You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…. You shall love your neighbor as yourself Mark 12:30, 31.

We see beauty and loveliness and glory in Jesus. We behold in Him matchless charms. He was the majesty of heaven…. Angels bowed in adoration before Him and readily obeyed His commands. Our Savior gave up all. He laid aside His glory, His majesty, and splendor, and came down to this earth and died for a race of rebels who were transgressors against His Father’s commandments. Christ condescended to humble Himself that He might save the fallen race. He drank the cup of suffering, and in its place offers us the cup of blessing; yes, that cup was drained for us; and although many know all this, yet they choose to go on in sin and folly; and still Jesus invites them…. The truths of God’s Word must be brought to bear upon us, and we must lay hold upon them. If we do this, they will have a sanctifying influence upon our lives; they will fit us that we may have a preparation for the kingdom of glory, that when our probation shall close, we may see the King in His beauty and dwell in His presence forevermore.

And now the question is, Are we willing to make the sacrifice? … “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” What a promise is this!

And do you think that by embracing the truth of God you are degrading yourself? … The truth elevates the receiver every time…. It brings purity of character and purity of life and gives a fitness that we may join the heavenly company in the kingdom of glory. Without this fitness we can never see the heavenly abode….

Does the truth require you to stand alone in your position to serve God, because others around you are not willing to yield to the claims that Christ has upon them? Does it require a separation in feeling from them? Yes; and this is the cross which you must bear, which leads many to say, I cannot yield to the claims of the truth. But says Christ, If anyone love father, or mother, or brother, or sister, more than me, he is not worthy of me…. Is this too great a sacrifice to make for Him who sacrificed all for you?—The Review and Herald, April 19, 1870.

From From the Heart

This is a hard saying; who can understand it? John 6:60.

Some professed followers of Christ may be inclined to say, as did the disciples at a certain time as they listened to the earnest truths which fell from the lips of the divine Teacher, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” Many may think that the way is made too straight. When we talk of self-denial and sacrifice for Christ’s sake, they think we dwell too much on these points. You would prefer to hear us speak of the Christian’s reward. We know that those who are faithful will inherit all things, but the great question with us should be, “Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” Who shall be counted worthy to receive the exceeding great and precious reward that shall be given to the overcomers? Those who shall be partakers of Christ’s sufferings will be sharers with Him of His glory.

Without holiness, the Word of God tells us, no one can see the Lord. Without purity of life it is impossible for us to be fitted and prepared to dwell with the holy and sinless angels in a pure and holy heaven. No sin can be there. No impurity can enter the pearly gates of the golden city of God. And the question for us to settle is whether we will turn from all sin and comply with the conditions God has given us, that we may become His sons and daughters. Separation from the world He requires of us in order to become members of the royal family….

We believe without a doubt that Christ is soon to come, and believing this we feel a necessity upon us to plead with men and women to prepare for the coming of the Son of man…. We want you to be of that company that shall bow before the throne of God crying, “Worthy, worthy, worthy, is the Lamb that was slain for us.” …

When you are all ready, having overcome your sins, having put away all your iniquity from you, you are in a condition to receive the finishing touch of immortality….

It will not be safe for you to wait for a better time to come. It is while it is called today. If anyone will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. It is to listen today to the invitation of mercy. It is to yield your pride, your folly, your vanity, and make an entire surrender of your heart to God. Come to Him with your talents and all the influence you have, and lay all these without reserve at the feet of Him who died on Calvary’s cross to redeem you.—The Review and Herald, April 12, 1870.

From From the Heart

So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Exodus 33:11.

[Prayer offered by Ellen White at the 1903 General Conference session.] Our heavenly Father, we come to Thee this morning just as we are, needy and wholly dependent upon Thee. Help us to have a clear knowledge of what we must be, and of the characters that we must form, in order that we may be prepared to unite with the heavenly family in the city of our God….

O my Father, how can we proclaim Thy goodness, and Thy mercy, and Thy love, unless we cherish them in our own hearts and reveal them in our own experiences? Thou knowest how Thou hast presented this matter to Thy servant….

Here are Thy ministers, whose work it is to proclaim Bible truth. I ask Thee that they may have a clear realization of the responsibilities that rest upon them as guardians and as shepherds of Thy flock…. Let them understand their own weakness, and may the sanctification of the Spirit come to them….

Here are those who bear responsibilities in our institutions…. They have not in their dealings given a right example to the world. They did not realize that others were taking knowledge of them, to see whether they were sanctified by the truth.

Oh, pardon our transgressions and forgive our sins! Show us where we have come short. Let Thy Holy Spirit descend upon us. The world is perishing in sin, and we ask Thee to roll the burden upon us at this meeting….

Thou hast opened these things before me, and Thou alone canst prepare minds and hearts to hear the message that unless those who have left their first love shall return to recognize the work that needs to be done in their individual hearts, Thou wilt come quickly and remove the candlestick out of his place….

We must be reconverted, sanctified, and made fit to bear the message of the Lord….

My Father, break down the barriers, that confessions may be made, from heart To Whom It May Concern: heart, from brother to brother. May the Spirit of God come in; and Thy blessed name shall have all the glory. Amen.—The General Conference Bulletin, April 2, 1903.

From From the Heart

Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7.

All our offerings should be presented with cheerfulness, for they come from the fund which the Lord has seen fit to place in our hands for the purpose of carrying forward His work in the world, in order that the banner of truth may be unfurled in the highways and byways of the earth. If all who profess the truth would give to the Lord His own in tithes and gifts and offerings, there would be meat in the house of the Lord. The cause of benevolence would no longer be dependent on the uncertain gifts of impulse, and vary according to people’s changing feelings. God’s claims would be welcomed, and His cause would be considered as justly entitled to a portion of the funds entrusted to our hands. The Lord is our divine Creditor, and He has made us promises through the prophet Malachi that are very plain, positive, and important. It means very much to us whether or not we are rendering to God His own. He allows His stewards a certain portion for their own use, and if they will trade upon that which He claims, He will divinely bless the means in their hands….

The only plan which the gospel has marked out for sustaining the work of God is one that leaves the support of His cause to the honor of men and women….

Those who are recipients of His grace, who contemplate the cross of Calvary, will not question concerning the proportion to be given, but will feel that the richest offering is all too meager, all disproportionate to the great gift of the only begotten Son of the infinite God…. Through self-denial, the poorest will find ways of obtaining something to give back to God….

The rich are not to feel that they can be content in giving of their money merely…. Parents and children are not to regard themselves as their own, and feel that they can dispose of their time and property as shall please themselves. They are God’s purchased possession, and the Lord calls for the profit of their physical powers, which are to be employed in bringing a revenue to the treasury of the Lord….

Will every soul consider the fact that Christian discipleship includes self-denial, self-sacrifice, even to the laying down of life itself if need be, for the sake of Him who has given His life for the life of the world?—The Review and Herald, July 14, 1896.

From From the Heart

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. John 6:37.

Jesus Himself, while He dwelt among us, was often in prayer. Prayer went before and sanctified every act of His ministry….

He found comfort and joy in communion with His Father. And if our Savior, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer….

Do not entertain the thought that because you have made mistakes, because your life has been darkened by errors, your Heavenly Father does not love you and will not hear you when you pray…. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows, and even by our utterance of them…. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. None have fallen so low, none are so vile, that they cannot find deliverance in Christ….

If we keep the Lord ever before us, allowing our hearts to go out in thanksgiving and praise to Him, we shall have a continual freshness in our religious life. Our prayers will take the form of conversation with God, as we would talk with a friend. He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Often there will come to us a sweet, joyful sense of the presence of Jesus….

How wonderful it is that we can pray effectually, that unworthy, erring mortals possess the power of offering their requests to God. What higher power can we require than this—to be linked with the infinite God? Feeble, sinful people have the privilege of speaking to their Maker. They utter words that reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe….

The rainbow about the throne is an assurance that God is true, that in Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning…. When we come to Him confessing our unworthiness and sin, He has pledged Himself to give heed to our cry. The honor of His throne is staked for the fulfillment of His Word unto us.—Signs of the Times, June 18, 1902.

From From the Heart