By comparing the kingdom of heaven to a pearl, Christ desired to lead every soul to appreciate that pearl above all else. The possession of the pearl, which means the possession of a personal Savior, is the symbol of true riches. It is a treasure above every earthly treasure.

Christ is ready to receive all who come to Him in sincerity. He is our only hope, our Alpha and Omega. He is our sun and shield, our wisdom, our sanctification, our righteousness. Only by His power can our hearts be kept in the love of God….

On one occasion Christ warned His disciples to beware how they cast their pearls before those who had not discernment to appreciate their value…. “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” He said, “neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” …

When people show themselves unimpressionable, unable to appreciate the pearl of great price; when they deal dishonestly with God and with others; when they show that the fruit they bear is the fruit of the forbidden tree, beware lest, by connecting with them, you lose your connection with God….

Truth as it is in Jesus sets us right and keeps us so. The truth is an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast. But the truth is no truth to those who do not obey it. When men and women drift away from the principles of truth, they always betray sacred trust. Let every soul, in whatever sphere of action, make sure that the truth is implanted in the heart by the power of the Spirit of God. Unless this is made certain, those who preach the Word will betray holy trusts. Physicians will make shipwreck of the faith. Lawyers, judges, senators, will become corrupted, and yielding to bribery, will allow themselves to be bought and sold. Those who do not walk in the light as Christ is in the light are blind leaders of the blind, “Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.”—The Review and Herald, August 1, 1899.

From the Heart p. 120
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Harley. He was taken to the hospital during the night. The doctor said he needs a pacemaker. He will get it done tomorrow. Pray also for his mother who is in her nineties and needs prayer for health issues. M
—- Please pray for my son. He was in a car accident and he’s in the hospital. My prayer is that this will be a spiritual awakening for him cause it’s not good. He totaled his car. Apparently he had been drinking and he ran into the front of a dollar store & put a big hole in it. And when he did that he hit a propane tank! Blessed be the Lord- it did not explode. I pray this is the start of what I’ve been praying for “a conversion.” He has been estranged from me for years… Angela
—-Please pray for James who was in a motorcycle accident and is in the hospital. Pray also for Ron who is still having problems with his blood pressure. Rose
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Dear Friends,

During this time of year, when we especially think of the death and resurrection of our Dear Saviour, I thought I would share the passage in Isaiah which so plainly prophesies of Him. “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isa 52:13-53:12

The Crucifixion (this song was written by Esther when she was about sixteen)

At the Garden of Gethsemane
Jesus felt the need to pray
And as He walked He stumbled and fellowship
Under the weight of our sin.
Soon you could hear the mob
Rushing for our Lord
And then Judas kissed the Lord
And sold Him to the crowd.
Jesus was wounded and bruised
And yet He remained so calm
And as He looked upon the crowd
Love filled His eyes.
“Crucify the Lord! Crucify the Son of Man!
“Crucify the Lord! Crucify the Son of Man!”

Jesus walked down the road
The cross was laid on His back
But soon He fell under the weight
He couldn’t bear the pain.
They reached the hill of Calvary
Jesus was laid on the cross
But when they pounded the nails through His hands
He never uttered a sound.
They raised the cross into the hole
Jesus had blood on His face
But through the storm He looked to the sky
And cried out to our God
“Father why hast Thou forsaken Me?
Father why has Thou forgotten Me!”

And then with these last words
He cried out through the pain
“It is finished!” And then He died!
His heart broke from the weight of our sin.
Then Joseph asked for His body
He gently took Him down
And then he laid Him in his tomb
That’s all he could do for his Lord.
Soldiers guarded the tomb
They didn’t want Jesus to escape
But then the angel come with a great light
And they fell to the ground as dead.
Jesus is alive! Jesus did rise again!
Jesus is alive! He saved us from our sins!
Jesus is alive! Jesus will come again!
Jesus is alive! He has saved us from our sins!

May we accept His great sacrifice for us. May we praise Him for His Great Love. May we so live that when He comes we will look up with rejoicing and exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa 25:9

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-pearl-of-great-price.html

Christ taught by means of figures and symbols. On one occasion He spoke a parable in regard to the hiring of laborers to illustrate the way in which God deals with those who devote themselves to His service….

It was the custom in Judea for men to wait at the marketplaces for someone to come and employ them; and in Europe this custom is still in vogue. Those who need help go to the marketplace to find servants that they may employ. The man in the parable is represented as going out at different hours to engage workmen. Those he hired at the earliest hour agreed to work for him for a stated sum of money, while those who were hired later left the wages they were to receive wholly to the discretion of the householder.

“So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.” …

The lesson of the laborers had a bearing upon the question about which the disciples had disputed by the way—who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The world’s Redeemer saw the danger that would imperil His church, and sought to arouse His people to an understanding of their position; for this parable was but a continuation of the lesson taught when Peter asked, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” …

With implicit trust we are to stay upon God, and let the heart rest in Him without a question as to what is to be our measure of reward….

Jesus would have those who are engaged in His service not [be] eager for rewards nor feel that they must receive compensation for all that they do…. The Lord measures the spirit, and rewards accordingly, and the pure, humble, childlike spirit of love makes the offering precious in His sight.—The Review and Herald, July 3, 1894.
From the Heart p. 113
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Josephine whose husband died this week. Rose
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Dear Friends,

When we first moved to North Carolina, we rented a garage apartment right across the street from the church and church school. This made it so convenient for Eileen since she could just walk across the street to go to school. It had a nice playground where she and Ronnie Jay could play together. It was also convenient for us as we did not have to drive to the various church meetings. Although the apartment was small, these things made us very happy there.

One day, our land lady told us that her son was going to be staying with her for a while. She was very excited. That son and his family soon arrived with all of their belongings. It looked to us as if they were planning to stay indefinitely. One day, he told us that we would have to move. He was moving to Wilmington permanently and would be living in his mother’s house. He had decided that our apartment would be a perfect place for his mother to live. It was hard to believe that anyone could do such a thing to their mother, but there was nothing we could do but try to find another place to live. We had lost everything but the clothes we were wearing in a fire just before we had moved there and losing that apartment that was so convenient for us made me feel as if my world was crashing in upon me. I just could not understand why this was happening. I was very discouraged.

Finally, after searching diligently, I found a mobile home that was surrounded by trees and fields. Behind the trailer was a warehouse where the snack food trucks stored their food supplies. It did not take my children long to discover that if they were outside when the trucks came, the drivers would give them the day-old food that they could not sell. Every day they would come back with their arms loaded with food. It was like having our own bakery outlet store! This was such a blessing to us, as we were having a very hard time financially and this helped our grocery bill tremendously. It was true that most of the food was high in sugar, but at least our children didn’t have to go hungry anymore.

There was a magnolia tree behind our trailer that Eileen enjoyed climbing and a wisteria vine loaded with fragrant blooms. The front yard was a lovely place with tall pines that shielded us from the street. On warm evenings, we enjoyed having worship under those pines. One evening as the children and I were sitting under those trees, we had a thrilling experience. I was playing the guitar, and we were singing songs of praise to our Heavenly Father, when a little screech owl flew down and landed on a post about 10 feet from us. He watched us and we watched him. He seemed to be enjoying the music. He stayed there all the time we were having worship and would have stayed longer, but Ronnie Jay, age two, was getting sleepy and wanted to go to bed. We had to walk within inches of that little owl to get inside. That was a little too close for that little owl’s comfort and he flew away.

Suddenly, I realized that we were much happier there than we had ever been in the apartment. I then knew that what had seemed like a such a great difficulty and trial, was really a great blessing sent to us from our Great Provider. My heart filled with gratitude for His loving care.

Sometimes we cannot understand why things happen the way they do. Our trials make us feel like our world is crashing in on top of us. We feel as did Job, “When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.” Job 30:26 Yet, God has His hand over all of these things. He takes those very circumstances that seem so overwhelming and unfair and works them around for our good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28

Moreover, He promises, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Ps 32:8 It may not happen as quickly as we would like, or in the way that we would like, but if we allow Him to, He will untangle all the tangled threads of our lives and make our path straight. Peter tells us, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:12,13; 1:7

Let us turn to our Loving Shepherd when things go wrong and when all forsake us. He is our comfort! He is our strength! He is our Fortress and our Mighty Deliverer! “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” no matter what may be happening in our life, for we know and are assured that our Loving Father has our best interest at heart. Heb 13:15 Let us pray as did David, “In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Ps 31:1-3, 24

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/the-laborers.html

The Lord Jesus had precious truth to open before His disciples, but He could not unfold it to their minds until they were in a condition to comprehend the significance of what He desired to teach….

Though He unfolded great and wonderful things to the minds of His disciples, He left many things unsaid that could not be comprehended by them. At His last meeting with them before His death, He said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” … Earthly ideas, temporal things, occupied so large a place in their minds, that they could not then understand the exalted nature, the holy character, of His kingdom, though He laid it out in clear lines before them. It was because of their former erroneous interpretation of the prophecies, because of human customs and traditions, presented and urged upon them by the priests, that their minds had become confused and were hardened to truth.

What was it that Jesus withheld because they could not comprehend it? It was the more spiritual, glorious truths concerning the plan of redemption. The words of Christ, which the Comforter would recall to their minds after His ascension, led them to more careful thought and earnest prayer that they might comprehend His words and give them to the world. Only the Holy Spirit could enable them to appreciate the significance of the plan of redemption. The lessons of Christ, coming to the world through the inspired testimony of the disciples, have a significance and value far beyond that which the casual reader of the Scriptures gives them. Christ sought to make plain His lessons by means of illustrations and parables. He spoke of the truths of the Bible as a treasure hid in a field, which, when a man had found, he went and sold all that he had, and bought the field. He represents the gems of truth, not as lying directly upon the surface, but as buried deep in the ground; as hidden treasures that must be searched for. We must dig for the precious jewels of truth, as a man would dig in a mine.

In presenting the truth to others, we should follow the example of Jesus.—The Review and Herald, October 14, 1890.
From the Heart p. 106
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Prayer Requests
—-update—Norm has been put on hospice. Please pray for him and his family. Mike
—-Please pray for GC who has cancer. Pray for healing. Buck
—-Please continue to pray for Rita who became septic and is in ICU. Rose
—-Please pray for Steve who had spinal surgery and is having trouble recovering. Ron
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Dear Friends,

Yesterday I was thinking about my grandmother’s cousin Lillian who was a librarian in my hometown. Every time I saw her when my mother and I went to town when I was young, I wished that we had taken a different route. Lillian continually talked about the fact that she could trace her lineage all the way back to the American Revolution. In fact, she belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution, an organization for just such people. (The irony of this was my mother and I also had the same ancestors.)

Just as Lillian was able to steer any conversation around to talking about her favorite subject, so we should do something similar but in such a way that people will want to avoid us. Our Dear Saviour is our example in how we should do this. When He was conversing with the woman at the well, He took her mind from the water in the well to the everlasting water that only He could give. “Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” John 4:5-42 From that short conversation an entire town learned of Jesus and His love for them.

May we share the Good News of Salvation to all we meet. May we let our “light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” that they may become children of the Heavenly King is my prayer. Matt 5:16

Rose

Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/i-have-many-things-to-say-unto-you.html