There is a higher standard for us to reach. We are not making all that advancement that it is our duty or our privilege to make. How is it that we use the talent that God has given us in temporal matters and not in His service? Ought we not to have greater interest in eternal things than in those things which concern our temporal wants?

We have heard desire expressed that husbands and families should come into the truth. This is right; it should be a prominent wish. But do we do all our duty? Do we make all the advancement that we should? Do we not come far short of our duty in meeting the work of progression? Don’t be a spiritual dwarf. We love to see infants and watch their baby ways, but the same ways would be disgusting if retained until the child was two years old. So the Christian must grow. Be conformed to Christ, not deformed. Just feel as though you were anchored in Christ. Let there be a solidity to the sisters who are alone. Avoid frivolity and keep constantly watching.

The rich blessings of heaven are all ready to be showered upon us. Don’t be selfish. With too many, all there is to religion is: Me and my family. They will not go out of their way to help and bless any others. In such case, God cannot bless them. It is when we are drawn out from self that God blesses us. He wants us to be drawn out from ourselves. That which we sow, we will reap. If you sow selfishness, you will reap selfishness, that is, you will have it fastened upon you. Let us get out of self and talk of the mercies and blessings of God.

Let all the sisters feel that if they haven’t a husband to lean upon, they will lean more heavily upon God. Every one of our sisters can be a living missionary, and can bring light into every meeting. Do we act as though we were called from darkness into marvelous light? or as if we were lugging along a heavy weight? We must talk light and pray light, and light will come in. If only women in the church [would] show that God can work through women. It was Mary that first preached a risen Jesus…. There are richer blessings for those that have the harder conflict, for Christ is a present help in trouble. But we must be divested of selfishness; be acquainted with the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, and we shall thus grow more and more like Jesus till the crown of immortality is placed upon our brows.—Manuscript 2, May 13, 1884, “Sermon by Mrs. E. G. White.”
The Upward Look p. 147
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Prayer Requests
—-asking for prayer Mick. he was taken to the hospital with kidney failure and a blood infection. I am scheduled for cataract surgery for March 4th. My sister is still alive but barely she is in a coma and has not eaten anything for 14 days and my brother in law will not take the cell phone t o her so I Can tell her it’s OK to go. .
he said she can’t hear anything. I told him the hearing is the last thing to go. Pray that I will be able to talk to her she has always looked up to me being I am her older sister thank you .. M.
—-Pray for an important event this afternoon. Maria
—-Please keep my Grandson Jacob in prayer. He just boarded his flight to Missouri for 5 months Military Police Training and 5 years in the Army. My prayer is for safety, accomplishment and most importantly, he is grouped up with righteous people. Connie
—-Please can u pray for a friend spiritual, physical and emotional healing. They are recovering from alcohol. They really really want to quit. Shannon
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Dear Friends,
On long winter evenings, as a special treat, my grandmother would unpack her stereoscope. How I looked forward to that! Each card had two identical photographs printed side by side. When placed in the stereoscope’s slot and viewed through the eyepiece, a three-dimensional picture would appear. It was such a wonderment for me to view far off places and people in old-fashioned clothes doing old-fashioned things. I would look at these wonders with awe. I knew that I had to handle these objects with the utmost care, as they were very old and irreplaceable.
God’s Holy Word is like looking through that stereoscope. It, too, is irreplaceable and should be handled with reverence and awe. As we compare what each of the Bible writers had to say upon a certain subject, we get the depth of meaning that a simple reading through of Scrpture cannot give—much like my grandmother and my getting a three dimensional picture when we put the specially prepared card into the stereoscope. Isaiah tells us that in studying the Bible, “precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Isa 28:10 The Holy Spirit revealed to patriarchs and prophets great messages for those around them. These great messages were not only for them but for us as well.
What a treasure the Scriptures are! Through them, we find the only true answers to life’s questions. Through them we find “the Way the Truth and the Life.” John 14:6 The psalmist exclaims, “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps 119:99-105
Peter, when comparing his experience upon the mount of transfiguration to the Word of God, tells us that in God’s Word “we have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto [we] do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:19-21 Think of it! The Scriptures are more sure than what we see around us, more sure than what we hear, more solid than what we feel, more real than the experiences of our life.
Paul tells us that the holy scriptures “are able to make [us] wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 2 Tim 3:15-17; Rom 10:17; Heb 4:12

How important it is, therefore, that we diligently study God’s Great Love Letter to us. It is the “sword of the Spirit.” Eph 6:17 By it, our Dear Saviour defeated the devil during the wilderness temptations. Over and over again He answered, “It is written.” (Matt 4:1-11 ) How His Great Heart of Love longs for us to follow His example of using the Scriptures to defeat the foe. He tells us, “blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Luke 11:28 David sang, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Ps 19:7-10
Let us each day “study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 Let us meditate upon the Scriptures and “give [ourselves] wholly to them; that [our] profiting may appear to all, [taking] heed unto [ourselves], and unto the doctrine; [continuing] in them: for in doing this [we] shall both save [ourselves,] and them that hear [us.]” 1 Tim 4:15,16 Let us daily pray “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

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Dear son Edson: I fear that you do not always wisely regulate your labor. You sometimes do too much, and then allow precious hours to pass unimproved, thus creating a necessity for extra exertion. Temperate, persevering, steady labor will achieve far more than can be accomplished by spasmodic efforts….

Labor was appointed to man by his Creator. God provided employment for our first parents in holy Eden. And since the Fall, man has been a toiler, eating his bread by the sweat of his brow. Every bone of his body, every feature of his countenance, every muscle of his limbs, evinces the fact that he was made for activity, not for idleness….

The faithful discharge of life’s duties, whatever your position, calls for a wise improvement of all the talents and abilities that God has given you. Guard against being always hurried, yet accomplishing nothing worthy of the effort. These fruitless efforts are often caused by a failure to do the work at the proper time. Whatever is neglected at the time when it should be performed, whether in secular or in religious things, is rarely done well. Many appear to labor diligently every hour in the day, and yet produce no results to correspond with their efforts….

Be careful not to fritter away your time upon trifles, and then fail to carry out your undertakings that are of real account. The church and the world need calm, well-balanced men. To run well for a season is not enough. A steadfast adherence to a purpose is necessary in order to secure the end. A distinguished man was once asked how it was possible for him to accomplish such a vast amount of business. His answer was, “I do one thing at a time.” …

Henry Martyn, both as a man and a missionary, depended not a little upon his habits of regularity. To such an extent did he carry these, that he was known in the university as the student who never wasted an hour…. How many youth who might have become men of usefulness and power have failed because in early life they contracted habits of indecision which followed them through life to cripple all their efforts. Now and then they are filled with sudden zeal to do some great thing, but they leave their work half finished and it comes to nothing. Patient continuance in well doing is indispensable to success.

My dear son, be thorough in all you undertake. Rely constantly upon your Saviour; go to Him for wisdom, for courage, for strength of purpose, for everything you need. May the Lord bless you is the prayer of your mother.—Letter 3, May 12, 1877, to her 27-year-old son Edson.
The Upward Look p. 146
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Prayer Requests
—-We have a virus that is going around in our family. Please pray that we will soon be well and stay well.
—-Please pray for Brenda as she finds out the results of her MRI. Rose
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Dear Friends,
In 1989, we moved from Utah to Washington state. For a few weeks, while I was looking for a place to live, we lived in a hotel near the airport where ron was working. While there, Eileen decided she wanted to go down to the hotel’s Jacuzzi. Esther Marie, age six, begged to go along. Against my better judgment, I consented. They really liked the warm, bubbly water, but being so tiny, the force of the water caused Esther Marie to slip underneath the water. Eileen quickly grabbed her little sister and all seemed to be well.
However, a few days after we moved into a house, all was not well. Esther Marie got very sick. At first, I thought it was just a cold, but it soon became apparent that it was far worse. I hurried her to the doctor. One look, and the office girl summoned the nurse who led us immediately to a room in the back. After a short examination and blood work, the doctor found it was meningitis. Perhaps it was because of swallowing some of the Jacuzzi’s water. There was an outbreak of the disease just south of Spokane and someone might have used that Jacuzzi who was infected. Then, when my little girl slipped under the water, she probably swallowed some of those germs.
In much the same way, the “germ” of sin is spread. It is often passed from one to another. By beholding we become changed. How careful we must be to choose our friends wisely, for they have the power to draw us closer to the Lord or to separate us from Him. This does not happen right away, nor does it happen all at once, but it does happen. The germs of sin that we “catch” from the other person begins to grow within us until we become thoroughly infected and just as sin-sick as Esther Marie was physically sick. It is no wonder that Paul advises, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor 6:14-18
Another way we can be infected with the sin germ is by the TV programs we watch or the music we listen to. Before long, we find ourselves talking like and dressing like the characters that we have watched or listened to. Our mind is so filled with the things of this world that the Bible seems uninteresting and we soon set it aside, or, if we still read it at all, our mind keeps wandering to other things. How much we need to heed Paul who urges, “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
May we guard carefully the “avenues of the soul” by what we watch, by what we listen to, by the friends that we choose. May we choose Jesus to be our Best Friend and stay so close to Him that we will allow no “germ of sin” to grow within our heart. May we be diligent to add to [our] faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” that all may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus is my prayer. 2 Peter 1:6, 7; Acts 4:13

Rose

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In describing His earthly mission, Jesus declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives; and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18, 19).

Are we so closely assimilated to Christ that we can represent His work and follow His example? His work gave character to His mission, showing that it was of divine appointment. In His every word and act were revealed tender compassion, love, and mercy. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. He always noticed the little children, and they were attracted to Him.

Our Saviour’s words were plain and decided. He did not suppress one word of truth, but spoke the truth with convincing earnestness. And as He spoke, the desponding drew nearer, and were filled with hope and courage. He was the Prince of heaven. He never spoke a word to give needless pain to any trembling, sensitive soul. He looked with sorrow upon those who rejected Him and made light of His words, and said, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40).

Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His life on this earth was one of self-denial. He comforted and encouraged everyone who came to Him for relief, for they were all precious in His eyes. He ever bore Himself with divine dignity, yet He bowed Himself with tender regard to every member of the Lord’s family. He came to stand at the head of humanity, to give all who believe on Him power to become the sons and daughters of God. Such is the example we are to follow. If it were followed, the enemy would not receive so large a share of attention and honor as he now receives from those who profess to be followers of Christ, but who in reality are following satanic wiles. God sent His Son into the world that those who believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. His followers are to show the strictest honesty, justice, and integrity in their every transaction.

Let the work begin sincerely, through reconversion and transformation of character.—Manuscript 53, May 11, 1905, “Unto Seventy Times Seven.”

The Upward Look p. 145
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Susan… knee replacement surgery today and they can’t get a handle on the pain. Sylvia
—-please pray my husband Ray. He was unresponsive this morning I could not wake him up . Please pray he makes back to us. Linda
—-Please pray for Josh protection. he is 18 years old. His mum left him by himself. He is far away from us. And the guys living in the shared house is starting to pick on him. They are Muslims from the middle east he is the only Christian there from the Caribbean. Rosemary
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Dear Friends
When we lived by the Tennessee river, Ron and Eileen decided to float on inner tubes down to his brother Dennis’ house about a mile away. At least by road it was a mile. By river, it was five miles! They kept watching the bank and nothing looked familiar. Ron was beginning to worry. Finally a fisherman came by and gave them a ride to their destination. When fisherman told him how far it was, Ron was very glad that he had picked them up.
Meanwhile, I was at home doing some housework. Several hours went by and I was beginning to wish I had gone with them. We lived on a steep hill and it was quite far down to the river, at least in my condition it seemed far. I was very pregnant with Ronnie Jay and he was pressing on my back in such a way that I could barely move my legs. Walking was very difficult. Finally, I decided to attempt to get down to the water, take the remaining inner tube, and float down to Dennis’ too. Of course, I thought it would be a short trip since I knew it was only a mile away by the road.
I managed to slip and slide down to the river and clumsily get on the inner tube. That was not an easy task in my condition. As I floated along, the current was carrying me a little farther from the bank than I wanted it to. That worried me a little. With my legs not working very well, and my position on the tube was such that only my hands reaching the water, how would I get back to the bank when I reached Dennis’ house? When I was about a fourth of a mile from home, I became aware of a far more serious problem. That inner tube was not as full of air as it had been when I first got on. Now I was getting scared! I knew I could easily drown in the strong current! I began to pray and tried with all my might to get to shore.
God answered my prayer. At that very moment, Ron and Eileen had returned home by the road. He looked everywhere for me. With a sinking heart, he realized what I had done. Quickly, he ran down the hill to the river and looked downstream. In the distance he saw me. He let out a shout and I looked back from my now-very-squishy inner tube. As you can imagine, I was delighted to see him.
Instructing our little girl not to get into the water, Ron jumped into the river and swam faster than I had ever seen him swim. He grabbed my inner tube and began pulling me upstream to safety. In less than 24 hours, Ronnie Jay was born.
How easy it is to get ourselves into big trouble without thinking of consequences. How often we are careless and become entangled in a situation where we are in danger and helpless to free ourselves. We need Someone to help us just as much as I needed Ron to pull me back home. Our Great Redeemer bids us, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Ps 50:15 “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Ps 34:17-19
He is our Redeemer, our Strength, a very Present Help in trouble. He sees our trials and knows our situation just as if we were the only person in the world. He brings to us deliverance. He provides a way out of our troubles. “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Cor 10:13
What a Wonderful Saviour we serve! How great and good He is! May we come to Him now with all our worries, all our cares. May we ask Him to untangle the threads of our tangled lives. May we trust Him completely with our very lives is my prayer.
Rose

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