Inside Story for Friday 22nd of March 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Sekule learned of two other Sabbath-keepers in the military: a lieutenant preparing for baptism and an older man born in a Seventh-day Adventist home. The Bosnian War was raging, and the lieutenant tried to convince Sekule that desperate times called for desperate measures.

“This is a special time, and you have to eat what you have,” he said. “You can practice your religion after you leave the military, but now you have to eat for your health.”

Sekule decided that the lieutenant wasn’t an Adventist. He was talking like Sekule’s unbelieving parents, and Sekule didn’t want to eat meat.

Sekule longed to meet the soldier born in an Adventist home. He wanted to ask for advice about what to eat, what to do if he were sent to the front, or just to pray together. He felt so alone.

One day, someone pointed out the Adventist to Sekule in the mess hall. Sekule watched as the man sat down with a plate of pork sausages and brown beans fried in lard, removed the sausages, and ate the beans.

A struggle broke out inside Sekule. He’s eating unclean food, he thought. Are you stupid? You’ve lost so much weight and you don’t have strength because you don’t want to eat anything. Look at him. He’s smart. When you leave the military, you can eat whatever you want.

Sekule took a step toward the serving line. Then he took another step. He wasn’t hungry—he was famished after eating only bread with tea for 20 days.

A few steps away from the food, he stopped. I won’t take it, he thought. If God died for me, I will be faithful to Him.

After a few months, spring arrived, and Sekule ate budding leaves on trees. He also ate grass that he knew was edible from his childhood.

Four months into his military service, he left the barracks to eat his first meal with a spoon. An Adventist pastor invited him to his home for a meal.

Not long after that, Sekule was sent to Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, to serve under the military’s top general. He was one of the best teleprinter typers in the country. His new barracks were located only a 20-minute walk away from a Seventh-day Adventist seminary. In his new role, he was allowed to leave the barracks whenever he wanted, and he ate vegetarian meals at the seminary nearly every day. Sekule believed God was rewarding his faithfulness.

Sekule enjoyed good health in the military. Never once did he fall ill. He lost only his hair. He entered the military with hair and left with none. He says it was as if God were saying, “If you are faithful to Me, I will take care of you. Yes, you will have problems. Yes, you lost your hair. But it is not a problem. I have a hat for you.”

Read about Sekule Sekuli´c's post-military life in the third quarter 2023 Mission quarterly available at bit.ly/adultmission. Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that help spread the good news of Jesus’ soon coming in Montenegro and around the world.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-12-inside-story-no-hair-but-a-hat-part-8/

Daily Lesson for Friday 22nd of March 2024

Read Ellen G. White, “How to Pray,” pp. 39–42, in A Call to Stand Apart.

Central to worship is the need for repentance, true repentance: “Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“There are many who fail to understand the true nature of repentance. Multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even make an outward reformation because they fear that their wrongdoing will bring suffering upon themselves. But this is not repentance in the Bible sense. They lament the suffering rather than the sin. Such was the grief of Esau when he saw that the birthright was lost to him forever. Balaam, terrified by the angel standing in his pathway with drawn sword, acknowledged his guilt lest he should lose his life; but there was no genuine repentance for sin, no conversion of purpose, no abhorrence of evil. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, exclaimed, ‘I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.’ Matthew 27:4.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 22, 23.

“Although God dwells not in temples made with hands, yet He honors with His presence the assemblies of His people. He has promised that when they come together to seek Him, to acknowledge their sins, and to pray for one another, He will meet with them by His Spirit. But those who assemble to worship Him should put away every evil thing. Unless they worship Him in spirit and truth and in the beauty of holiness, their coming together will be of no avail. Of such the Lord declares, ‘This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.’ Matthew 15:8-9. Those who worship God must worship Him ‘in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.’ John 4:23.”—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 50.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the worshiper’s greatest offering to God (Psalms 40:6-10; Romans 12:1-2)?
2. How are individual and communal worship related? Why do we really need both? How does each one enhance the other?
3. Many people understand worship to pertain only to prayer, singing of hymns, and study of the Bible and spiritual literature. While these activities are essential for worship, is worship limited to them? Give some examples of other forms of worship.
4. Ellen G. White wrote: “His service should not be looked upon as a heart-saddening, distressing exercise. It should be a pleasure to worship the Lord and to take part in His work.”—_Steps to Christ_, p. 103. How can worship of the Lord become a pleasure?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-12-further-thought-worship-that-never-ends/

Is this True or False? Obedience to God is necessary for true worship. Join us as we discuss Lesson 12 – Worship That Never Ends. 

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/worship-that-never-ends-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 21st of March 2024

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

Like the prophets, the psalmists decry various misuses of worship. Their main point in these verses is not the Lord’s aversion to Israel’s sacrifices and festivals but the reasons for such repugnance: the fatal distance between worship and spirituality.

God is not rebuking His people for their sacrifices and burnt offerings but for their wickedness and acts of injustice that they had done in their personal lives (Psalms 50:8,17-21). The Psalms are not preaching against sacrifice and worship but against vain sacrifice and empty worship, demonstrated in the unrighteousness of these worshipers.

When the unity between the outward expression of worship and the correct inner motivation for worship falls apart, rituals usually become more important in and of themselves than does the actual experience of drawing close to God. That is, the forms of worship become an end in themselves as opposed to the God whom those rituals are supposed to point to and to reveal.

Sacrifices alone are not enough. What good were these sacrifices if the hearts of those offering them were not filled with repentance, faith, and a sorrow for sin? Only when accompanied by repentance and sincere thanksgiving could the sacrifices of bulls please God as “sacrifices of righteousness” (Psalms 51:19, see also Psalms 50:14). Jesus, quoting Isaiah, expressed it like this: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8, NKJV). The problems the psalmists saw were the same problems that Jesus encountered with some of the people, especially the leaders, during His earthly ministry.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-12-when-god-does-not-delight-in-sacrifices/

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Pslam 40:3 NLT

Boy Praying Beside Bed

My parents told me that one Sabbath morning when I was two years old, the elder kept praying and praying in church, and I got tired of kneeling on my two-year-old little knees, so I finally stood up on the pew and started shouting, “Amen! Amen! Amen!”

Even at two years old I must have realized that public prayers are supposed to be brief.

Well, let me tell you something, I have felt like doing that a few times since then.

In recent years I have been kneeling in congregational prayer for what felt like an eternity and have thought to myself during the long drawn-out prayer, “Why doesn’t the elder praying just ask if he can preach sometime instead of turning his prayer into a sermon?”

“Our prayers in public should be short…” (Ellen White, Prayer, p. 176)

Jesus mentored His disciples to pray longer prayers in private. In Gethsemane the night of His arrest, in Matthew 26:36-46, He even asked them to pray for Him. Jesus led by example, in long personal prayers, sometimes lasting all night (Luke 6:12). He also taught that prayers should be genuine and not rehearsed.

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.” Matthew 6:7 NLT

When we pray, we are to talk to God as to a friend. I heard of an elderly Bible worker, who, when driving to Bible studies, would make sure nothing was in the passenger seat, because He pictured God sitting there, riding with Him to the Bible study as he prayed and drove. (I assume he kept his eyes open as he prayed and drove!)

Many times in my Bible studies I ask people to have the opening prayer, and many are shy and say they don’t know how. I never pressure anyone to do anything they don’t feel comfortable doing, but several have been surprised how easy it is when I tell them how. One man, who had already heard me pray many times, told me he wanted to pray but did not know what to say. I told him, “Just say “Dear heavenly Father, please send your Holy Spirit to be with us in this Bible study. In Jesus’ name, amen.” His eyes opened wide and he smiled when he realized how easy it was.

God wants us to talk to Him as a friend. He does not wanting us just babbling the same words over and over. He wants to have a real conversation with us. The psalmist talks about singing a new song (Psalm 40:3) and a song is like a prayer, since songs and prayers are stories of our experiences. Just as God enjoys new songs, He also enjoys new prayers.

While Jesus mentored His disciples to pray in private, He also mentored them to pray in public. He gave them a model prayer, not to be repeated over and over word for word, but as a model for us to form our own prayer. God loves creativity. Not every song has to be sung the same way and neither does every prayer have to be prayed the same way. While Jesus prayed long private prayers, notice how short His public prayer is.

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Matthew 6:9 NLT

Jesus starts by addressing His Father and setting a tone for reverence and awe. Our prayers may also be prayed with confidence knowing our requests are reaching the throne of the universe.

May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 NLT

I have a friend who was taught long ago by his parents to always ask people how their day was, and listen to them, before going on about himself and his day. You may think you had a tough day, but before you dive into your prayer, telling God all about your heartaches, have you ever asked God how His day went? God sees way more heartaches in one day than we will see in a lifetime. We want God’s will to be done and His kingdom to come soon, not just to end our suffering, but to end God’s suffering, as He suffers not just with you and me, but with everyone in the world who suffers.

Give us today the food we need, Matthew 6:11 NLT

When Daniel asked for God to reveal the king’s dream to him, Daniel did not save himself only, he saved the lives of all the king’s men (Daniel 2:24). In Mark 4:39 Jesus calmed the storm at the disciples’ request, but the sea was not only calmed for their tiny boat alone. All the other boats on the water benefited from the calmness. Jesus does not pray for Himself alone to have food. He prays for everyone to have the food they need. There is no selfishness in Jesus’ prayer. There is no selfishness in any genuine prayer.

“and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” Matthew 6:12 NLT

Jesus could have prayed, “Father forgive everyone else for their sins, but as you know, I have never sinned,” but again there is neither self nor pride in Jesus’ prayer.

And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:13 NLT

Jesus overcame by asking for the Father’s help along with everyone else. We can ask for His help and overcome as well. Jesus ends His prayer the way He began, by exalting the Father, Who gives us the confidence we need in our personal lives and ministry when we worship and follow Him.

May His will be done, and may it begin with us.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/a-new-song-and-a-new-prayer/