Author Topic: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee  (Read 17618 times)

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JimB

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #20 on: August 07, 2017, 06:02:02 AM »
To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated.

     But even these figures fail to present the privilege of the believer's relation to Christ. Jesus said, "As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." As the Son of God lived by faith in the Father, so are we to live by faith in Christ. So fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the Father alone appeared in His life. Although tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world untainted by the evil that surrounded Him. Thus we also are to overcome as Christ overcame.

     Are you a follower of Christ? Then all that is written concerning the spiritual life is written for you, and may be attained through uniting yourself to Jesus. Is your zeal languishing? has your first love grown cold? Accept again of the proffered love of Christ. Eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, and you will become one with the Father and with the Son.


Again we see the great love of God toward us sinners. Always willing to accept us back even if we've lost our first love. How we can not love someone who is so faithful to us?!

By communion with God in nature, the mind is uplifted, and the heart finds rest.  {DA 291.1}

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #21 on: August 07, 2017, 06:22:46 AM »
Amen, Jim! We need to receive Jesus and abide in Him!

 "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." The price of heaven is Jesus. The way to heaven is through faith in "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. 

Apart from Him, we have no life; in Him we are experiencing life eternal!
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}

Richard Myers

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #22 on: August 08, 2017, 07:03:32 AM »
Amen and amen!!  Jesus is the foundation of our faith. His love will change us if we will learn of it and allow it into the heart!

     All  hearts were open to divine illumination would recognize in Him "the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14. 


This truth has never changed. It is just as true today as it was then. Jesus is drawing all to Himself. We need to see this, and we need to see it daily. Praise God we have set before us in our tongue a most beautiful revelation of that drawing grace! Let us behold it and then speak of it that others may know it.

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

JimB

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #23 on: November 02, 2017, 05:31:04 AM »
For the moment the interest of the hearers was awakened. They exclaimed, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" They had been performing many and burdensome works in order to recommend themselves to God; and they were ready to hear of any new observance by which they could secure greater merit. Their question meant, What shall we do that we may deserve heaven? What is the price we are required to pay in order to obtain the life to come?
     "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." The price of heaven is Jesus. The way to heaven is through faith in "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
     But the people did not choose to receive this statement of divine truth.


This statement reminds me of this one from Chapter 2.

With all their minute and burdensome injunctions, it was an impossibility to keep the law. Those who desired to serve God, and who tried to observe the rabbinical precepts, toiled under a heavy burden. They could find no rest from the accusings of a troubled conscience. Thus Satan worked to discourage the people, to lower their conception of the character of God, and to bring the faith of Israel into contempt.

So we see that between their culture, education and selfishness the people of Israel were between a rock and a hard place. However, I'm not sure so sure that the current state of the church is any better. Is it any wonder that Jesus gave us this message...


Revelation 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: 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.

21 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.
By communion with God in nature, the mind is uplifted, and the heart finds rest.  {DA 291.1}

Richard Myers

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #24 on: November 02, 2017, 05:35:51 AM »
Amen, Jim. We must believe with the whole heart, then Christ's representative, the Holy Spirit will abide in us. What must we do in order to receive this "saving faith"?

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him."
     To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated. 


How can we not understand such powerful truth? We live by "every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It is by beholding our Savior that we become like Him (2 Cor. 3:18). Grace cannot change us unless we assimilate it. We must behold it daily and  bring it into the heart.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #25 on: November 02, 2017, 10:06:42 AM »
Amen, Jim and Richard! Powerful truths are revealed in this chapter! If all would come to Christ, they could be saved--but many will not yield the heart fully to Jesus--hence the struggle. Jesus pityingly calls to us, knocks on our hearts, and desires to fully transform us if we will but come and learn of Him, yielding all we have and are to Him as we eat His flesh and drink His blood by beholding His loveliness of character!

I am so thankful for the privilege of becoming a partaker of the divine nature! I love Jesus!

"By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live 'by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven." – {The Desire of Ages, page 391, paragraph 1}

Let Christ in you today destroy (crucify) your old carnal fallen nature, and give you victory in Jesus! That victory will mean manifesting all of the fruits of the Spirit in your life – not one will be missing! You will follow willingly in the path of obedience as Jesus unfolds it!
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #26 on: January 28, 2018, 09:41:53 AM »
Let us look to Jesus and learn of Him how we may minister. Jesus made Himself of no reputation--He spent His time in communion with the Father and living to bless others. His reputation was not His focus. Rather, the character of Jesus shines forth with undimmed luster in all of His words and works. We are invited to behold Jesus in His infinite loveliness, and by beholding the incredible revelation of His grace, we shall be transformed, elevated, and refined. We shall become partakers of the divine nature and be enabled to resist the strongest temptations as long as we have a living-faith surrender of the whole heart to Jesus. This heart change brings true justification by faith to the soul--for the repentant transgressor really believes that Jesus forgives HIS SIN or HER SIN! Then Jesus evinces His presence in us by imbuing us with all of the fruits of the Spirit--not one will be missing!

"Jesus did not attempt to explain the mystery of His birth. He made no answer to the questionings in regard to His having come down from heaven, as He had made none to the questions concerning His crossing the sea.  He did not call attention to the miracles that marked His life. Voluntarily He had made Himself of no reputation, and taken upon Him the form of a servant. But His words and works revealed His character. All whose hearts were open to divine illumination would recognize in Him 'the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' John 1:14."  {The Desire of Ages, page 387, paragraph 2}
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}

Richard Myers

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #27 on: January 28, 2018, 09:56:29 AM »
Amen! What a chapter, what a God!  In it we read the answer to that most important question we need to ask: "What must I do do be saved?"

Jesus tells us in that message to our church today. "Buy of me gold tried in the fire."  This is faith that works by love. What love? The love of Jesus. How do we buy of Him that love?  There is something we must do, or else Jesus would not have told us to do something. Buy of Him. How are we to do th is? He tells us in Scripture over and  over how to receive His love. Again, we read it today.

     By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.


Simple! But, why is this not being done by every professor of Christ? Because it requires us to buy of Him His love.  What? Buy of Him His love. What must I do? Go to Him and get His love. Where can I find Him? Right here and in the Bible. What must I do? Go to the Bible and behold Him. Go to Desire of Ages and read of Him. Don't spend time with Him and remain lost. Spend time with Him and be transformed, become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Simple. By beholding we become changed into His image (character). Don't go to Him, don't spend time with Him, and remain an unrepentant sinner.

Is it that easy? Is that really the truth? Is that the gospel message? How are we saved? "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8. What is grace? It is the love of God for you and me while we were yet sinners. If we will behold that unmerited love, if we will learn of Him who gave all for us while were His enemy, He will transform us into His character. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18.

Yes, we must buy it. It does indeed cost something very precious to you and to me. It takes some of our time. And, we only have a very limited amount of it. We are running out of time. Soon, your probation and my probation will end. We will have spent the time allotted for us to learn of our God. The clock is running. Today is the day of salvation, soon time will end. Where will we be standing, with Him whose love we cannot measure, or against Him?
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Dorine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #28 on: January 28, 2018, 11:48:26 AM »
Pastor Sean and Richard; thank you for your thoughts on this chapter. What better way to Behold Jesus than to spend this time each morning in DA and His word getting to know Him. It is changing my life. I wish I had done this years ago. Something that stood out to me today was the following....

"Many of the words and acts of Jesus appear mysterious to finite minds, but every word and act had its definite purpose in the work for our redemption; each was calculated to produce its own result......While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God, we can discern His great love, which underlies all His dealings with men. He who lives near to Jesus will understand much of the mystery of godliness. He will recognize the mercy that administers reproof, that tests the character, and brings to light the purpose of the heart."

What a special relationship God offers to us. Why would anyone refuse Him?








But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #29 on: April 25, 2018, 05:16:40 AM »
God is love, and He is ever at work to reveal Himself to us, and to accomplish His purpose in our lives so we may be, like Him, a blessing to others. As we behold the loveliness of Jesus' character, we may not fully grasp all there is to know and learn of Him, but the more we know of Him, the more intense will be our happiness, for we have found in Christ the source of eternal life--the unchanging word of God that, by the Holy Spirit, comes to transform the soul from glory to glory!

"Many of the words and acts of Jesus appear mysterious to finite minds, but every word and act had its definite purpose in the work for our redemption; each was calculated to produce its own result. If we were capable of understanding His purposes, all would appear important, complete, and in harmony with His mission." {The Desire of Ages, page 393, page 7}   
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}

Richard Myers

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #30 on: April 25, 2018, 06:22:36 AM »
Amen, Pastor Sean.  God wants to transform us from sinners into saints. He wants to have witnesses of His character. He wants to make us partakers of His divine nature. How can this be? We must feed upon Christ. He is the Manna which came down from heaven. We must eat His flesh and drink His blood. By beholding Him, we will become like Him in character.

     "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him."
     To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated. 


Some may wonder why after one is converted, God leaves us in this world. It is to reveal to sinners in this world and saints in the other worlds that the love of God (grace) can change even the worst of sinners if we will come to Jesus just as we are. 
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: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #31 on: July 21, 2018, 09:19:27 AM »
Jesus loved His disciples, He loves us! At times we may not understand why He does what He does, but there is a good reason as it was when He spoke in such a manner that some left Him for good.

  When Jesus presented the testing truth that caused so many of His disciples to turn back, He knew what would be the result of His words; but He had a purpose of mercy to fulfill. He foresaw that in the hour of temptation every one of His beloved disciples would be severely tested. His agony in Gethsemane, His betrayal and crucifixion, would be to them a most trying ordeal. Had no previous test been given, many who were actuated by merely selfish motives would have been connected with them. When their Lord was condemned in the judgment hall; when the multitude who had hailed Him as their king hissed at Him and reviled Him; when the jeering crowd cried, "Crucify Him!"--when their worldly ambitions were disappointed, these self-seeking ones would, by renouncing their allegiance to Jesus, have brought upon the disciples a bitter, heart-burdening sorrow, in addition to their grief and disappointment in the ruin of their fondest hopes. In that hour of darkness, the example of those who turned from Him might have carried others with them. But Jesus brought about this crisis while by His personal presence He could still strengthen the faith of His true followers. 
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Dorine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #32 on: July 21, 2018, 10:15:02 AM »
"They had seen Christ by the witness of the Holy Spirit, by the revelation of God to their souls. The living evidences of His power had been before them day after day, yet they asked for still another sign. Had this been given, they would have remained as unbelieving as before. If they were not convinced by what they had seen and heard, it was useless to show them more marvelous works. Unbelief will ever find excuse for doubt, and will reason away the most positive proof.   

Again Christ appealed to those stubborn hearts. "Him that cometh to Me I will in nowise cast out." All who received Him in faith, He said, should have eternal life. Not one could be lost. No need for Pharisees and Sadducees to dispute concerning the future life. No longer need men mourn in hopeless grief over their dead. "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."       But the leaders of the people were offended, "and they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that He saith, I came down from heaven?"


I was keenly impressed as I read this today. The enemy constantly tries to fill our minds with doubts of all kinds and if we are not diligent in submitting our lives moment by moment to Jesus we will be pulled in to unbelief just as they were in Jesus' time.  The promises in this passage are for all who come to Jesus in faith and surrender.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Richard Myers

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #33 on: July 21, 2018, 01:06:12 PM »
Amen, dear Sister!  There is no greater sin than "unbelief."  We need to be connected with Jesus continually. It needs to become a habit to talk with Him.
Jesus receives His reward when we reflect His character, the fruits of the Spirit......We deny Jesus His reward when we do not.

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #34 on: July 21, 2018, 01:47:25 PM »
"Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him." {The Desire of Ages, page 388, paragraph 1}

The oneness Christ had with our humanity is a pledge of our oneness with Him in His divinity--by receiving His word! I am so thankful to be able to receive all that Christ offers me today, and to live to bless others as He did, as He lives and ministers through me.
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #35 on: October 16, 2018, 05:46:05 AM »
What we behold changes us. Let us look to Jesus continually, for looking to Him gives spiritual life and strength as we yield fully to the revelation of His self-sacrificing life and become partakers of the divine nature!

"By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live 'by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven." {The Desire of Ages, page 391, paragraph 1}

The transforming agency of God's grace is powerful enough to take the most hardened sinner and make them into a saint. There is hope for al who will respond to the drawing of Jesus' love. Let us look and live today!
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}

JimB

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #36 on: October 16, 2018, 05:46:16 AM »
Compassionate Redeemer, who in the full knowledge of the doom that awaited Him, tenderly smoothed the way for the disciples, prepared them for their crowning trial, and strengthened them for the final test!

Always looking out for others! This is our Savior and can be with us when we fully submit! What a loving God we serve.
By communion with God in nature, the mind is uplifted, and the heart finds rest.  {DA 291.1}

Richard Myers

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #37 on: October 16, 2018, 06:37:21 AM »
Amen Pastor Sean and Jim. It is by beholding God's grace that we are transformed in character, converted. If we would learn of Him, we would love Him supremely, more than sin.  If we want physical life, we eat bread. If we want spiritual life, we are to eat the Bread which came down from heaven. We must drink His blood and eat His flesh.

     The Jews honored Moses as the giver of the manna, ascribing praise to the instrument, and losing sight of Him by whom the work had been accomplished. Their fathers had murmured against Moses, and had doubted and denied his divine mission. Now in the same spirit the children rejected the One who bore the message of God to themselves. "Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven." The giver of the manna was standing among them. It was Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews through the wilderness, and had daily fed them with the bread from heaven. That food was a type of the real bread from heaven. The life-giving Spirit, flowing from the infinite fullness of God, is the true manna. Jesus said, "The bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John 6:33, R. V.
     Still thinking that it was temporal food to which Jesus referred, some of His hearers exclaimed, "Lord, evermore give us this bread." Jesus then spoke plainly: "I am the bread of life."
     The figure which Christ used was a familiar one to the Jews. Moses, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had said, "Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord." And the prophet Jeremiah had written, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." Deuteronomy 8:3; Jeremiah 15:16. The rabbis themselves had a saying, that the eating of bread, in its spiritual significance, was the study of the law and the practice of good works; and it was often said that at the Messiah's coming all Israel would be fed. The teaching of the prophets made plain the deep spiritual lesson in the miracle of the loaves. This lesson Christ was seeking to open to His hearers in the synagogue. Had they understood the Scriptures, they would have understood His words when He said, "I am the bread of life." Only the day before, the great multitude, when faint and weary, had been fed by the bread which He had given. As from that bread they had received physical strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might receive spiritual strength unto eternal life. "He that cometh to Me," He said, "shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." But He added, "Ye also have seen Me, and believe not." 


Such simple truth!

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

JimB

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #38 on: January 10, 2019, 05:48:55 AM »
The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

The Word! It was also by the Word that Christ was victorious in the wilderness of temptation. A few days ago I saw a question that is very appropriate. I don't remember it exactly but it went something like this...

168 hours a week the devil is using all his might to tempt us and to get us to fall. How strange it is that some think they'll be ok with just a couple of quick passing moments spent in the Word!
By communion with God in nature, the mind is uplifted, and the heart finds rest.  {DA 291.1}

Pastor Sean Brizendine

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Re: The Desire of Ages--41--The Crisis in Galilee
« Reply #39 on: January 11, 2019, 07:20:21 AM »
Amen, Jim! We need a life lived by a continual reception of God's word through the life-giving Spirit who has the power to bring that word into our moment-by-moment experience! To live by God's word and abide in Christ actuated with all of the fruits of the Spirit is what it means to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, who is the bread of life to our souls!

"While we cannot now comprehend the works and ways of God, we can discern His great love, which underlies all His dealings with men. He who lives near to Jesus will understand much of the mystery of godliness. He will recognize the mercy that administers reproof, that tests the character, and brings to light the purpose of the heart." {The Desire of Ages, page 394, paragraph 1}

Praise God that He knows how to lead us in the way that is best--even though we may not see the path, we can keep our eyes fixed on the One who blazed the path--Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith!!

 
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." {The Desire of Ages, 676.4}