In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6.

During the night season I was specially moved upon by the Spirit of God. My soul had been drawn out in earnest supplication to God. I was distressed on account of the backsliding of His people.

While lying in bed, unable to sleep because of the burden resting upon me, I was pleading with the Lord. I fell asleep, and in the night season I was taught of God. My guide said, “I have a work for you to do. You must speak the words given you by the Lord. After these words have been spoken, your duty here is done. You are not required to enter into details before individuals, whatever may be their position or work, if they do not recognize the voice of God in the message He gives you to bear in His name. All your efforts to remove their doubts will be of no avail if they gather the clouds of darkness about their souls. If you enter into particulars, you weaken the message. It is not you speaking, but the Lord speaking through you. Those who want to know the will of God, who do not desire to follow their own will and judgment, will be easily entreated. They will be ready to discern the right way.

“The whys and wherefores are concealed from you; yet speak the words I give you, however painful it may be to you. The ways in which God leads His people are generally mysterious. You have asked to know God’s way. Your supplication has been answered. God knows better than you do what is good and essential for His children. He never leads them otherwise than they would wish to be led, if they were able to see as clearly as He does what they must do to establish characters that will fit them for the heavenly courts.”

The people whom God is leading must venture out upon His word. They must walk forward by faith. Truths have been committed to them which they must obey. The work of God is aggressive. No one can stand in a neutral position and yet be a soldier in the Lord’s army. God has commands for His people, and if they keep in close connection with Him, they will hear His voice, and will keep in step with their Captain. They will go forward in the conflict to fight the battles of the Lord. But those who place themselves in an indifferent, noncommittal position will gain no victories.—Manuscript 29, November 21, 1890, “Diary.”

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Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans 13:11.

Satan has ever sought to infatuate the minds of men with subtle mysteries. Thus he beguiled Eve, and thus he seeks to seduce men today. Those who misquote the Word of God in an effort to substantiate error are following the example of him who beguiled Eve, and who tempted Christ in the wilderness. The enemy substituted for the Word of God his own misleading statements.

The same deceptive agency that seduced the angels in heaven is working in like manner upon human minds today. By means of his seducing statements he won the confidence of many of the angels, and there was a great war in heaven. Michael and His angels fought against Satan and his deceived followers….

Some who have received warning and instruction from God have deliberately turned from the messages sent to them. They have, as it were, walked blindfolded into Satan’s prepared snares. Satan is playing the game of life for their souls. And some who might be in a position to help these ensnared souls have themselves become ensnared as captives to the archdeceiver.

God’s love for His church is infinite. He has made every provision for its growth and enlargement. His care over His people is unceasing. He has given instruction regarding the dangers of false theories and subtle reasonings of the archdeceiver. He has sent warnings, reproofs, and messages to save His people. But some, like many of Christ’s disciples, are offended, because they have misinterpreted the messages sent by God.

When it is essential for the purification of the church, trials are permitted. Under these trials some regard themselves as abused, and instead of humbling their hearts, they rise up in indignation. Satan watches his opportunity to present some pleasing sophistry that will captivate the minds of the tempted ones and lead them to accept his fables. Those who are thus deceived become channels through which other minds are seduced by delusive sentiments….

God has no pleasure in the death of the unrighteous. He has borne long with stubborn, obdurate hearts. He who gave Christ to the world has sent messages of warning, but many have refused to heed. Long has He borne with men who have not glorified His name. He now calls upon His people to make a thorough work and remove every stumbling block. Let us clear the highway for our God.—Manuscript 106, November 20, 1905, “A Plea for Loyalty.”

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Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4.

Dear Brother: I have received your letter, and have read it. I would encourage you, my brother, to bear in mind that Jesus Christ gave His precious life for you. He will be your helper, if you trust in Him. Commit the keeping of your soul unto Him who gave His own life to a cruel, shameful death, in order to redeem every soul who will receive Him….

Now, my brother, we have met with many souls who, in their Christian experience, have passed through circumstances similar to those mentioned in your letter. You must not trust to your impressions of unbelief. You must put your confidence in One who has given His life for you. Then you will be numbered among the receiving ones—among those who believe and receive His Word, and walk not by feeling, but by faith.

The Word of God is true. Faith takes hold of the divine Word, whereas feeling is naught else but something that eclipses faith in a “Thus saith the Word of the living God.” … Wonderful is the work which God designs to accomplish through His servants, that His name may be glorified. My brother, you must not sink down in discouragement. Lay hold of God’s promises with the faith of a little child….

My brother, I beseech of you to look away from yourself unto Christ, and live. Put your trust in the One who loves human agencies. Let your dependence be wholly on Christ. He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him. Believe, believe that Christ will pardon all your transgressions and forgive all your sins. Humble yourself as a little child, and Christ will receive you and bless you and strengthen you. Do not think unbelief or talk unbelief, but take God at His word, and leave yourself in His hands, to be taught and led of Him….

Comfort your heart, my brother, by believing that the Lord wants you to be saved, and that you are His child. Do not think that your mind must be in a certain state of feeling or else you are not accepted of God. Your faith must rely not on feeling, but on the promises of God. Walk by faith in a “Thus saith the Lord.” Rest your case with the Lord, and believe in His Word. Believe, oh, believe the Word of the Lord, and walk by faith, not by sight. Consecrate yourself anew to God. Be loyal and true to a “Thus saith the Lord,” and stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ doth make you free.—Letter 388, November 19, 1907, to a church member in South Lancaster, Massachusetts.

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Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Isaiah 40:26.

Pantheistic ideas regarding God in nature are framed by Lucifer, the fallen angel. The strange part of the matter is that these ideas have been accepted by so many as beautiful truth. But that which they think is light will lead them into dense darkness. It is a distinguishing feature of the experience of Seventh-day Adventists to give glory to God. When we give glory to human agencies, when we have unlimited confidence in man, speaking of the excellence that we suppose him to possess, we worship we know not what. Let God be exalted. Let frail, erring human beings humble themselves before Him….

I have had much to say of the glory of God as seen in His created works, but never have I left the impression that our God Omnipotent, who ruleth in the heavens and fills all the heavens, is to be found in flower and leaf and tree. What I have said of God’s works in nature was meant to lead the mind from nature to nature’s God, to show that all the glory should be given to Him who ruleth in the heavens….

Men are to discharge their duty to God. They are to have reverence for and a knowledge of a personal God. They are to praise and glorify His name as the One who has placed many beautiful things in this sin-corrupted earth, that from the child to the man and woman of mature years, all may see that God loves His family here below. He so loves us that He gave us a tangible proof of His love by sending His only begotten Son to bear the sin of the world, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God desires us to think of the height and depth and breadth of His measureless love, which is without a parallel, and to remember that we are His purchased possession. “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (see 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). We are to act as in the sight of the heavenly universe, conscientiously discharging our obligations to our Creator.

The world is to be taken captive by Satan’s deceiving representations. Where then is our security? How shall we guard against Satan’s bewitching artifices? By reading the Word of God with an intensity of desire to know Him in the light of revelation which He has left on record of Himself.—Letter 253a, November 18, 1903, to Dr. J. H. Kellogg, who was entertaining pantheistic concepts.

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Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:6, 7.

Your mind may often be clouded because of pain. Then do not try to think, but just rest, and show that you have committed your soul to God as unto a faithful Creator. It is your privilege to show in your weakness and suffering that you do not doubt the love of God toward you, that you know that He is faithful who has promised, and that you trust soul and body in His hands, that He will keep that which is committed to His trust.

Let your mind dwell upon the goodness of God, upon the great love wherewith He has loved us, as evidenced in the work of redemption. If He did not love us, and consider us of value, then this great sacrifice would not have been made. He is beneficent in mercy and in grace. Let your heart and mind be at rest, like a tired child in the arms of its mother. His everlasting arms are beneath you. In all your afflictions Jesus is afflicted. What a privilege it is for you, now afflicted, to find a refuge in Jesus.

The gospel armor seems too weighty to be borne. Well, Jesus Christ is your armor. Hide in Him, and the wicked one will not harass or confuse your faith. Jesus has bequeathed His peace to you….

Praise the Lord that you have felt the cleansing efficacy of the Saviour’s blood. Upon your soul the Sun of Righteousness hath arisen with healing in His wings. How empty and unsatisfying is every earthly thing. But Jesus, the precious Saviour, is your spiritual sustenance. He has linked your life with His life. The word of His grace is manna to the believing soul. The precious promises of the Word are life, greatness, and peace.

Do not be troubled. Jesus loves you, and will care for you and bless you. The active, aggressive battle you can no more fight, but you can let Jesus fight it for you. He says to you, “Give your case entirely into My hands. Be still, and know that I am God.”

Dear Sister _____, we hope and pray that the Lord will give you help and strength under the severe taxation that is upon you. That God that saw Nathanael under the fig tree sees you and understands all your griefs and all your sorrows. The Lord Jesus will be your strength in this day of your affliction….

The Word is the living bread. Eat of it daily. It will be a sustaining power to do all that you must do. It will infuse immortal vigor into your soul, perfect your experience, and bring to you those joys which are real, and which abide forever.—Letter 16, November 17, 1896, to an aged sister.

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