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Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #300 on: April 07, 2017, 08:14:11 PM »
A Commandment Blessing

  "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."   Exodus 20:8-11

During the Israelite's exodus out of Egypt, they experienced a triple miracle. On the sixth day the people gathered two omers for every person. The leaders quickly told Moses what had been done. His answer was, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until the morning.’” They did this, and found that the manna did not spoil. And Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

God requires that His holy day be kept as sacredly now as in the time of Israel. We should make the day before the Sabbath a day of preparation, so that everything may be ready for its sacred hours. In no case should our own business be allowed to infringe on holy time. God has directed that the sick should be cared for. The labor required to make them comfortable is a work of mercy and not a violation of the Sabbath, but all unnecessary work should be avoided. Work that is neglected until the beginning of the Sabbath should remain undone until after sundown at its close. 

The Israelites witnessed a three-part miracle to impress their minds with the sacredness of the Sabbath: a double quantity of manna fell on the sixth day, none on the seventh, and the portion needed for the Sabbath stayed sweet and pure.

At the moment, all around the world, it is the Sabbath Day. Soon we shall be celebrating the Sabbath in heaven, by God's grace. Have a blessed Sabbath, my dear brothers and sisters!

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #301 on: May 06, 2017, 07:23:34 AM »
Like the Troubled Sea

  "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest. . . . There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isaiah 57:20, 21

    The sun had set, and the blackness of night settled down upon the stormy sea. The waves, lashed into fury by the howling winds, dashed fiercely over the disciples' boat, and threatened to engulf it. Those hardy fishermen had spent their lives upon the lake, and had guided their craft safely through many a storm; but now their strength and skill availed nothing. The disciples were helpless in the grasp of the tempest, and hope failed them as they saw that their boat was filling. Absorbed in their efforts to save themselves, they had forgotten that Jesus was on board
     Their fear in the time of danger revealed their unbelief. It was only when, in despair of self-dependence, they turned to Him that He could give them help. How often the disciples' experience is ours! When the tempests of temptation gather, and the fierce lightnings flash, and the waves sweep over us, we battle with the storm alone, forgetting that there is One who can help us. We trust to our own strength till our hope is lost, and we are ready to perish. Then we remember Jesus, and if we call upon Him to save us, we shall not cry in vain. Though He sorrowfully reproves our unbelief and self-confidence, He never fails to give us the help we need. Whether on the land or on the sea, if we have the Saviour in our hearts, there is no need of fear. Living faith in the Redeemer will smooth the sea of life, and will deliver us from danger in the way that He knows to be best.   
      "The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest. . . . There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isaiah 57:20, 21. Sin destroys our peace. While self is unsubdued, we can find no rest. The masterful passions of the heart no human power can control. We are as helpless here as were the disciples to quiet the raging storm. But He who spoke peace to the billows of Galilee has spoken the word of peace for every soul. However fierce the tempest, those who turn to Jesus with the cry, "Lord, save us," will find deliverance. His grace, that reconciles the soul to God, quiets the strife of human passion, and in His love the heart is at rest. "He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven." Psalm 107:29, 30. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever." Romans 5:1; Isaiah 32:17.

     Jesus is like a rock amid the stormy seas. He never changes and is unmoved by the tempests that so very often trouble us. "He is the Rock, His work is perfect." Deuteronomy 32:4. We need not lose our peace. We too may be stable and unmoved by the sin that surrounds us if we will abide in Christ. If we are living for Him, then He is "the rock of our salvation." Psalm 95:1.

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #302 on: June 25, 2017, 09:13:56 AM »
Where are the Young Men?

  "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." John 4:35

The Lord has need of men of intense spiritual life. Every worker may receive an endowment of strength from on high, and may go forward with faith and hope in the path where God bids him walk. The word of God abides in the young, consecrated laborer. He is quick, earnest, powerful, having in the counsel of God an unfailing source of supply.
 
God has called this people to give to the world the message of Christ’s soon coming. We are to give to men the last call to the gospel feast, the last invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thousands of places that have not heard the call are yet to hear it. Many who have not given the message are yet to proclaim it. Again I appeal to our young men. Has not God called upon to you to sound this message? How many of our young men will enter the service of God, not to be served, but to serve? In times past there were those who fastened their minds upon one soul after another, saying, “Lord, help me to save this soul.” But now such instances are rare. How many act as if they realized the peril of sinners? How many take those whom they know to be in peril, presenting them to God in prayer, and supplicating Him to save them? 

The apostle Paul could say of the early church, “They glorified God in me.” [Galatians 1:24.] Shall we not strive to live so that the same words can be said of us? The Lord will provide ways and means for those who will seek Him with the whole heart. He desires us to acknowledge the divine superintendence shown in preparing fields of labor and in preparing the way for these fields to be occupied successfully.

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #303 on: July 04, 2017, 07:36:57 AM »
America's Independence Day

  "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Isaiah 61:1

For 500 years God has delivered His children from the bondage of the Roman Church that coerced the conscience and condemned the righteous to the stake. How few appreciate the freedom given. It was to escape the kings and popes that America was founded upon the Protestant and republican principles which made her great in the past. At great cost was American self-determination gained.

Today, July 4th, America celebrates her independence from European dominance. How many recognize that it was God that provided not only for freedom of religion, but also a governmental structure that gave individual liberty including freedom of conscience. No longer were citizens to be punished when following their conscience. Here, the church is to have no authority in the public sphere. But, the Constitution of the United States which guarantees these freedoms has been under attack and the Protestant and republican heritage is being set aside.

As Jesus said it would be just before His second coming, so it today. "As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:37. God destroyed all except the eight on the ark. We see the very same moral conditions existing in the world today. It is no wonder America has lost her greatness. All nations are set against God and His faithful as Jesus prepares to return.

The freedom given to America came from God. So, too, the freedom and eternal life offered to all, is a gift from God. Sadly it will be rejected by most even though the price paid was beyond computation. Jesus suffered for the sins of every person who has lived or shall live. Yet, for most it will be wasted, for they will reject this priceless gift.

It is the privilege of all who are truly born again and filled with the Spirit of God to preach the "good tidings" of salvation to a lost world. We are sent "to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Who are bound? All of humanity is in bondage to sin until they are born again of the Spirit. "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7:18-24.

We have been entrusted with the answer to Saul's question. Jesus Christ is the only One who can transform sinners into saints. Until we are transformed, we remain in bondage to sin. We must be born again. Jesus explains, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." John 3:6,7.

As Americans celebrate their independence from popes and kings, let us all celebrate the freedom we have in Christ. We are no longer in bondage to the law of sin and death.
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ [be] in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Romans 8:3-14.


Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #304 on: August 13, 2017, 05:28:36 AM »
Real Righteousness

  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Luke 10:27

One of Satan’s most successful deceptions is to lead men to claim salvation, while at the same time they are living in disobedience to God’s commandments. These are described by Jesus as those who will say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?”

Yes, those who claim to be saved have a great deal to say about being saved by the blood of Jesus, but their sanctification is not through the truth as it is in Jesus. While claiming to believe in Him, and apparently doing wonderful works in His name, they ignore His Father’s law and serve as agents of the great adversary of souls to carry forward the work which he began in Eden, that of making plausible excuses for not obeying God implicitly. Their work of leading men to dishonor God by ignoring His law will one day be unfolded before them with its true results.

The conditions of eternal life are made so plain in God’s Word that none need err, unless they choose error rather than truth because their unsanctified souls love the darkness rather than the light.

The lawyer who came to Christ with the question, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” thought to catch Christ, but Jesus laid the burden back upon the lawyer. “What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Then said Christ, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live” ( Luke 10:25-28). These words meet the individual cases of all. Are we willing to comply with the conditions? Will we obey God and keep His commandments? Will we be doers of the Word and not hearers only? God’s law is as immutable and unchangeable as His character. Whatever men may say or do to make it void does not change its claims or release them from their obligation to obey.

We need divine enlightenment daily; we should pray as did David, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”  Psalm 119:18. God will have a people upon the earth who will vindicate His honor by having respect to all of His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous, not a yoke of bondage. David prayed in his day, “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.” Psalm 119:126.

Not one of us can afford to dishonor God by living in transgression of His law. To neglect the Bible and give ourselves up to the pursuit of worldly treasure is a loss which is beyond estimate. Eternity alone will reveal the great sacrifice made by many to secure worldly honor and worldly advantages, at the loss of the soul, the loss of eternal riches. They might have had that life which measures with the life of God; for Jesus died to bring the blessings and treasures of heaven within their reach, that they might not be accounted poor and wretched and miserable in the high estimate of eternity.

While we are to be in harmony with God’s law, we are not saved by the works of the law, yet we cannot be saved without obedience. The law is the standard by which character is measured. But we cannot possibly keep the commandments of God without the regenerating grace of Christ. Jesus alone can cleanse us from all sin. He does not save us by law, neither will He save us in disobedience to law.

Our love to Christ will be in proportion to the depth of our conviction of sin, and by the law is the knowledge of sin. But as we see ourselves, let us look away to Jesus, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity. By faith take hold of the merits of Christ, and the soul-cleansing blood will be applied. The more clearly we see the evils and perils to which we have been exposed, the more grateful shall we be for deliverance through Christ. The gospel of Christ does not give men license to break the law, for it was through transgression that the floodgates of woe were opened upon our world.
 
Today sin is the same malignant thing that it was in the time of Adam. The gospel does not promise the favor of God to anyone who in impenitence breaks His law. The depravity of the human heart, the guilt of transgression, the ruin of sin, are all made plain by the cross where Christ has made for us a way of escape.

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #305 on: September 05, 2017, 08:53:54 AM »
Insanity Reins in the World and in the Church

                 "My lord delayeth his coming..." Matthew 24:48 

A crisis has arisen in the church. Enmity to God has struck its roots deep in human hearts. It has become widespread, both in the world and in the professed churches of Christ. Everywhere is seen a hatred of Biblical truth. Wherever the truth is proclaimed, it is opposed in a decided manner.

Everything has been moving on just as the Lord revealed in prophecy that it would. Something great and decisive is soon to take place, else no flesh would be saved. The character of God will not be compromised. Under the wrath of God, universal desolation will soon reach all parts of the known world. There have been hurricanes and earthquakes, fires and floods, calamities by sea and land; but who reads these warnings? What impression is made upon the world? What change in their attitude is seen? No more than was seen in the inhabitants of the world in the days of Noah. The people are just as ardent today in their sports, in their football, in their love of movies, in their love of pleasure as were those who loves just before the great flood, who “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away,” They had heaven-sent warnings, but they refused to listen. By their attitude they declared, We want not thy way, O God; we want our own way, our own will. Today the world is mad: an insanity is upon men and women, and is hurrying them on to eternal ruin. Every species of indulgence prevails, and men have become so infatuated with immorality that they will not listen to warnings or appeals.

The Lord says to the people of the earth, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” All are now deciding their eternal destiny. Men need to be aroused to realized the solemnity of the time, the nearness of the day when human probation shall be ended. God gives no man a message that it will be five years or ten years or twenty years before this earth’s history shall close. He would not give any living being an excuse for delaying the preparation for his appearing. He would have no one say, as did the unfaithful servant, “My Lord delayeth his coming;” for this leads to reckless neglect of the opportunities and privileges given to prepare us for that great day. Everyone who claims to be a servant of God is called to do his service as if each day might be the last.

The words of Christ have a direct application to this time: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”

Let everyone to whom the Lord has given light from his word be sure that he makes a right use of that light. Let him beware that he does not presume to feed the flock of God with food which is not appropriate for the time. “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Talk of the speedy appearing of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Put not off that day. God has given no man a right to say, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” Let the inquiry be made, Shall I stand at the right hand or at the left hand of the Judge at that day? “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?”

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #306 on: September 26, 2017, 07:40:24 AM »
God Has An Organized Church

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,    That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  Ephesians 5:25-27 

After Saul was directed to go to Damascus, he was led by the men who accompanied him to help him bring the disciples bound to Jerusalem to be tried and put to death. Saul tarried with Judas at Damascus, devoting the time to fasting and prayer. Here the faith of Saul was tested. Three days he was in darkness of mind in regard to what was required of him, and three days he was without sight. He had been directed to go to Damascus, for it should there be told him what he should do. He is in uncertainty, and he cries earnestly to God. An angel is sent to Ananias, directing him to go to a certain house where Saul is praying to be instructed in what he is to do next. Saul’s pride is gone. A little before he was self-confident, thinking he was engaged in a good work for which he should receive a reward; but all is now changed. He is bowed down and humbled to the dust in penitence and shame, and his supplications are fervent for pardon. Said the Lord, through His angel, to Ananias: “Behold, he prayeth.” The angel informed the servant of God that he had revealed to Saul in vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight. Ananias can scarcely credit the words of the angel, and repeats what he has heard of Saul’s bitter persecution of the saints at Jerusalem. But the command to Ananias is imperative: “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.”

Ananias was obedient to the direction of the angel. He laid his hands upon the man who so recently was exercised with a spirit of the deepest hatred, breathing out threatenings against all who believed on the name of Christ. Ananias said to Saul: “Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”
 
Jesus might have done all this work for Paul directly, but this was not His plan. Paul had something to do in the line of confession to the men whose destruction he had premeditated, and God had a responsible work for the men to do whom He had ordained to act in His stead. Paul was to take those steps necessary in conversion. He was required to unite himself to the very people whom he had persecuted for their religion. Christ here gives all His people an example of the manner of His working for the salvation of men. The Son of God identified Himself with the office and authority of His organized church. His blessings were to come through the agencies that He has ordained, thus connecting man with the channel through which His blessings come. Paul’s being strictly conscientious in his work of persecuting the saints does not make him guiltless when the knowledge of his cruel work is impressed upon him by the Spirit of God. He is to become a learner of the disciples.

He learns that Jesus, whom in his blindness he considered an impostor, is indeed the author and foundation of all the religion of God’s chosen people from Adam’s day, and the finisher of the faith, now so clear to his enlightened vision. He saw Christ as the vindicator of truth, the fulfiller of all prophecies. Christ had been regarded as making of none effect the law of God; but when his spiritual vision was touched by the finger of God, he learned of the disciples that Christ was the originator and the foundation of the entire Jewish system of sacrifices, that in the death of Christ type met antitype, and that Christ came into the world for the express purpose of vindicating His Father’s law.
 
In the light of the law, Paul sees himself a sinner. That very law which he thought he had been keeping so zealously he finds he has been transgressing. He repents and dies to sin, becomes obedient to the claims of God’s law, and has faith in Christ as his Saviour, is baptized, and preaches Jesus as earnestly and zealously as he once condemned Him. In the conversion of Paul are given us important principles which we should ever bear in mind. The Redeemer of the world does not sanction experience and exercise in religious matters independent of His organized and acknowledged church, where He has a church.

Many have the idea that they are responsible to Christ alone for their light and experience, independent of His acknowledged followers in the world. But this is condemned by Jesus in His teachings and in the examples, the facts, which He has given for our instruction. Here was Paul, one whom Christ was to fit for a most important work, one who was to be a chosen vessel unto Him, brought directly into the presence of Christ; yet He does not teach him the lessons of truth. He arrests his course and convicts him; and when he asks, “What wilt Thou have me to do?” the Saviour does not tell him directly, but places him in connection with His church. They will tell thee what thou must do. Jesus is the sinner’s friend, His heart is ever open, ever touched with human woe; He has all power, both in heaven and upon earth; but He respects the means which He has ordained for the enlightenment and salvation of men. He directs Saul to the church, thus acknowledging the power that He has invested in it as a channel of light to the world. It is Christ’s organized body upon the earth, and respect is required to be paid to His ordinances. In the case of Saul, Ananias represents Christ, and he also represents Christ’s ministers upon the earth who are appointed to act in Christ’s stead.

Saul was a learned teacher in Israel; but while he is under the influence of blind error and prejudice, Christ reveals Himself to him, and then places him in communication with His church, who are the light of the world. They are to instruct this educated, popular orator, in the Christian religion. In Christ’s stead Ananias touches his eyes that they may receive sight; in Christ’s stead he lays his hands upon him, prays in Christ’s name, and Saul receives the Holy Ghost. All is done in the name and authority of Christ. Christ is the fountain. The church is the channel of communication. Those who boast of personal independence need to be brought into closer relation to Christ by connection with His church upon the earth.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #307 on: December 25, 2017, 06:05:27 AM »
This Christmas Day

  "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, . . . to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4:4, 5. 


      Many in this world today, have no idea why Jesus came into this dark spot in the universe, a helpless babe in the likeness of sinful flesh, subject to the weakness of humanity, to fight the battle of life as each child must do. We are not left without an understanding in the Word of God.  In Bethlehem is hidden "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33 The Saviour's coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died without the sight. From the days of Enoch the promise was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing, and yet He came not. The prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all rightly interpreted the message. Century after century passed away; the voices of the prophets ceased. The hand of the oppressor was heavy upon Israel, and many were ready to exclaim, "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth." Ezekiel 12:22.
     But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God's purposes know no haste and no delay. Through the symbols of the great darkness and the smoking furnace, God had revealed to Abraham the bondage of Israel in Egypt, and had declared that the time of their sojourning should be four hundred years. "Afterward, "shall they come out with great substance." Genesis 15:14. Against that word, all the power of Pharaoh's proud empire battled in vain. On "the self-same day" appointed in the divine promise, "it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." Exodus 12:41. So in heaven's council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
    "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son." Providence had directed the movements of nations, and the tide of human impulse and influence, until the world was ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. The nations were united under one government. One language was widely spoken, and was everywhere recognized as the language of literature. From all lands the Jews of the dispersion gathered to Jerusalem to the annual feasts. As these returned to the places of their sojourn, they could spread throughout the world the tidings of the Messiah's coming.
     At this time the systems of heathenism were losing their hold upon the people. Men were weary of pageant and fable. They longed for a religion that could satisfy the heart. While the light of truth seemed to have departed from among men, there were souls who were looking for light, and who were filled with perplexity and sorrow. They were thirsting for a knowledge of the living God, for some assurance of a life beyond the grave.
     As the Jews had departed from God, faith had grown dim, and hope had well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future. The words of the prophets were uncomprehended. To the masses of the people, death was a dread mystery; beyond was uncertainty and gloom. It was not alone the wailing of the mothers of Bethlehem, but the cry from the great heart of humanity, that was borne to the prophet across the centuries,--the voice heard in Ramah, "lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Matthew 2:18. In "the region and shadow of death," men sat unsolaced. With longing eyes they looked for the coming of the Deliverer, when the darkness should be dispelled, and the mystery of the future should be made plain.
     Outside of the Jewish nation there were men who foretold the appearance of a divine instructor. These men were seeking for truth, and to them the Spirit of Inspiration was imparted. One after another, like stars in the darkened heavens, such teachers had arisen. Their words of prophecy had kindled hope in the hearts of thousands of the Gentile world.
     For hundreds of years the Scriptures had been translated into the Greek language, then widely spoken throughout the Roman Empire. The Jews were scattered everywhere, and their expectation of the Messiah's coming was to some extent shared by the Gentiles. Among those whom the Jews styled heathen were men who had a better understanding of the Scripture prophecies concerning the Messiah than had the teachers in Israel. There were some who hoped for His coming as a deliverer from sin. Philosophers endeavored to study into the mystery of the Hebrew economy. But the bigotry of the Jews hindered the spread of the light. Intent on maintaining the separation between themselves and other nations, they were unwilling to impart the knowledge they still possessed concerning the symbolic service. The true Interpreter must come. The One whom all these types prefigured must explain their significance.
     Through nature, through types and symbols, through patriarchs and prophets, God had spoken to the world. Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. The Messenger of the covenant must speak. His voice must be heard in His own temple. Christ must come to utter words which should be clearly and definitely understood. He, the author of truth, must separate truth from the chaff of man's utterance, which had made it of no effect. The principles of God's government and the plan of redemption must be clearly defined. The lessons of the Old Testament must be fully set before men.   
     Among the Jews there were yet steadfast souls, descendants of that holy line through whom a knowledge of God had been preserved. These still looked for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers. They strengthened their faith by dwelling upon the assurance given through Moses, "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you." Acts 3:22. Again, they read how the Lord would anoint One "to preach good tidings unto the meek," "to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives," and to declare the "acceptable year of the Lord." Isaiah 61:1, 2. They read how He would "set judgment in the earth," how the isles should "wait for His law," how the Gentiles should come to His light, and kings to the brightness of His rising. Isaiah 42:4; 60:3.
     The dying words of Jacob filled them with hope: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." Genesis 49:10. The waning power of Israel testified that the Messiah's coming was at hand. The prophecy of Daniel pictured the glory of His reign over an empire which should succeed all earthly kingdoms; and, said the prophet, "It shall stand forever." Daniel 2:44. While few understood the nature of Christ's mission, there was a widespread expectation of a mighty prince who should establish his kingdom in Israel, and who should come as a deliverer to the nations.
     The fullness of the time had come. Humanity, becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish His love for man, so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction.
     Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. It is true that in every generation God had His agencies. Even among the heathen there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.
     Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implanted this principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.
     The message of salvation is communicated to men through human agencies. But the Jews had sought to make a monopoly of the truth which is eternal life. They had hoarded the living manna, and it had turned to corruption. The religion which they tried to shut up to themselves became an offense. They robbed God of His glory, and defrauded the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction.
     The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing the work that he desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the character of God, and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant. The very priests who ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as actors in a play. The ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels. The whole system must be swept away.
     The deception of sin had reached its height. All the agencies for depraving the souls of men had been put in operation. The Son of God, looking upon the world, beheld suffering and misery. With pity He saw how men had become victims of satanic cruelty. He looked with compassion upon those who were being corrupted, murdered, and lost. They had chosen a ruler who chained them to his car as captives. Bewildered and deceived, they were moving on in gloomy procession toward eternal ruin,--to death in which is no hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning. Satanic agencies were incorporated with men. The bodies of human beings, made for the dwelling place of God, had become the habitation of demons. The senses, the nerves, the passions, the organs of men, were worked by supernatural agencies in the indulgence of the vilest lust. The very stamp of demons was impressed upon the countenances of men. Human faces reflected the expression of the legions of evil with which they were possessed. Such was the prospect upon which the world's Redeemer looked. What a spectacle for Infinite Purity to behold!
     Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the hostility of man was most violent against heaven. It was demonstrated before the universe that, apart from God, humanity could not be uplifted. A new element of life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world.
     With intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see Jehovah arise, and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God's government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have claimed that his accusations were proved true. He was ready to cast blame upon God, and to spread his rebellion to the worlds above. But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. Though corruption and defiance might be seen in every part of the alien province, a way for its recovery was provided. At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled.
     Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory. 
    Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels' song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the common walks of life, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command.
    The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. In it is hidden "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." Romans 11:33. We marvel at the Saviour's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.
     Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.
     The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life's peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan's power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. "Herein is love." Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #308 on: December 31, 2017, 06:29:57 AM »
A New Year and a New Earth

  "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3:13,14 



We feel very sad as we contemplate the present state of the church whose members have long possessed a knowledge of the events which are a fulfillment of prophetic history. As we enter a new year, let us understand that Christ is coming very soon in power and great glory, and the dead are being “judged out of those things which are written in the books, according to their works.” The One who has stood as our intercessor; who hears all penitential prayers and confessions; who is represented with a rainbow, the symbol of grace and love, encircling his head, is soon to cease his work in the heavenly sanctuary. Grace and mercy will then descend from the throne, and justice will take their place. He for whom his people have looked will assume his right,—the office of Supreme Judge. “The Father ... hath committed all judgment unto the Son.... And he hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.” It was He, says Peter, who was ordained to “judge the quick [the living] and the dead.” “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.”

The faith and patience of those who have waited long, have been sorely tried. “Hope deferred has made the heart sick;” and the cry has come up before God, “Lord, how long?” But now the signs are fulfilling,—the papal leader has stood in the halls of Congress in America, nation rising against nation, startling calamities by land and by sea, famine, pestilence, fearful storms, sweeping floods, and great conflagrations. All these testify that we are approaching the grand consummation. The cry going up to God from the waiting ones, will not be in vain. The response will come, “It is done.” “He which is filthy, let him be filthy still; ... he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Can the church contemplate this hour with calm indifference?

The crisis is now upon us. The battle is to be waged between the Christianity of the Bible and the Christianity of human tradition. Is there not a criminal neglect in our present sleepy condition? There must be a decided advance movement among us. We must show to the world that we recognize, in the events that are now taking place in connection with the call for national Sunday laws, the fulfillment of prophecy. That which we have, for over a hundred years, proclaimed would come, is now here; and the trumpet of every watchman upon the walls of Zion should raise the alarm.

Prophecy represents Protestantism as having lamb-like horns, but speaking like a dragon. Already we are beginning to hear the voice of the dragon. There is a satanic force propelling the Sunday movement, but to a great degree it is concealed. Even the men who are engaged in the work, are themselves blinded to the results which will follow their movement. Let not the commandment-keeping people of God be silent at this time, as though we gracefully accepted the situation. There is the prospect before us, of waging a continuous war, at the risk of imprisonment, of losing property and even life itself, to defend the law of God, which is being made void by the laws of men. This Bible text will be quoted to us, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.... The powers that be are ordained of God.”

When the disciples preached Christ and him crucified, after his resurrection, the authorities commanded them not to speak any more nor to teach in the name of Jesus. “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” They continued to preach Jesus and him crucified, and afterward raised from the dead. The sick were healed, and thousands were added to the church. “Then the high priest rose up, and all that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.”

But the God of heaven the mighty Ruler of the universe, took this matter into his own hands; for men were warring against his work. He showed them plainly that there is a ruler above man, whose authority must be respected. The Lord sent his angel by night to open the prison doors; and he brought forth these men whom God had commissioned to do his work. Thus we see that these rulers were not in harmony with God’s word. Had they taken him into their counsel, they would not have commanded the disciples to do contrary to his will. The rulers said, “Speak not at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus;” but the heavenly messenger sent by God, said, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”

Those who shall seek to compel men to observe an institution of the papacy, and trample upon God’s authority, are doing a work similar to that of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees in the days of the apostles. When the laws of earthly rulers are brought into opposition to the laws of the Supreme Ruler of the universe, then those who are God’s loyal subjects will be true to him.

The Green Sabbath movement, that the world and the church have linked hands to bring about, will manifest the same oppression, haughtiness, arrogance, and intolerance which have prevailed in past ages. The powers of human councils then assumed the prerogatives of Deity, crushing under their despotic will, liberty of conscience and the right of individual responsibility; and imprisonment, exile, and death followed for all who opposed their dictates.

We now have fulfilled prophecy before our very eyes. The papal power has been revived, the deadly wound has been healed. Protestantism has given it the right hand of fellowship. If it shall be legislated into power by the concessions of time-serving men, the fires of persecution will be rekindled against those who will not sacrifice conscience and the truth for the errors of the papacy. Once let the minds of the Christian world be turned away from God; let His law be dishonored and His holy day trampled upon, and they will be ready to take any step where Satan may lead the way.

Some urge that the Catholic religion is not what it once was; that the principles to which Protestants could not concede, and indignantly rose up to war against, were held by Catholics in the days of their ignorance and barbarism. They say that the present high mental development of the people would never allow them to adopt the plan of action carried out in the past,—compelling the conscience upon religious subjects. But there is nothing in the Scriptures to assure us against the reinstatement of popery. Protestants today are a self-sufficient, world-loving people; but they must have some religion, and prefer that consisting of forms and outward display, rather than the simplicity of the true religion of Jesus Christ. They are too wise in their own conceit to seek God for counsel and direction,—to open the Guide Book which points them to the only way that leads to heaven. They close their hearts to Jesus in His humiliation, self-denial, and self-sacrifice, and open the door to the delusions of Satan.

While the Protestant world is, by her attitude, making concessions to Rome, we should arouse to comprehend the situation, and view the contest before us in its true bearings. While men have slept, Satan has been stealthily sowing the tares. Let the watchmen now lift up their voice like a trumpet, and give the message which is present truth for this time. Let them know where we are in prophetic history, that the spirit of true Protestantism may awaken all the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of religious liberty so long enjoyed.

America has been highly favored of God. It has been the great center of religious light and liberty. Do not sleep now, and in your inactivity feel that you are doing the will of God! The experience of God’s commandment-keeping people now should correspond with the events that are crowding upon us.

It should be the business of all the righteous in the land, as they see signs of the approach of peril, to arouse to action, and not sit in calm expectation of ruin, comforting themselves with the belief that this work must go on, because prophecy has foretold it, and that the Lord will shelter his people in the day of trial. Effectual, fervent prayers should be ascending to Heaven, that this calamity may be deferred; for we are not ready to meet it.

Every passing hour now is one of activity in the heavenly courts, to make ready a people upon the earth to act a part in the great scenes that are soon to open upon us. These transient moments, that seem of so little value to us, are weighty with eternal interests. They are molding the destiny of souls for everlasting life or everlasting death. The words we utter today in the ears of the people, the works we are doing, the spirit of the message we are bearing, will be to human souls the savor of life unto life or of death unto death. We must be washing our robes of character in the blood of the Lamb. If we would be saints above, we must first be saints below.

We have lost much time in inaction, because we have not realized the time in which we are living. This we deplore, and would humble our souls before God, pleading with him for pardon for sleeping at our post of duty, and allowing the enemy to gain the advantage over us. Many have chosen to do nothing, when they should have been diligent to repulse the enemy. Let your services now be dedicated to God. Gird on the armor for vigorous work, saying, “Here am I, Lord, send me.”

It is essential that we be much in prayer to God, that his voice and his power may be manifested in behalf of his people, and that the angels may hold the four winds until the truth is more fully proclaimed, and the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. God is not pleased with the attitude of His people. Satan is taking the world captive, and the sentinels for God and the truth are letting him do it. “Watch then, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” Arouse, and come to the front. Be stanch to defend your religious liberty.

Many of our people are registered in the books of heaven as slothful servants. They have buried their talents of money and capability in the world, and the work they should have done has been left undone. Some to whom the Lord has intrusted means, have been ease-lovers, and have not done their duty in the fear and love of God. Many have left the smaller churches, to unite with larger ones, where they carry no burden of responsibility, and are only in the way. Such lose their spirituality and vital force, because they do comparatively nothing for the truth. What account will these have to give to the Master when he shall say, “Give account of thy stewardship”?

We are not ready for this great issue to which the enforcement of the Sunday law will bring us. Let the members of our churches become missionaries for the Master; let them not linger in ease and indifference; but let them go forth to work for God. Their spiritual muscles have been weakened by inaction. Go without the camp, bearing the reproach for Christ and the truth. Work today in the Lord’s vineyard. Go out into the highways and hedges, and stir up the people to investigate the truth. Woe to all who profess to walk in the light, yet who are at ease in Zion. They absorb the God-given rays of righteousness, but do not diffuse the light to others. The parable of the faithless servant who hid his Lord’s money, condemns them, and they are classed among those who refuse to be co-laborers with Jesus Christ, selfishly caring for their own ease, and leaving those for whom Christ has died, to perish without the knowledge of the truth which God has graciously given to them. Those who have been the receivers of spiritual light, may become the receptacles of darkness, to whom the words of Christ are applicable, “If therefore the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
May this statement be true of God’s people, to whom he has committed the sacred trust of the knowledge of his law. “Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them.” Just when many who have had light and evidence are saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” and declaring that all things continue as they were from the beginning, the terrible realities of the day of God will burst upon them. Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation.

Every true child of God should now be inquiring, “What wouldst thou have me to do?" Brethren, for Christ’s sake, do something, and do it now. Satanic influences are all around us, to be met and resisted. The tares are mingled with the wheat, error with truth, coldness with zeal, darkness with light. There must be a returning to our first love. We must battle nobly with tribulation and danger, in the midst of trials, tests, and provings of God. We must be rich in faith and good works. The message to the Laodicean church is applicable to those who have been made the repository of rich truth. This church is distinguished in prophecy by its great profession of advanced light; yet it was filled with spiritual pride and lukewarmness in religion. They had a religious theory, but were greatly lacking in moral power and holiness. They are pronounced wretched, poor, blind, and naked. O that our people would realize the danger, and heed the counsel of the True Witness, “Buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; ... and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.”

In the new year of 2018, will we who have such great light, make some sacrifice for Jesus, who for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich? We must arouse, and through piety and earnest work for the Master, partake of his spirit of love for souls, of faith in God, that He may work with us, by us, and through us.

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #309 on: January 25, 2018, 08:47:42 AM »
Accurate Church History

  “The high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses?" Matthew 26:65 


“And the chief priests and the council sought for witness to put Jesus to death, and found none. For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands. But neither did their witness agree together. And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? What is it that these witness against thee? But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” “I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

Christ’s words cut him, the Sadducee, to the quick. He was maddened by satanic furry. Rending his robe, that the people might see his pretended horror, he demanded that without further preliminaries, the prisoner be condemned for blasphemy. “The high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye?” And they all condemned Him.

The act of the high priest in tearing his robe meant more than many can see or understand, for their eyes are blinded. Many read the record without taking in the meaning of this act, any more than did Caiaphas. The high priest was not to rend his garment. By the Levitical law, this was prohibited under penalty of death. Under no circumstances, on no occasion, was the high priest to rend his garment. Express command was given by Christ to Moses, that this should not be done.

By rending his garment, Caiaphas made of none effect the law of God to follow the tradition of men. A man-made law provided that, in case of blasphemy, a priest might rend his garments in horror at the sin, and be guiltless. Thus the law of God was made void by the laws of men.

Each action of the high priest was watched with interest by many; and Caiaphas thought for effect to whom his great outward piety. But by his very act he was committing blasphemy against God. He desired to show his great zeal and obedience; and by displaying a horror that caused him to rend his beautiful and supposedly sanctified garments, he gained a fanatical admiration. But he transgressed the law of God as virtually as did Adam when he ate of the fruit of the tree forbidden by God. It is disobedience to God’s commands that creates every phase of sin.

This pretended horror for sin has been acted out over and over again in matters connected with church history. The passions of a vile heart have been expressed by like deeds. And by exaggerated religious zeal and pretended piety men will again deceive and delude their fellow men.

When Caiaphas rent his garment, his action was significant of the place that the Jewish nation as a nation would in future occupy toward God. As a whole, the Jewish nation had apostatized. The once favored people of God had become divorced from Him. Christ came to them with His message, but it was despised. As He stood on the crest of Olivet just prior to His crucifixion, He wept over Jerusalem, and lamented the fall of her people, saying, “If thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and keep thee on every side. And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”

The most solemn period of responsibility for the Jewish nation was when Christ was in their midst, working the works of God. It was that generation that rejected the Messiah. Christ addressed them as the most guilty, because they had the Word of God.

So it is today. We have been entrusted with the sacred oracles of God. What a responsibility rests upon this generation today! What have we learned from history? "There were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly. 2 Peter 2:1-6.

Have we learned the lesson set before us?  Jesus stands at the door of the heart, calling "if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Revelation 3:20,21.


Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #310 on: January 25, 2018, 09:11:35 AM »
God does not hide the truth from the world. As we read through the Bible, we see the sins of men and women. Adam's sin is laid bear for all to see. So, with Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, and Peter. What of God's church today? If she had been faithful, Jesus would have come long ago. We do not need to go into detail of what is happening today, all can see this clearly. But, what of the days when Jesus was pouring out light upon His church and it was rejected?

We have before us a four volume set that reveals the sad history of what happened in those years when light was shining brightly. The year was 1888 and thus the four volume set of books which record that time are entitled 1888. Today, we have another most accurate history of that time period when the Latter Rain began to fall and Jesus was trying to prepare a people for His second coming. Historian Ron Duffield has published a book entitled The Return of the Latter Rain.

While I have studied the four volume set, Brother Duffield has given us a picture of more than what is inspired. He has included letters and other material to help us better understand the history of the church in that era when the church rejected the light so graciously given to God's church. Not only has he presented what appears to me to an accurate history of the events of that day, but he from all I have read, has presented the important subjects that God would have His people better understand.

We do not point people to the wisdom of man, but to Jesus and His Word. Here we make an exception since God would have some who love Him and keep His commandments spread the light they have received from on high. This book is something we recommend all take note of. Not that it should take the place of the Bible and all of the Spirit of Prophecy that God has entrusted to His children, for in them we find spiritual food we must feed upon. Brother Duffield's work is one from my perspective like  J. H. Merle D'Aubigne writings on the Protestant Reformation. It will help us better understand how God has been working to restore His image in man, and in our case, prepare a people to receive Jesus as His soon coming.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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  • Posts: 44591
  • Grace, more than a word, it is transforming power
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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #311 on: March 24, 2018, 02:30:04 PM »
Take the Gospel to the World

"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." John 4:35 



There never was a more solemn and important time than today. We have been given technology that can reach  around the world in a moment. Those who are using this to spread the truth may reach the people and affect their hearts. We need to attain to a greater consecration. When we desire to give presents, when we want to use our resources to gratify and please ourselves, when we want to hoard our means, fearing we will become destitute, we need to think of the eternity that is before us. There is a work we have to do before we can enter into heaven. Let us think of the Judgment before which we are to stand and render an account to God for the deeds done in the body. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:10. And with the Judgment before our eyes, think of the money we spend foolishly, to please the taste or for worldly gratifications, and of the souls that are perishing all around us. The truth which has been entrusted to us is for the salvation of these lost ones. "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." John 4:35.

The law of God is almost entirely made void. The pope is calling for Sunday laws. God calls for every man, woman, and child to fight the good fight of faith. He calls for every talent to be employed now. It will be fatal to our souls to be indolent or slothful servants. He has not left it alone for those who minister in the word and doctrine, to bear the burdens and employ their talents. He wants every one of us to put our powers to work for the upbuilding of his kingdom.

The third angel’s message must go over the land, and awaken the people, and call their attention to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Another angel unites his voice with the third angel, and the earth is lighted with its glory. The light increases, and it shines out to all the nations of the earth. It is to go forth as a light that burneth. It will be attended with great power, until its golden beams have fallen upon every tongue, every people, and every nation upon the face of the whole earth. What are we doing to prepare for this work? Are we building for eternity? We must sanctify ourselves by a strict obedience to the truth, placing ourselves in right relation to God and his work. As the truth goes forth, Satan intensifies his zeal to defeat its progress by presenting pleasing delusions. As we urge the truth, he urges his errors. He will stir up his agents, in view of the coming of the Lord, to go out and cry, “Lo! here is Christ, and lo! there is Christ.” And here arises this superstition, and there arises that heresy. And tell me, what are we to do about it? I will tell you: we can become familiar, with the Bible, and read what saith the Lord. Not only the ministers but all who love and fear God are to do the Master’s work; and that is to let the light that he has given us shine before all.

There are two companies; one of them is being bound in bundles to burn, the other is being bound by the cords of truth and love. Satan is binding his followers with the work of iniquity; Christ is binding together his people in love and faith in the keeping of his commandments. And this work will increase more and more, and Satan will work to divide and separate God’s people one from the other. And while he is doing this kind of work, be careful that none of you are found helping him. We want to put away our cold-heartedness, and let love, tender compassion, true courtesy, and the spirit of tenderness come into our midst. Here we are in the waiting time, in the day of God’s preparation. Here in this world we are to fit up for these great trials that are soon coming upon us. And yet some of us act as though we had a whole millennium before us in which to accomplish the work. But, says the text, “Watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.” And what Christ said to his disciples, I say unto you, “Take ye heed, watch and pray,” that when the Master comes to reckon with his servants, you may receive from him the crown of life laid up for the overcomer, and rejoice with him in his kingdom.

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #312 on: April 21, 2018, 03:42:47 PM »
The World Will Not Appreciate Truth

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 15:18,19 



William Miller possessed strong mental powers, disciplined by thought and study; and he added to these the wisdom of Heaven, by connecting himself with the Source of wisdom. He was a man of sterling worth, who could not but command respect and esteem wherever integrity of character and moral excellence were valued. Uniting true kindness of heart with Christian humility and the power of self-control, he was attentive and affable to all, ready to listen to the opinions of others, and to weigh their arguments. Without passion or excitement, he tested all theories and doctrines by the Word of God; and his sound reasoning, and thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, enabled him to refute error and expose falsehood.

Yet he did not prosecute his work without bitter opposition. As with earlier reformers, the truths which he presented were not received with favor by popular religious teachers. As these could not maintain their position by the Scriptures, they were driven to resort to the sayings and doctrines of men, to the traditions of the Fathers. But the Word of God was the only testimony accepted by the preachers of the Advent truth. “The Bible, and the Bible only,” was their watchword. The lack of Scripture argument on the part of their opponents was supplied by ridicule and scoffing. Time, means, and talents were employed in maligning those whose only offense was that they looked with joy for the return of their Lord, and were striving to live holy lives, and to exhort others to prepare for his appearing.

Earnest were the efforts put forth to draw away the minds of the people from the subject of the second advent. It was made to appear a sin, something of which men should be ashamed, to study the prophecies which relate to the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Thus the popular ministry undermined faith in the Word of God. Their teaching made men infidels, and many took license to walk after their own ungodly lusts. Then the authors of the evil charged it all upon Adventists.

While drawing crowded houses of intelligent and attentive hearers, Miller’s name was seldom mentioned by the religious press except by way of ridicule or denunciation. The careless and ungodly, emboldened by the position of religious teachers, resorted to epithets, to base and blasphemous witticisms, in their efforts to heap contumely upon him and his work. The gray-headed man who had left a comfortable home to travel at his own expense from city to city, from town to town, toiling unceasingly to bear to the world the solemn warning of the Judgment near, was sneeringly denounced as a fanatic, a liar, a speculating knave.

So it is today, so it will be unto the end. 

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Sister Marie

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #313 on: May 08, 2018, 08:05:26 PM »
This is such a sad thought that people will not want the Truth. Right not the P is setting things up that one by one everyone will feel it a good decision to unit with them. This the world seems to think is a good idea. I spoke to someone about this the other day and she asked me, "wouldn't that be a good thing?" I tried to share with her why it is not a good thing, but they can't seem to understand it.
They will hate the Truth and those who teach it, wanting to get rid of them at all cost, just as they did with Jesus. But like Jesus, we will be able to make it through by Christ's power and love. We are living so close to this time. I believe we are in some of it already.

Thank you for sharing this Richard. It is all so True.
Blessings,
Sister Marie
With Christian Love,
Marie

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #314 on: January 18, 2019, 09:47:44 PM »
Reconciling Verses

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." Romans 13:1,2 




We are nearing the end of this world's history. There is a prospect before us of a continued struggle, at the risk of imprisonment, loss of property, and even of life itself, to defend the law of God, which is made void by the laws of men. In this situation worldly policy will urge an outward compliance with the laws of the land, for the sake of peace and harmony. And there are some who will even urge such a course from the Scripture: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.... The powers that be are ordained of God.”

But what has been the course of God’s servants in ages past? When the disciples preached Christ and Him crucified, after His resurrection, the authorities commanded them not to speak any more nor to teach in the name of Jesus. “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” They continued to preach the good news of salvation through Christ, and the power of God witnessed to the message. The sick were healed, and thousands were added to the church. “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.”

But the God of heaven, the mighty Ruler of the universe, took this matter into His own hands; for men were warring against His work. He showed them plainly that there is a ruler above man, whose authority must be respected. The Lord sent His angel by night to open the prison doors, and he brought forth these men whom God had commissioned to do His work. The rulers said, Speak not “at all nor teach in the name of Jesus;” but the heavenly messenger sent by God said, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”

The papal power is at work to bring about national Sunday laws. Those who seek to compel men to observe an institution of the papacy, and trample upon God’s authority, are doing a work similar to that of the Jewish leaders in the days of the apostles. When the laws of earthly rulers are brought into opposition to the laws of the Supreme Ruler of the universe, then those who are God’s loyal subjects will be true to Him and keep His commandments rather than the laws of man.

In the very same chapter that we are told to follow man made laws, chapter 13 of Romans, we find the answer as to why we would not follow the powers of man when they are in conflict with the commands of God. "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." verses 8-10.

By presenting the commandments of God, it is thus made clear that the chapter does not mean we are to follow evil men when they make laws that are in opposition to the commands of God.

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #315 on: March 26, 2019, 07:09:45 AM »
Righteousness by Faith

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." John 3:14 

Real righteous as revealed by Nicodemus comes by beholding God's grace. That grace in its fullness is seen as His innocent Son hung on the cross. Jesus' Words to us are "If I be lifted up I will draw all unto me." The righteousness received by Nicodemus was the result of understanding the character of God as revealed by the sacrifice of Christ. If we too will look, we shall live. We all have been bitten by sin. Our only hope of eternal life is to understand it is by beholding Jesus that we are transformed from sinners into saints.


If we do not come to an understanding and acceptance of how we are saved we will never find rest and peace and most sadly a home in heaven. We may think we are serving the Lord when in reality we are self deceived. I love how Jesus interacts with Nicodemus. So patient, gentle and loving. So many lessons for us to learn from.

"After the Lord’s ascension, when the disciples were scattered by persecution, Nicodemus came boldly to the front. He employed his wealth in sustaining the infant church that the Jews had expected to be blotted out at the death of Christ. In the time of peril he who had been so cautious and questioning was firm as a rock, encouraging the faith of the disciples, and furnishing means to carry forward the work of the gospel. He was scorned and persecuted by those who had paid him reverence in other days. He became poor in this world’s goods; yet he faltered not in the faith which had its beginning in that night conference with Jesus."

Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #316 on: April 20, 2019, 02:19:02 PM »
The Power That Transforms Sinners

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8 

Grace is more than a word, it is the power that transforms sinners into saints. What is grace? It is the pardoning love that God has for us while we were yet sinners.

"When we have a realization of our weakness, we learn to depend upon a power not inherent. Nothing can take so strong a hold on the heart as the abiding sense of our responsibility to God. Nothing reaches so fully down to the deepest motives of conduct as a sense of the pardoning love of Christ. We are to come in touch with God, then we shall be imbued with His Holy Spirit, that enables us to come in touch with our fellow men. Then rejoice that through Christ you have become connected with God, members of the heavenly family."

To those who have never given their hearts totally to God do not understand the truth of these words. Imagine being a member of the heavenly royal family just by surrendering our heart and life to Jesus and following in His footsteps. The best part of it all is the effect it has on our attitude towards others. We want to share the precious news to all who will listen so they too can have the opportunity to enjoy the same blessings and benefits that are promised to each one. My heart is full of praise to God this Sabbath morning for the matchless love of Christ for each of us.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #317 on: May 05, 2019, 08:52:38 AM »
Only Eight Were Saved

“As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26 

We are living in that day. Many are called, but few choose to follow Christ. Satan is working to bring pressure to bear upon all who are standing for truth while good is called evil and evil is called good.


There would be more to the immunization hype than is apparent. Society is being stirred to rally and respond urgently for a greater cause; for the common good. Society is being conditioned to jump when told to jump. To dob on a common enemy and to turn on the enemy. There are many who would view non vaccination as a criminal offense and would support strong punishment. This is not just about immunization. It is about making all citizens comply, about getting people to think and act on the same page (dare I say, not to think and not to question or reason?) The world is rapidly becoming of one mind. It is going to take courage to stand alone.

“As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” Then, the world was destroyed by a flood; in our day, it is to be destroyed by fire. The message of warning is going forth to the world, to prepare a people who will be saved out of the general ruin of earthly things. We are living in a very solemn time, and solemn thoughts should occupy the mind; the earnest inquiry should be made by every soul, “What shall I do to be saved?” The message that the coming of Christ is at hand, is not received. The thought that he is at the door, is not a welcome thought. As the message of the coming deluge was rejected, in the time of Noah, so the announcement of the final destruction of this world, is disbelieved. Thousands will reason after the same manner as did the people in the days prior to the flood. The message of truth is refused; and one turns away to his merchandise, another to his farm, another to his cattle, and another to the pleasures of life. While one is absorbed in business, and in the cares of this world, another is taken up with thoughts and plans for marriage, and he has no disposition to heed the warning of truth. He responds to the invitation of God to come, for the feast is now ready, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”

Christ declared, “For as it was in the days that were before the flood, they were eating, and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” He foresaw that men would be engaged in every selfish work, living without fear of God, eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, when the day of final judgment was about to break. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” And while they are crying, “Peace and safety,” sudden destruction shall come upon them, and they shall not escape.

In the days of Noah, the earth was filled with violence. Is it not in a similar condition today? Of the vast population in the world before the flood, only eight persons were saved from the general destruction. In the days of Noah, the mass of mankind would not listen to the warning of the servant of the Lord. In our own day, the majority of men will “turn away their ears from hearing the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” In the time of Noah, the people were intensely worldly. They were without the fear of God. God was not in all their thoughts. They had no care whether he approved their course or not. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, with no thought of their Creator, or of their responsibility to him.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #318 on: May 22, 2019, 08:10:39 AM »
God's Witnesses Are in the World Today

“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18 

God has not left Himself without witness to the power of grace, and to the supernatural work that He alone can do in the soul that beholds Him and surrenders entirely to Him in order to experience conversion, or regeneration. We are in need of a revival and a reformation in our church as concerns understanding the new birth so that those who have accepted a false gospel that allows for known sin in the life while thinking one has eternal life will be seen for what it is: a fatal deception. May we realize our continual need of Jesus and rejoice that we are counted worthy to not only understand but to live the great truth of the new birth! What a miracle!

There was no excuse for the blindness of Israel in regard to the work of regeneration. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah had written, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” David had prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” And through Ezekiel the promise had been given, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes.” Isaiah 64:6; Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26, 27.

God will give us a new heart and mind at conversion--making us partakers of the divine nature--so that the flesh will no longer dominate the higher powers of our being. We shall be enabled to overcome through abiding in Christ, and the witness that this is our experience moment-by-moment is that the Holy Spirit reveals Himself in the life with all of the fruits of His Spirit, without one missing!

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22,23.

And as we have this experience, He guides us also to live in obedience to every known statute, so that we will continue to grow in grace as we abide in Him!
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Richard Myers

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Re: A Thought For Today
« Reply #319 on: December 25, 2019, 09:15:32 AM »
Christmas

  "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise Thy head, and Thou shalt bruise his heel....O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"  Genesis 3:15, Romans 11:33.


Humanity has a problem. Look around. Chaos everywhere! The world is as it was at the time of Noah. Man comes into this world with an evil fallen nature. It is only because God allowed His innocent Son to come to this dark spot in the universe to suffer and die that we might be transformed, and to be able to love as He loves. What a day it was when our heavenly Father allowed His Son to come to our planet a helpless baby subject to the weakness of humanity to fight the battle of all battles!

The story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. We marvel at the Saviour's sacrifice in exchanging the throne of heaven for the manger, and the companionship of adoring angels for the beasts of the stall. Human pride and self-sufficiency stand rebuked in His presence. Yet this was but the beginning of His wonderful condescension. It would have been an almost infinite humiliation for the Son of God to take man's nature, even when Adam stood in his innocence in Eden. But Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.

Satan in heaven had hated Christ for His position in the courts of God. He hated Him the more when he himself was dethroned. He hated Him who pledged Himself to redeem a race of sinners. Yet into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.

The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life's peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan's power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. "Herein is love." Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!

Take a moment today to share this story with those you love and care for. It is why Christians are left in the world. We are to tell this magnificent story of our magnificent God who risked His Son that we might know of His greatness. Have a blessed Christmas my dear friends.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.