If we would come into possession of the heavenly inheritance, the glorious, eternal substance, we must be in covenant relation with God, and employ every faculty of our being to win souls to Christ…. God’s people must be a peculiar, holy people, distinct in character and practice from the world, distinguished from all the religionists of the day. They must be patterns in personal piety and good works. There is higher, holier work for us to do than we have yet done. Christ has said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” It has no principles that will meet the principles of the world. The Lord has set His church as a light in the world, to guide the world to heaven. It is to be a part of heaven on the earth, flashing divine light on the pathway of benighted souls.92The Review and Herald, January 21, 1890.

You are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. God’s people should now receive the light and diffuse it. They need not try to shine; if their hearts are enlightened by Christ, they cannot help shining. The brightness will appear; every true disciple will reveal Christ to the world as the sin-pardoning Saviour.93The Review and Herald, July 26, 1898.

We are Seventh-day Adventists. Are we ashamed of our name? We answer, No, no! We are not. It is the name the Lord has given us. It points out the truth that is to be the test of the churches…. That this may be, we must look ever to Jesus.94Selected Messages 2:384.

The name Seventh-day Adventist carries the true features of our faith in front, and will convict the inquiring mind. Like an arrow from the Lord’s quiver, it will wound the transgressors of God’s law, and will lead to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.95Testimonies for the Church 1:224.

There are many who are looking to you, to see what religion can do for you. If you are faithful in your God-given work, you will make right impressions, and will lead souls in the way of righteousness.96The Review and Herald, October 16, 1888.
The Faith I Live By p. 304
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for Fran. She is in a rehab hospital and she needs lots of it. Rose
—-Please pray for my husband Robert. He has been having stomach pain for close to two months on and off. He will not go to the doctors about it. Lucyanne
—-Please pray for Mike M who has sepsis. Rose
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Dear Friends,
Every year about this time, I post the following article written some years ago as it is such an important message.
Rose

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
October 1, 1995
By Amazing Facts
by Debra J. Hicks

Please check all that apply. This year for Halloween, I’ll probably:

Dress the little ones up in costumes and escort them around our neighborhood to collect candy.
Check out the local haunted house.
Get together with some buddies to watch a scary movie.
Dress up in a devil suit and scare the neighborhood kids that knock on the front door.
Turn off the porch light and hope nobody finds me eating the three bags of Snickers bars I bought for trick-or-treaters.
Most people see nothing wrong with the activities listed above. They consider Halloween festivities to be a harmless way for their children to have an evening of “fantasy and fun.”

But does this standard hold true for Christians? Is dressing up like ghosts, goblins, and witches really “no big deal”? Or is it glorifying and empowering Satan?

If we have truly committed our hearts and our lives to Christ, we will set ourselves apart as people who seek to reflect God’s goodness and love to the world. Because we become like the things we behold, the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8 counsels Christians to think deeply about-and to continually fill our minds with-what is good. A careful, honest look at Halloween reveals little or nothing that is good. Instead, it is a day that points toward Satanism, fear, and gluttony.

“For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, NIV).

Although the word Halloween means “holy or hallowed evening,” history shows that nothing could be further from the truth. Halloween is clearly a relic of pagan times, and it has never reflected true Christian virtues.

The customs connected with Halloween are most commonly traced to a festival celebrated by the Druids-priests of the Celtic tribes that occupied northern and western Europe. This celebration, which dates back several centuries before Christ, began each year on October 31 and was called the festival of Samhain, the lord of death.

As part of their worship of Samhain, the Druid priests built huge bonfires on which both animals and humans were sacrificed. This barbaric practice continued openly for hundreds of years, until Rome conquered Britain and outlawed it.

Years passed, and Rome continued to conquer new territory and increase in power. The people of each conquered nation were forced not only to become Roman citizens, but also to become members of the Roman church. As you can imagine, these new “converts” cared little about Christianity and clung tenaciously to their cherished pagan practices.

So, since the Roman church was unable to get people to abandon their heathen festivals, it decided to “sanctify” some of them. The Druids’ celebration in honor of the lord of death thus became All Saints’ Day, which was to be observed by all churches. Officially, it was proclaimed a day to honor all the saints who had died, known or unknown. But in practice, it remained what it had always been-a pagan celebration of the “Day of the Dead.”

Throughout its history, Halloween has been thought of as the time when supernatural forces prevail. Anton LaVey, author of “The Satanic Bible” and high priest of the Church of Satan, says that Satanists consider Halloween the most important day of the year. He says that on this night, satanic, occult, and witchcraft power are at their highest potency level, and that any witch or occultist who has been having difficulty with a spell or curse can usually achieve success on October 31st because Satan and his powers are at their best that night.

Divination, or fortune telling, is also believed to reach its highest powers on Halloween, as people are eager to learn what might happen to them in the upcoming year. Even today, predictions of leading psychics and astrologers are generally released about the time of Halloween.

Clearly, the rites and symbols of this holiday reveal that it is still a day that glorifies Satan. Look around you. Though October 31 is still a month away, you can probably see evidences that Halloween is approaching. Pictures of ghosts, goblins, witches, skeletons, and devil-faced pumpkins appear on store windows everywhere. Horror movies are promoted on television and in the theaters, and most bookstores give prominent attention to books dealing with death and the occult.

As Christians, we are not to associate with the things of Satan. Christ Himself said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Since its beginning, the festival of Halloween has played upon people’s fears. The Celtic people believed that on the night of October 31, demons, witches, and the spirits of all those who had died within the past year roamed about freely. Most people were afraid to leave their homes on this night. Those who absolutely had to go out wore grotesque masks and terrifying costumes. They reasoned that if they looked horrible enough, the spirits would think they were one of them and would do them no harm!

Fear is a big part of modern Halloween celebrations, as well. Spooky decorations, horror movies, and haunted houses make a very real impression on little children. Is there any wonder so many youth have nightmares or are afraid to be alone in the dark? Satan delights in filling people’s minds with thoughts of fear, death, and destruction. It is a tactic he has used for centuries to keep mankind under his control.

God, on the other hand, longs to give His children peace. He doesn’t want us to be paralyzed by our fears. In fact, the Bible says that Christ died “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:15, NKJV).

“Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NKJV).

Several days before their festival began, the Druid priests would go from house to house demanding food or other items they would use in their worship of Samhain, the lord of death. If a villager refused to give them what they wanted, the priest would put a demonic curse on the home. It was no idle threat, either. Someone from that house usually died within the year. It is from this abominable practice that our present-day “trick-or-treat” custom evolved.

While it is true that trick-or-treat is no longer primarily about curses, it is about gluttony. Children go from house to house, filling grocery bags full of candy and then returning home to feast on their great treasure. Often, those who stay at home to hand out the candy consume great amounts of it themselves!

Even this element of Halloween, which in comparison might seem harmless, does nothing to glorify God. The Bible says that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We should not be polluting that temple with food that clouds our perceptions and draws us away from God.

“Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).

Satan is no doubt jubilant that such a large portion of this “Christian nation” views a holiday in his honor as something that is harmless fun. Could it be that by our carelessness, we are contributing to the extraordinary power Satan seems to have on October 31?

No matter how fun or exciting it may seem, Halloween is no celebration for a Christian. If we truly seek to glorify God, then how can we devote one day of the year to worshipping Satan? We can’t.

The Bible says, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-name-the-lord-has-given-us-2.html

The children of Israel were anciently commanded to make an offering for the entire congregation to purify them from ceremonial defilement. This sacrifice was a red heifer and represented the more perfect offering that should redeem from the pollution of sin. This was an occasional sacrifice for the purification of all those who had necessarily or accidentally touched the dead. All who came in contact with death in any way were considered ceremonially unclean. This was to forcibly impress the minds of the Hebrews with the fact that death came in consequence of sin and therefore is a representative of sin. The one heifer, the one ark, the one brazen serpent, impressively point to the one great offering, the sacrifice of Christ.

This heifer was to be red, which was a symbol of blood. It must be without spot or blemish, and one that had never borne a yoke. Here, again, Christ was typified. The Son of God came voluntarily to accomplish the work of atonement. There was no obligatory yoke upon Him, for He was independent and above all law. The angels, as God’s intelligent messengers, were under the yoke of obligation; no personal sacrifice of theirs could atone for the guilt of fallen man. Christ alone was free from the claims of the law to undertake the redemption of the sinful race….

Jesus might have remained at His Father’s right hand, wearing His kingly crown and royal robes. But He chose to exchange all the riches, honor, and glory of heaven for the poverty of humanity, and His station of high command for the horrors of Gethsemane and the humiliation and agony of Calvary….

The wounded hands, the pierced side, the marred feet, plead eloquently for fallen man, whose redemption is purchased at such an infinite cost. Oh, matchless condescension! Neither time nor events can lessen the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice.26Testimonies for the Church 4:120, 121, 124.
The Faith I Live By p. 199
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Esther and children as they are away this weekend. Rose
—-I’m really sick. I’ve been fighting an acute UTI for over a month. No antibiotic has worked. Now they tell me that I have a rare infection. Given a new rx that is strong enough to kill MERSA. (Not mersa) I’m scared, as it has a lot of bad side effects, and I don’t do well with new meds. Sylvia
—-Please pray for Angel. She was born with the umbilical cord around her neck. She’s in critical condition in the ICU. She needs a miracle right now. Maria
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Dear Friends,

When I was about 5, I was given a little beagle puppy for my very own. I was so happy to have this puppy friend! I had been so lonely because I was the only child in the neighborhood at that time. How I loved and cuddled that little dog. He was my “baby” whenever I played house.

Sadly, that little beagle didn’t last very long. One day, as I was pretending he was my little baby and decided to give him a bath. Now that might have been no problem if I had used pretend water. Instead, I gave him a bath in the icy water that was coming out of the drainpipe from the snow that was melting from off from the roof. After the bath, I had no towel to dry him so I just continued playing with my puppy. The poor little thing got thoroughly chilled that early spring day.

Because of that chilling, he got distemper and died. How terrible I felt when I was told that it was all my fault that I had killed my puppy! I cried and cried, but all the tears in the world could not bring my puppy back. I felt very guilty for a very long time. Eventually, I matured enough to understand that I had been too young to realize that my actions that long-ago spring day would result in such a loss.

Just as I did not realize that by giving my puppy a cold bath there would be grave consequences, so there are millions who are rushing down the path which leads to destruction without realizing what their end will be. Those millions go through life thinking that all is well, but in the end they will hear those frightful words, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt 7:23 Those consequences are far worse than what happened to my little beagle.

How often we, ourselves, act without thinking of the consequences. How many times we, ourselves, wish we could take back our own hasty words. God’s Word says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov 14:12 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matt 7:13,14 May we allow our Dear Saviour to lead us, that we may, in turn, lead others in that narrow path that leads to His Glorious Kingdom is my prayer.

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-voluntary-sacrifice-of-jesus-2.html

The Life-giver will call up His purchased possession in the first resurrection, and until that triumphant hour, when the last trump shall sound and the vast army shall come forth to eternal victory, every sleeping saint will be kept in safety and will be guarded as a precious jewel, who is known to God by name. By the power of the Saviour that dwelt in them while living and because they were partakers of the divine nature, they are brought forth from the dead.79SDA Bible Commentary 4:1143.

Our fondest hopes are often blighted here. Our loved ones are torn from us by death. We close their eyes and habit them for the tomb, and lay them away from our sight. But hope bears our spirits up. We are not parted forever, but shall meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. The Life-giver is coming. Myriads of holy angels escort Him on His way. He bursts the bands of death, breaks the fetters of the tomb, the precious captives come forth in health and immortal beauty.80The Youth’s Instructor, April 1858.

Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave…. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding the dry bones live.81SDA Bible Commentary 6:1093.

There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52.82The Review and Herald, November 22, 1906.

The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ’s faithful ones will appear in “the beauty of the Lord our God,” in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord.83The Great Controversy, 645.

Are we ready so that if we shall fall asleep, we can do so with hope in Jesus Christ? 84My Life Today, 349. If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Job 14:14.

The Life-giver will call up His purchased possession in the first resurrection, and until that triumphant hour, when the last trump shall sound and the vast army shall come forth to eternal victory, every sleeping saint will be kept in safety and will be guarded as a precious jewel, who is known to God by name. By the power of the Saviour that dwelt in them while living and because they were partakers of the divine nature, they are brought forth from the dead.79SDA Bible Commentary 4:1143.

Our fondest hopes are often blighted here. Our loved ones are torn from us by death. We close their eyes and habit them for the tomb, and lay them away from our sight. But hope bears our spirits up. We are not parted forever, but shall meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. The Life-giver is coming. Myriads of holy angels escort Him on His way. He bursts the bands of death, breaks the fetters of the tomb, the precious captives come forth in health and immortal beauty.80The Youth’s Instructor, April 1858.

Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave…. In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding the dry bones live.81SDA Bible Commentary 6:1093.

There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52.82The Review and Herald, November 22, 1906.

The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ’s faithful ones will appear in “the beauty of the Lord our God,” in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord.83The Great Controversy, 645.

Are we ready so that if we shall fall asleep, we can do so with hope in Jesus Christ? 84 My Life Today, 349.
The Faith I Live By p. 185
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Scott who was just taken to the hospital with a massive heart attack. Daryl
—-Please continue to pray for Marvin. He is back in rehab.
—-I urgently need prayer for my granddaughter Katie who is having severe mental health issues and says she can’t eat. She is losing weight and her organs are starting to fail. She is so thin it is startling. Kathy
—-Please pray for newborn baby David who is having health problems. please pray for family as well. Nancy
—-Please pray for my Dad now he had a heart attack yesterday and needs a procedure done asap before he has a massive attack which they said would kill him. But they can’t do this procedure until they get a mystery blood loss found and under control. His numbers are so high that the Dr’s said that he could have another attack soon. Ann
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Dear Friends,
I thought I’d share something that Esther wrote as a teenager. She had written it for a website that she had had at that time. I hope it is a blessing to you.
Rose
“You might be wondering, “Can God still forgive me? There is a wonderful answer to this question that has been troubling you. Again, like always, God has answered our question in His Word. We just need to look for it.
You know, you and I aren’t the only ones who have felt this way before….A long time ago, someone who is in our history books felt exactly the same way! King David did something really horrible. He saw a woman one day and asked about her, because she was very beautiful. There was only one problem: she was married. But she was so beautiful, that he wanted her for himself, so he sent for her. Being the king, he could pretty much do whatever he pleased. And when he thought that no one was looking, he made love to her in the privacy of his chambers.

Well, the next morning she went home, and they both pretended like nothing had happened. But something spoiled their little plan. You see, she had gotten pregnant that night, that they spent together. That made their little secret a little harder to hide.

I know you are thinking that she was married, so it could have been her husband’s child. And even if it wasn’t, she could say that it was, and everything would work out fine. It wasn’t quite that easy, because her husband had been away during this time. The country had gone to war, so it had been a long time since they had been able to spend any time together. It wasn’t even possible that it could be her husband’s baby. She didn’t know what to do so out of desperation she sent a message to the King that simply said, “I am with child.”

David knew that this was His baby so in another desperate attempt he sent for her husband and told his to take a little time off and spend it with his wife. However, being the good man that he was, he felt it wasn’t fair for him to be able to go be with his wife when all the other men had to stay and fight. So he told David that until the war was over and his job was done that he wouldn’t go home because it just wouldn’t be fair for the other men. So he thanked the king and went back to his duties.

Now David was really worried….. His back was up against the wall…. So he made a fatal decision…. He sent a note to the general of his army and told him to put this man on the front line. You know what that means. And yes he was killed in the battle. Now that this woman’s husband was dead he married her himself.

God saw all that David had done. He had not only committed adultery with another man’s wife, he had murdered her husband to try to cover up his sin. Even though David did these things, GOD STILL LOVED HIM. God was determined to save him. Through the prophet Nathan, God helped him to see the evil that he had done and that is when David prayed the prayer that is recorded in Psalms 51. Please read all of his prayer now. I would like to point a few verses out to you. In verses one and two he asks God to have mercy on him because he had sinned and was aware of that now. Then he asked God to not only forgive him but wash all of his sins away. God was so happy to forgive David. He promises that he will forgive us, but we just need to ask.

David goes on in Psalm 51:10 and asks God for a clean heart. God also promises to give us a new heart if we ask for it… A heart that will be kind, loving, pure, and happy. In Jeremiah 42:7 it says, “And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:”

God wants to be close to us! He loves each of us very much! It doesn’t matter what you have done or how bad it is. Ask God to forgive you and he will! “If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Just ask. Be forgiven. Find peace in the only one who can give it!

Esther”

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-life-giver-is-coming-2.html