And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. Mark 2:22.
We need to be constantly filling the mind with Christ, and emptying it of selfishness and sin. When Christ came into the world, the leaders of the Jews were so permeated with Phariseeism that they could not receive His teachings. Jesus compared them to the shriveled wineskins which were not fit to receive the new wine from the vintage. He had to find new bottles into which to put the new wine of His kingdom. This was why He turned away from the Pharisees, and chose the lowly fishermen of Galilee.
Jesus was the greatest teacher the world ever knew, and He chose men whom He could educate, and who would take the words from His lips, and send them down along the line to our time. So, by His Spirit and His Word, He would educate you for His work. Just as surely as you empty your mind of vanity and frivolity, the vacuum will be supplied with that which God is waiting to give you—His Holy Spirit. Then out of the good treasure of the heart you will bring forth good things, rich gems of thought, and others will catch the words, and will begin to glorify God. Then you will not have the mind centered upon self. You will not be making a show of self; you will not be acting self; but your thoughts and affections will dwell upon Christ, and you will reflect upon others that which has shone upon you from the Sun of righteousness.
Christ has said: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37). Have you exhausted the fountain?—No; for it is inexhaustible. Just as soon as you feel your need, you may drink, and drink again. The fountain is always full. And when you have once drunk of that fountain, you will not be seeking to quench your thirst from the broken cisterns of this world; you will not be studying how you can find the most pleasure, amusement, fun, and frolic. No; because you have been drinking from the stream which makes glad the city of God. Then your joy will be full; for Christ will be in you, the hope of glory.—The Review and Herald, March 15, 1892.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 21
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Prayer Requests
—-Friend facing possible amputation. Please pray God’s will. Mel
—-Please pray for our family and our church family.
—-Prayers for my Brother! He and one of the older three boys tested positive for Covid, so he can’t go see his baby in NICU, but also they are having to monitor Liam in NICU more carefully in case my brother gave it to him. I feel so bad for my brother, it’s bad enough to be sick, but to possibly make the newborn babies (and potentially any other babies in NICU) sick with Covid…..So prayers for my brother and his little boy Nikolai, Prayers for mom Danielle as she will likely test positive as well, prayers for baby Liam and the other NICU babies (IDK if they are all isolated r not, but let’s jsut give them some prayers too) and then prayers for hte family as they can’t see him (but they will try to go every few days to drop off breast milk for Liam). Jennifer
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Dear Friends,
When we lived in North Carolina, the church we attended had a camp-out one weekend. It was the first time they had done so, and I hoped it would not be the last. We had a really nice time singing together and worshipping our Great Creator out in His Creation. Our pastor, John Earnhardt, took all the children on a nature walk and they had a fun time seeing the animals that he caught.

And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Luke 13:20, 21.
This parable illustrates the penetrating and assimilating power of the gospel, which is to fashion the church after the divine similitude by working on the hearts of the individual members. As the leaven operates on the meal, so the Holy Spirit operates on the human heart, absorbing all its capabilities and powers, bringing soul, body, and spirit into conformity to Christ.
In the parable the woman placed the leaven in the meal. It was necessary to supply a want. By this God would teach us that, of himself, man does not possess the properties of salvation. He cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will. The truth must be received into the heart. Thus the divine leaven does its work. By its transforming, vitalizing power it produces a change in the heart. New thoughts, new feelings, new purposes are awakened. The mind is changed, the faculties are set to work. Man is not supplied with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience hitherto dead is aroused. But man cannot make this change himself. It can be made only by the Holy Spirit. All who would be saved, high or low, rich or poor, must submit to the working of this power.
This truth is presented in Christ’s words to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:3-8).
When our minds are controlled by the Spirit of God, we shall understand the lesson taught by the parable of the leaven. Those who open their hearts to receive the truth will realize that the Word of God is the great instrumentality in the transformation of character.—The Review and Herald, July 25, 1899
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 18
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Prayer Requests
—-E continues to need God’s leading. Please pray for her and her children. R
—-Prayers needed again for my father Randy who is still in the hospital, he’s very depressed and now battling Covid. He can only have one visitor for 1 hour a day. Louise
—-Please continue to pray for Sharon who had a stroke recently. Mike
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Dear Friends,
As a little girl, I would spend every evening with my grandfather, Edwin Harmon, as soon as he came home from work. I would beg for him to tell the same stories of his life. Sometimes he must have tired of repeating those familiar stories as occasionally he would tell me something new and different. One day in answer to my request for a story, he took a pad of paper and wrote something on it. Then he tore it off and threw it away. I thought that was very strange. He began to tell me a story that had happened to a friend of his in the early part of the last century. Then he took a soft lead pencil, tipped it to the side and began to color the paper softly. To my amazement, the message that my grandfather had written appeared.
When he had written a message on the pad of paper, the pressure of the pencil had affected the page underneath. That page, although seemly untouched, had taken on the impress of what was written above. When shaded lightly by the soft pencil, the message became clearly visible. Then he told me that if I ever needed to see what someone had written, I could do what he had just done.
He did not bring out any spiritual lesson in his story even though there is one. All that we do and say has an effect on those around us. In everything we are an example for good or for evil. In scientific studies, they have shown that a person takes on the characteristics of another after being around them for as little as ten minutes. That is something to ponder when we think of the friends we have, the programs we watch, the music we listen to. Paul gives us a rule with which to measure all we look at on TV, what we listen to on the radio, our words, and our associations with others, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Phil 4:8 Peter adds, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:22-24
May we carefully guard the “avenues of the soul.” May we be “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation [conduct], in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Tim 4:12 May we so live that our words, our thoughts, our actions will affect those around us for the right, that they may be drawn to our Dear Saviour is my prayer.
Rose

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Matthew 25:3, 4.
Many receive the truth readily, but they fail to assimilate truth, and its influence is not abiding. They are like the foolish virgins, who had no oil in their vessels with their lamps. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which is brought into the soul through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who earnestly search the Scriptures with much prayer, who rely upon God with firm faith, who obey His commandments, will be among those who are represented as wise virgins. The teachings of the Word of God are not yea and nay, but yea and amen.
The requirement of the gospel is far-reaching. Says the apostle, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17). “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Practical piety will not be attained by giving the grand truths of the Bible a place in the outer courts of the heart. The religion of the Bible must be brought into the large and the little affairs of life. It must furnish the powerful motives and principles that will regulate the Christian’s character and course of action….
The oil so much needed by those who are represented as foolish virgins, is not something to be put on the outside. They need to bring the truth into the sanctuary of the soul, that it may cleanse, refine, and sanctify. It is not theory that they need; it is the sacred teachings of the Bible, which are not uncertain, disconnected doctrines, but are living truths, that involve eternal interests that center in Christ. In Him is the complete system of divine truth. The salvation of the soul, through faith in Christ, is the ground and pillar of the truth.
Those who exercise true faith in Christ make it manifest by holiness of character, by obedience to the law of God. They realize that the truth as it is in Jesus reaches heaven, and compasses eternity. They understand that the Christian’s character should represent the character of Christ, and be full of grace and truth. To them is imparted the oil of grace, which sustains a never-failing light. The Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer makes him complete in Christ.—The Review and Herald, September 17, 1895.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 16
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Kim. The hospital is pushing for her to go on hospice, but the family does not want her to. Her boss is trying to get her into another hospital who will give her the operation she needs. Please pray that her boss will be successful in getting her the treatment she needs. Brenda
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Dear Friends,
Before I was five, my aunt Joyce still lived with my grandparents. So did I as they had adopted me when I was a baby. My aunt loved all children, but I was especially dear to her. So, for those first five years, she used quite a bit of her paycheck to shower me with expensive gifts. Imagine her disappointment when as a very little girl, I played with the box instead of the toy.
As I got older, her gifts were enjoyed, but I did not appreciate the hours of work that she put in at the factory in order to buy these expensive gifts. Gilmore’s Department Store was the fanciest and most expensive store in Kalamazoo; and because Auntie Joyce loved me, she bought my presents there. One time when I was very little, she saw a portable dollhouse with very expensive and realistic miniature furnishings. Each week she would buy a piece of furniture, so that by the time I was old enough to enjoy playing with it, I had the complete set. How I loved that dollhouse! It was one of the few things that I really enjoyed playing with.
I can never remember really thanking Auntie Joyce for all the lovely things she bought me. Oh, when I was old enough to talk, I said “thank you,” because I had been taught to be polite; but I took her gifts for granted as though as though I had a perfect right to them.
How often do we do the same with our Great Creator’s gifts. How often we enjoy His wonderful blessings with scarcely a thought of the Giver. We might even thank Him politely for something special, but our heart is not filled with gratefulness. We are as He sadly described His followers of old, “this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” Isa 29:13 How often we forget that, “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17
How little we appreciate His Greatest Gift of all and take this Greatest Gift for granted.. Because of His great love for us, He sent Jesus, His only Begotten Son, to suffer and die for us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:16,17 Yet, how often we live our life as though we were worthy of such a sacrifice! We can never be worthy, “but God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8
Do we daily thank Him for the great sacrifice that He made for us? Do we have thankfulness and love for His goodness welling up within our hearts? Do we respond to Him by loving obedience? Can others see His character shining through us? Are His praises continually on our lips? “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Ps 107:8 Paul advises, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thes 5:18
May He open our eyes to His blessings each day. May we thank Him for bearing our griefs, and carrying our sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. (Isa 53) May we praise Him from from a heart filled with love and gratitude for His marvelous grace.
Rose

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. John 16:7.

Note: This year we will be reading the devotional book Ye Shall Receive Power by E. G. White. It is my hope that it will be a blessing for you.
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And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. John 14:16.