By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.—Hebrews 11:27

The education that Moses had received in Egypt was a help to him in many respects; but the most valuable preparation for his lifework was that which he received while employed as a shepherd. Moses was naturally of an impetuous spirit. In Egypt a successful military leader and a favorite with the king and the nation, he had been accustomed to receiving praise and flattery. He had attracted the people to himself. He hoped to accomplish by his own powers the work of delivering Israel. Far different were the lessons he had to learn as God’s representative. As he led his flocks through the wilds of the mountains and into the green pastures of the valleys, he learned faith and meekness, patience, humility, and self-forgetfulness. He learned to care for the weak, to nurse the sick, to seek after the straying, to bear with the unruly, to tend the lambs, and to nurture the old and the feeble.

In this work Moses was drawn nearer to the Chief Shepherd. He became closely united to the Holy One of Israel. No longer did he plan to do a great work. He sought to do faithfully as unto God the work committed to his charge. He recognized the presence of God in his surroundings. All nature spoke to him of the Unseen One. He knew God as a personal God, and, in meditating upon His character he grasped more and more fully the sense of His presence….

After this experience, Moses heard the call from heaven to exchange his shepherd’s crook for the rod of authority; to leave his flock of sheep and take the leadership of Israel. The divine command found him self-distrustful, slow of speech, and timid. He was overwhelmed with a sense of his incapacity to be a mouthpiece for God. But he accepted the work, putting his whole trust in the Lord. The greatness of his mission called into exercise the best powers of his mind. God blessed his ready obedience, and he became eloquent, hopeful, self-possessed, fitted for the greatest work ever given to human beings. Of him it is written: “There hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10, A.R.V.).—The Ministry of Healing, 474, 475.

Further Reflection: What have I learned that I must I unlearn in order to do greater service for God?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”—Mark 6:31

Christ spoke no words revealing His importance, or showing His superiority; He did not ignore His fellow beings. He made no assumptions of authority because of His relation to God, but His words and actions showed Him to be possessed of a knowledge of His mission and character. He spoke of heavenly things as one to whom everything heavenly was familiar. He spoke of His intimacy and oneness with the Father as a child would speak of its connection with its parents. He spoke as one who had come to enlighten the world with His glory. He never patronized the schools of the rabbis, for He was the Teacher sent by God to instruct humanity. As one in whom all restorative power is found, Christ spoke of drawing all humanity unto Him, and of giving them life everlasting. In Him there is power to heal every physical and spiritual disease.

Christ came to our world with a consciousness of more than human greatness, to accomplish a work that was to be infinite in its results. Where do you find Him when doing this work? In the house of Peter the fisherman; resting by Jacob’s well, telling the Samaritan woman of the living water. He generally taught in the open air; but sometimes in the temple, for He attended the gatherings of the Jewish people. But oftenest He taught when sitting on a mountainside, or in a fisherman’s boat. He entered into the lives of these humble fishermen. His sympathy was enlisted in behalf of the needy, the suffering, the despised; and many were attracted to Him.

When the plan of redemption was laid, it was decided that Christ should not appear in accordance with His divine character, for then He could not associate with the distressed and the suffering. He must come as a poor man. He could have appeared in accordance with His exalted station in the heavenly courts; but no; He must reach to the very lowest depths of human suffering and poverty, that His voice might be heard by the burdened and disappointed, that to the weary, sin-sick soul He might reveal Himself as the Restorer, the Desire of all nations, the Rest-giver. And to those who are longing for rest and peace today, just as truly as those who listened to His words in Judea, He is saying, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).—Manuscript 14, 1897.

Further Reflection: How willing am I to give up the privileges of status to serve those in need?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.—Colossians 1:17

All the disciples had serious faults when Jesus called them to His service. Even John, who came into closest association with the meek and lowly One, was not himself naturally meek and yielding. He and his brother were called “the sons of thunder.” While they were with Jesus, any slight shown to Him aroused their indignation and combativeness. Evil temper, revenge, the spirit of criticism, were all in the beloved disciple. He was proud, and ambitious to be first in the kingdom of God. But day by day, in contrast with his own violent spirit, he beheld the tenderness and forbearance of Jesus, and heard His lessons of humility and patience. He opened his heart to the divine influence, and became not only a hearer but a doer of the Saviour’s words. Self was hid in Christ. He learned to wear the yoke of Christ and to bear His burden.

Jesus reproved His disciples, He warned and cautioned them; but John and his brethren did not leave Him; they chose Jesus, notwithstanding the reproofs. The Saviour did not withdraw from them because of their weakness and errors. They continued to the end to share His trials and to learn the lessons of His life. By beholding Christ, they became transformed in character.

The apostles differed widely in habits and disposition. There were the publican, Levi-Matthew, and the fiery zealot Simon, the uncompromising hater of the authority of Rome; the generous, impulsive Peter, and the mean-spirited Judas; Thomas, true-hearted, yet timid and fearful, Philip, slow of heart, and inclined to doubt, and the ambitious, outspoken sons of Zebedee, with their brethren. These were brought together, with their different faults, all with inherited and cultivated tendencies to evil; but in and through Christ they were to dwell in the family of God, learning to become one in faith, in doctrine, in spirit. They would have their tests, their grievances, their differences of opinion; but while Christ was abiding in the heart, there could be no dissension. His love would lead to love for one another; the lessons of the Master would lead to the harmonizing of all differences, bringing the disciples into unity, till they would be of one mind and one judgment. Christ is the great center, and they would approach one another just in proportion as they approached the center.—The Desire of Ages, 295, 296.

Further Reflection: What has changed about me since I began walking with Jesus? Has my family noticed a difference?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him?”—Luke 18:7

“Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey” (Isaiah 59:14, 15). This was fulfilled in the life of Christ on earth. He was loyal to God’s commandments, setting aside the human traditions and requirements which had been exalted in their place. Because of this He was hated and persecuted. This history is repeated. The laws and traditions of men are exalted above the law of God, and those who are true to God’s commandments suffer reproach and persecution. Christ, because of His faithfulness to God, was accused as a Sabbath-breaker and blasphemer. He was declared to be possessed of a devil, and was denounced as Beelzebub. In like manner His followers are accused and misrepresented. Thus Satan hopes to lead them to sin, and cast dishonor upon God.

The character of the judge in the parable, who feared not God nor regarded human beings, was presented by Christ to show the kind of judgment that was then being executed, and that would soon be witnessed at His trial. He desires His people in all time to realize how little dependence can be placed on earthly rulers or judges in the day of adversity. Often the elect people of God have to stand before people in official positions who do not make the word of God their guide and counselor, but who follow their own unconsecrated, undisciplined impulses.

In the parable of the unjust judge, Christ has shown what we should do. “Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?” Christ, our example, did nothing to vindicate or deliver Himself. He committed His case to God. So His followers are not to accuse or condemn, or to resort to force in order to deliver themselves.

When trials arise that seem unexplainable, we should not allow our peace to be spoiled. However unjustly we may be treated, let not passion arise. By indulging a spirit of retaliation we injure ourselves. We destroy our own confidence in God, and grieve the Holy Spirit. There is by our side a witness, a heavenly messenger, who will lift up for us a standard against the enemy. He will shut us in with the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Beyond this Satan cannot penetrate. He cannot pass this shield of holy light.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 170-172.

Further Reflection: If I do not retaliate when wronged, how will God vindicate me?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law.”—Isaiah 42:4

The church that would prove successful in the Master’s service must be an aggressive one. Its members must not allow their interest in the work to lag. Heavenly intelligences are ready to co-operate with the human agent to press forward the work. At whatever cost press the battle to the gates of the enemy; yea, storm the very citadel. Do not allow yourselves to fail nor be discouraged. Christ’s authority is supreme. His power is invincible. Through the Holy Spirit the Lord works with the human agent. “He hath appointed us to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent us to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives; and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion; to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” The Sun of Righteousness has arisen. Christ is waiting to clothe His people with the garments of salvation. And “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for His law.” “His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, the kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

The Lord does not wish to have one true soldier of the cross remain in ignorance or darkness. He calls us up, high above the earth, that He may show us the vast confederacy of evil that is arrayed against us. He would remind us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” But He assures us all who are engaged in this warfare that they are fighting under the “Captain of the Lord’s hosts,” and that the angels of heaven are assisting them in their struggle for the “crown that fadeth not away.” Let us rally under the banner of Prince Immanuel, and in the name and strength of Jesus Christ press the battle home.—Bible Training School, June 1911.

Further Reflection: How does it make me feel to know that as God’s people work for the lost, all of heaven will be right there with us as we press the battle home?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names