God would have us individually come into that position where He can bestow His love upon us. He has placed a high value upon man, and has redeemed us by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, and we are to see in our fellow man the purchase of the blood of Christ. If we have this love one for another, we shall be growing in love for God and the truth. We have been pained at heart to see how little love is cherished in our midst. Love is a plant of heavenly origin, and if we would have it flourish in our hearts, we must cultivate it daily. Mildness, gentleness, long-suffering, not being easily provoked, bearing all things, enduring all things—these are the fruits upon the precious tree of love.

When you are associated together, be guarded in your words. Let your conversation be of such a nature that you will have no need of repentance. “Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35). If the love of the truth is in your heart, you will talk of the truth. You will talk of the blessed hope that you have in Jesus. If you have love in your heart, you will seek to establish and build up your brother in the most holy faith. If a word is dropped that is detrimental to the character of your friend or brother, do not encourage this evil-speaking. It is the work of the enemy. Kindly remind the speaker that the Word of God forbids that kind of conversation.

We are to empty the heart of everything that defiles the soul temple, that Christ may dwell within. Our Redeemer has told us how we may reveal Him to the world. If we cherish His Spirit, if we manifest His love to others, if we guard one another’s interest, if we are kind, patient, forbearing, the world will have an evidence by the fruits we bear that we are the children of God. It is the unity in the church that enables it to exert a conscious influence upon unbelievers and worldlings.—The Review and Herald, June 5, 1888
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 76
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for E and children’s guidance and protection. R
—-Please pray for the family of Marlene as she passed away.
—-Please pray for my daughter in law and my son. Vale
—-I’m having knee replacement surgery this morning. I’d appreciate your prayers! Mary
—-Please pray for Isabella, she is my great niece and has cancer. She is 16 years old, and this is the second go around with it. Her dad is a pastor, and her mom gave up her career to take care of her. She is starting a NEW radiation treatment. Michael
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Dear Friends,
One time some years ago, I shared with a lady about the fun time we had had with our children as they had all come for the Thanksgiving holiday. As soon as I had, I was sorry as a look of longing came over her face. Sadly, she told me how she wished that her boys would come for a visit or even call her. It had been many months since she had heard from them. When I asked why she didn’t call them, she said that every time she does, they act as if she is interrupting something. She looked as if she would cry at any moment.
How often we treat our Heavenly Father like those boys treated their mother. How many times we break His Great Heart of Love. Think of it! The Great King of the Universe, the Creator of all things looks forward to hearing from us. He longs to have us talk to Him, to bring Him all our perplexities, to share with Him our joys, to ask His advice, to listen as He speaks to us through His Word and through that “still small voice.”
David said, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Ps 55:17 Paul advises, “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thes 5:17 As we go through the day, our Dear Saviour longs for us to be conscious of His presence. He desires to be part of all we do, all we say, all we think. How often He waits for us to think of Him, but we often go through our daily routine with scarcely a thought Heavenward.
“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found…Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Ps 32:5-8 As we pray, He instructs us. As we meditate on His Word, He enlightens us. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” Ps 119:11-16
May we continually draw near to our Loving Saviour. May our sweetest thoughts be of Him, our words be words of praise for His goodness. May we so live that we can invite Him to go with us in all that we do, in every place where we go is my prayer.
Rose

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

John says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” No language can express this love; we can describe but a faint degree of love that passeth knowledge. It would require the language of the Infinite to express the love that has made it possible for us to be called the sons of God. In becoming a Christian, a man does not step down. There is no shame in having connection with the living God.

Jesus bore the humiliation and shame and reproach that justly belonged to the sinner. He was the Majesty of heaven, He was the King of glory, He was equal with the Father; and yet He clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, that divinity might lay hold of divinity. Had He come as an angel, He could not have been a partaker with us of our sufferings, could not have been tempted in all points like as we are, He could not have sympathized with our sorrows; but He came in the garb of our humanity, that as our substitute and surety, He might overcome the prince of darkness in our behalf, and make us victors through His merits.

[As we stand] under the shadow of the cross of Calvary, the inspiration of His love fills our hearts. When I look upon Him whom my sins have pierced, the inspiration from on high comes upon me; and this inspiration may come upon each one of you through the Holy Spirit. Unless you receive the Holy Spirit, you cannot have the love of God in the soul; but through a living connection with Christ, we are inspired with love and zeal and earnestness.

We are not as a block of marble, which may reflect the light of the sun, but cannot be imbued with life. We are capable of responding to the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness; for as Christ illuminates our souls, He gives light and life. We drink in the love of Christ as the branch draws nourishment from the vine. If we are grafted into Christ, if fiber by fiber we have been united with the living Vine, we shall give evidence of this fact by bearing rich clusters of fruit.—The Review and Herald, September 27, 1892.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 71
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for E and her children. R
—-Please pray for the family of Kevin L who passed away this week. K

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

While you have been walking in meekness and lowliness of heart, a work has been going on for you, a work which only God could do; for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And that good pleasure is to have you abide in Christ, rest in His love. You must not let anything rob your soul of peace, of restfulness, of the assurance that you are accepted just now. Appropriate every promise; all are yours on condition of your complying with the Lord’s prescribed terms. Entire surrender of your ways, which seem so very wise, and taking Christ’s ways, is the secret of perfect rest in His love.

Giving up one’s life to Him means much more than we suppose. We must learn His meekness and lowliness before we realize the fulfillment of the promise “Ye shall find rest unto your souls.” It is by learning the habits of Christ, His meekness, His lowliness, that self becomes transformed—by taking Christ’s yoke upon you and then submitting to learn. There is no one who has not much to learn. All must come under training by Jesus Christ. When they fall upon Christ, their own hereditary and cultivated traits of character are taken away as hindrances to their being partakers of the divine nature. When self dies, then Christ lives in the human agent. He abides in Christ, and Christ lives in him.

Christ desires all to become His students. He says, Yield yourselves to My training; submit your souls unto Me. I will not extinguish you, but will work out for you such a character that you shall be transferred from the lower school to the higher grade. Submit all things to Me. Let My life, My patience, My longsuffering, My forbearance, My meekness, My lowliness, be worked out in your character, as one that abides in Me…. Then you have the promise not only “I will give,” but “Ye shall find rest unto your souls.”—Bible Training School, August 1, 1903.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 62
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for E and family. R
—-PLEASE pray for me. I am having excruciating abdominal pain. Connie
—-Pray for my friend, Vicki, and her family. Their Uncle died recently. Wanda
—-Please continue to pray for my Grandson. He has gone so far down that we had to call the Sheriff department to remove him from our home due to his drug use and mental health issues. If God doesn’t intervene I don’t know what will happen! Kathy
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Dear Friends,
My grandfather, Edwin Harmon, always had a love for trains. Because he could stand the abuse he suffered at his father’s hand no longer, he had left home at the age of ten and wandered up and down the east coast of the United States. He had not been gone long, when he came upon a group of homeless men. These men shared their food with him and taught him how to travel by riding in boxcars. This was great adventure! As he would ride along, he would pretend that he was the engineer driving the huge, steam-puffing engine. From that moment, he determined to one day drive a locomotive.
Sadly for him, it was not to be. One day a few years later,as he was back in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to visit his mother whom he adored, his father came home from work at an odd time and immediately sent him to Lancaster Academy to finish his education. There he was watched continuously and although he almost “escaped” once, he was there until his father got him into an apprenticeship in the family trade of bookbinding. My grandfather didn’t want to do it, but somehow his father was able to force him into it. All of his life, he worked as a bookbinder. His workmanship was perfect and in great demand, but he hated every minute of it. As he worked long hours, he dreamed of being behind the throttle of a gigantic locomotive, traveling to distant places, being free.
When I was a little girl, he used to take me to the train station and we would watch the trains together. He often talked about trains when I would ask him for a story. He looked upon the time that he spent “riding the rails” as the happiest time of his life.
How often we do the same in our Christian walk. We think about being a Christian, we talk about religion, we dream of the reward at the end; but do we wholeheartedly take hold of the free gift of salvation that has been so freely provided? It is not forced upon us. God never forces. We have to ask for it. We must reach out and take it. We must have a daily experience, a daily conversion.
Peter advises, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” 2 Peter 1:10 John adds, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17 “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” 1 Thes 4:3
How are we sanctified? In that great prayer of Jesus, we find the key. Our Dear Saviour prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17 David of this, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Ps 119:9-11 Solomon adds, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecc 12:13 May we reach out and accept God’s Great Provision, serve Him in singleness of heart by doing those things which please Him, and never look wistfully upon this sinful, old world as a thing to be desired is my prayer. (Luke 9:62)
Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/resting-in-him.html