True holiness is wholeness in the service of God. This is the condition of true Christian living. Christ asks for an unreserved consecration, for undivided service. He demands the heart, the mind, the soul, the strength. Self is not to be cherished. He who lives to himself is not a Christian. Love must be the principle of action. Love is the underlying principle of God’s government in heaven and earth, and it must be the foundation of the Christian’s character. This alone can make and keep him steadfast. This alone can enable him to withstand trial and temptation.

And love will be revealed in sacrifice. The plan of redemption was laid in sacrifice—a sacrifice so broad and deep and high that it is immeasurable. Christ gave all for us, and those who receive Christ will be ready to sacrifice all for the sake of their Redeemer. The thought of His honor and glory will come before anything else. If we love Jesus, we shall love to live for Him, to present our thank-offerings to Him, to labor for Him.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 48, 49.

The Redeemer will not accept divided service. Daily the worker for God must learn the meaning of self-surrender. He must study the Word of God, learning its meaning and obeying its precepts. Thus he may reach the standard of Christian excellence. Day by day God works with him, perfecting the character that is to stand in the time of final test. And day by day the believer is working out before men and angels a sublime experiment, showing what the gospel can do for fallen human beings.—Gospel Workers, 113.

With God at Dawn p. 295
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for a church member’s husband who is in the hospital with covid and is getting worse. Heidi
—-We have a dear adopted sister, who nearly a year ago, fled an abusive and violent marriage with her precious children. She is now in divorce proceedings. Pray that she gets to keep her children. J
—-David and his family need prayer. Please pray that he will be willing to take the medication that he needs. Buck
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, I was having a conversation with a relative about some things I was struggling with. In the course of the conversation they suggested that I should talk to Esther because she was like a light in the darkness that made a person feel better just talking to her.

After we hung up the phone, I began to think about that statement about Esther. Praise God! What a witness to her connection with Jesus, Who is “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9 How vital that we have that connection so that we can be lights to others who are enveloped in a world of darkness. Indeed, without that connection, our light is darkness. Jesus tells us, “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.” “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Luke 11:33-36; Matt 5:14, 16

Solomons observed, “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov 4:18 Is our path safe for others to follow? Are we as lights in a dark place? Do we reflect the love of Jesus to those around us each day? Are they closer to Him because of us? Do they understand the Scriptures better because of our witness? May we be as lesser lights reflecting the True Light that they, in turn, may become lights to others is my prayer.

Rose

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/5yRmEFJyFGI/he-shall-justify-many.html

He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by Satan. There were whole villages where there was not a moan of sickness in any house; for He had passed through them, and healed all their sick. His work gave evidence of His divine anointing. Love, mercy, and compassion were revealed in every act of His life; His heart went out in tender sympathy to the children of men. He took man’s nature, that He might reach man’s wants. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. Even little children were attracted to Him. They loved to climb upon His knees, and gaze into the pensive face, benignant with love. Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He uttered it always in love. He exercised the greatest tact, and thoughtful, kind attention, in His intercourse with the people. He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity; but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes. He wept over Jerusalem, the city He loved, which refused to receive Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. They had rejected Him, the Saviour, but He regarded them with pitying tenderness. His life was one of self-denial and thoughtful care for others. Every soul was precious in His eyes. While He ever bore Himself with divine dignity, He bowed with the tenderest regard to every member of the family of God.—Steps to Christ, 11, 12.
With God at Dawn p. 293
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Prayer Requests
—-My daughter injured her hand at work last week and went to have it looked at and she’s rescheduled to go back tomorrow. She has to have surgery. Please pray for her healing and salvation along with my wife. Also, I have an old and dear friend that is in the hospital and struggling with Covid. His name is Shane and needs prayers for healing too. David
—-I have a private prayer request for my son, Samuel. God knows his needs and areas of struggle. Please pray for a healing and redirection of life that is healthy and brings fulfillment and purpose. Cora
—-There is a crisis situation with some friends of my daughter and son-in-law and their circle of friends. . . . My understanding is that he has been in counseling for PTSD from his service in the Marines. Something snapped today and he started posting some really bizarre and horrific things on his Facebook feed, alarming church members and his friends. I have read the posts. He is threatening to kill various people including his friends and his wife. She is in hiding with their little boy. Other friends have had to go into hiding also to protect themselves and their children, because of the threats. My heart goes out to them all. This young man is not himself; it’s like another power has taken him over. Please pray for him and all involved. They are trying to get him to get the help he needs. The police will not arrest him, even though he has threatened people’s lives. They say someone has to press charges first. And everyone is reticent to do that because of the repercussions to their families and themselves. He is vindictive and dangerous. The VA is involved and says his counselor and wife need to have him committed. She doesn’t want to do that. She wants to help him. She is a very gentle, kind-hearted person. Please pray that God will guide all involved to make the right choices for Jason, and for his family and friends — and church. And please pray, as I am, that evil will be cast out of this young man and his mind and heart set free. Kathy
—-Please be in prayer for my friend Jenny and her family. Her daughter Maya is doing better in the hospital. They think it may have been the beginnings of a mucus plug, which Maya deals with frequently. They think they’ve caught it in time, and possibly their protocol and machine settings may need to be adjusted as Maya has grown (she’s 4, and as she grows thing must be adjusted on the machines to accommodate her increase growth). With sadness, she found out that her father, who was Covid positive and having heart complications, had passed away sometime either Thursday or Friday and she just found out today (as she has been busy dealing with Maya in the hospital). Her mom is still sick, but praise Jesus she has been able to avoid the ventilator and is showing signs of improvements. Prayers for continued healing and prayers for the family as they are dealing with this unexpected passing. Jennifer
—-Please pray for the Christian missionaries who were recently kidnapped in Haiti. Jonathan
—-Please Pray for Christopher, 16, he was diagnosis of Leukemia. Karen
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Dear Friends,
This morning, I woke up before five AM. Now it is almost eight-thirty and I am so tired, I can’t think. For some reason to my sleep deprived mind, I thought of a devotional I had written years ago when I had overslept. (I guess I was wishing I had overslept this morning instead of “undersleeping.”) I did a search and found it, so I’m sharing it with you today.
“This morning, I overslept. Jesus told a story in Matthew 25 about some young girls who overslept. In fact, they were sleeping when they should have been awake and watching for the bridegroom. “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” Matt 25:1-13
How easy it is for us to be sleeping when we should be awake and watching and making “calling and election sure” 2 Peter 1:10 How vital that we have the extra oil of the Holy Spirit overflowing from within us. How easy it is for us to think that all is well, when in reality we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” Rev 3:18 Our Dear Saviour bids us, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” Luke 12:35-38
Jesus is coming soon! “May we not be found oversleeping when we should be alert and watching for His appearing. May we spend our time gathering precious souls for His kingdom. May we and they, when we see our Loving Saviour coming in the clouds, look up and say, “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: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/mEiAW6dvXVk/christs-work-specified.html

He called men, not to authority, but to service, the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. Power, position, talent, education, placed their possessor under the greater obligation to serve his fellows. To even the lowliest of Christ’s disciples it is said, “All things are for your sakes.” … Among His disciples Christ was in every sense a caretaker, a burden-bearer. He shared their poverty, He practised self-denial on their account, He went before them to smooth the more difficult places, and soon He would consummate His work on earth by laying down His life. The principle on which Christ acted is to actuate the members of the church which is His body. The plan and ground of salvation is love. In the kingdom of Christ those are greatest who follow the example He has given, and act as shepherds of His flock.—The Desire of Ages, 550.

But Christ reaches us where we are. He took our nature and overcame, that we through taking His nature might overcome…. Jesus had shown in what righteousness consists, and had pointed to God as its source. Now He turned to practical duties. In alms giving, in prayer, in fasting, He said, let nothing be done to attract attention or win praise to self. Give in sincerity, for the benefit of the suffering poor. In prayer, let the soul commune with God. In fasting, go not with the head bowed down, and heart filled with thoughts of self…. It is he who yields himself most unreservedly to God that will render Him the most acceptable service. For through fellowship with God men become workers together with Him in presenting His character in humanity.—The Desire of Ages, 312.
With God at Dawn p. 291
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for Larry. He is getting worse instead of better. The doctor is saying that he had a mild stroke and should not be having these problems. He thinks it is an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he is on. Pray that that antibiotic gets out of his system soon. Rose
—-I have a family member in the hospital(not covid) and we need prayers. Please pray for her, for the best case scenario. Jana
—-I’m about to lose my job because of the mandates. Please pray something can be worked out. D
—-Very good friends asked for prayers for their precious grand-daughter who is having heart surgery tomorrow at 1:00 pm central time. Her name is Indy. Lorraine
—-Please every one pray for my daughter Anne Louise she is sick. Louisette
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Dear Friends,

About twenty years ago, an incident happened that reminded me to be careful not to judge by appearances. As we were coming home from church, we saw a lady standing beside her car with its emergency flashers on. It was pulled alongside of the highway right by our exit. Seeing that there were children in the car, Ron figured that it was not a trap and stopped about half-way down the exit ramp. Ron instructed me to drive our car back onto the highway and pull in behind her.

During the time that I was driving the mile to the next exit and doubling back, another man also had stopped. When I saw this man, I immediately wondered if he was stopping to help or if he had other ideas, as he looked like many of the defendants that came to the office in the courthouse where I worked at the time—bandana tied around his head, tattoos covering his bulging muscles, dirty clothes and very tough looking. A tinge of worry crept, uninvited, up my spine. As I sat there watching them, I was glad that I had a cell phone just in case his intentions were less than honorable. Soon, it became apparent that he had only stopped to help. The contrast between the two “good Samaritans” was rather amusing—Ron in white shirt and tie—the other man in “grubbies.”

So often we categorize someone by the way they are dressed, the color of their skin, their customs, where they live, the roughness of their speech, etc., without getting to know that person’s heart. Praise God! Our Great Redeemer is not prejudiced! He looks at us differently than we look at one another. He takes into account all of the opportunities that we have had or have not had, the trials we have experienced, the environment in which we have been raised, all of the aspects of our life. Truly “the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam 16:7

Our Dear Saviour shows His love to all of His creatures. “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt 5:45 It took the disciples a long time to exemplify this same love. They had been raised with many prejudices and wrong ideas. They had been taught from infancy that the Gentiles, the poor, the sick, the injured were under the curse of God. Jesus often went out of His way to correct these views.

One time, Jesus and the disciples walked across a part of Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. The disciples felt repulsed and uncomfortable that Jesus was even in a heathen area, yet they followed Him. It was permissible under their law to go and buy food from them and Jesus bade them do so. When they returned they found that He was conversing with one of “them” and a woman at that! When 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. . . .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. . . .Jesus saith unto them, . . . 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 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 4:25-42

Another time, He took His disciples into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. As the disciples followed Him to this foreign land, they looked upon the inhabitants with disdain. They were about to learn a valuable lesson. “A certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.” Mark 7:25-31

And we must not forget that when a Roman centurion came to Jesus because his servant was sick, he had more faith than the chosen people of God. Jesus declared of him, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt 8:10-12

How careful we must be in our dealings with others, that we not judge them by the way that they look or act or talk. How kind and tenderhearted we should be to all we meet for we never know whether God has put them in our path that we may share the gospel with them. How our Loving Redeemer yearns for us to be a channel through which His love can flow. Yet how often we wrap our “righteous robes” about us as did the disciples and look upon them with the same disdain that they showed.

May we lay all of our preconceived ideas and prejudices. May we be diligent to point those about us to their Only Helper. May we let our “light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.” Matt 5:16

Rose

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/XY_TYziNcQU/the-son-of-man-came-to-minister.html