A confession of Christ means something more than bearing testimony in social meeting. Daniel is an example to believers as to what it means to confess Christ. He held the responsible position of prime minister in the kingdom of Babylon, and there were those who were envious of Daniel among the great men of the court, and they wanted to find something against him that they might bring an accusation against him to the king. But he was a faithful statesman, and they could find no flaw in his character or life.

“Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God” (Daniel 6:5). So they agreed together to ask the king to make a decree that no one should ask any petition of any God or man for thirty days save of the king, and if any disobeyed this decree, he was to be cast into the den of lions.

But did Daniel cease to pray because this decree was to go into force? No, that was just the time when he needed to pray. “When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” Daniel did not seek to hide his loyalty to God. He did not pray in his heart, but with his voice, aloud, with his window open toward Jerusalem, he offered up his petition to heaven….

We may know that if our life is hid with Christ in God, when we are brought into trial because of our faith, Jesus will be with us. When we are brought before rulers and dignitaries to answer for our faith, the Spirit of the Lord will illuminate our understanding, and we shall be able to bear a testimony to the glory of God. And if we are called to suffer for Christ’s sake, we shall be able to go to prison trusting in Him as a little child trusts in its parents. Now is the time to cultivate faith in God.—The Review and Herald, May 3, 1892.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 269
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Prayer Requests
—-E and children need your prayers. R
—-Please continue to pray for Richard and Sarah. He has started chemo and radiation and she had a major seizure because of all the stress and is still having problems because of it. Rose
—-Please pray that them trying to shut down the currency will be delayed because this is going to affect everyone. Rosemary
—-Prayers for my friend Jaclyn. She has recently had her 3rd seizure of the year. Docs think she may have a form of epilepsy and are trying to get her in for a sleep study to diagnose. Prayers that she gets answers and healing. It’s hard for her as a single mom because she cannot drive until cleared by her doctor. It seems like when she’s just ready to get cleared, she has a setback. She’s extremely discouraged right now. Jennifer
—-Please continue to pray for baby Wyatt. Mary
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Dear Friends,

Ever since my mother took me to the Cave of the Mounds when I was nine, I have taken cave tours whenever I could. Some years ago, when we were on vacation in South Dakota, Esther suggested that we go to Jewel Cave. I was ready for a wonderful view of God’s handiwork under the earth despite the fact that I had been warned about that cave a few years before. Somehow, I just forgot all about that.

When the person at the ticket counter told us that there were 723 stair-steps in the cave, I asked if the tour guide went slowly and if the stairs were short flights interspersed with level areas. After being assured that was the case, we paid for the tickets. We began the cave tour by joining the rest of the people who were waiting for the tour to begin.

When we descended into the cave, however, I knew I was in trouble. Most of the path was either up or down on metal stairs. The “short flights” of stairs were not short at all. There were few level places to catch our breath. To add to my misery, the tour guide was a young, tough, no-nonsense type girl who could run a marathon without any exertion. She walked so fast, that I felt like a child trying to keep up with the long strides of a tall adult. I asked the guide if they ever had to call the paramedics. She replied, “Not often.” That was no comfort. Even worse was the fact that most of the cave was uninteresting limestone. There were very few crystals, even less flowstone, and only tiny stalactites and stalagmites in one area of the cave. Basically, it had two small areas that were “living.” About half-way through, I felt like I could go no farther. My legs felt like jelly. Thankfully, Esther came to my rescue. She got behind me and literally pushed me up the stairs. Seeing out dilemma, some nice man and his wife helped with the pushing. I was too tired to be too humiliated. I was just thankful when we got out of that place.

How often we need a helping hand spiritually just like I needed one physically in the cave. Paul tells us, “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil 2:1-8 Just as Jesus set aside His Own position as King of the Universe to come to this dark and cave-like world in order to serve mankind because of a love for us, so we must, from a heart of love help others on the path of life. He says to us as He said to His disciples when they were striving amongst themselves who would be the greatest, “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Matt 20:25-28; John 15:12-14

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/daniel.html

The prophet’s duty was plain; he was to lift his voice in protest against the prevailing evils. But he dreaded to undertake the work without some assurance of hope. “Lord, how long?” (Isaiah 6:11) he inquired. Are none of Thy chosen people ever to understand, and repent, and be healed?

His burden of soul in behalf of erring Judah was not to be borne in vain. His mission was not to be wholly fruitless. Yet the evils that had been multiplying for many generations could not be removed in his day. Throughout his lifetime he must be a patient, courageous teacher—a prophet of hope as well as of doom. The divine purpose finally accomplished, the full fruitage of his efforts, and of the labors of all God’s faithful messengers, would appear. A remnant should be saved. That this might be brought about, the messages of warning and entreaty were to be delivered to the rebellious, the Lord declared, “until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land” (verses 11, 12).

The heavy judgments that were to befall the impenitent—war, exile, oppression, the loss of power and prestige among the nations—all these were to come in order that those who would recognize in them the hand of an offended God might be led to repent. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom were soon to be scattered among the nations, and their cities left desolate; the destroying armies of hostile nations were to sweep over their land again and again; even Jerusalem was finally to fall, and Judah was to be carried away captive; yet the Promised Land was not to remain wholly forsaken forever.—The Review and Herald, March 11, 1915.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 266
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for my husband Richard who has just been diagnosed with Throat cancer. Pray that he will recover fully through medical treatment or by a miracle from God. Sarah Jane
—-Please pray for me as I have several job interviews over the next two weeks. One is with a company for which I have wanted to work for quite some time. Please pray that I will get the job that God wants me to have. RJ
—-Please pray for several situations affecting various family and friends. May God take complete control of each. Rose
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Dear Friends,

The other day I was talking with someone who was adopted and in the course of the conversation, I told the story of Mrs. Russell and a baby that was literally left in her lap by a young lady who had struck up a conversation with her while they were riding on a train. This took place in the 1800s, so she was able to take the baby home and raise him as her son. She named him James. She loved him as her own son. She made one big mistake, however. In all his childhood and all through his teen years, she never told him that she was not his birth mother.

When he was 21, Mrs. Russell told him the story about the young girl on the train and how she chose Mrs. Russell to raise him as her own. She explained that the note the young woman had pinned to her baby said that on his twenty-first birthday, he was to go to a certain bank and it would be told him who he was and be given a large sum of money to go to college or to start a business. Poor James was shocked and horrified. He was repulsed by the whole situation. All the security of home vanished. How could this woman who had raised him NOT be his mother! She had never even hinted that he was not her own son. He felt deceived and forsaken.

After thinking about it for a few days, he decided that he did not want to know who he was. He did not want his real mother’s money no matter how much or how willingly it was offered. Mrs. Russell had loved him, and he loved her. She had raised him as her son. She was his mother: not the one who gave him birth.

When my mother was a little girl, she lived next door to James. He was a bent-over, white-haired old man who walked on crutches because he had arthritis so badly. Because of his decision, he had lived his life as a common laborer, owned only a small house, when he could have had a good education and great riches.

When I was a little girl, I used to look at his picture. He and his wife (a squat little woman with her hair drawn up in a strange-looking knot on the very top of her head) were standing on the steps of their very tiny wooden house. I would think of the life he could have had. It was within his reach. All he had to do was ask for it. But he would not.

I often thought, too, of his birth mother. She must have been at the bank on James’ birthday. She must have been searching the face of every young man as he entered and wondering if this could be her son. Long years, she had waited for this moment. All her desires were to hold in her arms that baby she was forced to abandon. As the day came and went, her heart broke even more than it had that far-off day. Had her son died? Had she chosen the wrong woman and she had taken him to an orphanage? Had she failed to tell him of the good news, the new life that was waiting for him? That evening, when the bank closed, a tearful, heartbroken woman left the bank never to know the answers to her questions……..

Even so, our Heavenly Father has provided everlasting life for us, but we must claim it as ours. All that can be done for mankind’s salvation has been done, but if we do not reach out and take it, it does us no good. How our Dear Saviour longs for us to accept His great provision. How He desires us to put our hand in His and allow Him to lead in our life. How much desire He has to give us His great gifts of love. He will not force us, however. He does all He can to draw us to Himself. As He tells us through the prophet Jeremiah, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Jer 31:3 He assures us, “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.” Isa 49:15,16 With longing desire in His voice, He pleads, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isa 45:22

How our Great Redeemer’s heart of love breaks when we do not accept His grace. He says to us as He said to Jerusalem of old, “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matt 23:37 “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, 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

May we never turn away from His great love. May we reach out and accept His Great Gift. May we love Him with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our strength is my prayer.

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/isaiah.html

Who can measure the results of those years of toil and wandering among the lonely hills? The communion with nature and with God, the care of his flocks, the perils and deliverances, the griefs and joys, of his lowly lot, were not only to mold the character of David and to influence his future life, but through the psalms of Israel’s sweet singer they were in all coming ages to kindle love and faith in the hearts of God’s people, bringing them nearer to the ever-loving heart of Him in whom all His creatures live.

David, in the beauty and vigor of his young manhood, was preparing to take a high position with the noblest of the earth. His talents, as precious gifts from God, were employed to extol the glory of the divine Giver. His opportunities of contemplation and meditation served to enrich him with that wisdom and piety that made him beloved of God and angels. As he contemplated the perfections of his Creator, clearer conceptions of God opened before his soul. Obscure themes were illuminated, difficulties were made plain, perplexities were harmonized, and each ray of new light called forth fresh bursts of rapture, and sweeter anthems of devotion, to the glory of God and the Redeemer.

The love that moved him, the sorrows that beset him, the triumphs that attended him, were all themes for his active thought; and as he beheld the love of God in all the providences of his life, his heart throbbed with more fervent adoration and gratitude, his voice rang out in a richer melody, his harp was swept with more exultant joy; and the shepherd boy proceeded from strength to strength, from knowledge to knowledge; for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 642.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 262
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Prayer Requests
—-I have a job interview this Monday. Please pray that I will get the job according to God’s will. RJ
—-Please pray that God will lead, provide, and guide E and children and keep all evil influences away. R
—-Some friends of mine his mother had a heart attack and is in ICU with brain bleed and she doesn’t want surgery she just turned 79 in July. her name is Pat lovely lady always helping others. M
—-Please pray for Mike and Eileen as his father passed away last week. Also pray for Mary whose friend passed away. Also pray for my cousin’s family as he passed away last week. Also pray for Susan whose husband passed last week and the funeral is tomorrow. Rose
—-Please pray for my autistic son. He is very very sick. And he won’t go for help. He’s told me in the past that he doesn’t want to live anymore. And I can’t make him go for help he is an adult. Thank you so much for your prayers for him. Connie
—-My 2nd cousin (and her mother) need prayer.. they lost their pets due to extreme heat and the power going out when they weren’t home. She is devastated as these animals were like children to her. Johanna
—-Pray for my 91 year old Mother. She had fallen and fractured her hip, and did make a good recovery. However, the screws in her hip have shifted and the surgery must be redone.Aleta
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Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/david.html