“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

Photo by Chris Gallagher

Who’s there?

Jesus!

What can I do for you?

It’s what I can do for you. Will you open the door?

Uh, can you first tell me why you’re here?

Your revival

Oh, sorry but I already had revival.

Really? How and when?

Recently at our church. We have scheduled revivals at least once a year.

Was the church revived?

Sure it was. We had terrific music for an entire week, and we brought in a special speaker who really excited the church. We were truly revived.

What changed as a result of that revival?

Well, things got a little better down at the church. A couple of people who had stopped coming to church are now attending more often. Oh, and we all came down for the appeal to pledge to do better as Christians.

Do better? How so?

In a couple of ways. Including being more faithful in our attendance at the scheduled church services. We definitely will do better in our tithes and offerings. And, we are committed to witness about our faith more.

How are you going to witness more?

Simple, we ordered some beautiful tracts, and we all took a small stack to give out as often as we can.

Anything else?

Well, we’ll try harder to invite our friends and neighbors out to church.

Why do you want them to come to your church?

Duh, so they can hear the truth. They need to hear the truth.

What is the truth?

Now you’re just playing with me. Truth is the doctrines of our church. You know, the Sabbath, the state of the dead, 2300 days and so forth.

What about love?

Love? We are a very nice church, and we treat everyone warmly. Is that what you are asking?

No, I’m asking about the love that loves your neighbor as yourself. The love that would compel you to seek out the needs of others and be intentional in meeting those needs, regardless if they ever come to your church or not.

I’m talking about a love that causes you to put God first and foremost in your life so much so that your best energies, talents, and resources are devoted to Him and the causes of God instead of towards your survival and quests for success.

I’m talking about a love that caused the widow to give her two last mites; a love that caused a woman to wipe my feet with her hair as her tears of love and appreciation flowed down like water.

I’m talking about a treasure of love so valuable that you would sell all that you have to purchase it. I’m talking about a love that gives much because one has been forgiven much.

Lord Jesus, how do I get such love?

Very simple; open the door and let Me in.

Amen!(0)

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Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Exod. 3:7, Matt. 22:37-40, Exod. 22:21-23, Deut. 14:22-29, Deut. 26:1-11, Lev. 25:9-23.

Memory Text: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18, NKJV).

In His mercy, God has always had people with whom He has maintained a special relationship. In the stories of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—among others—we see God yearning to rebuild the broken relationship with human beings. But this was not just for the benefit of these few individuals and their families. When they were connected with God and blessed by Him, it was part of a larger plan to repair that relationship and share the blessing with others. As God said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing … and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:2-3, NIV). As he was blessed, he could be a blessing to others.

This blessing was to come through the nation of Israel and, ultimately, the Messiah, who would come from that nation. With the creation of the people of Israel, God was now working with an entire nation. So, He set about giving them laws, regulations, festivals, and practices that would be a way to live so that those who were blessed by God would be able to bless others, as well.

No doubt this principle still exists today.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, July 13.

Amen!(0)

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By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Food ran out on Sunday morning in the home of 9-year-old Joanne.

Image © Pacific Press

Father had abandoned the family after Mother started attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the U.S. state of Oregon. Father, who had immigrated with the family to the United States from South Korea, made it clear that he would never help them.

“If you choose God, let your God feed you”, he said. “Let your God clothe you”.

Mother, who didn’t have a job, prayed and cried in her bedroom that Sunday.

When lunchtime came, Joanne’s younger sister complained forlornly, “I’m hungry”. Her older brother sat stone-faced, trying to be brave even though he was helpless. Then Joanne remembered reading in “Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories” about children who prayed and received help from angels.

“All we have to do is pray!” she exclaimed. “’Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories’ says that if we pray, the angels will bring us food. Let’s pray!”

Brother rolled his eyes. Little Sister complained again about her hunger. Joanne didn’t know how to pray.

“Hello God”, Joanne said. “We are really hungry. ‘Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories’ says that You can send us food, so would You send us something to eat, please?”

The children waited. No food. Hours passed, and dinnertime came. Joanne thought, “What’s wrong? God is late!”

The children grew hungrier. Mother continued praying and crying in the bedroom.

Then Joanne said, “Oh, I know what we did wrong! God doesn’t think that we believe Him because we didn’t set the table”.

She told Little Sister to fetch metal chopsticks from the kitchen. The children set the table and sat down.

“Sorry about that, God”, Joanne prayed. “We probably did it wrong. Could You send us some food now? We’re ready!”

But nothing came. The children climbed into bed disappointed and hungry that night.

Early in the morning, they woke up to go to school. They had no food for breakfast and no money to buy lunch.

“Don’t bother, Mother”, Joanne whispered. “She is still praying and crying”.

The children opened the front door to leave the house, but their path was blocked – by a huge box filled with food.

Excitedly, the children called Mother to the door. Mother couldn’t believe her eyes. Joanne was overjoyed.

“The angels were just a little late!” she said.

That was the moment when Joanne knew that God lives and that He hears and answers prayers. Joanne Kim (née Park) is now the mother of her own four children. She and her husband, Jon, a dentist, are missionaries in Mongolia.

After the food miracle, Joanne, pictured left, is convinced that angels are Korean.

“I will tell you today that angels are Korean”, she said. “The food that they delivered was all Korean – everything you need to make rice, kimchi, and seaweed soup”.

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

All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Amen!(0)

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Further Thought: 

Read Ellen G. White, “The Creation”, pages 44-51, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

“‘God is love’. … His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. ‘The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,’ whose ‘ways are everlasting,’ changeth not. With Him ‘is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’. …

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings”. – Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 33.

“If men would do their duty as faithful stewards of their Lord’s goods, there would be no cry for bread, none suffering in destitution, none naked and in want. It is the unfaithfulness of men that brings about the state of suffering in which humanity is plunged … God has made men His stewards, and He is not to be charged with the sufferings, the misery, the nakedness, and the want of humanity. The Lord has made ample provision for all”. – Ellen G. White, Welfare Ministry, p. 16.

Discussion Questions:

Summary: 

God created a good and complete world, and He appointed human beings, created in His image, to “tend and care for” His creation. Though sin broke the relationships that God had originally intended for us, we still have a role to play as stewards of the goodness of creation and caretakers of our fellow human beings. Fulfilling this role is one way we can honor God as our Creator.

Amen!(0)

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With the arrival of sin, it did not take long for the world to break down further. Sparked by jealousy, misunderstanding, and anger, the first murder involved the first pair of brothers. When God questioned Cain about his sin, his reply is probably ironic and rhetorical—“Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9)—and the answer implied by God’s initial question was, “Yes, absolutely, you are your brother’s keeper”.

Read Proverbs 22:2. What is implied in this apparently simple statement? What does it tell us about our relationship to our fellow human beings?

Cain slays Abel

Everyone we meet is one of God’s creatures, created in His image, and part of the network of relationships that connects us all in God’s creation, fractured and broken though it might be. “We are all woven together in the web of humanity. The evil that befalls any part of the great human brotherhood brings peril to all”. – Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 345. Like it or not, because of this common link, we have a God-given responsibility to God and to each other (see Matt. 22:37-39).

Throughout the Bible, the claim that God is our Creator is recurring. For example, it is one of the reasons given for remembering the Sabbath (see Exod. 20:11) and for worshiping God in the end time (see Rev. 14:7). It is also a primary motivation given for caring about others, for being concerned for the less fortunate.

We are all linked by the bond of our common origins in God. Whoever “oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Prov. 14:31, NIV). How much clearer could that link be?

God as our Creator has a claim on us that demands our entire life, including our worship and our service and care for others. As difficult and frustrating and inconvenient as it might be at times, we are, indeed, our “brother’s keeper”.

Amen!(0)

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