Daily Devotional

August 17, 2017

Converted Sinners Live a New Life

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:25, 26, NKJV.

Many who speak to others of the need of a new heart do not themselves know what is meant by these words. The youth especially stumble over this phrase, “a new heart.” They do not know what it means. They look for a special change to take place in their feelings. This they term conversion. Over this error thousands have stumbled to ruin, not understanding the expression “Ye must be born again.”

Satan leads people to think that because they have felt a rapture of feeling, they are converted. But their experience does not change. Their actions are the same as before. Their lives show no good fruit. They pray often and long, and are constantly referring to the feelings they had at such and such a time. But they do not live the new life. They are deceived. Their experience goes no deeper than feeling. They build upon the sand, and when adverse winds come, their house is swept away.

Many poor souls are groping in darkness, looking for the feelings which others say they have had in their experience. They overlook the fact that the believers in Christ must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. The convicted sinners have something to do. They must repent and show true faith.

When Jesus speaks of the new heart, He means the mind, the life, the whole being. To have a change of heart is to withdraw the affections from the world, and fasten them upon Christ. To have a new heart is to have a new mind, new purposes, new motives. What is the sign of a new heart? A changed life. There is a daily, hourly dying to selfishness and pride.

Some make a great mistake by supposing that a high profession will compensate for real service. But a religion which is not practical is not genuine. True conversion makes us strictly honest in our dealings with our fellow beings. It makes us faithful in our everyday work. All sincere followers of Christ will show that the religion of the Bible qualifies them to use their talents in the Master’s service….

It is the noble principles which are brought into the work that make it wholly acceptable in the Lord’s sight. True service links the lowliest of God’s servants on earth with the highest of His servants in the courts above. – Youth’s Instructor, September 26, 1901.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 356.

Daily Devotional

August 15, 2017

True Christians Focus on Christ, Not Self

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Mark 8:34, NKJV.

The word of God gives the description of a true Christian, which corresponds with the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart and life. The children of God know at once they have the evidence in their own hearts that they are born of God…. It means depth and breadth of experience to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. Self-denial and self-sacrifice will always be found in the path that leads through the strait gate to the broad meadows of the Lord’s pastures.

To them that believe, Christ is precious. His Spirit moving upon the mind and heart of the believer is in perfect agreement with that which is written in the Word. The Spirit and the Word agree perfectly. Thus the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are born of God.

The ones who find in their heart no resemblance to the great moral standard of righteousness, the Word of God, have no Christ to confess. Their language, their thoughts, are not in harmony with the Spirit of Christ. Their profession of faith is a counterfeit one. Do you ever find cream rising on water? The soul must have the vivifying influences of the breath of life from Christ in order to reveal in the conversation that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory.

One never gathers grapes from thistles. The words of Christians will be in accordance with their enjoyment of Christ. Those who are perpetually talking doubts and demanding additional evidence to banish their cloud of unbelief do not build on the Word. Their faith rests on haphazard circumstances; it is founded in feeling. But feeling, be it ever so pleasing, is not faith. God’s Word is the foundation upon which our hopes of heaven must be built.

It is a great misfortune to be a chronic doubter, keeping the eye and thoughts on self. While you are beholding self, while this is the theme of thought and conversation, you cannot expect to be conformed to the image of Christ. Self is not your savior. You have no redeeming qualities in yourself. “I” is a very leaky boat for your faith to embark in. Just as surely as you trust yourself in it, it will founder. The lifeboat, to the lifeboat! This is your only safety. Jesus is the Captain of the lifeboat, and He has never lost a passenger. – Manuscript Releases 21:23, 24.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 354.

Daily Devotional

August 14, 2017

Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, Knows Each Sheep

I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:7, NKJV.

The minister is to be a shepherd. Our Redeemer is called the chief Shepherd. The apostle writes, “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.” However lowly, however elevated we may be, whether we are in the shadow of adversity or in the sunshine of prosperity, we are His sheep, the flock of His pasture, and under the care of the chief Shepherd.

But the chief Shepherd has His undershepherds, whom He has delegated to care for His sheep and lambs. The great Shepherd never loses one from His care, is never indifferent even to the feeblest one of His flock. The beautiful parable that Christ gave of the one lost sheep, of the shepherd that left the ninety and nine to go in search of that which was lost, illustrates the care of the great Shepherd. He did not look carelessly over the sheep of the fold, and say, “I have ninety and nine, and it will cost me too much trouble to go in search of the straying one; let it come back, and I will open the door of the sheepfold and let it in; but I cannot go after it.”

No; for no sooner does the sheep go astray than the countenance of the shepherd is filled with grief and anxiety. He counts and recounts the flock, and when he is certain that one sheep is lost, he slumbereth not. He leaves the ninety and nine within the fold; however dark and tempestuous the night, however perilous and unpleasant the way, however long and tedious the search, he does not weary, he does not falter, until the lost is found.

But when it is found, does he act indifferently? Does he call the sheep, and command the straying one to follow him? Does he threaten and beat it, or drive it before him, recounting the bitterness and discomfiture and anxiety that he has had on its account? No; he lays the weary, exhausted, wandering sheep on his shoulder, and with cheerful gratitude that his search has not been in vain, he returns it to the fold. His gratitude finds expression in melodious songs of rejoicing, and heavenly choirs respond to the shepherd’s note of joy.

When the lost is found, heaven and earth unite in rejoicing and thanksgiving…. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” Just as the shepherds of earth know their sheep, so does the chief Shepherd know His flock that are scattered throughout the whole world. – The Review and Herald, August 23, 1892.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 353.

Daily Devotional

August 13, 2017

Angels Join Us as We Help Those in Need

Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me. Isaiah 27:5, NKJV.

There are many who err, and who feel their shame and their folly. They look upon their mistakes and errors until they are driven almost to desperation. These souls we are not to neglect. When one has to swim against the stream, there is all the force of the current driving him or her back. Let a helping hand then be held out … as was the Elder Brother’s hand to the sinking Peter. Speak hopeful words, words that will establish confidence and awaken love.

Thy brother and sister, sick in spirit, need thee, as thou thyself hast needed their love…. The knowledge of our own weakness should help us to help others in their bitter need. Never should we pass by one suffering soul without seeking to impart the comfort wherewith we are comforted of God.

It is fellowship with Christ, personal contact with a living Savior, that enables the mind and heart and soul to triumph over the lower nature….[The wanderers] need to clasp a hand that is warm, to trust in a heart full of tenderness. Keep their minds stayed upon the thought of a divine presence ever beside them, ever looking upon them with pitying love….

As you engage in this work, you have companions unseen by human eyes. Angels of heaven were beside the Samaritan who cared for the wounded stranger. Angels from the heavenly courts stand by all who do God’s service in ministering to their fellow beings. And you have the cooperation of Christ Himself. He is the Restorer, and as you work under His supervision, you will see great results.

Upon your faithfulness in this work not only the well-being of others but your own eternal destiny depends. Christ is seeking to uplift all who will be lifted to companionship with Himself, that we may be one with Him as He is one with the Father. He permits us to come in contact with suffering and calamity in order to call us out of our selfishness; He seeks to develop in us the attributes of His character – compassion, tenderness, and love. By accepting this work of ministry we place ourselves in His school, to be fitted for the courts of God. – Christ’s Object Lessons, 387-389.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 351.

Daily Devotional

August 12, 2017

When We Thirst for Righteousness, Jesus Draws Near

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 42:1, 2, NKJV.

The Lord has momentous truths to reveal to those who would understand the things of the Spirit. His lessons are for all, and adapted to the needs of all. While His lessons are clothed in language so simple that a child might understand them, the truth is so deep that the most learned may well be charmed, and worship the Author of matchless wisdom. Though the wisest may find abundant food for thought in His simplest utterance, the humblest may comprehend His truth, and appropriate His promises to the need of the soul.

Jesus taught men and women for the purpose of arousing desire to understand the things of God, that they might behold the excellence of the divine character, and make application for the righteousness of Christ, in which they might stand accepted before the Lord Jehovah.

Have you a sense of want in your soul? Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? Then this is an evidence that Christ has wrought upon your heart, and created this sense of need in your soul, in order that He may be sought unto to do for you, through the endowment of the Holy Spirit, those things which it is impossible for you to do for yourself….

The parables of Christ have been placed on record, and to the honest, diligent searcher after truth, their meaning will be made plain, their mystery unveiled. Those who will not seek for truth as for hidden treasure make manifest the fact that they do not sincerely desire to know what is truth. Christ still says to His true followers, “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” “Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance.”

Those who respond to the drawing of Christ will be found inquiring as to what is truth, that their feet may be directed into the way of righteousness. Christ is drawing all, but not all respond to His drawing. Those who yield their will to God’s will, who are willing to follow where the Spirit of God may lead, who receive the light and walk therein, will seek for still more of heavenly enlightenment, and “shall have more abundance.” – The Signs of the Times, November 7, 1892.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 350.