Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? Isaiah 58:6, 7.
We are living in the last days of this earth’s history, and it is time we understood what we must do to be saved. The Lord will work intelligently for all who will work intelligently for Him. My brethren and sisters, there is something more for you to do than to sit in your churches Sabbath after Sabbath and to listen to the preaching of the Word. You have a work to do for [your] friends and neighbors. God requires … that you visit these families and seek to create an interest in the truth for this time. You are not laboring together with God if you neglect the work of helping others to take hold upon eternal realities. Our ministers are not to be encouraged to hover about the churches to repeat to the believers week after week the same truths. We have a truth that is saving and precious. The Word of God must be planted in many hearts; the bread of life must be dealt out to many hungering souls…. It is a blessed work to lift up Christ before the world. When the work of the judgment is finished and decisions have been made for eternity, it will be seen that it is those who have given themselves wholeheartedly to the service of God who will stand right with heaven. Some of these may not have been able to leave their families to go to some mission field, but they have been missionaries in their own neighborhood. Their hearts have been so filled with the love of God that their great anxiety has been to win souls for Him. This has been more to them than silver and gold and the precious things of this world. And as they have labored in simplicity to minister the Word of truth, the Spirit of God has sent home the Word to the hearts of the people. My brethren and sisters, let us study the simplicity there is in the Word of God. Let us see what we can do to advance the cause of Christ in the earth. Christ was in this world as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There were many who set themselves against His work. There will be those who will oppose you. But your work is to preach Christ and Him crucified; and when you do this, the salvation of God will be revealed in the conversion of souls…. Let the light shine where you are. Lay hold of the power that there is in Christ, and learn to overcome through the merits of His blood and the word of your testimony.—Manuscript 93, September 7, 1909, “Address to the Church at Salt Lake City.”
The Upward Look p. 264
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for my neighbor and children as her husband will not allow them to go to church or have family worship. Jose
—-Latest Update on my Dad Bill, He has stage 4 cancer and it has Metastasized into his bones and throughout his blood. The doctors will start him on some sort of pill today to lengthen his life. It’s not over until MY GOD says so! Connie
—-Just received a devastating news about my friend’s daughter Sandra is in coma right now. She was hit by a car while driving a few days back. Please keep her in your prayers. Samantha
—-Please pray for my cousin Rose, she is on the ventilator with covid19. She is a fighter and her husband died this morning from covid. She has no idea. Mary
—-Praise God my hand is much better. Rose
—-Please pray for Joel, he had a heart attack today and is in a coma. Sim
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Dear Friends,
It is hard to believe that it has been nineteen years since 9/11. A whole generation has grown up with little idea of what a change it wrought in the lives of Americans. I had barely begun my workday when Ron called and told me to turn on the radio. He explained the reason. Shock and unbelief surged through me. Before I could even get my radio turned on, Ronnie Jay called with more details. I told Bev. Since our office was in the basement at the time, we took turns going upstairs to the jury room to see the devastation on TV. The rest of the day, my radio was on.
As the reporters recounted the events that brought to rubble the World Trade Center and surrounding buildings and part of the Pentagon, I thought of the many thousands of people who had gone to work that morning or were on those hijacked planes going wherever they needed to go. Only moments before, their day was routine. Only moments before, their lives were filled with plans for the future, thoughts of the mundane, anticipation of an evening with family and friends.
In a moment all had changed. Many were engulfed in flames, some jumped to their death, most rushed down the stairs trying to escape. Even in this tragedy, God was working to protect and guide. Most made it to safety, although many did not. As I listened to the reports both at the time and then in the weeks afterwards, I couldn’t help thinking how quickly our life can change. I couldn’t help wondering how many of those people were ready to die.
How easy it is to get caught up in our own future plans without a thought heavenward. James speaks of this: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” James 4:13-15 Peter agrees, “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:24,25
How urgent it is that we have God’s Word hidden in our heart. (Ps 119:11) How vital it is to have that close connection with our Dear Saviour so needful for our present and future happiness. How important it is to so live that if some tragedy befalls us and we lose our life, we will be ready for the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the happenings of 9-11 were life changing, even so will that greatest of events be. Jesus warns us, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 21:26-30 (See also: Luke 12: 35-46)
May we “take heed lest at any time [our] hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon [us] unawares.” Luke 21:34 May we “watch…and pray always, that [we] may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” vs. 36 May we soon be filled with joy as we look up “and see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven” to take us to those Heavenly mansions He is preparing for us. (Mark 24:62; John 14:1-3)
Rose

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3.
Affliction and adversity may cause much inconvenience and may bring great depression, but it is prosperity that is dangerous to spiritual life. Unless the human subject is in constant submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the truth and has the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, prosperity will surely arouse the natural inclination to presumption…. In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God to teach them and to guide their every step, there is comparative safety. But let everyone who has a living connection with God pray for … those who are standing on a lofty pinnacle and who, because of their exalted position, are supposed to have much wisdom. Unless such men feel their need of an Arm stronger than the arm of flesh to lean upon, unless they make God their dependence, their view of things will become distorted and they will fall. The Lord has instructed me to urge everyone to realize that man is human. The church of Christ is in need of close communion with the Lord Jesus. Those who feel most their dependence upon God are usually those who have the least amount of earthly treasure on which to depend. Of all the trees, the Scotch fir tree is one of the best from which Christians may draw inspiring lessons. The Scotch fir requires less soil for its roots than any other tree. In a dry soil and amidst barren rocks it finds sufficient nourishment to keep it as green in the winter as in the summer. With the least amount of earth about its roots, it towers above all the other trees of the wood, reaching the highest toward heaven…. The church members who are standing in their lot and place are trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. Although their surrounding circumstances may be adverse, yet, like the fir tree with little soil about its roots, they constantly reach heavenward, drawing nourishment from above. Like the fragrant boughs of the fir tree, they impart grace for grace received. The hidden nourishment that comes from God is returned to Him in purest service…. God calls for every man’s best energies. No man can find in any human being the strength that will enable him to serve God with all his powers. He must be a partaker of the divine nature.—Manuscript 145, September 2, 1902, “Diary.”
The Upward Look p. 259
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Prayer Requests
—-I have hurt my wrist and cannot use my hand, so typing is difficult because I’m doing it one-handed. Please pray that God will place His healing hand upon me. Rose
—-

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. Revelation 14:9, 10.
The Lord desires to see the work of the third angel’s message carried forward with increasing efficiency. As He has worked in all ages to give victories to His people, so in this age He longs to carry to triumphant fulfillment His purposes for His church. He bids the saints to advance unitedly, going from strength to greater strength, from faith to increased assurance and confidence in the truth and righteousness of His cause. Let us ever bear in mind that our work is to be one of advancement. We are to follow on to know the Lord. God understands the actuating principles of every mind. He has witnessed the persistent, rebellious course of some whom He has warned and counseled repeatedly. His all-seeing eye has noted the determined following of human devisings. The way of man is before the Lord. He knoweth the thoughts. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). He looketh to the ends of the earth, and He seeth under the whole heavens. The Lord searcheth the hearts. We are to stand firm as a rock to the principles of the Word of God, remembering that God is with us to give us strength to meet each new experience. Let us ever maintain the principles of righteousness in our lives, that we may go forward from strength to strength in the name of the Lord. We are to hold as very sacred the faith that has been substantiated by the instruction and approval of the Spirit of God from our earliest experience until the present time…. Arouse the people to the importance of the times in which we live, that they may be led to place themselves under the discipline of Christ. In His human life Christ revealed a divine nature; no defect appeared in His character. Beholding His life of self-denial and sacrifice that He might minister truth to the world, they may be changed in life, and learn to reflect His likeness…. Let us not be unconcerned regarding our responsibility to form righteous characters, but let us place ourselves under the molding influence of the Holy Spirit that we may form characters that will reflect the divine life.—Letter 66, August 28, 1911, to S. N. Haskell, president of the California Conference.
The Upward Look p. 254
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for my urgent unspoken prayer request. LS
—-Please pray for David. He is getting worse again. Buck

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8.
The first chapter of Daniel teaches the lesson that what we eat and drink has an influence upon the powers of the mind, and that if we would have healthful bodies and clear minds, we must be careful of our diet. If we are careless in this matter and eat simply to gratify taste, the digestive organs are impaired and the brain is confused, and neither can act their part as fully as God intended they should…. Daniel and his companions determined to banish from their diet everything that would defile, and a power from above worked in harmony with their efforts. As a result they had the privilege of following their own course in the obtaining of their education. And the education they gained was better than that gained by any of the magicians, astrologers, or wise men in all the king’s realm. Those who desire to come into right relation to God need to study Daniel’s plan. That was a sum proved. You may take the sum and prove it also. There are many who think that those who adopt health reform suffer a loss of physical strength, but if these would test the matter for themselves, they would change their minds on this point…. Daniel stood in a very responsible position in the kingdom of Babylon. There will always be those who will occupy positions of lesser responsibility; but whatever our work, our example may be such that it will lead others in to right paths. We need to humble ourselves before God and pray to Him, and trust in Him…. We cannot afford to miss any opportunity for perfecting a Christian character. Whatever experience may come to others, remember that you, in your lot and place, will be tested by God. There will be times when you will be placed in unfavorable positions, but at such times plead with God, trust in Him, and walk in simple faith before the Lord. Then angels of heaven will impress your minds. Let not your minds be filled with self and self-interests. The Lord is looking upon us in mercy and love today. Who will follow out the will of the Lord? Who will study to overcome the hasty temper, remembering that the words they speak are spoken in the hearing of heavenly angels? These heavenly agencies are continually ministering to us.—Manuscript 73, August 27, 1909, “Lessons From the First Chapter of Daniel,” sermon preached at Council Grove camp meeting.
The Upward Look p. 253
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Prayer Requests
—-I appeal to you to hold Jim up in your prayers. His wife passed today. W
—-Please pray for a woman by the name of Thursday. She was just moved to ICU with COVID-19 AND has other health issues like COPD that will likely complicate her recovery. Cora
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Dear Friends,
I used to have a coworker whose whole focus was on Elvis Presley. The walls in her office were covered with photographs of him. She loved to talk about this singer who had lured so many other performers into drugs and whose career ended abruptly from an overdose of sleeping pills. One time an Elvis impersonator was entertaining in the courthouse lobby (around the time of Elvis’ birthday if I remember correctly) and this co-worker made quite a spectacle of herself. She began screaming like a schoolgirl and even bowed down to him. How disgusting! After the performance, she had this rather poor representation of the former rock star come to her office and showed him all of her memorabilia. One year she even went so far as to burn candles and offer food to a large photo of Elvis on the anniversary of his death. It was quite amazing how she literally worshiped a dead man as if he were a god.
Praise God! We do not worship a dead man! Our Dear Saviour is alive! We do not worship Someone Who leads others into sin! He is Pure and Holy and Good and leads us into righteousness! Moreover Jesus gave His life for us that we might enjoy fellowship with Him both now and eternally. “Wherefore he is able also to save to the uttermost [all] that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for [us].” Heb 7:25 Think of it! The very same Jesus, Who left the throne of glory, walked this earth as a man, was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, Who died for our sins that we might be saved is even now before God, the Father, interceding in our behalf. Wonderful Saviour!
Yet how seldom is our focus on Him Who gave Himself a ransom for us. (Matt 20:28) How rarely do we speak of His goodness. God’s Holy Word is filled with His love, His Goodness, His message for our edification; yet how often we read, listen to, or watch that which edifies not. How it must amaze the unfallen beings of the universe that we think more of the mundane things of this world than we do of the King of Glory.
How our Loving Redeemer’s Great Heart of Love must break when we ignore Him or at best give Him only “lip service.” With tears in His voice He says to us as He said to the Pharisees of old, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matt 15:7-9
Contrariwise, how much joy we give Him when our focus is upon Him and His great love for us. How we please Him when we speak of His blessings. Indeed He makes a record of our words and thoughts. “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” Mal 3:16-18
May we never be ashamed to focus totally upon our Great Redeemer and worship Him as openly as that woman worshipped her idol. May our sweetest thoughts be of our Lord Jesus Christ and His marvelous love and grace. May we daily pray as did David, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Ps 19:14
Rose

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1, 2.
When trials come to us, let us not dwell upon the greatness of the difficulties and feel that we cannot have joy in the Lord. It is true we will have changes of feelings. There will come to us times of discouragement and depression. But shall we live by feeling or by faith? When our brethren and friends speak unadvisedly, and cause us grief, let us not be cast down. Let us remember that we are in a world of trial and grief, of sorrow and disappointment. When these experiences come to us, they should drive us to Christ. If they do not, we meet with loss. When tempted to give up under discouragement and difficulty, let us study the life and experiences of Christ. He had to contend against the powers of darkness that He might not be overcome. We have the same battle to fight, the same victories to win. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It is our privilege to lay hold on the strength of One who is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. He invites you to present your case at the throne of grace, and cast your helpless soul on Him. The purging is not pleasant, but let us remember that Christ came to our world and took humanity that He might bear the afflictions that humanity must bear and be an example of faithful endurance under every form of trial. God wants us to realize that we are a part of the great human family, and that we must bear its tests…. Let your humanity lay hold of divinity. Go to the footstool of God’s grace, and say, “Lord, I hang my helpless soul on Thee. Help me to control my speech. Teach me to overcome.” Christ will give you a spirit of overcoming. “They overcame him,” we read, “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). You may bear a testimony the opposite to that which Satan would have you bear. You may keep heart and mind sanctified by obedience to the truth. Look to Him, at morning and at noon and at night. Keep heart and mind fastened upon Christ. This is your privilege. The suffering and death of Christ has paid the price for your redemption, and through faith in Him you may overcome…. Let the love of Christ dwell in your hearts…. We must graduate sensibly in this life if we would be transferred to the higher school of the courts above.—Manuscript 79, August 26, 1909, “That I May Bring Forth More Fruit,” sermon preached at Council Grove, Kansas, camp meeting
The Upward Look p. 252
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Prayer Requests
—-I have an unspoken prayer request. LS
—-My friend whose husband just left her she needs prayer that she can find someone to volunteer to drive her and the RV towing her car to North Carolina from Southern California to live on her sons property. She has no income and she just had a surgery to remove cancer from her body. So she really needs help. Please pray that she can find someone to help her do this. Connie
—-Please pray for Rufus and family as their son just passed. Arlene
—-Pray for my Sister in law had thyroid removed today. Mel
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, Ron had a friend who owned some land in the country. Shortly after he purchased the property, he was approached by a nearby farmer and asked if he could farm some of the land. For five or six years, Jay let this man plant crops on the land for free. The rest of the land has grown over with grass and weeds as tall as a man.
One day Jay went out to his property to mow. When he saw the height of the grass, he realized that it would take way to long with the equipment he had, so he drove over to the house of the man whom he let farm part of his land and asked him if he would mow it.
After thinking about it for a moment, the man told him that he would be glad to mow it for $100! Jay was at first shocked then upset. All those years, he had allowed the man free use of his property and this was the “thanks” he got! What ingratitude for Jay’s kindness!
How often we are just as ungrateful for the blessings our Heavenly Father so freely bestows upon us. We treat His gifts as if we have a right to them. This should not be!
“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Ps 107:1-31
May our hearts swell with gratitude for the blessings that our Great Redeemer daily showers upon us is my prayer.
Rose