Daily Devotional

August 15, 2018

Unreserved Surrender

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20.

God will accept nothing less than unreserved surrender. Half-hearted, sinful Christians can never enter heaven. There they would find no happiness; for they know nothing of the high, holy principles that govern the members of the royal family.

The true Christian keeps the windows of the soul open heavenward. He lives in fellowship with Christ. His will is conformed to the will of Christ. His highest desire is to become more and more Christlike. . . .

Earnestly and untiringly we are to strive to reach God’s ideal for us. Not as a penance are we to do this, but as the only means of gaining true happiness. The only way to gain peace and joy is to have a living connection with Him who gave His life for us, who died that we might live, and who lives to unite His power with the efforts of those who are striving to overcome.

Holiness is constant agreement with God. Shall we not strive to be that which Christ so greatly desires us to be—Christians in deed and in truth—that the world may see in our lives a revelation of the saving power of truth? This world is our preparatory school. While here we shall meet with trials and difficulties. Continually the enemy of God will seek to draw us away from our allegiance. But while we cleave to Him who gave Himself for us, we are safe.

The whole world was gathered into the embrace of Christ. He died on the cross to destroy him who had the power of death, and to take away the sin of every believing soul. He calls upon us to offer ourselves on the altar of service, a living, consuming sacrifice. We are to make an unreserved consecration to God of all that we have and are.

In this lower school of earth we are to learn the lessons that will prepare us to enter the higher school, where our education will continue under the personal instruction of Christ. Then He will open to us the meaning of His Word. Shall we not, in the few days of probation remaining to us, act like men and women who are seeking for life in the kingdom of God, even an eternity of bliss.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, pp. 235, 236.

Daily Devotional

August 14, 2018

The Compassionate Christian

The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. John 14:30.

In all His habits of life, the Saviour gave an example of what God designs His church on earth to be. Tell this to the people. Christ desires to present His church before the Father without spot or blemish.

From His earliest years the Saviour’s life was one of poverty. His childhood days were spent in toil. Working at the carpenter’s bench, bearing the burdens that came to Him as a member of the family, He often became weary. He lived in a corrupt age. Yet He was uncorrupted by the evil that surrounded Him, uninfluenced by the characters of those who were artificial and wicked. In the open fields and amid the scenes of nature He found rest from toil and food for spiritual life. Looking beneath the surface, He gathered knowledge from the mysteries of nature that filled Him with peace and joy.

During the years of His public ministry, the Saviour was continually watched by crafty and hypocritical men. Spies were continually upon His track to catch something from His lips which they could use to create prejudice against Him. Again and again they tried to make Him appear guilty of wrong. There were occasions when they laid traps for Him by presenting to Him questions, the answers to which they hoped to use to cause His condemnation by the people. But at every attempt they were compelled to retire from the field confounded; their actions were revealed in their true light by the answers of Christ. The Saviour’s discourses presented a power of truth to the multitudes who listened. Even the men who were sent to spy upon His actions were forced to return with the report to those who sent them, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46). . . .

Let your conversation be with grace, for Christ is listening to the words you speak. Let compassion for one another be blended with all you say, then you will reveal the character of Christ. The manners of Christ were gentle and unassuming. As His followers we are to partake of His nature. We need to be daily learners of the great Teacher, that the atmosphere surrounding the soul may be filled with spiritual life.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, pp. 234, 235.

Daily Devotional

August 13, 2018

Being Alive Unto God

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matt. 10:32, 33.

How is it? Are we confessing Christ in our daily life? Do we confess Him in our dress, adorning ourselves with plain and modest apparel? Is our adorning that of the meek and quiet spirit which is of so great price in the sight of God? Are we seeking to advance the cause of the Master? Is the line of demarcation between you and the world distinct, or are you seeking to follow the fashions of this degenerate age? Is there no difference between you and the worldling? Does the same spirit work in you that works in the children of disobedience?

If we are Christians, we shall follow Christ, even though the path in which we are to walk cuts right across our natural inclinations. There is no use in telling you that you must not wear this or that, for if the love of these vain things is in your heart, your laying off your adornments will only be like cutting the foliage off a tree. The inclinations of the natural heart would again assert themselves. You must have a conscience of your own.

O, did we remember that Christ became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich, would we not seek to honor His name, and advance His cause? We are to abide in Him as the branch abides in the vine. Jesus says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. . . . Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:5-8).

If we fulfilled this command of our Lord, there would be a different state of affairs in our churches, and we should know what it is to have the deep movings of the Spirit of God. What we want is to have the ax laid at the root of the tree. We want to be dead to the world, dead to self, and alive unto God. Our life must be his with Christ in God, that when He shall appear, we also may appear with Him in glory. We need to come close to Christ, that men may know that we have been with Christ and learned of Him. . . . Keep your eye fixed upon Christ. With humility of mind seek for a nearness to God. In words, in conduct, in life, confess Christ.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, pp. 233, 234.

Daily Devotional

August 12, 2018

Essentials Of Salvation

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. Eph. 5:8.

He who commanded the light to shine out of darkness sheds light into the mind of every one who will properly behold Him, loving Him supremely, showing unswerving faith and trust in Him. His light shines into the chambers of the mind and into the soul temple. The heart is filled with the light of the knowledge of the glory that shines in the face of Jesus Christ. And with this light comes spiritual discernment. . . .

Yielding willingly to the evidence of truth, and walking in the light that shines in our pathway, we receive still greater light. Through the power of the manifestation of divine glory, we constantly advance in spiritual understanding.

Christ’s knowledge of truth was direct, positive, without a shadow. The closer the acquaintance a man has with Jesus Christ, the more careful he will be to treat his fellow men respectfully, courteously, righteously. He has learned of Christ, and he follows His example in word and action. By faith he is united with Christ. “We are labourers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). . . .

Christ’s prayer was for unity among His followers. This unity is the evidence that is to convince the world that God sent His Son to save sinners. We serve Christ by revealing true, pure, holy love for one another. Those who are chosen to connect with the Lord’s institutions are to be devoted, self-denying, self-sacrificing men, living not to please themselves, but to please the Master. These are the men who will do honor to the Lord’s institutions.

A knowledge of God and of Christ is positively essential to salvation. We lose much every day that we do not learn more of the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Those who learn of Christ obtain the very highest class of education. Through faith and dependence on the saving grace of Christ, they increase in knowledge and wisdom. They love and praise the Saviour. . . .

Those who are saved must in this life make it their daily business to receive grace from God, not to hoard in selfishness, but to impart for the blessing of those connected with them, to aid them in obtaining an education in spiritual things.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, pp. 232, 233.

Daily Devotional

August 11, 2018

Living The New Life

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matt 7:12.

Christ came to teach us, not only what we ought to know and believe, but also what we ought to do in our relations with God and with our fellow men. The golden rule of equity demands that we do unto others as we would they should do unto us. We are to keep their eternal interests in view, saying to ourselves, “They are the purchase of the Saviour’s blood, bought with a price.”

In all our dealing with our fellow men, whether they be believers or unbelievers, we are to treat them as Christ would treat them were He in our place. If it is for our present and eternal good to obey the law of God, it will be for their present and eternal good also to do this. Our highest aim is to be to them medical missionary workers after Christ’s order. . . .

All who enter through the pearly gates into the city of God must have set forth Christ in all their dealings. It is this that constitutes them the messengers of Christ, His witnesses. They are to bear a plain, decided testimony against all evil practices, pointing them to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He gives to all who receive Him, power to become the sons of God.

Regeneration is the only path by which we can reach the holy city. It is narrow and the gate by which we enter is strait, but along it we are to lead men and women and children, teaching them that in order to be saved, they must have a new heart and a new spirit. The old hereditary traits of character are to be overcome. The natural desires of the soul must be changed. All deception, all falsifying, all evil-speaking must be put away. The new life, which makes men and women Christlike, is to be lived. We are, as it were, to swim against the current of evil.

The way to heaven is narrow, hedged in by the divine law of Jehovah. Those who follow this way must constantly deny self. They must obey the teachings of Christ. . . . Let us not trust in man, but in Jesus Christ, who died that He might win us to righteousness.

From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 232.