loudly. Satisfied that he had been punished enough, his father let him go.
Then it would be my grandfather’s turn. Even though he knew that by crying he could escape quickly from his father’s hand, he would not make a sound. Soon the spanking would turn into a beating. Still my grandfather would not cry. Finally his father would tire of this and let him go. Because of this unjust treatment, he ran away from home at age 10 and spent his teen years roaming the forests of the eastern United States, eating the wild plants his grandmother had taught him were safe and whatever fish he could catch. When he got married and had children of his own, he left all the disciplining to his wife. He did not want to become like his father.
Many people view God as being much like my great-grandfather. They think He is severe and cruel and angry with us continually. They picture Him as looking down upon the earth and watching for reasons punish us, but He is not like that at all. He is, “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” Ex 34:6 ”He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Ps 103:10-12 He assures us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jer 29:11 “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” Isa 49:15,16 “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [made us alive] us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Eph 2:4 Wonderful Saviour!
May we see God as He really is—loving and kind, just and fair, the Giver of all true happiness and goodness. May we wholeheartedly respond to His great heart of love. May we serve Him joyfully throughout all our life is my prayer.

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? Isaiah 58:6, 7.
We are living in the last days of this earth’s history, and it is time we understood what we must do to be saved. The Lord will work intelligently for all who will work intelligently for Him. My brethren and sisters, there is something more for you to do than to sit in your churches Sabbath after Sabbath and to listen to the preaching of the Word. You have a work to do for [your] friends and neighbors. God requires … that you visit these families and seek to create an interest in the truth for this time. You are not laboring together with God if you neglect the work of helping others to take hold upon eternal realities. Our ministers are not to be encouraged to hover about the churches to repeat to the believers week after week the same truths. We have a truth that is saving and precious. The Word of God must be planted in many hearts; the bread of life must be dealt out to many hungering souls…. It is a blessed work to lift up Christ before the world. When the work of the judgment is finished and decisions have been made for eternity, it will be seen that it is those who have given themselves wholeheartedly to the service of God who will stand right with heaven. Some of these may not have been able to leave their families to go to some mission field, but they have been missionaries in their own neighborhood. Their hearts have been so filled with the love of God that their great anxiety has been to win souls for Him. This has been more to them than silver and gold and the precious things of this world. And as they have labored in simplicity to minister the Word of truth, the Spirit of God has sent home the Word to the hearts of the people. My brethren and sisters, let us study the simplicity there is in the Word of God. Let us see what we can do to advance the cause of Christ in the earth. Christ was in this world as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There were many who set themselves against His work. There will be those who will oppose you. But your work is to preach Christ and Him crucified; and when you do this, the salvation of God will be revealed in the conversion of souls…. Let the light shine where you are. Lay hold of the power that there is in Christ, and learn to overcome through the merits of His blood and the word of your testimony.—Manuscript 93, September 7, 1909, “Address to the Church at Salt Lake City.”
The Upward Look p. 264
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for my neighbor and children as her husband will not allow them to go to church or have family worship. Jose
—-Latest Update on my Dad Bill, He has stage 4 cancer and it has Metastasized into his bones and throughout his blood. The doctors will start him on some sort of pill today to lengthen his life. It’s not over until MY GOD says so! Connie
—-Just received a devastating news about my friend’s daughter Sandra is in coma right now. She was hit by a car while driving a few days back. Please keep her in your prayers. Samantha
—-Please pray for my cousin Rose, she is on the ventilator with covid19. She is a fighter and her husband died this morning from covid. She has no idea. Mary
—-Praise God my hand is much better. Rose
—-Please pray for Joel, he had a heart attack today and is in a coma. Sim
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Dear Friends,
It is hard to believe that it has been nineteen years since 9/11. A whole generation has grown up with little idea of what a change it wrought in the lives of Americans. I had barely begun my workday when Ron called and told me to turn on the radio. He explained the reason. Shock and unbelief surged through me. Before I could even get my radio turned on, Ronnie Jay called with more details. I told Bev. Since our office was in the basement at the time, we took turns going upstairs to the jury room to see the devastation on TV. The rest of the day, my radio was on.
As the reporters recounted the events that brought to rubble the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings and part of the Pentagon, I thought of the many thousands of people who had gone to work that morning or were on those hijacked planes going wherever they needed to go. Only moments before, their day was routine. Only moments before, their lives were filled with plans for the future, thoughts of the mundane, anticipation of an evening with family and friends.
In a moment all had changed. Many were engulfed in flames, some jumped to their death, most rushed down the stairs trying to escape. Even in this tragedy, God was working to protect and guide. Most made it to safety, although many did not. As I listened to the reports both at the time and then in the weeks afterwards, I couldn’t help thinking how quickly our life can change. I couldn’t help wondering how many of those people were ready to die.
How easy it is to get caught up in our own future plans without a thought heavenward. James speaks of this: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” James 4:13-15 Peter agrees, “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:24,25
How urgent it is that we have God’s Word hidden in our heart. (Ps 119:11) How vital it is to have that close connection with our Dear Saviour so needful for our present and future happiness. How important it is to so live that if some tragedy befalls us and we lose our life, we will be ready for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the happenings of 9-11 were life changing, even so will that greatest of events be. Jesus warns us, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 21:26-30 (See also: Luke 12: 35-46)
May we “take heed lest at any time [our] hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon [us] unawares.” Luke 21:34 May we “watch…and pray always, that [we] may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” vs. 36 May we soon be filled with joy as we look up “and see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” to take us to those Heavenly mansions He is preparing for us. (Mark 24:62; John 14:1-3)
Rose