The Desire of Ages--33--Who Are My Brethren?

[Richard Myers]

Amen my dear brother! We must cling to Christ and not forget Him. We are a forgetful people. Daniel understood and it was his habit to stop at noon to make sure his connection with God was strong. When we are not connected with our Savior, we have no protection against temptations. It is then that we fail to walk in the light even though we know we ought to.  The more we do this, the harder it is to turn away from sin.

 It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened. Often the process is gradual, and almost imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through God's word, through His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly discerned. So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul. Thus it had been with these Jewish leaders. They were convinced that a divine power attended Christ, but in order to resist the truth, they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this they deliberately chose deception; they yielded themselves to Satan, and henceforth they were controlled by his power. 

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

Amen, Brother Beacon and Brother Richard!

We are so loved and valuable to Jesus--as He came to this earth and became our Brother, died to redeem us, and is inviting us to follow His steps of love all the way to heaven!

"Christ loves the heavenly beings that surround His throne; but what shall account for the great love wherewith He has loved us? We cannot understand it, but we can know it true in our own experience. And if we do hold the relation of kinship to Him, with what tenderness should we regard those who are brethren and sisters of our Lord! Should we not be quick to recognize the claims of our divine relationship? Adopted into the family of God, should we not honor our Father and our kindred?" {The Desire of Ages, page 327, paragraph 4}

The closeness which we may have with God and others all depends upon our complete surrender to Christ--to have ongoing union and communion with Christ. All of the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in our lives as we are abiding in Him and cheerfully, promptly obedient to the light of truth He has revealed to us! Let's abide in the family of God and let His love flow in and through us! May you have a very happy Sabbath as it comes at sunset this Friday!

[Beacon]

"John and James, Andrew and Peter, with Philip, Nathanael, and Matthew, had been more closely connected with Him than the others, and had witnessed more of His miracles."

"Peter, James, and John stood in still nearer relationship to Him. They were almost constantly with Him, witnessing His miracles, and hearing His words."

"John pressed into still closer intimacy with Jesus, so that he is distinguished as the one whom Jesus loved."

"The Saviour loved them all, but John's was the most receptive spirit. He was younger than the others, and with more of the child's confiding trust he opened his heart to Jesus."

"Thus he came more into sympathy with Christ, and through him the Saviour's deepest spiritual teaching was communicated to His people."

Would you like that have a deeper closer relationship with Jesus??

====================
1
Deeper, deeper, in the cross of Jesus;
  Deeper let me go;
Death and life, they always go together;
  Deepen, Lord, the flow.
    Oh, deeper yet we pray,
    Do work in us each day;
    Go deeper, through and through,
    Till in Thee we’re wholly new.
2
Higher, higher, in the life of Jesus;
  Lord, we are so low.
By Thy life we all can go much higher—
  Higher let us go.
    Oh, higher yet we pray—
    Transform us every day—
    And richer in the flow;
    May Thy life be all we know.
3
Growing, growing, in us He is growing,
  More and more each day.
Into all our living He is flowing—
  This is now His way.
    For growth, O Lord, we pray;
    Increase in us each day.
    It’s not enough to know;
    Now Thy life in us must grow.
4
Living, living, Christ is all our living,
  He’s so practical:
Small things, big things, anything and all things—
  He’s involved in all.
    Live Christ in every way;
    Oh, live Him out today.
    His name you now must call,
    And give Him your all for all.
5
Person, Person, Jesus is our Person,
  Living now in us.
He’s our tastes, our attitudes and actions;
  Oh, how glorious!
    Our Person, Lord, Thou art
    Make home in all our heart.
    As life in every way
    Be our Person, Lord, each day.
6
Churches, churches, in the local churches
  We all find the flow:
Deeper, higher, Christ as all our living,
  For the church we grow.
    The churches are today
    Just Christ in every way.
    For this, from self we cease,
    For Thy Body, Thine increase.
7
Building, building, we will see the building
  Of the church this way:
Christ experienced will produce the building—
  He’s the only way.
    Oh, build us, Lord, we pray,
    By growth of life each day.
    Oh, make us now such men
    For the new Jerusalem.
8
Coming, coming, Jesus soon is coming
  For His chosen Bride.
In the churches we are all preparing
  To be glorified.
    Lord Jesus, come again
    This cry is deep within
    We’ll praise Thee to the end,
    Oh, come back! Come back! Amen!

Lyrics:Adapted by W. F.
Music:Charles P. Jones (1900)

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

You're warmly invited into the family. Really? Yes! God's family is made up of those who are willing to do His will, and let Jesus become their personal Lord and Savior! Because our first parents sinned, we are by nature alienated from God and slaves of Satan, but PRAISE GOD, Jesus was willing to come into our little world, clothe His divinity with humanity, and reveal a life of constant union and communion with our Heavenly Father without sin, "for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). Knowing that it would be hard for us at times to REALLY BELIEVE that God loves us and is offering us adoption into His family because of all the trials and tribulations we face in a fallen world, Jesus consented to bear ALL OUR SIN, suffer OUR DEATH, and yet, even in His final moments, still reveal trust in the Father's love (though on account of our sin He FELT forsaken), for He said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit" (Luke 23:46). Do you feel lonely or like no one understands you? Well, the good news is that JESUS UNDERSTANDS, HE LOVES YOU, and He is even now inviting you to cast all your cares upon Him, surrender fully to Him, repent and confess all your sins to Him, and let Him live out His sinless life of holiness in you by the Holy Spirit! When you let Him into your heart in complete surrender, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in your life, and by abiding in Christ you will be enabled to walk even as He walked, in true affectionate obedience to all of God's commandments! Then, having such a miraculous experience, you will find other souls who need to know this GOOD NEWS, and invite them also to share in what it means to be adopted into God's family by becoming a partaker of the divine nature through receiving the word of God! Those who do respond in love to God and do His will are the members of His family, and will fit into heaven when Jesus comes to take us home there, because we already have heaven in our hearts!

"Those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour are not left as orphans, to bear the trials of life alone. He receives them as members of the heavenly family; He bids them call His Father their Father. They are His 'little ones,' dear to the heart of God, bound to Him by the most tender and abiding ties. He has toward them an exceeding tenderness, as far surpassing what our father or mother has felt toward us in our helplessness as the divine is above the human." {The Desire of Ages, page 327, paragraph 2}

Even if you lost both of your earthly parents, you are NOT an orphan in God's family by accepting Jesus!! He loves you even more than your earthly parents ever could, because He knew you before you were born (Jeremiah 1:5) and has plans for you that span the eternal ages!!

"The work of redemption involves consequences of which  it is difficult for man to have any conception. 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' 1 Cor. 2:9. As the sinner, drawn by the power of Christ, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates himself before it, there is a new creation. A new heart is given him. He becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. God Himself is 'the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26. And "whom He justified, them He also glorified.' Rom. 8:30. Great as is the shame and degradation through sin, even greater will be the honor and exaltation through redeeming love. To human beings striving for conformity to the divine image there is imparted an outlay of heaven's treasure, an excellency of power, that will place them higher than even the angels who have never fallen." {Christ's Object Lessons, page 162, paragraph 4}

Now that's GOOD NEWS!!!!!

[Philip T]

    It was just before this that Jesus had a second time performed the miracle of healing a man possessed, blind and dumb, and the Pharisees had reiterated the charge, "He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." Matthew 9:34. Christ told them plainly that in attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, they were cutting themselves off from the fountain of blessing. Those who had spoken against Jesus Himself, not discerning His divine character, might receive forgiveness; for through the Holy Spirit they might be brought to see their error and repent. Whatever the sin, if the soul repents and believes, the guilt is washed away in the blood of Christ; but he who rejects the work of the Holy Spirit is placing himself where repentance and faith cannot come to him. It is by the Spirit that God works upon the heart; when men willfully reject the Spirit, and declare It to be from Satan, they cut off the channel by which God can communicate with them. When the Spirit is finally rejected, there is no more that God can do for the soul.

      God will forgive us any sin, we are truly repentant for, Jesus' love is that great, however, if we refuse to listen to the unction of the Holy Spirit and turn our backs of Jesus wonderful gift of forgiveness. Refuse to change our ways when the Holy Spirit is moving on us, our hearts are slowly hardened and we end up having committed the unpardonable sin as we have blocked the Holy Spirit from communicating with us. I pray none of us will walk this pathway.

[Richard Myers]

Amen Brother Beacon, Brother Philip, and Pastor Sean! Let us not reject the Holy Spirit. Let us have a closer relationship with Jesus so we can be closer to God than the angels in heaven! How can this be? It is supernatural power. When we behold God's grace we are supernaturally given power to do all God asks of us. This supernatural power must be obtained daily, moment by moment. Without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy.

 There were many in Christ's day, as there are today, over whom the control of Satan for the time seemed broken; through the grace of God they were set free from the evil spirits that had held dominion over the soul. They rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the stony-ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide in His love. They did not surrender themselves to God daily, that Christ might dwell in the heart; and when the evil spirit returned, with "seven other spirits more wicked than himself," they were wholly dominated by the power of evil.
     When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end. 

[Richard Myers]

What must I do in order to be saved? This is the all important question that must be answered. We are saved by grace, grace that surrounds us as thick as the air we breathe. It does us no good unless we see it and allow it into the heart. God does not give us grace for tomorrow. Each day we must come to the foot of the cross and there drink it in. By His stripes we shall  be healed. We must "look and live."   Jesus tells us we must drink His  blood and eat His flesh. We must died to self daily by so doing. By beholding His glory, His character we shall be transformed into His character. Through obedience we will be sanctified to a higher and higher level more perfectly reflecting His image. By neglect of doing this we will not have power to resist the smallest temptation to sin.

When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end. 

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

Amen, Brother Richard!!

Jesus is very near!

“All who would receive Christ by faith were united to Him by a tie closer than that of human kinship. They would become one with Him, as He was one with the Father. As a believer and doer of His words, His mother was more nearly and savingly related to Him than through her natural relationship. His brothers would receive no benefit from their connection with Him unless they accepted Him as their personal Saviour.” {The Desire of Ages, page 325, paragraph 2}

As we surrender unreservedly to Jesus by opening the heart to His presence through the word of God, the Holy Spirit imbues us with the divine nature, so that every one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) will be manifest in the abiding, converted life!  Then affectionate obedience is the fruit of a life that is happy in the divine relation of our heavenly Father leading us, our Savior delivering us from sin and the Holy Spirit, keeping us in the path of righteousness!

[Beacon]

"When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart."

" A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself."

"It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature".

" The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own."

"A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan."

" But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light".

"If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness."
" Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome."

"Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end."
[/color]
How many of "US" have experience this because we did not have vital connection with God at the time of temptation??  We must have a strong connection with Jesus at the start or every day, and hour by hour, or we will be overcome by the enemy.

================================
1
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
    I surrender all,
  I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
    I surrender all.
2
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
3
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
4
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
5
All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!

Lyrics:Judson W. Van de Venter (1855-1939)
Music:Winfield Scott Weeden (1847-1908)

 

[Beacon]

"If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place."

"The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness."

"Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin."

"We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome."


"Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end."


All To Jesus I Surrender ---Is That Your Prayer Also??

======================

1
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my "Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end."days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
2
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
4
Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose,
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
5
Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
6
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.

Lyrics:Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)
Music:Henri Abraham Cesar Malan (1787-1864)

[Dorine]

"Christ loves the heavenly beings that surround His throne; but what shall account for the great love wherewith He has loved us? We cannot understand it, but we can know it true in our own experience. And if we do hold the relation of kinship to Him, with what tenderness should we regard those who are brethren and sisters of our Lord! Should we not be quick to recognize the claims of our divine relationship? Adopted into the family of God, should we not honor our Father and our kindred?"

Only by gazing upon the cross and accepting God's love into our own hearts do we have the capacity to love our brother's and sister's. We feel affection for those who love us and are nice but what about the ones who are rude, rough, tactless and always causing trouble of some sort. That's what Jesus had to deal with and He was always loving, kind and tender towards them. That's why we need to sit at the foot of the cross everyday that we may show to the world what the true meaning of love is.

[Richard Myers]

Amen Brother Brother Beacon! How many of us realize it is "continual communion" that keeps us vitally connected with God? Too often we forget about God as we go about our daily chores. How sad! I find it helps to listen to the Word throughout the day.

Amen Sister Dorine, we know by experience how much He loves us, that we do not deserve. At times we forget this. How sad!

     Those who are called to suffer for Christ's sake, who have to endure misapprehension and distrust, even in their own home, may find comfort in the thought that Jesus has endured the same. He is moved with compassion for them. He bids them find companionship in Him, and relief where He found it, in communion with the Father.
     Those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour are not left as orphans, to bear the trials of life alone. He receives them as members of the heavenly family; He bids them call His Father their Father. They are His "little ones," dear to the heart of God, bound to Him by the most tender and abiding ties. He has toward them an exceeding tenderness, as far surpassing what our father or mother has felt toward us in our helplessness as the divine is above the human.

[Philip T]

 When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.


We belong either to the kingdom of God, or Satan, we choose rather directly or indirectly, this was a warning to us, that we can fall to Satan just by neglecting our relationship with Christ, we need to surrender daily to Jesus, rededicating ourselves to him daily, spending time in His word i.e. devotional time, time being his messengers to those around us. It is only through Jesus that we can be saved and our characters can be perfected. We need to protect our hearts ever striving to grow closer to the heart of God. As one of my favorite hymns Near to the heart of God puts it.

There is a place of quiet rest, Near to the heart of God.
A place where sin cannot molest, Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God
Hold us, who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.

There is a place of comfort sweet, Near to the heart of God.
A place where we our Savior meet, Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God.
Hold us, who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.

There is a place of full release, Near to the heart of God.
A place where all is joy and peace, Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent for the heart of God.
Hold us, who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

Amen, Brother Beacon, Sister Dorine, Brother Richard and Brother Phil! What a blessing it is that all of us can share reflections from this powerful chapter, as we close out 2023!

Who is the closest to you?

"Closer than father, mother, brother, friend, or lover is the Lord our Saviour. 'Fear not,' He says, 'for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.' 'Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.' Isaiah 43:1, 4." {The Desire of Ages, page 327. paragraph 3}

Thankfully, even if every human dependence were cut off from us, we would still have One who is the closest to us in a saving, abiding relationship with Jesus! He invites us to become vitally united to Him in a living faith surrender so He can fill us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we are supernaturally empowered to obey the law of God from the new heart given to us!

[Beacon]

"If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place."

"The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness."

"Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin."

"We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome."

"Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end."

What a serious warning this is to every human on planet earth!! Jesus paid the price of our redemption when He died on the Cross at Calvary. However, "WE" need to have a Personal, Daily, Relationship with Jesus or we will be overcome by the arch enemy, Satan. As the gospel song says..." Take Time To Be Holy." The question is...Are "WE" willing??

===========================

1
Beneath the cross of Jesus
  I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty Rock
  Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
  A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
  And the burden of the day.
2
Oh, safe and happy shelter!
  Oh, refuge tried and sweet!
Oh, trysting place where heaven’s love
  And heaven’s justice meet.
As to the holy patriarch
  That wondrous dream was given,
So is my Savior by the cross
  A ladder up to heaven.
3
There lies beneath its shadow,
  But on the farther side,
The darkness of an awful grave
  That gapes both deep and wide;
And there between us stands the cross,
  Two arms outstretched to save,
Like a watchman set to guard the way
  From that eternal grave.
4
Upon that cross of Jesus
  Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One,
  Who suffered there for me;
And from my smitten heart, with tears,
  Two wonders I confess,
The wonders of His glorious love,
  And my own worthlessness.
5
I take, O cross, thy shadow
  For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
  The sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
  To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
  My glory all the cross.

Lyrics:Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1830-1869)
Music:Frederick Charles Maker (1844-1927)

[Dorine]

"Those who accept Christ as their personal Saviour are not left as orphans, to bear the trials of life alone. He receives them as members of the heavenly family; He bids them call His Father their Father. They are His "little ones," dear to the heart of God, bound to Him by the most tender and abiding ties. He has toward them an exceeding tenderness, as far surpassing what our father or mother has felt toward us in our helplessness as the divine is above the human."

This is a profound truth that I love to dwell on. I had very loving parents but what Jesus and His Father has for each one of us goes way beyond any earthly parent. I know individuals who are victims of parental abuse. It affects them for life and if they do not meet Jesus and accept and believe His promises for them they will never know the joy, peace and freedom that comes from knowing Him.

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

Amen, Brother Beacon and Sister Dorine!

"All who would receive Christ by faith were united to Him by a tie closer than that of human kinship. They would become one with Him, as He was one with the Father. As a believer and doer of His words, His mother was more nearly and savingly related to Him than through her natural relationship. His brothers would receive no benefit from their connection with Him unless they accepted Him as their personal Saviour." {The Desire of Ages, page 325, paragraph 2}

The One who is able to be closest to us is our Savior and Lord, Jesus. By the Holy Spirit, He can live in us as we surrender fully to Him, truly repenting of our sin because it wounds Jesus. The bliss of all of the fruits of the Spirit in the life as a result of this genuine conversion is far more satisfying and meaningful than anything that the devil offers us in the paths of sin. God's presence in the soul sanctifies and restores us into His image, for by beholding Christ, we become changed. There is no limit to this experience of the joy of divine communion either in this life or in the life to come! Souls abiding in Christ become living invitations to the world to "taste and see" something infinitely better than anything this world offers. May your life, abiding in Christ, be such an invitation today.

[Richard Myers]

Amen my dear brothers and sister! Such beautiful truths you have shared this morning! What a God we serve!  What would happen in His church if all were to participate in our daily readings in this most wonderful Book!

   When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end. 

Amen!  As Brother Beacon has also pointed out, we need "continual communion" with Christ or we shall to Satan's bidding in the end. Daniel knew this and it was his habit to pray three times a day. That is not continual, but it reminded him of his great need to have continual communion. So it would be good for us to remove ourselves from the world, kneel down and seek God's help in maintaining that continual communion. Let us in a gentle and kind way help others to understand this important truth. We are not safe when we take our eyes off of Jesus. It does not have to be purposeful, but by neglect to cling to Jesus, we open ourselves to Satan's attacks which are seeking our destruction.