And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:10.
We are to live in the warm, genial rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Nothing but His loving compassion, His divine grace, His almighty power, can enable us to baffle the relentless foe and subdue the opposition of the human heart. What is our strength? The joy of the Lord. Let the melting love of Christ fill the heart, and we are softened and subdued, prepared to receive the power that He has for us.
Let us thank God every day for the blessings that are ours. If the human agent will humble himself before God, realizing how inappropriate it is for him to cherish a feeling of self-sufficiency; realizing his utter inability to do the work that needs to be done in order for his soul to be purified, casting away, making of no account, his own righteousness, Christ will engrave His own image upon his soul….
Christ will never neglect the work that has been placed in His hands. He will inspire the resolute disciple with a sense of the perversity, the sin-stained condition, the depravity, of the heart upon which He is working. The true penitent has learned the uselessness of self-importance. Looking to Jesus, comparing his own defective character with the Saviour’s perfect character, he can say, In my hand no price I bring;
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
With Isaiah he declares, “Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name” (Isaiah 26:12, 13).
Beholding Christ for the purpose of becoming like Him, the seeker after truth sees the perfection of the principles of God’s law, and he becomes dissatisfied with everything but perfection. Hiding his life in the life of Christ, he sees that the holiness of the divine law is revealed in the character of Christ, and more and more earnestly he strives to be like Him. A warfare may be expected at any time, for the tempter sees that he is losing one of his subjects. A battle must be fought with the attributes which Satan has been strengthening for his own use.
The human agent sees what he has to contend with—a strange power opposed to the idea of attaining the perfection that Christ holds out. But with Christ there is saving power that will gain for him victory in the conflict. The Saviour will strengthen and help him as he comes pleading for grace and efficiency.—Manuscript 89, August 12, 1903, “First Be Reconciled to Thy Brother.”
The Upward Look p. 238
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Prayer Requests
—-Special Prayer for an entire household of 5 where at least 2 have tested positive for covid. Monica
—-Please pray for Haleigh who has a very severe infection. Chris
—-Please pray for my co-worker Dave, he’s in ICU infected with Covid. Emerson
—-I’ll be going to my doctor today and will undergo some tests. Please pray for my health. Sally
—-Please pray for my family I lost my 35 year old daughter unexpectedly today. Janice
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Dear Friends,
One evening, when Ronnie Jay had just had his third birthday, and I was busy attending to some needs my newborn, Esther Marie, had at the moment, I began hearing him running up and down the hallway trying to sound like he was blowing a trumpet—“toot-tootle-loot-too-too”. Since I was very busy with Esther, I decided to wait and attend to Ronnie Jay’s disobedience when I was finished. He was supposed to be in bed instead of pretending he was one of Gideon’s men trumpeting and running to battle.
Before I had the chance to stop him and send him back to bed, however, he fell. Now that would not have been such a problem if he had not been using my broom for a trumpet. Eileen heard him fall and rushed out of her room. She knew he had the broom and had told him to stop, but he would not obey her. I put Esther down, and before I had a chance to get to him, Eileen came into the room carrying him. He was bleeding from his mouth and nose. I was horrified!
Immediately I called our doctor, but he had left word with his answering service not to disturb him. He played the musical saw, and was recording a record. I kept calling and calling every few minutes until the lady at the answering service finally admitted to me what he was doing. I was really frightened because I could see that the broom had made a hole in the back of Ronnie Jay’s throat. That is a dangerous place to get injured. Finally she called the recording studio and interrupted him. The doctor was not at all happy about being disturbed. He called me and rather gruffly told me to meet him at the hospital. Since Ron had the car and was at work, I called a church member, and she took us at the hospital.
By this time Ronnie Jay was no longer bleeding, and the doctor took a look at him and said he would be alright. Then he chided me for disturbing his recording session for such a “little thing” and for allowing Ronnie Jay to be up so late. I looked at my watch. To my amazement it was 10:00 PM—almost two hours after it had happened. I explained that I had been trying to get in touch with him for all of that time and that if he had come when I first called, he would have seen my son bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth. The doctor was ashamed and did not charge me for his services. He also told the hospital that there was to be no charge.
From that time on, Ronnie Jay got sick easily. For years he went from one sickness to another. He also had allergies from that time. It seemed that some germs from that broom entered into him and did their work. His hearing was affected because of all of the ear infections he got from those germs. That hole in the back of his throat in addition to his hearing problems made talking plainly difficult and it took years of speech therapy to correct that problem.
Just like holding the broom out in front of his mouth had caused Ronnie Jay to fall, so holding on to sin causes us to become spiritually off balance and we will fall even harder than did he. Sin has lasting effects upon us even though we may ask forgiveness. Once the germ of sin enters in, we are never the same. Sin changes us. It weakens us. We become hopelessly trapped by it. Yet, how often we hold on to some cherished idol even when we know better. How many times we continue to disobey our Heavenly Father even though through His Holy Word He has given us warnings of sin’s consequences.
How much we need a Savior! Thank God, there is One who is mighty to save! (Isa 63:1) He is even now waiting with longing desire for us to ask for His help. Praise God! He will answer when we call. He never makes us feel like we have inconvenienced Him. Indeed, He “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentence.” 2 Peter 3:9 “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa 1:18
Let us come to Him just as we are; weak, sinful, poor, and helpless that He may heal us from all of our infirmities. He is willing to save us. He is ready to forgive us. He longs to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to remove our filthy garments from us, and clothe us with the spotless robe of His righteousness, to anoint our spiritually blind eyes with Heavenly Eye Salve, to help us develop the faith which works by love which is the gold that is tried in the fire. (1 John 1:9; Zech 3:1-7; Rev 3:18)
Rose

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29.
Consecration is a very simple thing. When brought daily into our individual life in practice, we shall know far more by consecration than by trusting to an experience. Each day, each hour, let the heart go out after God: “Here, Lord, am I, Thy property; take me, use me today. I lay all my plans at Thy feet; I will have no way of my own in the matter. My time is Thine; my whole life is Thine.” Let the heart be constantly going forth to God for strength, for grace every moment.
Let not one evil word escape our lips, because our lips, our voice, belong to the Lord, and must be consecrated to the Lord and to His service. These lips must not dishonor Jesus, for they belong to Him. He has bought them and I must speak nothing that will offend Jesus. My ears must be closed to evil. Thus day by day we can consecrate ourselves to God. The ears must not be defiled by listening to any gossip that faultfinding ones would have us hear, for I not only cause them to sin in allowing them to talk of others’ faults, but I sin myself in listening to them. I can prevent much evil speaking in thus having ears consecrated to God. I can say before the evil is done, “Let us pray,” then ask God to enlighten both our minds to understand our true relation to one another and our true relation to God.
Let us open our hearts to Jesus with all the simplicity that a child would tell his earthly parents his perplexities and the things that trouble him. Thus we can restrain evil not only in ourselves but in others. Practice consecration to God daily; then there will be no danger in the life of service to God. We want gratitude brought into our life, words, and works.
Every word, every thought of complaining indulged in, is a reflection upon God, a dishonor to His name. We want our hearts attuned to His praise, full of thankfulness, talking of His love, our hearts softened and subdued by the grace of Christ, full of sweetness and peace and fragrance. We shall be patient, kind, tenderhearted, pitiful, courteous, even when dealing with those who are disagreeable. Oh, how many precious blessings we lose because we esteem self altogether too highly and have so little esteem for others….
We must not demerit ourselves and lightly esteem the ability given us of God, neither should we overestimate our own importance and trust to our human ability.—Letter 7a, August 11, 1886, to a husband and wife working in England.
The Upward Look p. 237
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Prayer Requests
—-I have a prayer request for Jim, an elderly friend, hospitalized with Covid! Wayne
—-Please pray for all those in Iowa who are without power after the storms that rolled through late yesterday morning. Last I heard is that about 450k are without power. Power lines are down all over, damage is severe in some areas. Keep the emergency and power workers in prayer for safety. Amanda
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Dear Friends,
One day when Esther was in her mid-teens, she decided to make something for her lunch. Since she was the only one home, she looked for something small to cook in. I had recently been given some glass pans that were specially made for stovetop use, but she couldn’t find one of those. She did find a flat, glass top to my slow cooker that looked just like those pans. Unfortunately, it was not made for stovetop use. She didn’t realize that.
Esther put some food into it, put it on the burner, turned on the stove, and then, without knowing why, left the room. When she came to her senses, she was looking out of the little window in the back door. She said to herself, “What am I doing here?” As she was turning around to go back into the kitchen, she heard an explosion. Rushing back to the kitchen, she saw countless pieces of glass everywhere—sharp jagged pieces.
While she was cleaning up the mess, Esther suddenly realized that if she had not gone into the laundry room and looked out of the door, she would have been badly hurt. As she picked up a large dagger-like piece, she thanked God for His protecting care!
How important it is to daily pray for protection from the evil one. In this dangerous, old world praying for our safety and the safety of our friends and family is vital. We never know when something we do will place us in harm’s way, just as surely as Esther was in danger so many years ago.
Even though our Loving Saviour is “upholding all things by the word of his power,” He is never too busy for us. He cares for even the smallest details of our life. He assures us, “I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee” Jer 15:20 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” Isa 41: 10-13
Praise God! We can say with confidence as did David, “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” “Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Ps 56:11; 73:23-26
How great and good God is! He is so close to us! He watches over us with such tender care! Only when we are in Heaven, will we realize how many times He has delivered us out of the hand of the enemy of souls. May we “praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Ps 107:8 May we trust Him fully with every aspect of our life. May we love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength is my prayer.

And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Luke 4:22.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:29.
Those who would at last be received into heaven as members of the royal family must here give themselves, body, soul, and spirit, to the service of Him who paid the price of their redemption. All that we have and are belongs to the Lord. “Ye are not your own,” the apostle declares. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20)….
Have you consecrated yourself wholly to the Lord? Can He use you as a vessel unto honor? Are you faithfully acting your part in His cause? To every man God has given his work. He expects every believer to cooperate with Him in the work of soul-saving. When His cause is suffering for means, how can anyone set a price on his services, refusing to take up the cross daily, and practice self-denial for Christ’s sake?
The fulfillment of the promise that we shall be joint-heirs with Christ rests upon our willingness to deny self. When Christ takes possession of His kingdom, it will be those who on this earth have followed Him in self-denial and sacrifice who will receive the reward of everlasting life.
Christ’s call to sacrifice and unreserved surrender means crucifixion of self. In order to obey this call, we must have unquestioning faith in Him as the perfect Example, and we must have a clear realization that we are to represent Him to the world. Those who work for Christ are to work in His lines. They are to live His life. His call to unreserved surrender is to be to them supreme. They are to allow no earthly tie or interest to prevent them from giving Him the homage of their hearts and the service of their lives. Earnestly and untiringly they are to labor with God to save perishing souls from the power of the tempter.
Those who are thus connected with Christ learn constantly of Him, passing through the successive stages of progress in Christian experience. Difficulty and perplexity come to them, that they may learn more perfectly the will and way of Christ. But they pray and believe, and by exercise their faith increases.
“Take my yoke upon you,” Christ said, as in human nature He lived and worked upon this earth. Constantly He wore the yoke of submission, meeting the difficulties that human beings must meet, bearing the trials that they must bear. The enemy will continually assault us as he assaulted Christ, bringing against us strong temptation. But for everyone there is a way of escape.—Manuscript 88, August 9, 1903, “Be Not Weary in Well-doing.”
The Upward Look p. 235
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Prayer Requests
—-Please add Makayla to your prayer list. She needs to understand who God is. She is blaming Him for the evils in this world and is very angry with Him. My prayer for her is that she will open her heart to Truth. I pray she will get to know God and accept Him as her Lord and Saviour. Amanda
—-May I ask for some prayers. Im sick now, difficulty in urinating. I don’t know if its UTI or kidney stones. Sally
—-My nephew, Sean, a police officer in Washington State, was injured last night (Thursday, Aug 6) in a search and rescue operation ..down a steep embankment. Sean was hit in the head by falling rocks while attempting the rescue. He has been medevaced to a hospital with a “severe” head injury..where was he is undergoing emergency treatment. An officer who “broke” Sean’s fall after being hit was also injured. Linda
—-Please pray for a very dear friend, her name is Denia, she has breast cancer and on chemo for several years, now suffering from pneumonia and in worst condition, confined in the hospital. Vilma
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Dear Friends,

Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. Jeremiah 7:23.
The Lord desires everyone to work for his own spiritual and eternal good. This can only be done as we obey the lessons Christ has given. If we gain the eternal reward, we must follow the example of Christ, our Pattern, who did good and only good with the Lord’s entrusted talents. He cheerfully gave up His life to ransom a wicked, apostate race. But today selfishness, worldliness, pride, and self-indulgence are constantly consuming the means entrusted to those who claim to be Christians. They are misappropriating the money that the Lord requires them to use to bring many sons and daughters to Him.