Daily Devotional

August 5, 2017

We May Receive God’s Unlimited Grace, to Do Good

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11, NKJV.

We are all under obligation to deny self daily for Christ’s sake. Jesus says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”; “whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

As we call upon God at every step, pleading for divine wisdom as we advance, seeking for light and grace in order that under all and in every circumstance we shall do unto others as we would that they should do unto us were we in their place, we shall feel the necessity of fulfilling the broad and deep requirements of the holy law of God. Thus shall we lose sight of self, and looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we shall lay upon the foundation deeds of mercy, benevolence, compassion, and love, which are compared to gold, silver, and precious stones, which the fires of the last days cannot consume.

The Lord Jesus is our efficiency in all things; His Spirit is to be our inspiration; and as we place ourselves in His hands to be channels of light, our means of doing good will never be exhausted; for the resources of the power of Jesus Christ are to be at our command. We may draw upon His fullness, and receive of that grace which has no limit. The Captain of our salvation at every step would teach us that almighty power is at the demand of living faith. He says, “Without me ye can do nothing”; but again declares that “greater works than these shall [ye] do; because I go unto my Father.”

We are to pray without ceasing. In supplicating the throne of grace in the name of Christ, the promise is sure, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” When you make God your trust, when you call upon Him with your whole heart, He will be found of you. “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.” – The Review and Herald, October 30, 1894.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 344.

Daily Devotional

August 4, 2017

Memorize the Scriptures, Preparing for the Future

You will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Mark 13:13, NRSV.

The servants of Christ were to prepare no set speech to present when brought to trial. Their preparation was to be made day by day in treasuring up the precious truths of God’s Word, and through prayer strengthening their faith. When they were brought into trial, the Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance the very truths that would be needed.

A daily, earnest striving to know God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, would bring power and efficiency to the soul. The knowledge obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures would be flashed into the memory at the right time. But if any had neglected to acquaint themselves with the words of Christ, if they had never tested the power of His grace in trial, they could not expect that the Holy Spirit would bring His words to their remembrance. They were to serve God daily with undivided affection, and then trust Him.

So bitter would be the enmity to the gospel that even the tenderest earthly ties would be disregarded. The disciples of Christ would be betrayed to death by the members of their own households…. But He bade them not to expose themselves unnecessarily to persecution. He Himself often left one field of labor for another, in order to escape from those who were seeking His life. When He was rejected at Nazareth, and His own townsmen tried to kill Him, He went down to Capernaum, and there the people were astonished at His teaching, “for his word was with power” (Luke 4:32). So His servants were not to be discouraged by persecution, but to seek a place where they could still labor for the salvation of souls.

The servant is not above his master. The Prince of heaven was called Beelzebub, and His disciples will be misrepresented in like manner. But whatever the danger, Christ’s followers must avow their principles. They should scorn concealment. They cannot remain uncommitted until assured of safety in confessing the truth. They are set as watchmen, to warn men and women of their peril. The truth received from Christ must be imparted to all, freely and openly. – The Desire of Ages, 355.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 343.

Daily Devotional

August 3, 2017

Christ’s Self-sacrificing Life Is Our Lesson Book

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night. Psalm 92:1, 2, NKJV.

Practical Christianity means laboring together with God every day; working for Christ, not now and then, but continuously. A neglect to reveal practical righteousness in our lives is a denial of our faith and of the power of God. God is seeking for a sanctified people, a people set apart for His service, a people who will heed and accept the invitation “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.”

How earnestly Christ prosecuted the work of our salvation! What devotion His life revealed as He sought to give value to fallen humanity by imputing to every repenting, believing sinner the merits of His spotless righteousness! How untiringly He worked! In the temple and the synagogue, in the streets of the cities, in the marketplace, in the workshop, by the seaside, among the hills, He preached the gospel and healed the sick. He gave all there was of Himself, that He might work out the plan of redeeming grace.

Christ was under no obligation to make this great sacrifice. Voluntarily He pledged Himself to bear the punishment due to the transgressor of His law. His love was His only obligation, and without a murmur He endured every pang and welcomed every indignity that was part of the plan of salvation. The life of Christ was one of unselfish service, and His life is our lesson book. The work that He began we are to carry forward.

With His life of toil and sacrifice before them, can those who profess His name hesitate to deny self, to lift the cross and follow Him? He humbled Himself to the lowest depths that we might be lifted to the heights of purity and holiness and completeness. He became poor that He might pour into our poverty-stricken souls the fullness of His riches. He endured the cross of shame that He might give us peace and rest and joy, and make us partakers of the glories of His throne.

Should we not appreciate the privilege of working for Him, and be eager to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice for His sake? Should we not give back to God all that He has redeemed, the affections He has purified, and the body that He has purchased, to be kept unto sanctification and holiness? – The Review and Herald, April 4, 1912.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 342.

Daily Devotional

August 2, 2017

God Alone Is to Be Worshiped

You shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 7:5, 6, NKJV.

God would have His people understand that He alone should be the object of their worship; and when they should overcome the idolatrous nations around them, they should not preserve any of the images of their worship, but utterly destroy them. Many of these heathen deities were very costly, and of beautiful workmanship, which might tempt those who had witnessed idol worship, so common in Egypt, to even regard these senseless objects with some degree of reverence. The Lord would have His people know that it was because of the idolatry of these nations, which had led them to every degree of wickedness, that He would use the Israelites as His instruments to punish them, and destroy their gods….

“I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.” …

These promises of God to His people were on condition of their obedience. If they would serve the Lord fully, He would do great things for them. After Moses had received the judgments from the Lord, and had written them for the people, also the promises, on condition of obedience, the Lord said unto him, “Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do.”

Moses had written – not the ten commandments, but the judgments which God would have them observe, and the promises, on conditions that they would obey Him. He read this to the people, and they pledged themselves to obey all the words which the Lord had said. Moses then wrote their solemn pledge in a book, and offered sacrifice unto God for the people. “And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people, and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” – Spiritual Gifts 3:269, 270.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 341.

Daily Devotional

August 1, 2017

Diffuse the Light Throughout the Dark World

As I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To the unknown God. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you. Acts 17:23, NKJV.

Jesus taught his followers that they were debtors both to the Jews and the Greeks, to the wise and the unwise, and gave them to understand that race distinction, caste, and lines of division made by human beings were not approved of Heaven, and were to have no influence in the work of disseminating the gospel. The disciples of Christ were not to make distinctions between their neighbors and their enemies, but they were to regard every person as a neighbor who needed help, and they were to look upon the world as their field of labor, seeking to save the lost.

Jesus has given to both men and women their work, taking them from the narrow circle which their selfishness has prescribed, annihilating territorial lines, and all artificial distinctions of society. He marks off no limited boundary for missionary zeal, but bids His followers extend their labors to the uttermost parts of the earth….

The field of labor presents one vast community of human beings who are in the darkness of error, who are filled with longing, who are praying to One they know not. They need to hear the voice of those who are laborers together with God, saying to them, as Paul said to the Athenians, “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”

The members of the church of Christ are to be faithful workers in the great harvest field. They are to be diligently working and earnestly praying, making progress, and diffusing light amid the moral darkness of the world; for are not the angels of heaven imparting to them divine inspiration? They are never to think of, and much less to speak of, failure in their work…. They are to be filled with hope, knowing that they do not rely upon human ability or upon finite resources, but upon the promised divine aid, the ministry of heavenly agencies who are pledged to open the way before them….

Angels of God will break the way before us, preparing hearts for the gospel message, and the promised power will accompany the laborer, and “the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.” – The Review and Herald, October 30, 1894.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 340.