Daily Lesson for Friday 15th of March 2024

Contemplate the message of Isaiah 40:1-31 and Isaiah 51:1-16.

The songs of Zion make an absolute commitment to staying mindful of Zion and the living hope in God’s sovereign reign that it represents. While many blessings of God’s sanctuary are experienced in this life, the hope in the fullness of life and joy in Zion is still in the future. Many of God’s children long for the heavenly Zion with tears (Psalms 137:1). To remember Zion implies not merely an occasional thought but also a deliberate mindfulness and decision to live in accordance with that living memory (Exodus 13:3, Exodus 20:8).

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Therefore, singing the songs of Zion carries a passionate resolve to keep alive the hope in the restoration of God’s kingdom on the new earth (Revelation 21:1-5). “There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There is no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 677.

A commitment not to forget Zion is an implicit pledge of the Lord’s pilgrims that they will never accept this world as their homeland but await the new heavens and the new earth.

Thus, the psalms of Zion can be sung by believers of all generations who long to live in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 3:12). The songs of Zion encourage us to anticipate the future world with hope, but they also oblige us to be agents of God’s grace in this present world.

Discussion Questions

1. How do we take the spiritual and theological principles that centered on God’s people in Zion, a literal place in Jerusalem, and apply them to the church and its mission to the world?
2. How can believers abide in God’s sanctuary today? (John 1:14-18, Hebrews 12:22-24).
3. How will Zion become the city of all nations as envisioned in Psalms 87:1-7? (Romans 5:10, Ephesians 2:11-16, Colossians 1:19-23).
4. How do you answer the person who points to the reality of the wicked prospering in this world while many “good” people suffer? What do you say? Why is it important to acknowledge that we don’t have full answers for everything here now?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-11-further-thought-longing-for-god-in-zion/

The Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an opportunity for us to understand the needs of others and share in supporting them. Please click on the image below to watch the Mission Spotlight presentation for this week:

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-march-16/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 14th of March 2024

Those who trust in the Lord are compared to Mount Zion, the symbol of steadfastness and strength. The magnificent view of the mountains surrounding the city of Jerusalem inspired the psalmist to acknowledge the certainty of divine protection (Psalms 5:12, Psalms 32:7,10).

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

Unlike the mountains ruled by the wicked, which are being tossed into the seas (Psalms 46:2), the impressive durability of the mountain upon which Jerusalem was built inspires profound trust. The confidence in God’s protection becomes even bolder in the face of the painful reality in which evil seems to prevail so often. Yet, even amid that evil, God’s people can have hope.

God’s children can be discouraged by the success of the wicked and, perhaps, tempted to follow their ways (Psalms 73:2-13, Psalms 94:3). The utmost stability of Mount Zion cannot secure those who depart from the Lord. The people are still given freedom to “put forth their hands unto iniquity” (Psalms 125:3) and “turn aside unto their crooked ways” (Psalms 125:5). The Lord is just and will judge the individuals who remain in rebellion along with other unrepentant sinners.

Here is the call for God’s people to remain immovable in faith and trust in the Lord, just as Mount Zion is their immovable refuge. That is, even when we don’t understand things, we can still trust in the goodness of God.

“The entrance of sin into the world, the incarnation of Christ, regeneration, the resurrection, and many other subjects presented in the Bible, are mysteries too deep for the human mind to explain, or even fully to comprehend. But we have no reason to doubt God’s word because we cannot understand the mysteries of His providence. . . . Everywhere are wonders beyond our ken. Should we then be surprised to find that in the spiritual world also there are mysteries that we cannot fathom? The difficulty lies solely in the weakness and narrowness of the human mind. God has given us in the Scriptures sufficient evidence of their divine character, and we are not to doubt His word because we cannot understand all the mysteries of His providence.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 106, 107.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-11-immovable-like-mount-zion/

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Psalm 122:1

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

Over the years, I have heard many people tell me they don’t need a church. They can just study the Bible for themselves. They don’t need to go to a church that is filled with hypocrites, even if there is always room for one more. However, you can’t have a “one-person” church and fulfill the counsel in Hebrews 10:25. By setting up His church, God does more than command us to study and worship. He commands us to do more than spread the gospel by ourselves. Hebrews 10:25 is a command to be social. Paul does not merely say, “Do not give up hope and do not stop studying the Scriptures. He says, “Do not stop meeting together in a social setting.” 

Photo by William Earnhardt

Paul, of all people, knew the importance of a church. Once he was converted in Acts 9, God directed him to the city where he met Ananias and Barnabas and the rest of the church. Even though Paul had a one-on-one encounter with God, he still needed to understand the importance of living and growing in a church setting.

Paul counseled us to keep being social, because he knew it was not good for man to be alone. Now think about this for a moment. God creates Adam. Adam has God and God has Adam. Yet God does not say, “Adam has Me, and I am all that he needs.” No, God Himself says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18

Now let this soak in. God Himself is saying, “I am not all Adam needs! He needs a community.”

If you believe God is all you need and that you don’t need anyone else in your life, then you are contradicting the God you serve! He Himself says He is not all you need. You need a community of believers. God created a mate for Adam, and thus ultimately they were to fulfill God’s purpose of creating a community. God knew Adam needed more than just to be able to worship God alone. He needed to be able to worship and serve God with a community of believers.

If you ever date someone who tries to isolate you from your family and friends, be very concerned about that. If their love is a godly love, they will love like God and encourage you to be social and active in your family and community. If God Himself realizes we need more in our lives than just Him, how dare a mere mortal human being tell us they are all we need! If their love is from God, they will not be egotistical and tell us we don’t need anyone but them. God’s love is a healthy love which does not isolate. A love that tries to isolate is very unhealthy. Real love does not isolate from community. Real love, like God’s love ,encourages community. 

Worshiping in a social setting, such as a church, means we will meet hypocrites, and they will meet hypocrites when they meet us. Hypocrites are just people who do not live up to all of their ideals, and that is all of us. But by God’s grace, He is getting us there, and He will get us there. In the meantime we need each other to get there.

Years ago I had  a community Bible study where people of all faiths were invited to our church on Wednesday mornings. One morning an elderly lady said something that has always stayed with me. She said, “If someone in the church keeps rubbing you the wrong way, maybe God is just using them to polish your character.” I think she is right. God says it is not good for us to be alone. We need a community of believers. Some will encourage us, and even those with whom we don’t get along the best, will help polish our characters.

We need each other!

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Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dragoslava Santrac, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “The Lord Reigns.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/11-longing-for-god-in-zion-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/