“The very time to exercise faith is when we feel destitute of the Spirit. When thick clouds of darkness seem to hover over the mind, then is the time to let living faith pierce the darkness and scatter the clouds.”
Early Writings Page 72.2
“(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
2 Corinthians 5:7
“True love is a high and holy principle, altogether different in character from that love which is awakened by impulse, and which suddenly dies when severely tested.”
Patriarchs and Propbets 176.3
“The sower multiplies his seed by casting it away. So it is with those who are faithful in distributing Gods gifts. By imparting they increase their blessings. God has promised them a sufficiency that they may continue to give.”
Christ Object Lessons Page 85.2
“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:38
“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” Proverbs 11:24-25
Listen: “You Can’t Beat God, Giving”!
May 7th
“Said Christ, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:1, 5, 2). That unpruned branch may have looked good to human eyes but the eye of One who never slumbers nor sleeps leaves it not alone to die of discouragement. The Husbandman pruneth it, that it may produce fruit unto life eternal. . .
“Whenever professed Christians are constantly flaunting their leaves of profession before the eyes of others, there is no real fruit to the glory of God. Their religious life and experience seem satisfactory to themselves. They have exaggerated emotions, effusive expressions of fervor, and highest exaltations. Their religion consists largely in feeling and excitement. There is very little in their own souls that corresponds to their profession of faith. Self is their ideal of perfection. They value more the outward impression they make upon others than the inner life which is hidden with Christ in God.
“Let everyone who would reveal Christ by being a doer of His Word, become rooted in Christ Jesus, rooted and grounded in the truth. Put away all self-assertion. Let living and acting the lessons of Christ Jesus speak of your perfect obedience to Jesus Christ…
“The formation of the character must go on day by day, hour by hour. The inward working of the Holy Spirit is revealed outwardly in the appearance of fruit, ripening and perfecting to the glory of God. The inward life speaks in the outward action, in the producing of rich fruit. This is showing forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. If the Lord Jesus is formed within, the hope of glory, the life will be rich in good works, corresponding with the truth which they profess to believe. TMK 133.5
Abiding in Christ
May 6th
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” John 15:4
” ‘Abide in me’ are words of great significance. Abiding in Christ means a living, earnest, refreshing faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It means a constant receiving of the spirit of Christ, a life of unreserved surrender to His service. Where this union exists, good works will appear. The life of the vine will manifest itself in fragrant fruit on the branches. The continual supply of the grace of Christ will bless you and make you a blessing, till you can say with Paul, ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’ (Galatians 2:20)
“The sacred union with Christ will unite the brethren in the most endearing bonds of Christian fellowship. Their hearts will be touched with divine compassion one for another. . . . Coldness, variance, strife, are entirely out of place among the disciples of Christ. They have accepted the one faith. They have joined to serve the one Lord, to endure in the same warfare, to strive for the same object, and to triumph in the same cause. They have been bought with the same precious blood, and have gone forth to preach the same message of salvation. . . .
“Those who are constantly drawing strength from Christ will possess His spirit. They will not be careless in word or deportment. An abiding sense of how much their salvation has cost in the sacrifice of the beloved Son of God will rest upon their souls. Like a fresh and vivid transaction the scenes of Calvary will present themselves to their minds and their hearts will be subdued and made tender by this wonderful manifestation of the love of Christ to them. They will look upon others as the purchase of His precious blood, and those who are united with Him will seem noble and elevated and sacred because of this connection. The death of Christ on Calvary should lead us to estimate souls as He did. His love has magnified the value of every man, woman, and child”
TMK 132.4
By God’s grace, may every one of us enjoy the abiding presence of His indwelling Holy Spirit in a close walk with our precious LORD, today!… even as Enoch did.
April 29th
My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. Psalm 34:2. (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp 125.1)
He {the true Christian} realizes that an infinite sacrifice has been made for him and that his life is of inestimable value through the merits of Jesus’ blood, intercession, and righteousness. But while he comprehends the exalted privileges of the sons of God, his soul is filled with humility. There is no boasting of holiness from the lips of those who walk in the shadow of Calvary’s cross. They feel that it was their sin which caused the agony that broke the heart of the Son of God. . . . Those who live nearest to Jesus feel most deeply their own unworthiness, and their only hope is in the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Like Moses, they have had a view of the awful majesty of holiness and they see their own insufficiency in contrast with the purity and exalted loveliness of Jesus. (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp125.2)
Is there not occasion for humility? Is there not need of feeling our utter dependence upon Christ every day and hour? … He took on Him our nature, and became sin for us, that we might have “remission of sins that are past” (Romans 3:25), and through His divine strength and grace might fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Whoever takes the position that it makes no difference whether or not we keep the commandments of God is not acquainted with Christ. Jesus says, “I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10), and those who follow Jesus will do as He has done… (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp125.3)
Satan will seek to entice you to enter into the paths of sin, promising that some wonderful good will result from the transgression of God’s law, but he is a deceiver. He would only work your ruin. . . . Christ came to break the rule of the evil one. . . . Man was so weakened through transgression that he did not possess sufficient moral power to turn from the service of Satan to the service of the only true God; but Jesus, the prince of life, to whom is committed “all power in heaven and earth,” will impart to every soul who desires salvation the strength necessary to overcome the enemy of all righteousness. (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp125.4)
April 25th
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29, 30.
“The tempter often whispers that the Christian life is one of exaction, of rigorous duties, that it is hard to be on the watch continually, and there is no need of being so particular. It was thus that he deceived and overthrew Eve in Eden, telling her that God’s commands were arbitrary and unjust… Satan’s object is the same now as then. He desires to deceive and ruin us. We should study the life of Christ and seek to cherish His spirit and copy His example, and the more we become like Him, the more clearly shall we discern the temptation of Satan, and the more successfully resist his power…
“True happiness is to be found, not in self-indulgence and self-pleasing, but in learning of Christ, taking His yoke, and bearing His burden. Those who trust to their own wisdom and follow their own ways, go complaining at every step because the burden which selfishness binds upon them is so heavy and its yoke so galling. They might change all this if they would but come to Jesus and by His grace put off the yoke that links them to Satan… take the burden which Christ gives them, and let His yoke bind them to Him in willing, happy service.
Jesus loves the young, and He longs to have them possess that peace which He alone can impart… If we have become the disciples of Christ we shall be learning of Him — *every day learning how to overcome some unlovely trait of character, every day copying His example and coming a little nearer the Pattern. If we are ever to inherit those mansions that He has gone to prepare for us we must here be forming such characters as the dwellers there are to possess.
The requirements of God are made in wisdom and goodness. In obeying them, the mind enlarges, the character improves, and the soul finds a peace and rest that the world can neither give nor take away. When the heart is fully surrendered to Jesus, His ways will be found to be ways of pleasantness and peace.” (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp 121.5)
So, why not “Come Into Him”?
After All, “His Yoke Is Easy”!
April 23rd
“In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people.” Isaiah 28:5.
“Many seem to think only of the outward adorning, and they make it evident that they are not in Christ by the apparel in which they deck themselves.
“We are to cultivate the loveliness of Christian character and to seek the inward adorning… The religion of Christ never degrades the receiver; it ennobles and elevates. Upon certain conditions, we are assured that we may become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. Is not this exaltation something worth seeking for? Through faith in Christ and obedience to the requirements of His law, we are offered a life that shall run parallel with the life of God. And in that immortal life, there shall be no sorrow, no sighing, no pain, no sin, no death. O that we might be more heavenly-minded and bring more of heaven into our life and conversation!
But with all the rich promises of God, how many seem wholly absorbed in the things of earth. They are all taken up with the thought of what shall we eat, what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed? God would not have us center our minds upon the things of this world. We are not to seek for our selfish gratification, but to center the mind upon Christ. Are you separating yourself from everything that will separate you from God? If you are in close connection with God you will talk of Him, you will have an abundance in your heart of the things of heaven… “The Lord is waiting to do great things for His children who trust in Him. Do we expect to dwell with Christ in the eternal world? Then we must dwell with Him here, that He may help us in every time of trial and temptation and make us ready for His coming in the clouds of heaven… The beauty and grace of Christ must be woven into our characters. We cannot keep Christ so apart from our lives as we do, and yet be fitted for His companionship in heaven. He is to be the all in all of heaven, and must be our all in all upon earth.” (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp119.5)
April 21st
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
“Through His inspired apostle, Christ has presented to us the measure of the character that is imbued with the love of Christ. We are to bear the marks of Christ; we are to have His likeness. This example is given us that we may know the possibilities, the heights we may reach in and through Christ. The standard He presents is perfection in Him, and through His merits, we may attain to it. We come short because we are content to look at earthly things rather than at heavenly. It is by beholding Christ that we are changed from glory to glory. The eye that views common things needs to be elevated…
We must have a knowledge of God by living experience. This life is our time of probation. We are placed under the discipline and government of God to form characters and acquire habits for the higher life… We shall be subject to heavy trials, opposition, bereavement, affliction, but we know that Jesus passed through all these. These experiences are valuable to us; the advantages are not by any means confined to this short life; they reach into eternal ages… All the scenes of this life in which we must act a part are to be carefully studied, for they are a part of our education. We should bring solid timbers into our character building, for we are working both for this life and eternal life. And as we near the close of this earth’s history we advance more and more rapidly in Christian growth, or we retrograde just as decidedly…
It is when you are looking to His throne, offering up your penitence and praise and thanksgiving to God, that you perfect Christian character, and represent Christ to the world. You abide in Christ and Christ abides in you.”
(White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp117.5)
April 16th
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:22.
“Many are making laborious work of walking in the narrow way of holiness. To many, the peace and rest of this blessed way seem no nearer today than it did years in the past. They look afar off for that which is nigh; they make intricate that which Jesus made very plain. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The plan of salvation has been plainly revealed in the Word of God, but the wisdom of the world has been sought too much, and the wisdom of Christ’s righteousness too little. And souls that might have rested in the love of Jesus have been doubting and troubled about many things…
We are wounded, polluted with sin. What shall we do to be healed from its leprosy?… In the wilderness, when the Lord permitted poisonous serpents to sting the rebellious Israelites, Moses was directed to lift up a brazen serpent and bid all the wounded look to it and live. But many saw no help in this Heaven-appointed remedy…
If you are the conscious of your wants, do not devote all your powers to representing them and mourning over them, but look and live. Jesus is our only Saviour, and notwithstanding millions who need to be healed will reject His offered mercy, not one who trusts in His merits will be left to perish. . . . Satan suggests that you are helpless and cannot bless yourself. It is true; you are helpless. But lift up Jesus before him: “I have a Saviour. In Him I trust, and He will never suffer me to be confounded. In His name, I triumph. He is my righteousness, and my crown of rejoicing…
It may seem to you that you are sinful and undone, but it is just on this account that you need a Saviour. If you have sins to confess, lose no time. These moments are golden… Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled, for Jesus has promised it. Precious Saviour! His arms are open to receive us, and His great heart of love is waiting to bless us” (White, E. G., That I May Know Him, pp112.1-.5).
