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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View an in-depth discussion of Wisdom for Righteous Living in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.  
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Daily Lesson for Thursday 22nd of February 2024

Of the many blessings promised to those who revere the Lord, peace is perhaps one of the greatest. Psalms 1:1-6 depicts the righteous by a simile of a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruits in season and whose leaf does not wither (Psalms 1:3; Jeremiah 17:7-8; Ezekiel 47:12).

Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com

This simile identifies the source of all blessings, namely, abiding in God’s presence in His sanctuary and enjoying uninterrupted and loving relationship with God. Unlike the wicked, who are portrayed as chaff, with no stability, place, and future, the righteous are like a fruitful tree with roots, a place near God and eternal life.

Psalms 128:2, 3 evokes the blessings of the Messianic kingdom, where sitting under one’s own vine and fig tree is a symbol of peace and prosperity (Micah 4:4). The blessing of peace upon Jerusalem (Psalms 122:6-8; Psalms 128:5-6) conveys hope in the Messiah, who will end evil and restore peace in the world.

“In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called ‘a country.’ Hebrews 11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 675.

The New Testament describes the fulfillment of that hope in Christ’s second advent and the creation of the new world (Matthew 26:29, Revelation 21:1-27). Therefore, while the righteous receive many blessings in this life, the fullness of God’s favor awaits them when God’s kingdom is fully restored at the end of time.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24a-08-blessings-of-righteous-living/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 21st of February 2024

Psalms 141:1-10 is a prayer for protection from temptations from within and from without. The psalmist is not only endangered by the schemes of the wicked (Psalms 141:9-10) but also is tempted to act like the wicked. The first weak point is self-control in speech, and the psalmist prays that the Lord will keep watch over the door of his lips (Psalms 141:3). This image alludes to the guarding of city gates that, in biblical times, protected the city.

Image © Lars Justinen Goodsalt.com

The temptation is also whether God’s child will yield to the counsel of the righteous or be lured by the delicacies of the wicked (Psalms 141:4-5). The psalmist depicts his heart as a primary threat because there the real battle happens. Only unceasing prayer of complete trust and devotion to God can save God’s child from temptation (Psalms 141:1-2).

Psalms 141:1-10:4 depicts the progressive nature of temptation. First, the heart is inclined toward evil. Second, it practices evil deeds (the meaning in Hebrew underlines the repetitive character of the action). Third, the heart eats of the delicacies of the wicked, namely, accepts their evil practices as something desirable.

Likewise, in Psalms 1:1 the temptation comes to prevent God’s child from walking in the Lord’s way by causing him to walk with the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, and, finally, sit with the scornful. Sinners, wicked, and scornful: we are not to be like them or let them lead us away from the Lord.

These psalms describe the progressive, alluring, and cunning character of temptation, which underscores the fact that only total dependency on the Lord can secure one’s victory. They stress the importance of the words that one speaks, and listens to, amid temptation. The end of both the wicked and the righteous should teach the people to seek wisdom from God (Psalms 1:4-6, Psalms 141:8-10). Yet, in both psalms, the final vindication of God’s children remains in the future. This means that the believers are called to patiently trust God and to wait upon Him.

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For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:9-12 NKJV 

Inagine you are in the Twighlight Zone and you are having a conversation with your teenage self. What would you tell yourself? Here are just a few things I would tell the 15 year old version of me. 

Be kind to your parents and family elders. You won’t understand their struggle until you are older and they are gone. Once you understand it will be too late to tell them you get it now, because they will be gone. 

Image © Pacific Press

Be kind to your teachers who act like they are superior and so much smarter and better than you. They want you to think they have it all together and have arrived, but they are actually fighting insecurities and battles that go back to their own childhood. They cover it up well now so you can’t see it. But when you get older you will look back and see it. But it will be too late to do anything about it, because they will be gone by then. 

Be kind to your peers. When you get older you will hear stories about how they were abused at home or at school in ways you can’t even imagine now. When you find out 20 or 30 years later, you will wish you had been kinder to them while you were growing up. You will tell yourself, If only I had known what they were going through I would have been more kind to them. Then you will realize you didn’t need to know what they were going through in order to be kind. You could just be kind. 

Savor every bite of your grandmother’s cooking. You will never taste anything that good for the rest of your life.

Don’t stop writing in your journal. Your life may seem routine and mundane now but it will help you see things about yourself later that will help you grow.

Eat healthy food now, so when you get older, healthy food will be your comfort food. 

Don’t worry about making stupid mistakes in front of people. The people who see your silly mistakes are just as human as you are. You don’t need to impress them. 

Oh and just so you know, the kid you just made fun of in class will be at the airport at 2 am to pick you up, when you fly back home in about 35 years to see your mother right before she dies. 

Also, you know you are pretty sure you know who made that generous anonynmus donation to your tuition? Well you’re wrong. Its actually someone you would never guess in a million years. So just be kind to everyone. 

I know you were humiliated when the teacher caught you cheating on that test. Don’t worry, she does not think any less of you. The only way she knew you were cheating is because that’s how she cheated when she was in school and got caught. She knows you will never do it again, She’s an honest person now, and she knows you are too. 

Learn how to manage your money wisely. Don’t let yourself feel inferior to those who may have more than you. Your self-worth has nothing to do with your bank account. Pay cash. If you can’t afford to pay cash for it, then you certainly can’t afford to pay interest on it as well. You can do without it until you can pay cash for it. 

Find the beauty in people. By the time you see the beauty in a flashing star it’s already gone. People are flashing stars too. Don’t wait until they are gone before you realize how beautiful they are. 

By the tine you realize how short life is, it will mostly be gone.  Use your time wisely.

When you get older, there will be this thing called the Internet and Sabbath School Net. You’re going to love writing for Sabbath School Net, and you will meet a lot of wonderful people doing so! 

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator…… Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.  Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it……Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 NLT

One last thing: Don’t worry about the future. Everything will turn out way better than you even dreamed possible! 

So, if you talked to your younger self, what would you have to say? Please do tell. 

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