Daily Devotional

March 28, 2017

Reveal Love, Compassion, and Tenderness

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17, NKJV.

Great responsibility comes to those who have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Strive to understand the meaning of the words “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” In the new life upon which you have entered, you are pledged to represent the life of Christ….

The old sinful life is dead, the new life entered into with Christ by the pledge of baptism. Practice the virtues of the Savior’s character. Let His word “dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” …

These things are to be presented in the churches. Love, compassion, and tenderness are to be revealed among us. Put on, as the elect of God, mercy and kindness. The sins that were practiced before conversion are to be put off with the old man. With the new man, Christ Jesus, are to be put on “kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.”

Those who have risen with Christ to walk in newness of life are the elect of God. They are holy unto the Lord, and are acknowledged by Him as His beloved. As such, they are under solemn covenant to distinguish themselves by showing humility of mind. They are to clothe themselves in garments of righteousness. They are separate from the world, from its spirit, its practices, and they are to reveal that they are learning of Him who says, “I am meek and lowly in heart.”

If they realize that they have died with Christ, if they keep their baptismal vow, the world will have no power to draw them aside to deny Christ. If they live the life of Christ in this world, they are partakers of the divine nature. Then, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, they also will appear with Him in glory. – Manuscript Releases 19:236, 237.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 217.

Daily Devotional

March 27, 2017

Receive Light, and Walk in It

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14, NKJV.

There is one thing in this world which is the greatest object of Christ’s solicitude. It is His church on earth; for its members should be representatives, in spirit and character, of Him. The world is to recognize in them the representatives of Christianity, the depository of sacred truths in which is stored the most precious jewels for the enrichment of others. Through the ages of moral darkness and error, through centuries of strife and persecution, the church of Christ has been as a city set on a hill. From age to age, through successive generations to the present time, the pure doctrines of the Bible have been unfolding within its borders.

But in order that the church on earth may be an educating power in the world, it must cooperate with the church in heaven. The hearts of those who are members of the church must be open to receive every ray of light that God shall choose to impart. God has light to impart to us according to our ability to receive, and as we receive the light, we shall be capable of receiving more and more of the rays of the Sun of Righteousness….

Every one of us is upon probation, in school, where we are required to be diligent students. It is enjoined upon us to walk in the light, as Christ is in the light. It is by walking in the light that we learn of God, and “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). These are the words of Him who was with the Father before the world was, and He uttered these words while praying for all those who should believe in God through the words of His disciples. To know God in His works is true science. Let us follow on to know the Lord till we shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning….

Faithful souls have constituted the church of God on earth, and He has taken them into covenant relation with Himself, uniting His church on earth with His church in heaven. He has sent forth heavenly angels to minister to His church, and the gates of hell have not been able to prevail against His people. – Manuscript Releases 2:265, 266.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 216.

Daily Devotional

March 25, 2017

To Find True Happiness, Obey God

This is my happy way of life: obeying your commandments. Psalm 119:56, NLT.

Happiness must be sought in the right way, and from the right source. Some think they may surely find happiness in a course of indulgence in sinful pleasures, or in deceptive worldly attractions. And some sacrifice physical and moral obligations, thinking to find happiness, and they lose both soul and body. Others will seek their happiness in the indulgence of an unnatural appetite, and consider the indulgence of taste more desirable than health and life. Many suffer themselves to be enchained by sensual passions, and will sacrifice physical strength, intellect, and moral powers to the gratification of lust. They will bring themselves to untimely graves, and in the judgment will be charged with self-murder.

Is this … happiness desirable which is to be found in the path of disobedience and transgression of physical and moral law? Christ’s life points out the true source of happiness, and how it is to be attained. His life points the direct and only path to heaven. Let the voice of wisdom be heard. Let it mark out the path. “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”

Temptations are on every side to allure the steps of youth to their ruin. The sad deficiency in the education of children leaves them weak and unguarded, vacillating in character, feeble in intellect, and deficient in moral strength, so that so far from imitating the life of Christ, the youth generally are like a reed trembling in the wind. They have not physical constitution or moral power, because they yield to temptations. Through sinful indulgences, they stain their purity, and their manners are corrupted. They are impatient of restraint, and flatter themselves if they could only have their own way they should then be very happy….

If children and youth would seek their highest earthly good, they must look for it in the path of faithful obedience. A sound constitution, which is the greatest earthly prize, can only be obtained by a denial of unnatural appetite. If they would be happy indeed, they should cheerfully seek to be found at the post of duty, doing the work which devolves upon them with fidelity, conforming their hearts and lives to the perfect pattern. – Youth’s Instructor, April 1872.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 214.

Daily Devotional

March 23, 2017

Motive Determines Value of Our Acts

So He called His disciples to Him and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” Mark 12:43, 44, NKJV.

It is the motive that gives character to our acts, stamping them with ignominy or with high moral worth. Not the great things which every eye sees and every tongue praises does God account most precious. The little duties cheerfully done, the little gifts which make no show, and which to human eyes may appear worthless, often stand highest in His sight. A heart of faith and love is dearer to God than the most costly gift.

The poor widow gave her living to do the little that she did. She deprived herself of food in order to give those two mites to the cause she loved. And she did it in faith, believing that her heavenly Father would not overlook her great need. It was this unselfish spirit and childlike faith that won the Savior’s commendation.

Among the poor there are many who long to show their gratitude to God for His grace and truth. They greatly desire to share with their more prosperous fellow church members in sustaining His service. These souls should not be repulsed. Let them lay up their mites in the bank of heaven. If given from a heart filled with love for God, these seeming trifles become consecrated gifts, priceless offerings, which God smiles upon and blesses.

When Jesus said of the widow, She “hath cast in more than they all,” His words were true, not only of the motive, but of the results of her gift. The “two mites, which make a farthing” have brought to God’s treasury an amount of money far greater than the contributions of those rich Jews. The influence of that little gift has been like a stream, small in its beginning, but widening and deepening as it flowed down through the ages. In a thousand ways it has contributed to the relief of the poor and the spread of the gospel.

Her example of self-sacrifice has acted and reacted upon thousands of hearts in every land and in every age. It has appealed to both the rich and the poor, and their offerings have swelled the value of her gift. God’s blessing upon the widow’s mite has made it the source of great results. So with every gift bestowed and every act performed with a sincere desire for God’s glory. It is linked with the purposes of Omnipotence. Its results for good no one can measure. – The Desire of Ages, 615, 616.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 212.

Daily Devotional

March 22, 2017

Maintain Integrity, Whatever the Cost

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Hebrews 13:7, NKJV.

Every plan and purpose of life should be subjected to this unerring test [the Word of God]. The Word of inspiration is the wisdom of God applied to human affairs. However advantageous a certain course may appear to finite judgment, if denounced by that Word it will be only evil in its results.

It may be a difficult matter for those in high positions to pursue the path of undeviating integrity whether they shall receive praise or censure. Yet this is the only safe course. All the rewards which they might gain by selling their honor would be only as the breath from polluted lips, as dross to be consumed in the fire. Those who have moral courage to stand in opposition to the vices and errors of their fellow beings – it may be of those whom the world honors – will receive hatred, insult, and abusive falsehood. They may be thrust down from their high position, because they would not be bought or sold, because they could not be induced by bribes or threats to stain their hands with iniquity.

Everything on earth may seem to conspire against them; but God has set His seal upon His own work. They may be regarded by other people as weak, … unfit to hold office; but how differently does the Most High regard them. Those who despise them are the really ignorant. While the storms of calumny and reviling may pursue persons of integrity through life, and beat upon their graves, God has the “well done” prepared for them. Folly and iniquity will at best yield only a life of unrest and discontent, and at its close a thorny dying pillow. And how many, as they view their course of action and its results, are led to end with their own hands their disgraceful career. And beyond all this waits the judgment, and the final, irrevocable doom, Depart! …

The Son of God has set an example for all His followers. They are not to court praise from others, not to seek for themselves ease or wealth, but to emulate His life of purity and self-denial at whatever cost…. They will not manifest a disregard for the rights of others. God’s law commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to suffer no evil to be instituted against them which we can hinder. But the rule which Christ has given extends still further. Said the world’s Redeemer, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” Nothing short of this can reach the standard of Christianity. – The Signs of the Times, February 2, 1882.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 211.