Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16.
The light of truth must shine forth to the world. Those who love God and keep His commandments are called to aggressive warfare, not against one another, but against the armies of the invisible foe. There is to be no such thing as laying off the armor. At no time are those who claim to be Christ’s disciples to feel at ease in their church capacity, content to do nothing to rescue fallen human beings, and bring them back to their loyalty.
Heavenly angels are constantly ascending and descending between heaven and earth, engaged in unselfish service for the building up of the kingdom of Christ. Where are the men and women who will unite with these heavenly messengers? Where are those who will use their abilities in cooperation with divine power?
Think of what God has done for you. When you were perishing out of Christ, did not the warning message come to you, convincing you of sin and arousing you to repentance? Did not Christ reveal Himself to you as a sin-pardoning Saviour? And in the light and glory of your first love, were you not full of unselfish love to impart to others the grace which gave you newness of life in Christ?
Do not allow your zeal for Christ to decrease. Now that you have become the helping hand of Christ, you are to work earnestly for those whom, before your conversion, you looked upon with indifference. Remember that they are in as favorable a condition as you were … [when you were] brought to repentance, and that their salvation may be of higher value to the church than yours was. Grudge not earnest, tender words and kindly deeds. Draw those around you to the cross of Calvary. Be so greatly in love with the truth that you will daily receive fresh grace to impart. Open the windows of the soul heavenward, that the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness may shine into your hearts. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Truth, precious, essential truth, will open before all who will keep their souls in the love of God. Duty and sacrifice will be precious to them, because of their love for the purchase of the blood of Christ. Human beings upon whom they would once scarcely look now assume a preciousness in their eyes. Once they had no interest in them; now they are united with Christ, and they are bound up in love with His heritage. The heart once frozen by icy selfishness is now melted by the influence of the Spirit.—Manuscript 17, February 26, 1901, “Neglected Duties.”
The Upward Look p. 71
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for me. I am waiting to see a doctor for blood in urine. Andy
—-Yesterday my dear precious mother died in my arms. My heart is BROKEN AND I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!!! And I found out just before she died that the doctor . . . was giving her MASSIVE DOSES OF FENTANYL AND PROPANOL which was totally AGAINST everything I had said she wanted to be done for her! Connie
—-My friend Lucie has breast cancer she just found out yesterday please wrap her in healing prayers in the name of Jesus. JoAnn
—Please pray for friends whose business was vandalized. Rose
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Dear Friends,
My grandfather was very restless after he retired. He had worked hard for over fifty years, so not having anything to do weighed heavily upon him. They lived in Florida for only a little over a year, before he decided that he liked Michigan better. Again they moved all of their stuff, including all of those unopened barrels of worthless items. Their savings were being used up in moving expenses, but he didn’t care. He missed the state he had lived in for so long.
After only a couple of winters, Florida began to look good to my grandfather again. My grandmother’s arthritis had been better in the warmer climate, so they decided to try a bigger city in that southern state. Again all of their furniture including all of those still-unopened barrels of worthless string, aluminum foil, buttons, etc., were loaded onto a professional moving van and taken to Orlando, Florida. Again they took the long, tiring train ride. Storing their stuff until they could find an affordable place to live was an additional expense. Their savings were nearly gone. They barely had enough to eat and both of them lost a lot of weight. Of course, they told no one about this. My grandmother’s letters were chatty—full of the weather, about not minding having a lizard living with them to catch the many bugs that were everywhere, shining a flashlight in the grass and seeing millions of eyes staring back at her from the all bugs that made their lawn their home, and so forth.
When my grandmother died in 1962, my it was obvious that my grandfather wanted to come back to Michigan. My mother made the long train trip to get him as he was very old and frail and unable to stay by himself. She had only a few days to decide what to do with all of their belongings. She had no money to move them back up to Michigan and no time to sell all of my grandparents’ antique furniture, so she had to give it all away. All of those still-unopened barrels of worthless stuff that my grandmother had insisted on keeping were thrown away.
How often we are like my grandmother, holding on to favorite sins and pleasures that will only cause us trouble in the end. We feel like we cannot let go of them and hold on tightly to them. The Holy Spirit impresses us that we should give up our “darling sins,” but we say, “Not yet. Wait awhile and I will do it.” Years go by and we find ourselves still holding onto those same sins, those forbidden pleasures that troubled us from our youth. We find that those old habits hold us so tightly that we cannot get free even if we wanted to. Solomon tells us, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” Prov 5:21-23
With tears in His voice, our Great Redeemer pleads, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11 “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.” Mal 3:7 “I gave My life for you. My precious blood I shed, that I might ransom you from those sins that you have been holding onto for years.” “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Jer 31:3 “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Ps 50:15
John assures us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 Our Dear Saviour assures us, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” Isa 44:22 Precious Saviour! He will rid us of all of our “excess baggage” of sin we have been holding onto for so long. We can give it all to Him! We can be free from the cords of sin that bind us!
Let us come to Him now laying all of our sins at the foot of His cross. Let us there find the freedom from the weight of guilt that we have been carrying for so long. Let us in faith receive freely of the grace that our Loving Saviour longs to give us is my prayer.
Rose

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13.
The standard of character which Christ has made it possible for us to reach … is a perfect standard. In trying to measure [up to] it, the senses become confused. The question is asked, “Who by searching can find out God?” (See Job 11:7.) Yet He has made it possible for us to become like Him in character. Oh, what will impress men and women with their need of that transformation which will enable them to reflect the divine image?
Many who claim to follow Christ present to the world an inferior representation of Christianity because they do not reach the standard which makes them the elect of God. He who fails to keep constantly before him the standard of God’s holy law creates a standard of his own. He becomes destitute of the life-giving principles of the gospel. He is an unprofitable servant, for he lives and works on a low plane of action. Christ’s presence does not sustain him, and his spiritual representations are deformed. His life is a farce. He does not draw the higher life from God, and is unfitted to become a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King. Spiritually he is dead, for he does not assimilate into his own life the life which Christ has provided. He does not grasp the power which heaven has provided to enable him to be an overcomer.
No one can take to heaven his natural and cultivated traits of character. He who has carried these traits with him through his period of probation has misrepresented Christ by acting upon principles which God cannot endorse. The principles of true spiritual life are not understood by those who know the truth, but fail to practice it.
The Lord calls for reforms, marked, distinct reforms. Those in whose hearts Christ dwells will reveal His presence in their dealing with their fellow men. But the principles of some have been so long perverted that they have lost their discernment, and the arrow seldom reaches its mark. How can this be cured? Only by heeding Christ’s prayer, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:17-19). There is no roundabout way in which the work of sanctification can take place.—Manuscript 16, February 25, 1901, “Testimony to the Battle Creek Church.”
The Upward Look p. 70
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray that my husband will be healed of his depression or be willing to go on meds. SS
—-PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR MY MOM. THE DR. SAYS SHES GOING TO DIE IN THE NEXT 24 TO 48 HOURS. Please pray that he heals her but if he won’t please pray that he won’t take her unless she is saved for eternity. Connie
—-Please pray that my visit to the Retina Specialist goes better than last time and that it won’t hurt so much. I have wet macular degeneration and require shots in my eyes. Everyone tells me they don’t feel anything when they get their shots but I experience terrible pain. Please pray for the doctor and for me to be able to relax. Kathy
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Dear Friends,

Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27.
I pray that the people of God may not cast aside the peculiarities of their faith. Christ is glorified by a life of constant, well-defined faith. Paul declares, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ is to be glorified by the living, working faith of His people. The just shall live by faith. Christ has not left His people to stumble along in darkness. He has marked out the way before them. He says, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). It is along the path of self-denial, the royal highway cast up by the Redeemer, that God’s people are to travel.
My brother, bow in submission before Him who has brought life and immortality to light. Let your will and the will of Christ be one. Talk this, pray this, live this. God’s word to us is, “Go forward,” and this word we are to obey, though we shall meet with obstacles seemingly as insurmountable as the Red Sea. Let us trust the Lord God of heaven to open the way before His people. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5). This patience of the soul is the rest of faith. The Lord will bless His tried, faithful people. He will not leave them to become confused.
In the last great day every word, every act, will be subjected to the crucial test of the Judge of all the earth…. The Lord calls for heartfelt repentance from those who claim to be His people. Self-indulgence is to find no place in their lives. The church of God is to be jealously guarded from every phase of dishonesty, every taint of corruption. The love of Christ is directly opposed to all avarice, all pride, all pretense. The Lord calls for humble, contrite hearts. He will work by His Holy Spirit upon all who will be worked, all who love Him and keep His commandments. And they will make the presence and power of God so manifestly to appear that the enemies of the truth will be compelled to say that God and His angels are indeed the friends and helpers of those who serve Him.
Schism and division are not the fruits of righteousness; they are of the wicked one. The great hindrance to our advancement at this time is the selfishness that prevents believers from having true fellowship with one another. The last prayer that Christ offered for His disciples before His trial was that they might be one in Him. Satan is determined that this oneness shall not be, for it is the strongest witness that can be borne that God did indeed send His Son to reconcile the world to heaven.—Letter 41, February 24, 1903, to Dr. F. E. Braucht, a physician laboring in Chicago
The Upward Look p. 69
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for R who is having trouble at work. A
—-Please continue praying earnestly for my dear mother. She is on total life support now. Please pray for her healing. Connie
—-Please pray for B, B, and F who have health problems and need God’s healing power in their lives. Buck
—-Please pray for the situation in Ecuador. Antoinette
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Dear Friends,
When I was a little girl, my mother and I went to Wisconsin for a vacation. While there, we saw everything there was to see and did everything there was to do there at the time. That included visiting Cave of the Mounds. As we walked through that cave, I was awe-struck by the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites and other rock formations. It looked like a fairyland. That began a love for caves that has lasted throughout the years.
No matter where we would go on vacation, I would always try to find a nearby cave. Ron doesn’t like caves much, but he would go because I enjoyed them. His biggest complaint about a cave tour is that the guide nearly always gets us down in the depths of the earth and then turns out the lights. The guide tells everyone in the tour group to be silent. There is not one tiny ray of light. The blackness is so dark that it can be felt. After what seems like an eternity to Ron, the guide turns on a small flashlight. It is a relief to be able to see something again. After turning on the light switch, the cave is once more flooded with light and the beautiful formations are again visible. In the last cave we went to this past summer, Ron had an additional problem. He was the last person in line and the guide hurrying us through turned of the lights of each section before he had a chance to get into the light of the next section.
Just as that cave was totally dark without electric lights, so without God’s Word to guide us, we are in total darkness, darkness as complete as it is inside a cave. The psalmist declares, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps 119:105 Through study of the Scriptures, we may find the narrow path that leads to Heaven that Jesus speaks about. “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
Peter makes an interesting comparison between his experience upon the Mount of Transfiguration and God’s Word. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:16-21 Think of it! More sure than seeing Christ glorified among them, greater than listening to His being encouraged by Moses and Elijah, beyond hearing the voice of God declare Jesus to be His Son [Matt 17:1-9] is the study and following of God’s Holy Word.
Then Peter give warning, but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.” 2 Peter 2:1 Jesus warns us of the same, “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders.” Matt 24:24 Paul also warns, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:29, 30
How can we recognize the true from the false? Through the light of God’s Holy Word. We must compare all that we hear, all that we see, all that we read with a “Thus saith the Lord.” “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa 8:20 In these last days of earth’s history, our only safety is in hiding God’s Word in our heart. (Ps 119:9-11) We must pray earnestly for guidance, take our concordance to find all that is written concerning a certain subject, and change our life accordingly.
May we “study to show [ourself] approved of God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 May we be “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [our] own selves.” James 2:22 May we follow the Light continually is my prayer.
Rose

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:14.
The angels who do always behold the face of the Father in heaven would prefer to remain close by the side of God. But the Lord gives to every angel his work for this fallen world. Divine help is provided for men. They have the opportunity of cooperating with heavenly intelligences, of being laborers together with God. The possibilities of gaining a fitness for the presence of God, of being enabled to see His face, are placed before them. Heavenly angels are working to bring the human family into a close brotherhood, a oneness described by Christ as like to that existing between the Father and the Son. How can men so highly honored by God fail to appreciate their opportunities and privileges? How can they refuse to accept the divine help proffered? How much it is possible for human beings to gain if they will keep eternity in view.
Satanic agencies are ever warring for the mastery over human minds. But the angels of God are constantly at work, strengthening the weak hands and confirming the feeble knees of all who call upon God for help. The promise to every child of God is, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children. Then ask; believe what God has said. He will surely fulfill His word. Say from the heart, “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalm 73:26). The victory must be gained day by day. As followers of Christ we are to stand on vantage ground before the world as Christ’s representatives. Let us then engage in this part of the Christian warfare, determinedly overcoming every weakness of character….
The Lord has had truehearted men and women, those who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice. They have not swerved from their integrity; they have kept themselves unspotted from the world. These have been led by the Light of life to defeat the purposes of the wily foe. Will human beings now act their part in resisting the devil? If they will do this, he will surely flee from them. Angels will do for you the things you cannot do for yourselves. They are waiting for your cooperation….
While you have one desire to resist the devil, and sincerely pray, “Deliver me from temptation,” you will have strength for your day. It is the work of the heavenly angels to come close to the tried, the suffering, the tempted ones.—Manuscript 14, February 23, 1899, “To Every Man His Work.”
The Upward Look p. 68
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Prayer Requests
—-I have an unspoken request. Rose
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Dear Friends,
About a month after her seventh birthday, Eileen and I were driving to Ron’s job site to do an errand for him. I was under a lot of stress at the time for various reasons. I was so preoccupied with my problems that I didn’t realize where I was. I thought that I was a block farther down the road where there was a turning light. The last thing I remember was being stopped at a red light, getting ready to make a left turn as soon as it turned green. It turned green and in my upset condition, I thought it was a green arrow. It wasn’t.
When I woke up in the hospital a few hours later, I was told that I had pulled out in front of a UPS truck. Eventually, Eileen and I got completely over the accident. The only reminder she has are a few scars on her forehead that really don’t show unless one looks carefully for them, and I still have a small area about the size of a nickel on my knee where there is no feeling. I can poke it with my finger or with a pin and the result is the same: I cannot feel a thing. A nerve must have been severed and was unable to regenerate completely like the rest of the nerves to my knee had.
Just as the sensory nerves are important for us to have feeling, so our conscience must be alive to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Just as I have no feeling in that small area on my left knee, so we can become numb to the Spirit’s voice if we continue to turn away from His pleadings. Jesus warns, “I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matt 12:31,32
It is through the Holy Spirit that we are convicted of sin. It is through His working upon our heart, that we feel our need of our Dear Saviour. Jesus explains, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 16:7-14;14:26
David prayed, “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.” Ps 19:13 How earnest we should be in our religious life. How careful we should be not to spurn His great mercy and love. Paul asks, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” Heb 2:3,4
If we continue to refuse to listen to the Spirit’s voice, we eventually no longer hear that still, small voice speaking to us. Eventually, we no longer care for the things of God. Paul admonishes us, “grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph 4:30 He further explains, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.” Rom 8:26
May we be responsive to the Holy Spirit’s voice as He speaks to our heart. May we be obedient to His will. May our ears be attune to His pleading voice allow Him complete control of every part of our being is my prayer.
Rose

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. Hebrews 5:8, 9.
Christ came to our world, and lived in the home of a peasant. He wore the best garments His parents could provide, but they were the humble garments of the peasants. He walked the rough paths, and climbed the steeps of the hillsides and mountains. When He walked the streets He was apparently alone, for human eyes did not behold His heavenly attendants. He learned the trade of a carpenter, that He might stamp all honest labor as honorable and ennobling to all who work with an eye single to the glory of God….
Christ, the Lord of the whole earth, was a humble artisan. He was unrecognized, neglected, and despised. But He held His commission and authority from the highest power, the Sovereign of heaven. Angels were His attendants, for Christ was doing His Father’s business just as much when toiling at the bench as a carpenter, as when working miracles for the multitude. But He concealed the secret from the world. He attached no high titles to His name, to make His position understood, but He lived the royal law of God. His work must begin in consecrating the humble trade of the craftsmen who have toiled for their daily bread. Had Christ passed His life among the grand and the rich, the world of toilers would have been deprived of the inspiration which the Lord intended they should have.
Meek and lowly was the life of Christ. He chose this life that He might help the human family. He did not take His place upon a throne as Commander of the whole earth. He laid aside His royal robe, He laid off His kingly crown, that He might be made one of the human family. He took not on Him the nature of angels. His work was not the priestly office after the appointments of men. It was impossible for man to understand His exalted position, unless the Holy Spirit should make it known. For our sake, He clothed His divinity with humanity, and stepped down from the royal throne. He resigned His position as Commander in the heavenly courts, and for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. Thus, He hid His glory under the guise of humanity, that He might touch humanity with His divine, transforming power….
Those to whom Christ has given a probation in which to form characters for the mansions He has gone to prepare are to enter into His life example.—Manuscript 24, February 22, 1898, “Christ’s Life on Earth.”
The Upward Look p. 67
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Prayer Requests
—-I have the job interview today at 1:00 PM after all. Please pray that if it is God’s will that I get it. JT
—-Please pray for my sister Pat they are moving her into a care home. and hospice will be taking care of her. her mind is going from all the drugs they are giving her for pain. pray that she ill accept the Lord as her Savior and that she will not have to suffer long. M
—-Also pray for a dear friend of mine .we have known each other since the 80’s.she has walking pneumonia and bronchitis . she is like a sister to me. more so since I am losing my younger sister. thanks. M.
—-Please pray for my friend, she in the hospital. She has just lost her daughter. Loretta
—-Need prayers please, lost my precious sister yesterday, please pray for all the family. Patti
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Dear Friends,
Yesterday, I was reading a poem by my great-great-aunt, Aletha Phillips-Spoor called Making a Garden. I’d like to share it with you.