Daily Devotional

December 16, 2017

Reconciled To God By Christ’s Death

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Rom. 5:10.

The cross is invested with a power that language cannot express. Christ’s sacrifice in behalf of the human race puts to shame our meager efforts and methods to meet and uplift humanity, to help sinful men and women to find Jesus.

The work of the sons and daughters of God must be of a different character than has yet been manifested by a large number. If they love Jesus, they will have enlarged ideas of the love that has been expressed for fallen man, which required the provision of so expensive an offering to save the human race. Our Saviour asks the cooperation of every son and daughter of Adam who has become a son or daughter of God. . . . Our Saviour declares that He brought from heaven as a donation eternal life. He was to be lifted up upon the cross of Calvary to draw all men unto Him. How then shall we treat the purchased inheritance of Christ? Tenderness, appreciation, kindness, sympathy, and love should be shown to them. Then we may work to help and bless one another. In this work we have more than human brotherhood. We have the exalted companionship of heavenly angels. They cooperate with us in the work of enlightening high and low.

Having engaged in the work, the amazing work of our redemption, Christ determined in council with His Father to spare nothing, however costly, to withhold nothing however highly it might be estimated, that would rescue the poor sinner. He would give all heaven to this work of salvation, of restoring the moral image of God in man. . . . To be a child of God is to be one with Christ in God, and to put forth our hands in earnest, self-sacrificing love to strengthen and bless the souls that are perishing in their sins.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 33, 34.

Daily Devotional

December 15, 2017

All Men Are Drawn To The Uplifted Saviour

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32.

Never before was there such a general knowledge of Jesus as when He hung upon the cross. He was lifted up from the earth, to draw all to Him.

Into the hearts of many who beheld that crucifixion scene, and who heard Christ’s words, was the light of truth to shine. With John they would proclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” There were those who never rested until, searching the Scriptures and comparing passage with passage, they saw the meaning of Christ’s mission. They saw that free forgiveness was provided by Him whose tender mercy embraced the whole world. They read the prophecies regarding Christ, and the promises so free and full, pointing to a fountain opened for Judah and Jerusalem.

The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light which streams from the cross of Calvary, and in connection with the wondrous, central truth of the Saviour’s atonement. Those who study the Redeemer’s wonderful sacrifice grow in grace and knowledge.

I present before you the great, grand monument of mercy and regeneration, salvation and redemption,—the Son of God uplifted on the cross of Calvary. This is to be the theme of every discourse.

Jesus is inviting and drawing by His Holy Spirit the hearts of young and old to Himself. . . . When Christ crucified is preached, the power of the gospel is demonstrated by the influence it exerts over the believer. In place of remaining dead in trespasses and sins, he is awakened.

Lift up the Man of Calvary higher and still higher; there is power in the exaltation of the cross of Christ.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 32, 33.

Daily Devotional

December 14, 2017

To Walk In His Way

The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. Prov. 10:29.

If from the beginning we had walked in the counsel of God, thousands more would have been converted to the present truth. But many have made crooked paths for their feet. My brethren, make straight paths, lest the lame be turned out of the way. Let no one follow a crooked path that some one else has made, for thus you would not only go astray yourself, but would make this crooked path plainer for some one else to follow. Determine that as for yourself, you will walk in the path of obedience. Know for a certainty that you are standing under the broad shield of Omnipotence. Realize that the characteristics of Jehovah must be revealed in your life, and that in you a work must be accomplished that will mold your character after the divine similitude. Yield yourself to the guidance of Him who is the Head over all.

We are doing our work for the judgment. Let us be learners of Jesus. We need His guidance every moment. At every step we should inquire, “Is this the way of the Lord?” not, “Is this the way of the man who is over me?” We are to be concerned only as to whether we are walking in the way of the Lord.

God will honor and uphold every true-hearted, earnest soul who is seeking to walk before Him in the perfection of Christ’s grace. He will never leave nor forsake one humble, trembling soul. Shall we believe that He will work in our hearts? that if we allow Him to do so, He will make us pure and holy, by His rich grace qualifying us to be laborers together with Him? Can we with keen, sanctified perception appreciate the strength of His promises, and appropriate them, not because we are worthy, but because by living faith we claim the righteousness of Christ?

There is nothing so great and powerful as God’s love for those who are His children.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 32.

Daily Devotional

December 13, 2017

Study The Scriptures

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Rom. 15:4.

This Holy Book has withstood the assaults of Satan, who has united with evil men to make everything of divine character shrouded in clouds and darkness. But the Lord has preserved this Holy Book by His own miraculous power in its present shape,—a chart or guidebook to the human family to show them the way to heaven. . . . This Word . . . is the guidebook to the inhabitants of a fallen world, bequeathed to them, that by studying and obeying the directions, not one soul would lose its way.

There never was a time when it was so important that followers of Christ should study the Bible as now. Deceptive influences are upon all sides, and it is essential that you counsel with Jesus, your best friend. . . . David declares, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” How many are betrayed into sin, because they have not, through prayerful study of the Word of God, realized the sinfulness of sin, and found out how they may steadfastly resist it. When temptation comes upon them, they seem to be off guard, and ignorant of the devices of the enemy. We are living in perilous times, and as we draw near the close of earth’s history, there will be no safety for those who do not become familiar with the Word of God. . . . Everything that can be shaken, will be shaken. . . . The children of God have reached the most critical part of their pilgrimage; for the nets and pitfalls of the enemy are on every side. And yet with the guidance of the Lord, with that which is plainly revealed in His Word, we may walk securely and not stumble. . . . A voice from heaven is addressing us in its pages.

Obedience to God’s Word is our only safeguard against the evils that are sweeping the world to destruction.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 31.

Daily Devotional

December 12, 2017

Divine Wisdom

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. Prov. 8:11.

If Adam and Eve had never touched the forbidden tree, the Lord would have imparted to them knowledge,—knowledge upon which rested no curse of sin, knowledge that would have brought them everlasting joy. The only knowledge they gained by their disobedience was a knowledge of sin and its results….

Age after age, the curiosity of men has led them to seek for the tree of knowledge; and often they think they are plucking fruit most essential, when, like Solomon’s research, they find it altogether vanity and nothingness in comparison with that science of true holiness which will open to them the gates of the city of God. The human ambition has been seeking for that kind of knowledge that will bring to them glory and self-exaltation and supremacy. Thus Adam and Eve were worked upon by Satan until God’s restraint was snapped asunder, and their education under the teacher of lies began in order that they might have the knowledge which God had refused them.

True wisdom is a treasure as lasting as eternity. Many of the world’s so-called wise men are wise only in their own estimation. Content with the acquisition of worldly wisdom, they never enter the garden of God, to become acquainted with the treasures of knowledge contained in His holy Word. Supposing themselves to be wise, they are ignorant concerning the wisdom which all must have who gain eternal life….The unlearned man, if he knows God and Jesus Christ, has a more enduring wisdom than has the most learned man who despises the instruction of God.

Divine wisdom is to be a lamp to your feet….Everything that can be shaken will be shaken; but rooted and grounded in the truth, you will abide with those things that cannot be shaken.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 30, 31.