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.

Daily Devotional

August 11, 2017

Special Endowment of Grace and Power Needed Today

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10, NKJV.

The great controversy between good and evil will increase in intensity to the very close of time. In all ages the wrath of Satan has been manifested against the church of Christ; and God has bestowed His grace and Spirit upon His people to strengthen them to stand against the power of the evil one. When the apostles of Christ were to bear His gospel to the world and to record it for all future ages, they were especially endowed with the enlightenment of the Spirit.

But as the church approaches its final deliverance, Satan is to work with greater power. He comes down “having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12)…. For six thousand years that mastermind that once was highest among the angels of God has been wholly bent to the work of deception and ruin. And all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear against God’s people in the final conflict.

And in this time of peril the followers of Christ are to bear to the world the warning of the Lord’s second advent; and a people are to be prepared to stand before Him at His coming, “without spot, and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14). At this time the special endowment of divine grace and power is not less needful to the church than in apostolic days….

Satan’s efforts to misrepresent the character of God, to cause men and women to cherish a false conception of the Creator, and thus to regard Him with fear and hate rather than with love; his endeavors to set aside the divine law, leading the people to think themselves free from its requirements; and his persecution of those who dare to resist his deceptions have been steadfastly pursued in all ages. They may be traced in the history of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, of martyrs and reformers. – The Great Controversy, ix-xi.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 349.

Daily Devotional

August 10, 2017

God’s Word and Love Will Open Hearts to Jesus

With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9, NKJV.

It is the Savior’s love that constrains the messenger to bear the message to the lost. Oh, how wonderful is the importuning of Christ with sinners! Although His love is beaten back by the refusal of hard, stubborn hearts, He returns to plead with greater force, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” His love woos with winning force, until souls are compelled to come in.

Those who come to the supper turn to the blessed Jesus and say, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” He wins them by the word of His love and power; for the Word of God is the rod of His power. He says, “Is not my word like a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?”

When the Word of God is sent home to the human heart by the Holy Spirit, it is mighty to the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan. Finite men and women could do nothing in the great warfare, were it not for the Word of God. They could not plead successfully with human hearts that are as hard as steel, that are bolted and barred lest Jesus should find an entrance there; but the Lord endows men and women with His wisdom, and the weakest one may become as David by faith in God.

The Lord takes those who are devoted to Him, even though they may be uneducated, humble men and women, and sends them forth with His warning message. He stirs their hearts by His Spirit, He gives them spiritual muscle and sinew, and they are enabled to go forth with the Word of God, and to compel human beings to come in. Thus many poor, fainting souls, who are starving for the Bread of Life, are out of weakness made strong, and wax valiant in the fight, and put to flight the armies of the aliens.

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.” Every time you turn away your ear and refuse to listen, every time you fail to open the door of your heart, you strengthen yourself in unbelief, and make yourself more and more unwilling to listen to the voice of Him that speaketh, and you diminish your chance of responding to the last appeal of mercy…. Let not Christ weep over you as He wept over Jerusalem, saying, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” – The Review and Herald, September 24, 1895.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 348.