January

Look Heavenward, January 1

They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:16.

I wish you a happy new year. The old year with its burden of record has passed into eternity. Now let every thought, every feeling be that of remembrance of God's love. Let us gather up one token after another….

The evidence we have of God's care and love for us is expressed in the lessons Christ gave to His disciples upon the things in nature…. The eye is not to be fastened upon deformity, upon the curse, but upon the riches of the grace of Christ that has been provided so abundantly, that we may live in this world, and act our part in the great web of humanity, and yet not be of the world. As pilgrims, as strangers looking for the bright things of God, the joy that is set before us, seeking a city whose builder and maker is God, and by beholding the provisions made for us, the mansions Jesus has gone to prepare for us, talking of the blessed home, we forget the annoyances and the fretting cares of this life. We seem to breathe in the very atmosphere of that better, even the heavenly country. We are soothed, we are comforted; we are more than this, we are joyful in God.

We could not know the gracious purposes of God toward us, but for the promises, for it is from them alone we learn what He has prepared for those who love Him. As the flowers in God's wise economy are constantly drawing the properties from earth and air to develop into the pure and beautiful buds and flowers and give forth their fragrance to delight the senses, so shall it be with us.

We draw from God's promises all that peace, that comfort, that hope that will develop in us the fruits of peace, joy, and faith. And by bringing these promises into our own life we bring them always into the lives of others. Then let us appropriate these promises to ourselves…. They are like the precious flowers in the garden of God. They are to awaken our hope and expectation, and lead us to a firm faith and reliance upon God. They are to strengthen us in trouble and teach us precious lessons of trust in God. He in these precious promises draws back from eternity and gives us a glimpse of the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Let us then be quiet in God. Let us calmly trust in Him and praise Him that He has shown us such revelations of His will and purposes that we shall not build our hopes in this life but keep the eye upward to the inheritance of light and see and sense the amazing love of Jesus.—Letter 27, January 1, 1886, to Dr. and Mrs. J. H. Kellogg.

Home at Last! December 31

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am. John 17:24.

The love of God is without measure, without comparison. It is infinite…. When we contemplate the dignity and glory of Christ we see how great was that love that prompted the sacrifice made upon the cross of Calvary for the redemption of a lost world. This theme will fill the saints with wonder and amazement through eternal ages, and why should we not meditate upon it here in this world? …

O the mystery of godliness—God manifest in the flesh! This mystery increases as we try to comprehend it. It is incomprehensible, and yet human beings will allow worldly, earthly things to intercept the faint view it is possible for mortals to have of Jesus and His matchless love…. How can we be enthusiastic over earthly, common things and not be stirred with this picture—the cross of Calvary, the love that is revealed in the death of God's dear Son …?

All this humiliation and anguish were endured to bring back the wanderers, guilty and thankless, to the Father's house. O the home of the blest—I cannot afford to lose it! I shall, if saved in the kingdom of God, be constantly discerning new depths in the plan of salvation. All the redeemed saints will see and appreciate as never before the love of the Father and the Son, and songs of praise will burst forth from immortal tongues. He loved us, He gave His life for us. With glorified bodies, with enlarged capacities, with hearts made pure, with lips undefiled, we shall sing the riches of redeeming love. There will be no suffering ones in heaven, no skeptics whom we must labor to convince of the reality of eternal things, no prejudices to uproot, but all will be susceptible to that love which passeth knowledge. Rest, thank God, there is a rest for the people of God, where Jesus will lead the redeemed into green pastures, by the streams of living waters which make glad the city of our God. Then the prayer of Jesus to His Father will be answered: “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” ^{42Letter 27, 1890.}

Eternity Before Us, December 30

They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Psalm 84:7.

All heaven has been looking with intense interest upon those who claim to be God's commandment-keeping people. Here are the people who ought to be able to claim all the rich promises of God, who ought to be going on from glory to glory and from strength to strength, who ought to be in a position to reflect glory to God in the works that they do….

We have received the rich blessing of God, but we must not stop here. We are to catch more and more the divine rays of light from heaven. We are to stand just where we can receive the light and reflect it, in its glory, upon the pathway of others….

We need to drink deeper and deeper of the fountain of life…. You may have a living testimony to bear: “Hear what the Lord has done for my soul.” The Lord is ready to impart still greater blessings. He permitted all His goodness to pass before Moses. He proclaimed His character to him as a God full of mercy—long-suffering and gracious, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Moses was to represent this character to the people of Israel, and we are to do the same. We are to go forth to proclaim the goodness of God and to make plain His real character before the people. We are to reflect His glory…. Let us declare the character of God to the people as Moses did to Israel, both in spirit and life. We are to catch the light of His countenance, full of compassion and love, and reflect it to perishing souls.

I beseech you to keep reaching out after God, to keep drinking of the fountain of living water. You may be as a tree planted by the rivers of waters, whose leaf does not wither. You may be full of moisture, and may be able to refresh others, and to give them grace and comfort. I love Jesus now, and I want to know more and more of Him. I have only begun to know Him, but there is an eternity before us in which there will be revealings of His glory, and we shall become better and better acquainted with our divine Lord.^{41The Review and Herald, February 26, 1889.}

The Results of Christ's Travail, December 29

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11.

What sustained the Son of God during His life of toil and sacrifice? He saw the results of the travail of His soul, and was satisfied. Looking into eternity, He beheld the happiness of those who through His humiliation had received pardon and everlasting life. His ear caught the shout of the redeemed. He heard the ransomed ones singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.^{38The Acts of the Apostles, 601.}

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” During every moment of Christ's life in our world, God was repeating His gift. Christ, the sinless One, was making an infinite sacrifice for sinners, that they might be saved. He came as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and those for whom He came looked upon Him as stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. The cup of suffering was placed in His hand, as if He were the guilty one, and He drained it to the dregs. He bore the sin of the world to the bitter end…. No line can fathom, no measurement compute, the love revealed by the cross of Calvary….

In every pang of anguish endured we behold the throes of paternal love. The Father Himself travailed in the greatness of His almighty love in behalf of a world perishing in sin. By the sacrifice that has been made, the gift of eternal life has been placed within the reach of every son and daughter of Adam.^{39Letter 100, 1911.}

Christ's redeemed ones are His jewels, His precious and peculiar treasure. “They shall be as the stones of a crown”—“the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Zechariah 9:16; Ephesians 1:18). In them “he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection as the reward of all His sufferings, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory—Christ the great center, from whom radiates all glory.^{40The Review and Herald, October 22, 1908.}

The Joy Set Before Him, December 28

Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.

The work of Christ upon earth was to seek and save that which was lost. Ever before Him He saw the result of His mission, although the baptism of blood must first be received, although the weight of sins of the world was to gather upon His innocent soul, although the shadow of an unspeakable woe was ever over Him. Yet for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross and despised the shame. He endured all this that sinful man might be saved, that he might be elevated and ennobled and have a place with Him upon His throne.^{35The Review and Herald, December 20, 1892.}

Christ is the originator of divine truth. He knew the height and depth, length and breadth and fullness of the compassion of divine love, as no mortal man can know it. He knows the blessedness that sinners are refusing when they reject divine light, the horrors that will come upon the soul that refuses the truth of Heaven…. Christ alone knows what means the exceeding weight of glory which those who rebel against God refuse to receive….

Men are contaminated with sin, and they cannot have an adequate conception of the heinous character of the evil which they cherish. Because of sin the Majesty of heaven was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Voluntarily our divine Substitute bared His soul to the sword of justice, that we might not perish but have everlasting life. Said Christ: “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17, 18)…. No man of earth nor angel of heaven could have paid the penalty of sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man.^36Ibid.

The joy that was set before Jesus was that of seeing souls redeemed by the sacrifice of His glory, His honor, His riches, and His own life. The salvation of man was His joy. When all the redeemed shall be gathered into the kingdom of God, He will see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.^{37Testimonies for the Church 2:686.}