In the third grade I was diagnosed with learning disabilities. I was told I could do the work, I just needed to try harder. Well, sometimes I was not just tired of trying harder, I was just tired of the work, period. For example, in English we had to find the noun, verb and adjective in several sentences. Each assignment had about 20 sentences as I recall. However, I thought 10 sentences was plenty and 20 was just unreasonable. So after actually trying during the first 10 sentences I just hurriedly guessed on the last 10. One time, just to throw my teacher off, after guessing on the last 10, I turned my paper over and started writing over and over, “I did my very best. I did my very best.” For some reason, writing “I did my very best” 20 times seemed easier than actually doing my very best. It worked! The teacher showed the paper to my mother and told her, “I guess we have been too hard on Willie. Look how frustrated he must have been when he wrote over and over I did my very best.” I wasn’t doing my very best. I knew it and God knew it. In the end, I wasn’t cheating my mother or my teacher. I was cheating God.

  …or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, Colossians 3:23 NKJV

In Acts 5:1-11, Ananias and Sapphira tried to make it look like they were giving 100% but God knew better. Even though I tried to make it look like I was giving 100% in 3rd grade English class God knew better.  

Sometimes people think we are trying our best when we are just being lazy. Sometimes though, people think we are not trying our best when we really are. Only God knows. 

I have been an avid golfer since 2007. I have practiced, I have watched golf instruction videos. I play regularly. However my golf score has not changed much since I first began. When someone asks me what my handicap is, I tell them, “It’s my swing.” Several times I have gone golfing with a friend who has told me, “I have not played in several years, and you play all the time, so I know you will win.” And then they are surprised when we walk off the 18th green and they have won. My score clearly does not show how much I have practiced and how much I have tried. My scores today are only slightly a little better than my scores 15 years ago. That may not be entirely true because I do not give myself as many mulligans as I did in the past. So my scores 15 years ago were probably even worse had I not given myself so many mulligans. Still, I don’t think my poor scores reflect how hard I really try. 

Golf is just a game, but I have to remind myself in life, just as I am trying harder than my golf score reflects, many in the church are trying harder than their actions reflect. Golf is just plain easier for others than it is for me. The score does not really show how hard you have tried. In life it may be easier for me to study my Bible every day than it is for others. After all, liking to read or not liking to read, does not make you a better person. And even after all the Bible studying I do, during the day I am amazed at how much more Christlike people can be who don’t even believe in Christ! There are atheists who act more like Jesus in every day life than I do! Then again we meet people who are really struggling. It seems like they are living their whole life in a sand trap. It may be easy to criticize, but God may know their hearts, and know they are actually putting more effort into their Christian walk than some of us who come by certain things more naturally. This is why we should never judge. We simply don’t know what is going on inside their lives and minds. Ellen White puts it this way. 

“While some are continually harassed, afflicted, and in trouble because of their unhappy traits of character, having to war with internal foes and the corruption of their nature, others have not half so much to battle against. They pass along almost free from the difficulties which their brethren and sisters who are not so favorably organized are laboring under. In very many cases they do not labor half so hard to overcome and live the life of a Christian as do some of those unfortunate ones I have mentioned.” Ellen White, Testimonies Volume 2 page 74

Let’s remember to be patient with others. We don’t have a clue the crucible they may be enduring. And after all, 

Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing to Himself. – Ellen White, Christ Object Lessons, Page 71.

Amen!(1)

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Part 6: Temple Plot Foiled

By Andrew McChesney

Months passed before Junior and Mother found out why Father had changed his mind and went to Junior’s baptism. Evil spirits had forbidden Father from going to the Sabbath afternoon baptism, so he had turned down his son’s invitation to attend. On the day of the baptism, Father felt restless and asked Mother to drive him to the Candomblé temple in Manaus, Brazil. Around 5 p.m., spirits at the temple told Father to dress in his high-priestly robes and go to Alpha Seventh-day Adventist Community Church. They promised to possess people in the church to prevent Junior from being baptized.

Father donned his robes and hailed a taxi. He could hear an invisible legion of evil spirits swirling around him. At the church’s entrance, the spirits suddenly declared that they could not go in.

Father remembered the most important lesson that the spirits had taught him years earlier: Never leave a job undone. If he started a task, he had to finish it. Father boldly entered the church. As he walked into the crowded main hall, a sweet, sanctified energy flowed over him. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced, and it felt good. Later he realized that it must have been the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Father’s anger about the baptism vanished. A deacon, Roberto Fernandez, met him at the back, gave him a hug, and led him to the baptismal pool. Father turned around and looked at the congregation, where he saw people with bowed heads. He thought they were frightened but later understood that they were praying. When he saw Junior in the baptismal pool, he realized that the spirits had lied to him. Junior wasn’t being forced to join the Adventist Church. It was his own decision.

After a song, Pastor Ricardo raised his arm and said, “As a minister of the gospel, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Then he immersed Junior under the water.

After the baptism, Junior took the microphone and looked at Father.

“Daddy, despite your religion, I love you very much,” he said.

He hugged Father and started crying. His words broke Father’s heart.

When the ceremony ended, church members showered Father with hugs. He was shocked. He never expected to be treated with such love. “This is such a nice place, and the people are so nice,” he said as he got into the car.

Back home, Father called everyone he knew to announce proudly that his son had been baptized. He described the experience as incredible.

Mother realized that the Holy Spirit had started to work in his heart. An unbelievable peace filled their home. For four days. Then the evil spirits ordered Father to kill Mother and Junior.

Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help open eight churches in the South American Division, including four in Brazil, where Father (Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos) and his family live.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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Further Thought:

Read Ellen G. White, “The Night of Wrestling,” Pages 195-203, in Patriarchs and Prophets; “Consecration,” Pages 43-48, in Steps to Christ.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“This will, that forms so important a factor in the character of man, was at the Fall given into the control of Satan; and he has ever since been working in man to will and to do of his own pleasure, but to the utter ruin and misery of man.” — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 515.

“In order to receive God’s help, man must realize his weakness and deficiency; he must apply his own mind to the great change to be wrought in himself; he must be aroused to earnest and persevering prayer and effort. Wrong habits and customs must be shaken off; and it is only by determined endeavor to correct these errors and to conform to right principles that the victory can be gained. Many never attain to the position that they might occupy, because they wait for God to do for them that which He has given them power to do for themselves. All who are fitted for usefulness must be trained by the severest mental and moral discipline, and God will assist them by uniting divine power with human effort.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 248.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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“Join host Eric Flickinger from It Is Written as he discusses this week’s Sabbath School lesson with the author, Gavin Anthony. Come away with unique insights and discover the main points the author wished to convey in this week’s lesson.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avduJyXOgq8&w=560&h=315]

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Key Thought: This lesson highlights the role of truth, our free will, and perseverance in overwhelming difficulties and challenges in our lives.
August 6, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Colossians 1:28,29.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. In what ways does Paul show the human effort involved in working with God?
3. Personal Application: What things has God laid on your heart that you are struggling with? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Every culture has some distinctions that can break down our Christian experience. What things in your culture can leave you more vulnerable to Satan’s attacks?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Matthew 5:29.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Would you call these words by Jesus radical? Why so?
3. Personal Application: What were Jesus’ own feelings and desires in Gethsemane? Were they opposed to God’s will? What are we to learn from this? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Is God literally calling us to maim ourselves or harm our bodies to control our sinful behavior? This doesn’t make sense to me.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Genesis 32:9-11..

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What does this story tell us about perseverance, even amid great discouragement?
3. Personal Application: What are some practical choices you can make that will help you persevere with the Lord during discouragement and temptation? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “I am at the stage where I am ready to give up or already have given up. I am at the end of my rope. I can’t handle my situation anymore, and I see no help or relief in sight. God has turned His face away from me and I have no hope.” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read John 16:5-15.

1.  Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does the Holy Spirit do for us?
3. Personal Application: How well are you at listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice? What choices are you making with your free will? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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