Category: bible study

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mat 6:8, GW)

Many have questioned the meaning of the statement your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. “Then why should we pray?” they ask. Prayer is not man’s attempt to change the will of God. God’s method of changing our will is to bring it into conformity with His will. More than changing things, prayer changes people. Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance to answer, but laying hold of His willingness to help! Prayer, in the life of the true believer, is an act of total confidence and assurance in the plan and purpose of God.

Christ seldom gathered His disciples alone to receive His words. Here in Mat 6, Jesus did not choose for His audience those only who knew the way of life. It was His work to reach the multitudes who were in ignorance and error. He gave His lessons of truth where they could reach the darkened understanding. He Himself was the Truth, standing with girded loins and hands ever outstretched to bless, and in words of warning, entreaty, and encouragement, seeking to uplift all who would come unto Him. {DA 298.1}

JESUS: Befriends the Sinner in Us

Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory! We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God’s approval, and his approval creates hope. This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us. For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. (Rom 5:1-6, GNB)

The hope that believers have of their future glory with God will not disappoint them by being unfulfilled. They will not be put to shame or humiliated because of their hope. The reason the believer can be so confident is that the love of God has been poured out.

“Them that are afar off are made near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13)

There are no exceptions. The love of God has been poured out. For the gays, for the adulterers, for the liars, for the thieves, the Catholics, the Protestants, and everyone in between, and especially for the self-righteous professors of Christendom who act as though they are better than “all those others.”

The moment a person receives Jesus, trusts in Him, that person receives the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9), who constantly encourages them in their hope in God. (see also John 1:12)

There is no one you could name who needs to miss out on this hope.

While We Were Yet Sinners

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. “With His stripes we are healed.” {DA 25.2}

In the year 1874, William Gladstone was competing in the election for prime minister of the United Kingdom. Well known among his contemporaries for being a highly capable man by virtue of his sharp wit, expansive knowledge, and decorated track record, Gladstone was a formidable candidate for the role. Yet it was his opponent, Benjamin Disraeli, who seemed to have the endearing edge. What made Disraeli more attractive to some was his widely known and celebrated ability to help people see their own value. While Gladstone had no problem helping people see how important important he was as an accomplished man, Disraeli helped people see how important they were.

One evening, a woman named Jennie Jerome, famously known as the mother of Sir Winston Churchill, had an opportunity to converse with each of the candidates at a dinner party. When asked by a reporter about the experience and her impression of each of the candidates, she replied, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli, I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman.” [Sauls, Scott. A Gentle Answer (pp. 3-4). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition].

In His ministry, Jesus often turned his attention to those accustomed to being ignored, mistreated, discarded, and despised by the general public.

If you were sick, poor, sexually damaged, or paralyzed by guilt and shame, for just a few examples, Jesus would move toward you and tell you what nobody else would:

YOU MATTER. YOU ARE LOVED.

One of the most remarkable things about Jesus is his affection for and gentleness toward not the righteous, but towards sinners; not the healthy, but the sick; not those who have their act together, but those who are falling apart; not those who are clean, but those who are damaged and dirty. “This man welcomes sinners,” the scribes and Pharisees charged, “and eats with them” (Luke 15:2 NIV). [Sauls, Scott. A Gentle Answer (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition].

I Only Know I’m Loved

’When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting, “I’ve been saved!”
I’m whispering, “I get lost sometimes
That’s why I chose this way”

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t speak with human pride
I’m confessing that I stumble –
needing God to be my guide

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak
and pray for strength to carry on

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success
I’m admitting that I’ve failed
and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I don’t think I know it all
I submit to my confusion
asking humbly to be taught

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible
but God believes I’m worth it

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache
which is why I seek God’s name

When I say, “I am a Christian”
I do not wish to judge
I have no authority
I only know I’m loved’

by Carol Wimmer 1988

Some Find Disappointment In Jesus

Christ disappointed the hope of worldly greatness. In the Sermon on the Mount He sought to undo the work that had been wrought by false education, and to give His hearers a right conception of His kingdom and of His own character. Yet He did not make a direct attack on the errors of the people. He saw the misery of the world on account of sin, yet He did not present before them a vivid delineation of their wretchedness. He taught them of something infinitely better than they had known. Without combating their ideas of the kingdom of God, He told them the conditions of entrance therein, leaving them to draw their own conclusions as to its nature. The truths He taught are no less important to us than to the multitude that followed Him. We no less than they need to learn the foundation principles of the kingdom of God. {DA 299.3}

Christ’s first words to the people on the mount were words of blessing. Happy are they, He said, who recognize their spiritual poverty, and feel their need of redemption. The gospel is to be preached to the poor. Not to the spiritually proud, those who claim to be rich and in need of nothing, is it revealed, but to those who are humble and contrite. One fountain only has been opened for sin, a fountain for the poor in spirit. {DA 299.4}

The proud heart strives to earn salvation; but both our title to heaven and our fitness for it are found in the righteousness of Christ. The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own weakness, and stripped of all self-sufficiency, he yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the gift that God is waiting to bestow. From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld. He has unrestricted access to Him in whom all fullness dwells. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa 57:15. {DA 300.1}

Reading Time: 9 minutes

But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal 6:14,, NET)

In today’s crazy world, there is nothing to depend upon; except for Jesus. Christ, and Him crucified. Prophets of old echoed such ideas all the time:

The LORD says, “Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich. (Jer 9:23). If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the LORD, act out of faithfulness,fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” says the LORD. (Jer 9:24)

I read something earlier this week that seemed to have some connection to the idea that we sometimes do not recognize whats really going on in the world or in our lives. It was a story about a farmer who decided that God spoke to him about going into the ministry. He was out in one of his pastures looking up into the sky and it looked to him as though the cloud formations were forming the letters GPC in the sky. The farmer took this to be a message from God. He was thinking that it must stand for “Go Preach Christ.”

Years later, it appeared that there was just one problem after the next, and his ministry did not seem to be doing very well. And around that same time; one of his friends suggested that those letters, GPC might have meant “Go Plow Corn?”

Today, a similar thing is happening. We see what is going on in the world. Our hearts are failing us for fear. (Luke 21:26). We are not hearing the call of Christ to His cross. All we see are false flags,
impossible situations, and hopeless outlooks on the future. Some of us are even saying, in unison with some of the people in the early days of history:

“Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Pet 3:4).

We must learn to not only hear correctly God’s call, but to also interpret what He is saying to us in that call. Hope is wherever God’s amazing grace works on us, and while embracing the cross means that we
see hope in suffering; in hopeful suffering. Jesus is very near. Is that even possible? Dare we call it “the gift of suffering?”

When we “come to the cross,” we enter the school of love. (Mat 16:24, John 15:13). This is the very heart and mission of the cross.

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God which was in Christ Jesus.” That love is our hope. That love is “Christ and Him crucified.” Consider that when Jesus was most helpless and weak; that it was right from the cross where He wrought His greatest works for us. Our salvation! The greatest grace has arisen out of the greatest trouble! (Gen 50:20, Rom 8:28). By living in hope, we are united in that “being one” (John 17:11,22) that Jesus had talked about in Scripture.

When we embrace our helplessness,accept it all as an essential part of our walking daily with our own cross, (see Luke 9:23), then our sufferings are joined with that of Christ. Christ and Him crucifed. A true Christian finds meaning in suffering, for embracing the cross is never just for ourselves. “The cross” is not just for our own good. We live in hope. If we know Jesus, (John 17:3) we are living epistles of His Hope, and we join with Him in the fellowship of His sufferings.(Phil 3:10). Christians of all stripes find meaning,unity, and hope, when they embrace “Christ and Him crucified.” We live in hope. The cross was/is our hope. The only solid hope. And hope is contagious. In the cross, Jesus does not abandon us. As one Christian remarked years ago:

“The cross is steady while the world is turning.”

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13).

We are all called to the cross:

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all people unto me. (John 12:32)

Like the farmer that we looked at in the beginning of this article, we can mistaken this call to the cross, as something to avoid. Something to fix. Something to improve. Something “good” that we can do. The cross, is certainly not an option we usually want to present to others, when we can just present correct doctrine, because its “too negative.” If we are called “in Christ,” we will know our calling is one of Hope, because the Bible also tells us that “nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8:38-39).

We are offered the hope of Calvary when we accept that even though we were/are far away from Jesus; we are made near, only by the blood of Christ:

But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph 2:13)

The cross of Calvary should appeal to the benevolence of every follower of the Savior. The principle there illustrated is to give. “He that saith he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk,even as He walked.” (1 John 2:6). The work of redemption involves consequences of which it can be very difficult for us to have any conception of being called to the cross. To most of us it doesn’t seem like a great place to be. (Isa 53:1-3).

“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

As the sinner, drawn by the power of Christ, approaches the uplifted cross, and kneels before it, there is a new creation. A new heart is given to the supplicant. They become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. (Eph 2:13). God Himself is both Just, and “the Justifier of anyone which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26). And “whom He justified, them He also glorified.” (Romans 8:30).

Great as is the shame and degradation through sin,or on the cross, even greater will be the honor and exaltation through redeeming love. To human beings striving for conformity to the divine image there is imparted an outlay of heaven’s treasure, an excellency of power, the blood of Christ that will place them higher than even the angels who have never fallen. The soul finds rest only in cherishing meekness and lowliness of
heart.

The peace of Christ is never found where selfishness reigns. The soul cannot grow in grace when it is self-centered and proud. Jesus assumed the position that we must take in order that the peace of Christ may abide in the heart. Those who have offered themselves to Christ to become His disciples must deny self daily, must lift up the cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They must go where His example leads the way.

The only-begotten Son of God took upon Him the nature of human beings, and established His cross between earth and heaven. Through the cross, people are drawn to God, and God to us. Justice moved from its high and awful position, and the heavenly hosts,the armies of holiness, drew near to the cross, bowing with reverence; for at the cross justice was satisfied. Through the cross the sinner was drawn from the stronghold of sin, from the confederacy of evil, and at every approach to the cross our heart relents and in penitence we cry, “It was my sins that crucified the Son of God.” At the cross we leave our sins, and through the grace of Christ the character is transformed. The Redeemer raises the sinner from the dust, and places them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As the sinner looks upon the Redeemer, they will find hope, assurance, and joy. Faith takes hold of Christ in love. Faith works by love, and purifies the soul.

The truth always involves a cross. Those who will not believe, oppose and deride those who do believe. The fact that its presentation creates a storm of opposition, is no evidence against the truth. The prophets and apostles imperiled their lives because they would conscientiously obey God. And our Savior declares that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” This is one of the Christian’s legacies.

A large number of people who make a profession of religion are a class that are easily convinced; but they have only a superficial religion. As far as outward appearances are concerned, they are bright converts; but they are like the man who started to build without counting the cost of his enterprise, and they are not able to finish. They are like that farmer who incorrectly hear God’s call.

There are those who receive the precious truth with joy; they are exceedingly zealous, and express amazement that all cannot see the things that are so plain to them. They urge others to embrace the doctrine that they find so satisfying. They hastily condemn the hesitating, and those who carefully weigh the evidences of the truth, and consider it in all its bearings. They call such ones cold and unbelieving. But in the time of trial, these enthusiastic persons too often falter and fail. They did not accept the cross as a part of their religious life, and they turn from it with dampened ardor, and refuse to take it up. They do not make the Lord Jesus their strength from the beginning to the end, and do not know what it means to fall upon the Rock and be broken. (Dan 2:34, Luke 8:13,1 Peter 2:6-8 ).

If they realized their great need, the Lord could be their strength, and would put his seal upon them. But they did not “die to self” that they might be born again, and their life was not hid with Christ in God. They did not become laborers together with God, bearing the cross, lifting the burden, that they might understand how great were the blessings of the service of Christ, in contrast to the poor pleasures of the world. If they had done this, like Paul, they would have been a partaker with Christ in his sufferings, and would have been able to exclaim, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The cross of Calvary challenges, and will finally vanquish every earthly and hellish power. In the cross all influence centers, and from it all influence goes forth. It is the great center of attraction; for on it Christ gave up His life for the human race. This sacrifice was offered for the purpose of restoring people to our original perfection. It was offered to give us an entire transformation of character, making us more than a conqueror. Those who in the strength of Christ overcome the great enemy of God and man will occupy a position in the heavenly courts above angels who have never fallen. Christ declares,

“I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”

If the cross does not find an influence in its favor, it creates an influence. Through generation succeeding generation, the truth for this time is revealed as present truth. Christ on the cross was the medium whereby mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. This is the means that is to move the world. {LHU 230.3}

Just as we are thinking to ourselves that Jesus does not notice or care about our plight, our suffering; His Word shines forth with just the assurance we need:

“I have carried you close to My Heart…” (Isa 40:11)

The Cross A Center In The World.

The cross stands alone, a great center in the world. It does not find friends, but it makes them. It creates its own agencies. Christ proposes that people shall become laborers together with God. He makes human beings His instrumentalities for drawing all people unto Himself. A divine agency is sufficient only through its operation on human hearts with its transforming power, making people colaborers with God {5BC 1138.1}.

“The cross speaks life and not death to the soul that believes in Jesus. Welcome the precious, life-giving rays that shine from the cross of Calvary. God would not deprive his people of blessings. It is Satan that interposes his shadow of darkness and creates misgiving and doubts, in order that we may not discern the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining from the cross of Calvary. Reach up for the blessing, believe for the blessing. Your Savior who died upon the cross is God’s gift to a fallen world, and that gift embraces all heaven. Walk not in the shadow of the cross. Do not give expression to weeping, lamentation, and woe; but encourage your soul to hope and joy. The cross points you upward to a living Savior, who, as your advocate, is pleading in your behalf.”

So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Heb 7:25)

No matter what kind of dark cloud we are under, the promise is sure:

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. (Isa 45:3).

Jesus was born again that we might be born again! Jesus was treated as we deserve that we might be treated as he deserves!

Truly, there is Light in every cloud. There is always a little light.

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thes 5:16-18)

The Thessalonian believers were true missionaries. Their hearts burned with zeal for their Savior, who had delivered them from fear of “the wrath to come.” (1 Thes 1:10) Through the grace of Christ a marvelous transformation had taken place in their lives, and the word of the Lord, as spoken through them, was accompanied with power. With constant thanksgiving. Hearts were won by the truths presented, and many souls were added to the number of believers.

Joy as used in Paul’s letters here reflects the mark of a true Christian. the Christian (Rom. 14:17) and a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). It is often associated with the firm hope of the Christian (Rom 5:2–5; Rom 12:12). “Pray without ceasing” suggests a mental attitude of prayerfulness, continual personal fellowship with God, and consciousness of being in his presence throughout each day. Christians are marked by thanksgiving in all types of circumstances. (Eph 5:4, Eph 5:20 Col 2:7 Col 3:15, Col 3:17 Col 4:2). These verses are all talking about 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18.

Our joy, prayers, and thankfulness should not fluctuate with our circumstances or feelings. Obeying these three commands—be joyful, never stop praying, and be thankful—often goes against our natural inclinations. When we make a conscious decision to do what God says, however, we will begin to see other people and our circumstances in a new perspective. When we do God’s will, we will find it easier to be joyful and thankful. And most of all to love one another with “unfeigned love.” No pretending to love someone for some kind of private gain to ourselves… But the kind of love where you practice what you preach about the love of Christ and people know it. (1 Pet 1:22 Acts 4:13)

“Put everything to the test. [Heb 4:12] Accept what is good” (1 Thes 5:21)

Throughout life’s toils and trials the peace of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ can be our consolation and support. The apostle challenged  believers of his day to not become weary in well-doing, and pointed them to his own example.

Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus. (1 Thes 5:18, ERV)

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say ‘thank you?’

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For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Rev 16:14)

When I was a young child my Great Grandfather died. I remember two things in particular that shell-shocked me during that event. One, I was told to “kiss him” while he was lying there in the viewing room, and two, I was told how “he is happy in heaven now.” My reasoning, as a kid in The United Church was simple. I kept thinking well, “if Great Grandpa can see me crying like this now, how could he be so “happy in heaven?” “I thought there will be “no more crying” in heaven? (Rev 21:4)

What was the devil’s first lie on Earth?

“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’ ” (Genesis 3:4). Who is this “serpent?” “That serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” (Revelation 12:9).

You will not “surely die.” This is the first lie the devil ever told us. “You will not surely die!”  The Bible says the opposite.

Why did the devil lie to Eve about death? How important is this subject?

The devil’s lie that we will not die is one of the pillars of his teachings. For thousands of years, he has worked powerful, deceptive miracles to trick people into thinking they are receiving messages from the spirits of the dead. (Examples: Magicians of Egypt—Exodus 7:11; Woman of Endor—1 Samuel 28:3–25; Sorcerers—Daniel 2:2; A slave girl—Acts 16:16–18.)

How were we created in the beginning?

“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul/being” (Genesis 2:7).

God made us from dust in the beginning. God added the breath of life and only THEN were we called in scripture, “a living soul”

What happens when a person dies?

“Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

The body turns to dust again, and the spirit goes back to God, who gave it. The spirit of every person who dies—whether saved or unsaved—returns to God at death. But we are never “a living soul” again until the resurrection.

What is the spirit that returns to God when we die?

“The body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26).
“The spirit of God is in my nostrils” ( Job 27:3 KJV).

The spirit that returns to God at death is the “breath of life.” Nowhere in all of God’s book does the “spirit” have any life, wisdom, or feeling afer a person dies. It is the “breath of life” and nothing more.

What exactly is a soul?

“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7 KJV).

A soul is a living being. A soul is always a combination of two things: body plus breath. A soul cannot exist unless body and breath are combined together. God’s Word teaches that we are souls—not that we have souls. Big difference.

Can a “living soul” die?

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20 KJV). “Every living soul died in the sea” (Revelation 16:3 KJV).

According to God’s Word,souls do die! We are souls, and souls die. Man is mortal ( Job 4:17). Only God is immortal (1 Timothy 6:15,16). The concept of an undying,immortal soul is not found in the Bible,
which teaches that souls are subject to death

Do “good people” go to heaven when they die?

“All who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28,29). “David is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.For David did not yet ascend into the heavens” (Acts 2:29, 34).
“If I wait, the grave is mine house” (Job 17:13 KJV). People do not go to heaven or to hell at death. They don’t go anywhere—but they wait in their graves for the resurrection. (see 1 Thes 4:15-18)

How much does one know or comprehend at death?

“The living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished;nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun. There is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:4,5,6,10).

“The dead do not praise the Lord” (Psalms 115:17).

God says that the dead know absolutely nothing!

Can the dead communicate with the living? Are the dead aware of what the living are doing now?

“Man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep. … His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he does not perceive it” ( Job 14:12, 21). “Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:6). No. The dead cannot contact the living, nor do they know what the living are doing. They are dead. Their thoughts have perished (Psalm 146:4 KJV).

Jesus called death a sleep. (John 11:11,13) How long will that sleep last?

“Man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more” ( Job 14:12). “The day of the Lord will come in which the heavens will pass away” (2 Peter 3:10).

The dead will sleep until the great day of the Lord at the end of the world. In death, people are totally unconscious with no activity or knowledge of any kind. The Bible says that “death is the last ENEMY to be destroyed,” (1 Cor 15:26) yet many defy this idea from scripture by making death out to be some kind of friend. bringing us into the peace of Heaven before the resurrection.

What are some praying to when they pray to a “saint” or talking to “lost loved ones” in a seance?

What happens to the righteous dead at the second coming of Jesus?

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:12). “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).

“We shall all be changed—in a moment,in the twinkling of an eye and the dead will be raised incorruptible. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51–53).

They will be rewarded. They will be raised, given immortal bodies,and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. There would be no purpose in a resurrection if people were just taken to heaven at death. The Bible doesn’t tell us to comfort one another with such words, anywhere.

A Serious Warning!

In the near future, Satan will again use sorcery—as he did in the prophet Daniel’s day—to deceive the world (Rev 16:14)

And the light of a lamp will never more shine at all in you. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will never more be heard at all in you. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth; for by your sorceries all nations were deceived. (Revelation 18:23).

Among other things, sorcery is a supernatural agency that claims to receive its power and wisdom from the spirits of the dead. Babylon’s influence is seen as corrupting all the nations. Political arts, state tricks, counterfeit miracles, and deceptive maneuvers of every kind. The various arts and crafts that have been employed in her midst, and have ministered to her desires, shall be practiced no more. The pompous music that has been heard in her imposing but formal and lifeless service, dies away forever.

The scenes of festivity and gladness, when the bridegroom and the bride have been led before her altars, shall be witnessed no more. Her sorceries constitute her leading crime, and sorcery is a practice which is involved in the spiritism of today. “In her was found the blood” of “all that were slain upon the earth.” From this it is evident that ever since the introduction of a false religion into the world, Babylon has existed. In her has been found, all along, opposition to the work of God, and persecution of His people. (Rev 16:6)

Posing as Jesus’ dead disciples.

Posing as godly loved ones who have died, posing as saintly clergymen who are now dead, posing as Bible prophets, or even posing as the apostles of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13), Satan and his angels will deceive billions. Those who believe the dead are alive, in any form,will in the end be deceived. When Jesus was asked by His disciples what will be the signs of His coming, the very first thing Jesus said was:

“take care that no person deceive you…” (Mat 24:4)

Do devils really work miracles?

“For they are the spirits of devils,working miracles” (Revelation 16:14, KJV).

“False Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).

Yes indeed! Devils work incredibly convincing miracles (Revelation 13:13, 14). Satan will appear as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and, even more shocking, as Christ Himself (Matthew 24:23, 24). The universal
feeling will be that Christ and His angels are leading out in a fantastic worldwide revival. The entire emphasis will seem so spiritual and be so supernatural that only God’s elect will not be deceived. An event to be noticed under this plague (Rev 16:13,14) is the issuing forth of the three unclean spirits to gather the nations to the great battle.

The agency now already abroad in the world known as modern spiritism, is in every way a fitting means to be employed in this work. Before the spirits can have such absolute authority over the human race as to gather them to battle against the King of kings and Lord of lords, they must first win their way among the nations of the earth, and cause their teaching to be received as of divine authority and their word as law. This work they are now doing, and when they shall have finally gained full influence over the nations in question, what fitter instrument could be employed to gather them to be so rash and hopeless an enterprise?

It is not likely that God’s people will be deceived on this point of spiritism, because:

“They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

God’s people will know from their study of His Word that the dead are dead, not alive. They will know that a “spirit” claiming to be a deceased loved one, or a saint, is really a devil! God’s people will reject all teachers and miracle workers who claim to receive special “light” or to work miracles by contacting the spirits of the dead. Or to pray to so called “saints.” And God’s people will likewise reject as dangerous and false all teachings that claim the dead are alive in any form, anywhere. This is the first and the last lie! This lie will be used to deceive many people in the last days prior to the second coming of Jesus. The miracles will be so real, that we cannot tell the difference just by our senses. We must  go by God’s Word alone.

In the days of Moses, what did God command that should be done to people who taught that the dead were “really” alive?

“A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones” (Leviticus 20:27). God insisted that mediums and others with “familiar spirits” (who
claimed to be able to contact the dead) should be stoned to death. This shows how God regards the false teaching that the dead are alive.

It sounds harsh. yes. But let us be thankful this is not how it is today. We are promised that if we are far off (from Christ) then “the cross makes us near.” (Eph 2:13)

Will the righteous who are raised in the resurrection ever die again?

“Those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead … nor can they die anymore” (Luke 20:35, 36). “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death,
nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

No! Death, sorrow, crying, and tragedy will never enter into God’s new kingdom. “When this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:54). “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor 15:26)

Belief in things like reincarnation are becoming more popular by the day. What does the Bible say about reincarnation?

“The living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing. Nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:5,6). Almost half the people on earth believe in reincarnation, a teaching that the soul never dies but is instead continually reborn into a different kind of body with each succeeding generation. This teaching, however, is contrary to Scripture. The Bible tells us that after death a person returns to dust (Psalms 104:29), knows nothing (Ecclesiastes 9:5), possesses no mental powers (Psalms 146:4), has nothing to do with anything on earth (Ecclesiastes 9:6), does not live (2 Kings 20:1), waits in the grave (Job 17:13),and continues not(Job 14:1 2).

Satan’s Inventions

There are some things that we can and should blame on the devil. Satan invented the teaching that the dead are alive. Reincarnation, channeling, communication with spirits, spirit worship,and the “undying soul” are all inventions of Satan, with one aim to deceive/convince people that when you die you are not really dead. When people believe that the dead are alive, “spirits of devils, working miracles” (Revelation 16:14) and posing as spirits of the dead will be able to deceive and lead them astray virtually 100 percent of the time (Matthew 24:24), unless they go by God’s Word only.

Concluding Thoughts

1/ Didnt the thief on the cross go directly to paradise with Christ on the day He died?

No. In fact, on Sunday morning Jesus said to Mary, “I have not yet ascended to My Father” ( John 20:17). This shows that Christ did not go to heaven at death. It’s important to note that the punctuation we see in the Bible today is not original, but added centuries later by translators. The comma in Luke 23:43 would be better placed after the word “today” rather than before, so that the passage reads,

“Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Another way to put this verse that makes sense in the immediate context is:

“I’m telling you today—when it seems that I can save no one, when I Myself am being crucified as a criminal—I give you the assurance today that you will be with me in Paradise.”

Christ’s kingdom of glory will be set up at His second coming (Matthew 25:31),and the righteous of all ages will enter it at that time (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17)and not at death.

2/ Doesn’t the Bible speak of the “undying” immortal soul?

No. The undying, immortal soul is not mentioned in the Bible. Remember, we do not “have a soul” rather, we are a soul. The word “immortal” is found only once in the Bible, and it is in direct reference to God alone.  (1 Timothy 1:17).  At death the body returns to dust and the spirit (breath) returns to God but where does the soul go? It goes nowhere. Instead, it simply ceases to exist. Two things must be combined to make a soul: body and breath. When the breath departs, the soul ceases to exist because it is a combination of two things. When you turn off a light, where does the light go? It doesn’t go anywhere. It just ceases to exist. Two things must combine to make a light: a bulb and electricity. Without the combination, a light is impossible. So with the soul; unless body and breath are combined, there can be no soul. There is no such thing as a “disembodied soul.”

3/ Does the word “soul” ever mean anything other than a living human being?

Yes. It may mean also (1) life itself, or (2) the mind, or intellect. No matter which meaning is intended, the soul is still a combination of two things (body and breath), and it ceases to exist at death.

4/ How do we explain John 11:26 where it says “whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

This refers not to the frst death, which all people die (Hebrews 9:27),but to the second death, which only the wicked die and from which there is no resurrection (Rev 2:11 Rev 21:8).

5/ Mat 10:35 says “Do not fear those who can kill the body but the soul.” Doesnt this prove that the soul is undying?

No. It proves the opposite. The last half of the same verse proves that souls do die. It says, “Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The word “soul” here means life and refers to eternal life, which is a gift (Romans 6:23) that will be given to the righteous at the last day ( John 6:54). No one can take away the eternal life that God bestows. (See also Luke 12:4,5.)

6/ Doesn’t 1 Pet 4:6 tell us that the gospel was preached to dead people?

No. It says the gospel “was” preached to those who “are” dead. They are dead now, but the gospel “was” preached to them while they were yet living.

The Bible says that we are to glory in nothing but the cross. (Gal 6:14,Eph 2:13) A quote I found by one Christian writer reads like this:

There is one great central truth to be kept ever before the mind in the searching of the Scriptures–Christ and Him crucified. Every other truth is invested with influence and power corresponding to its relation to this theme. It is only in the light of the cross that we can discern the exalted character of the law of God. The soul palsied by sin can be endowed with life only through the work wrought out upon the cross by the Author of our salvation {6BC 1084.8} (see also Gal 6:14)

It is not enough to just dig up the verses and say “Im right, you are wrong here. IF the need for the cross is lessened or negated by our belief, then we must change what we believe.

If we do away with the need for the resurrection, by going straight to Heaven when we die, then why would we need the crucifixion?

Believing that we go to heaven as soon as we die, believing that the dead are not really dead, eliminates the need for a resurrection. And affirms the devil’s first lie. And the last lie! How can anyone be resurrected if they are already in Heaven?

But if Christ is proclaimed, that He was raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is worthless, and your faith is also worthless. (1 Cor 15:12-14)

There are several teachings  in the Christian world that do not pass the litmus test of the cross. Perhaps it is time for us to examine everything we believe in the Light of the cross?

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Cor 2:2)

Today, many are teaching that resurrection is only spiritual rather than physical. Or they may have been teaching that the Resurrection had already happened (2 Tim 2:18). Whatever the case, they contradict the essential teaching that Christ had been physically crucified, physically raised from the dead and that believers in Him will some day also be resurrected. 1 Thes 4;13-18 tells us to “comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thes 4:18) When people die, these are the only words that scripture says “comfort one another with these words.”

For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection; (Rom 6:5)

Reading Time: 9 minutes

Against All Hope We In Hope Believe
(based on Romans 4:18)

God’s Message to Abraham.

“You are the designated father to a multitude of nations before God. In whom thou hast believed; who quickeneth the dead, and calls those things which are not, as if they were. Without hope Abraham believes. In the promise of becoming the father of a multitude of nations.”

This is God’s promise to Abraham:

“So will thy seed be.” (Rom 4:18)

The patriarch was not sickly in his faith. It would have been easy to doubt while contemplating his sluggish body. (for he was a hundred years old.) And the torpid womb of Sarah. Abraham stayed faithful. He did not ignore the realities. Abraham never once hesitated. He embraced God’s Word as God’s promise. The promise of God, is where Abraham shows us he is not one lacking faith. But he was strong in faith, and gave glory to God; (Rom 4:17-20, Murdock, paraphrased)

The promise (or covenant) God gave Abraham stated that Abraham would be the father of many nations. (Gen 17:2-4) And that the entire world would affected , blessed,through him (Gen 12:3). This promise being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus was from Abraham’s line, and the whole world is experiencing the blessing. God kept His promise to Abraham.

Abraham never once doubted that God would fulfill his promise. Abraham’s life reveals many mistakes, sins, and failures. I see many similarities there with myself. As well as amazing examples of wisdom and goodness. Abraham trusted God. His faith being strengthened by the obstacles he faced, and his life was an example of faith in action.

One look at his own resources and strengths would spell doom. Subduing Canaan and founding a nation demands undying faith. Complete trust. Looking to self, he would have given up in despair. He would have failed. But Abraham looked to God, obeyed him, and waited for God to fulfill his word.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope, believed. And so became the father of many nations. As it is is written

“So will your offspring be.”

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. Since Abraham was about a hundred years old. And that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Abraham still did not waver through unbelief about the promise of God,. Abraham strengthened in his faith. And gave glory to God. Being persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it “attributed to him” as righteousness.”

The words “attributed to him” are written not for him alone. , but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness. For us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was obedient unto death for our sins and experienced resurrection. For our justification. (Rom 4:18-25)

Paul explains that Abraham had pleased God through faith. IN CHRIST alone. Before he had ever heard about the rituals that would become so important to the Jewish people. We, too, have salvation by faith IN CHRIST plus nothing. It is not by loving God and doing good that we experience salvation. Neither is it by faith plus love or by faith plus good deeds. We experience salvation by grace, only through faith IN CHRIST. Trusting him to forgive all our sins.

With great clearness and power the apostle presented the doctrine. Justification by faith in Christ. He hoped that other churches also might receive help. By the instruction sent to the Christians at Rome. But how could he foresee the far-reaching influence of his words! Through all the ages the great truth of justification by faith has stood as a mighty beacon. To guide repentant sinners into the way of life. It was this light that scattered the darkness which enveloped Luther’s mind. And revealed to him the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse from sin. (Eph 2:13). The same light has guided thousands of sin-burdened souls to the true Source of pardon and peace. (John 14:27)

For the epistle to the church at Rome, every Christian has reason to thank God. {AA 373.3}

The prophet Isaiah looked down through the centuries. And saw the rejection of prophet after prophet. And finally of the Son of God. By inspiration, Isaiah accepted the Redeemer. So too did those who had never before counted as among the children of Israel.

Referring to this prophecy, Paul declares: “Esaias is very bold. He saith: “they found me who sought me not.” I was manifest unto them that asked not after Me. But to Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth My hands. Unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”

Even though Israel rejected His Son, God did not reject them. Listen to Paul as he continues the argument: “I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew. Do you not realize what the Scripture saith of Elias? He makes intercession to God. Against Israel. Saying, Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars; and I am left alone. And they seek my life.

But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

Israel had stumbled and fallen, but this did not make it impossible for them to rise again. In answer to the question, “Have they stumbled that they should fall?” the apostle replies: “God forbid. But rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles. To provoke them to jealousy. The fall of them be the riches of the world. The diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles. I magnify my appointed office. If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what must the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”

It was God’s purpose that His grace reveal itself among the Gentiles as well as among the Israelites. This had been outlined in Old Testament prophecies. The apostle uses some of these prophecies in his argument.

“Hath not the potter power over the clay?” he inquires, “of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, was willing to show His wrath? And to make His power known. And endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. Which He had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

As He said: I will call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it will come to pass. In the place where God said unto them, Ye are not My people; there will they known as the children of the living God.” (See Hosea 1:10).

Who against hope believed in hope

The faith of Abraham. It bore an exact correspondence to the power and never-failing faithfulness of God. In the ordinary course of things, he had not the best foundation of hope. Yet he believed that he should be the father of many nations. All according to that which God promised. That his posterity should be like the stars of heaven for multitude, and like the dust of the earth.

When Abraham was too old. Beyond any hope of having a child, he based his hope on God’s promises instead. He believed that his offspring would be as many as the stars of the heavens. Because the all-powerful God had promised it.

Notice the remarkable alteration made by the R.V. in Rom 4:19. The A.V. suggests that Abraham refused to consider the physical disabilities. Which seemed to make the fulfillment of God’s promise impossible;.

the R.V. says that he looked them all in the face. As though taking into account all their significance and force. Then he looked to the promise. After balancing one against the other. He decided that the Word of God must stand. Great and forbidding were the difficulties in the way. He realized that what God had promised, God was able to perform.

Let us remember. From the time we trust Christ. Whatever may have been our present frailties and temptations. We being reckoned as righteous in the sight of God still have the promise. We may count on absolute deliverance from the power of sin. Do not look down, brooding over your weakness! Do not look back upon your past, strewn with failure! Look up to the living Christ! All the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, 2 Cor 1:20.

Christ says “Yes” to all God’s promises. That’s why we have Christ to say “Amen” for us to the glory of God. And so God makes it possible for you and us to stand together with Christ. God is also the one who chose us and put his Spirit in our hearts to show that we belong only to him. (2 Cor 1:20-22, CEV)

God alone can give us a settled and established position. He anoints us for service. Seals us with His Spirit for safety, likeness, and authentication. And in this way gives us the earnest and foretaste of heaven. you what to believe. We are working with you to make you glad, because your faith is strong.” (2 Cor 1:24, CEV)

Paul did not ever desire to have dominion over other people’s faith. Christians everywhere are learning that the Holy Bible, alone, contains what is necessary. to faith and practice. No person, society, church, council, presbytery, consistory, or conclave is in control. No human source , has dominion over any other person’s faith. The word of God alone is the Christian’s rule, and to God alone we are to give account of the use we have made of it.

In matters of “faith” Paul was only a “fellow helper of their joy” in believing, (Rom 15:13; Phil 1:25)

The transformation made by God in the spirit of the believer will be evident in the daily life. Christian doctrine must lead to Christian ethics. Doctrines lead to moral purposes, even with, especially with, Bible prophecy. In Rom 12:1 and Rom 12:2 is the basic commitment required of the Christian in light of all that God has done.

Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. (Rom 12:1-2, CEV)

Spiritual transformation starts in the mind and heart. A mind dedicated to the world and its concerns. Will produce a life tossed back and forth by the currents of culture. But a mind dedicated to God’s truth will produce a life that can stand the test of time. We can resist the temptations of our culture by meditating on God’s truth. And letting the Holy Spirit guide and shape our thoughts and behaviors.

We see by experience that in our own human strength, resolutions and purposes are of no avail. Must we, then, give up our determined efforts? No. Our experience testifies that we cannot do this work ourselves. Help from One who is mighty to do it for us. But the only way we can secure the help of God is to put ourselves wholly in His hands, and trust Him to work for us. As we lay hold of Him by faith, He does the work. The believer can only trust. As God works, we can work, trusting in Him and doing His will {6BC 1080.6}

How should we respond when we struggle to obey? God has not left us alone in our struggles to do his will. He wants to come alongside us and be within us to help. God gives us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. The secret to a changed life is to submit to God’s control and let him work. Next time ask God to help you desire to do his will.

God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him. (Phil 2:13)

To be like Christ, we must train ourselves to think like Christ. To change our desires to be more like Christ’s. We need the power of the indwelling Spirit (Phil 1:19). The influence of faithful Christians. Obedience to God’s Word (not exposure to it). And sacrificial service. Often it is in doing God’s will that we gain the desire to do it (see Phil 4:8-9). Doing what he wants we trust him to change our desires.

God Himself is at work in our lives and all that He does in our lives is for His good pleasure (Rom 8:28). It pleases God to do good for us. But He can only bless obedience to His will (John 15:10). Our ultimate goal should be to please Him in all we do. God supplies both the desire and the enablement to do His will. We only need to ask and receive what Jesus supplies.

The yes to all God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God. (2 Cor 1:20)

His divine power has given us everything we need for the Christian life. Through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises. Through them you may take part in the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Pet 1:3-4, NIV)

Great and precious promises. Refers to the many offers of divine provision found in Scripture. These promises offer us the glory and virtue of Christ. As the basis for our growing participation in the divine nature. We have Christ within us, as He promised (John 14:23), to enable us to become Christlike (2 Cor 3:18). Because we have become new creatures in Christ. We have escaped the corruption (the moral ruin) that is in the world through lust (perverted desire). We should make our escape from this world evident to all by our behavior and the renewing of our mind (Rom 12:2).

And now I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope. (Rom 15:13)

Reading Time: 8 minutes

“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day” (Gen 32:24).

To be left alone. No one else in the world in sight. No one to talk to. Nothing but pain. This was the miserable lot of the man who spent almost a year in the maternity ward as a patient. His injuries were so severe, that he had to be in strict isolation, for fear of massive infection that could result if he was not strictly isolated from all others. When a person who has massive areas of their skin burned, they will lose a lot of Plasma which contains the protein needed for healing and recovery.  Many burn victims die because of this acute loss of blood plasma. And this would leave them extremely open to infection.

All those months I was in that maternity ward, I learned what it was to feel truly alone. They had to put me in there because it was a small town hospital, and it was the only “room” they had where the strict isolation protocols could be diligently adhered to. Being so alone there, all those months, saved my life.

Even today, those words “Left alone” conjure up the temptation to cringe and panic a little within myself. What different sensations those words will produce to each of us. To some they spell loneliness and desolation, yet I have met others to whom it means rest and quiet. To be left alone without God, would be too awful for words, but to be left alone WITH GOD is a foretaste of Heaven! If we, His followers spent more time alone with Him, we would see much more of spiritual giants in this our day and age.

Jesus has set us an example. Note how often He went to be alone with God; and how He had a mighty purpose behind the command,

“When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray.” (Mat 6:6)

The greatest miracles of Elijah and Elisha took place when they were alone with God. It was alone with God that Jacob became a prince; and just there that we, too, may become “sons and daughters of God, (John 1:12) to be “wondered at” (Zech 3:8).

“thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at” (Zech 3:8)

Joshua was alone when the Lord came to him. (Joshua 1:1) Gideon and Jephthah were by themselves when commissioned to save Israel. (Judges 6:11; Judges 11:29) Moses was by himself at the wilderness bush. (Exodus 3:1-5) Cornelius was praying by himself when the angel came to him. (Acts 10:2) No one was with Peter on the house top, when he was instructed to go to the Gentiles. (Acts 10:9) John the Baptist was alone in the wilderness (Luke 1:80), and John the Beloved alone in Patmos, when nearest God. (Rev 1:9)

The developing situation had become serious. Servants had returned with the tidings that Esau was approaching with four hundred men. No response was sent to the friendly message. It appeared certain that Esau was coming to seek revenge. Terror pervaded the camp.

“Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed.” (Gen 32:7)

Jacob could not go back, and he feared to advance. His company, unarmed and defenseless, were wholly unprepared for a hostile encounter. He accordingly divided them into two bands, so that if one should be attacked, the other might have an opportunity to escape. Jacob sent from his vast flocks generous presents to Esau, with a friendly message. He did all in his power to atone for the wrong to his brother and to avert the threatened danger, and then in humiliation and repentance he pleaded for divine protection:

Thou “saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.” {PP 196.1}

They had now reached the river Jabbok, and as night came on, Jacob sent his family across the ford of the river, while he alone remained behind. He had decided to spend the night in prayer, and he desired to be alone with God. God could soften the heart of Esau. In Him was the patriarch’s only hope.{PP 196.2}

It was in a lonely, mountainous region, the haunt of wild beasts and the lurking place of robbers and murderers. Solitary and unprotected, Jacob bowed in deep distress upon the earth. It was midnight. All that made life dear to him were at a distance, exposed to danger and death. Bitterest of all was the thought that it was his own sin which had brought this peril upon the innocent. With earnest cries and tears he made his prayer before God. Suddenly a strong hand was laid upon him. He thought that an enemy was seeking his life, and he endeavored to wrest himself from the grasp of his assailant. In the darkness the two struggled for the mastery. Not a word was spoken, but Jacob put forth all his strength, and did not relax his efforts for a moment. While he was thus battling for his life, the sense of his guilt pressed upon his soul; his sins rose up before him, to shut him out from God.

But in his terrible extremity he remembered God’s promises, and his whole heart went out in entreaty for His mercy. The struggle continued until near the break of day, when the stranger placed his finger upon Jacob’s thigh, and he was crippled instantly. The patriarch now discerned the character of his antagonist. He knew that he had been in conflict with a heavenly messenger, and this was why his almost superhuman effort had not gained the victory. It was Christ, “the Angel of the covenant,” who had revealed Himself to Jacob. The patriarch was now disabled and suffering the keenest pain, but he would not loosen his hold. All penitent and broken, he clung to the Angel; “he wept, and made supplication” (Hosea 12:4), pleading for a blessing. He must have the assurance that his sin was pardoned. Physical pain was not sufficient to divert his mind from this object.

His determination grew stronger, his faith more earnest and persevering, until the very last. The Angel tried to release Himself; He urged, “Let Me go, for the day breaketh;” but Jacob answered, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” Had this been a boastful, presumptuous confidence, Jacob would have been instantly destroyed; but his was the assurance of one who confesses his own unworthiness, yet trusts the faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God.{PP 196.3}

Long to be alone with God. If we neglect it, we not only rob ourselves, but others too, of the special blessing of prayer, since when we are blessed we are able to pass on blessing to others. It may of course mean less outside work. Yet the time alone with God will be sure to render more depth and power. The consequence, will be that “they saw no man save Jesus alone.” (Mat 17:8, Mark 9:8) The need to be alone with God in prayer cannot be over-emphasized. “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while:” (Mark 6:31)

Jacob “had power over the Angel, and prevailed.” Hos_12:4. Through humiliation, repentance, and self-surrender, this sinful, erring mortal prevailed with the Majesty of heaven. He had fastened his trembling grasp upon the promises of God, and the heart of Infinite Love could not turn away the sinner’s plea. {PP 197.1}

The error that had led to Jacob’s sin in obtaining the birthright by fraud was now clearly set before him. He had not trusted God’s promises, but had sought by his own efforts to bring about that which God would have accomplished in His own time and way. As an evidence that he had been forgiven, his name was changed from one that was a reminder of his sin, to one that commemorated his victory. “Thy name,” said the Angel, “shall be called no more Jacob [the supplanter], but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” {PP 197.2}

Jacob had received the blessing for which his soul had longed. His sin as a supplanter and deceiver had been pardoned. The crisis in his life was past. Doubt, perplexity, and remorse had embittered his existence, but now all was changed; and sweet was the peace of reconciliation with God. Jacob no longer feared to meet his brother. God, who had forgiven his sin, could move the heart of Esau also to accept his humiliation and repentance. {PP 198.1}

That guy in the maternity ward as a patient for all those months.  He is like a brand scorched and charred with the burning. But he has been literally plucked out of the consuming flame. Surely then you too are being kept, in your aloneness and pain and disappointment for some high and useful purpose?

Something like Jacob after that entire night of wrestling, all the past is simply our argument for faith. That God has done so much is His pledge that He will perfect that which concerneth us, (Psalms 138:8) because His mercy endureth forever. (Psalms 100:5). Whoever He justifies, He also glorifies. Let us, regardless of circumstance be content with nothing short of God’s best. The key to spiritual growth and personal fulfillment is always going to be that we should honor God and center our desires on him, and His express will. (Mat 6:33), and that we should be content with what God is doing in our lives (Phil 4:11-13).

“godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Tim 6:6)

PS That guy who spent all those months as a patient on the maternity ward wrote a poem about how Jesus gave him the example of being alone, in stark midnight of wrestling and anguish: The Garden Alone

Like Jacob, like Jesus, like the man who was a patient on the maternity ward, and like so many others, it is now recognized in the form of testimony (1 John 1:1-3) how that

“on the darkest, longest night, it is enough to find love…”

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35)

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:19)

When depression settles upon the soul, it is no evidence that God has changed. He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” You are sure of the favor of God when you are sensible of the beams of the Sun of righteousness; but if the clouds sweep over your soul, you must not feel that you are forsaken. Your faith must pierce the gloom. Your eye must be single, and your whole body shall be full of light. The riches of the grace of Christ must be kept before the mind. Treasure up the lessons that His love provides. Let your faith be like Job’s, that you may declare, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Lay hold on the promises of your heavenly Father, and remember His former dealing with you and with His servants; for “all things work together for good to them that love God.” –RH, Jan 24, 1888. {2MCP 496.1}

God’s love is total, says Paul. It reaches every corner of our experience. It is wide—it covers the breadth of our own experience, and it reaches out to the whole world. God’s love is long—it continues the length of our lives. It is high—it rises to the heights of our celebration and elation. His love is deep—it reaches to the depths of discouragement, despair, and even death. When you feel shut out or isolated, remember that you can never be lost to God’s love. For another prayer about God’s immeasurable and inexhaustible love, see Paul’s words in Rom 8:38-39.

Find THIS LOVE in your night.

Amen, come soon Lord Jesus.

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“I showed before him my trouble.” (Psalms 142:1-2)
“I cry out to the LORD. I beg the LORD to help me.  I tell him my problems;I tell him about my troubles. .” (Psalms 142:1-2, ERV)

Exactly what the trouble of the psalmist was it is impossible for us to say. His trouble was clear, very bitter, hard to swallow. An overwhelmed spirit was the result. A determined resolve to tell the Lord his problems was borne of this anguish. Talking to Jesus as a Friend the solution. The automatic response.

We may also infer from what the Bible says about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7 ) that there is a lot we don’t know about it. There is much we cannot know about our own trials. Our pain. Our grief. Let alone anyone elses. Paul’s thorn in the flesh predicament suggests that some things are always confusing. Jesus says

“You don’t know what I am doing now. But later you will understand.” (John 13:7)

Under The Cloud.

We are all under a cloud. We now live “under the shadow of The Almighty.” (Psalms 91:1, ERV) Left to us as a mystery, we are then free to apply this “thorn in the flesh” idea to ourselves. Meaning, the vagueness of the Bible is often of a deliberate intention by the author. In order that we may be able fit ourselves within its words for every variety of human needs that we experience. We expect the vagueness. We act on the opportunity. We respond with gratitude.

God is a shelter, a refuge when we are afraid. The Psalmist felt that his faith in God as protector would carry him through all the dangers and fears of life. This should be a picture of our trust too. Trading all our fears for faith in Jesus. No matter how intense our fears. To do this we must “live” and “rest” with him (Psalms 91:1).

Don’t think there is a plan against you because the people say there is. Don’t be afraid of what they fear. Don’t let them frighten you!” (Isa 8:12, ERV)

Recall how Moses saw a thick dark cloud and he went right into the heart of it! Thats where the Bible said “God was.” (Exodus 19:9)

And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.(Exodus 20:21)

We entrust ourselves to the protection of Jesus. Pledging our daily devotion to Him, we always find that we receive what we need for each situation we are in.

Jesus said, “Let not your heart stay troubled.” Jesus was not contemplating some kind of exemption for His own followers. Jesus knew there would be troubles in their lives; what He enjoined was an untroubled heart. To an untroubled heart amid the thronging troubles of our lives is to be of the same practice of the psalmist.

Showing It Before Him

A courageous person does not show their troubles before all the world. They try to hide them and keep a smiling face for the purpose to not be a discouragement to others. To show before the Lord our troubles in the quiet moment, behind the closed door. That is one of the secrets for “the peace beyond understanding.” ( Phil 4:7)

The Comfort of Having a Friend to Listen

“I have not had a friend for over three years.”

An acquaintance I chatted with last night told me

“I am so lonely. I have not had a friend in over three years.

It was heart breaking to listen to this man say “I have no friends.” I found it very sad. I wondered what it would be like to not have a friend, let alone for three years.

In a special sense, one of the duties of friendship is to lend a listening ear.

The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them. (Prov 20:12)

It is an incomparable comfort. When troubles are depressing us to the point where we must have someone in whom we can confide, to sit with us. We could call this comfort a beginning for that “peace that passes our understanding?” (Phil 4:7)

We are born for adversity, There is opportunity and blessing in every trial. While a helping hand may be a blessed thing, (Prov 3:27) a helping heart is often better. We say far more by listening than talking.

If we have someone to open our hearts to we experience the comfort of Jesus. The certainty of perfect understanding, total trust. One of the choicest gifts of human life. Rich or poor. Comfort is welcome. How often we bring comfort by only listening!

The Almighty LORD will teach me what to say, so I will know how to encourage weary people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student. (Isa 50:4, GW)

There is one major way to listen when talking. And that is by asking questions. This is how one “listens like a student.” (Isa 50:4)

Anyone can live with “good courage.” (Deut 31:6). Discover relief of their trouble. We pour it all out, if only for an minute, into God’s listening and sympathetic ear. Into God’s loving heart.

“Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that goes with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (Deut 31:6)

Now it was that very easing which David found in God. David showed before God his trouble. He was honest. David did not brood on it in solitary bitterness. Here we see a King. Laying it very quiet before God. No. David’s trouble did not disappear. The trouble didn’t disappear any more than the thorn of the Apostle. David gained a sweet serenity of spirit which made him capable of bearing anything. David talked to God like he would a friend.

And, indeed, that is the real victory of faith and of all who have quieted to wait on God. It may not banish all the trouble, but it always brings the power to bear it in calmness and serenity. There is a deep-rooted feeling in the heart that if we are God’s, we ought to have exemption. From being “under the shadow.” Yet this is where God is. This is where God puts us many times for our own best good.

Troubles That Afflict The Faithless Soul.

People who do not know Jesus are not averted by Christians who are faithful. (Mat 5:45) The sufferings of God’s beloved Son proclaimed that this is so. Everyone, the justified and the unjust suffers similar calamities and blessings. David was not protected from life’s troubles, nor was Paul, or our Blessed Savior. David knew, in all its bitterness, what a thing of trouble our human life may contain.

King David’s victory.

The testimony of all the saints who have learned to show their trouble before God. We see the inward peace that the world can never give and the darkest mile can never take away. (John 14;27) God does not save His children from that dark mile. He saves His children in that dark mile. (Micah 7:8)

Micah showed great faith in God both for himself (Mic 7:7) and on Israel’s behalf. (Mic 7:8-10) As he proclaimed that he would wait upon God. Knowing that God hears and saves when the help requested glorifies God.

There is light in every cloud.

Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the light of His cloud to shine? (Job 37:15)

Whenever we show our trouble before Jesus, He shows His loving kindness to us. This is our Light. In many remarkable ways. Jesus will keep His people from an embittered heart. Jesus puts beneath them the everlasting arms. (Deut 33:27). Jesus makes people more than conquerors through Christ. (Rom 8:37)

God Cares

King David, like Abraham, had seen the day of Christ. His personal trouble was of concern to God. The Psalmist was comfortable in laying it all out before God. To “show it all before Him.” Hezekiah also found favor before God by doing the same:

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers. And read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. (2 Kings 19:14)

The people of God are all one mind on this subject. Of one mind. (Zech 7:9, 1 Pet 3:8)

“This is what the LORD All-Powerful said: ‘You must do what is right and fair. You must be kind and show mercy to each other. (Zech 7:9, ERV)
So all you should live together in peace. Try to understand each other. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Be kind and humble. (1 Pet 3:8, ERV)

Throughout the Old Testament, The New Testament. The insistence was always on the majesty of God for true believers. The way believers treat one another shows God’s majesty the best. Nations would be of one mind about the majesty of God. Individuals would reflect this one mind. Like Abraham, Hezekiah, the Psalmist. The nations who sought Gods glory, formed God’s kingdom. In one example Psalms 63:2 David proclaims:

I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

There is often a troubled and persecuted soul near us. In many nations. In many individuals. It would seem that most believe how the God of all the earth has a heart responsive to their own, personal trouble. They never dream it is a thing too petty for the concern of the infinite Jehovah. With a quiet confidence, like the psalmist, they showed it all before God. To Him who was the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 17:7)

The wonderful thing is how this faith of David in the individual loving care of God is evident. It shows confirmation by David’s greater Son. It reveals God’s people, through God’s Word, defeating the forces of darkness.

“…By the blood of the Lamb and by The Word of their testimony.” (Rev 12;11)

Not a sparrow can fall without our Father’s notice and care. The very hairs of our head show how God knows. God cares. God has even counted them! If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto our children, how much more our Father?

Though you are evil, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Mat 7:11)
Though you are evil, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13)

Would it not be well to cultivate gratitude, and to offer grateful songs of thanksgiving to God? In response to our troubles? As Christians we ought to praise God much more than we do. We ought to bring more of the brightness of His love into our lives.

We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty. The greatest self-denial, with His approval. Is better than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray. If we allow our minds to thrive on worldly interests. The Lord may give us time by removing from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of fertile lands. {GC 622.2}

By faith we look to Jesus. His joy and peace reflect from our own countenances. We should seek so to relate ourselves to God that our faces may reflect the sunshine of His love!

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. (Num 6:26)

Each soul has an actual lived experience. led by the Holy Spirit. We may exert an uplifting influence upon others who don’t know the joy of Christ’s presence. Said David,

“Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul” (Psalms 66:16, 1 John 1:1-3)

In 1 John 1:1-3 John was an eye witness to Jesus’ life. John had lived with Jesus, having personal, physical contact with Jesus. He knew beyond any doubt that Jesus brings light and life. “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of humanity.”

Communion with God imparts to the soul an intimate knowledge of his will. But many who profess the faith know not what true conversion is. They have no experience in communion with the Father through Jesus Christ. They have never felt the power of divine grace to sanctify the heart. Praying. Sinning. Sinning. Praying. Lives full of malice, deceit, envy, jealousy, and self-love. Anything but God’s majesty.

The prayers of this class are an abomination to God. True prayer engages the energies of the soul, and affects the life. (2 Cor 5:17)

WE MUST TAKE TIME TO PRAY.

We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty. The greatest self-denial. With His approval, is better than riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray.—(GC 622.)

Anyone can thus pour out their wants before God. And feel the emptiness of everything else under heaven. “All my desire is before thee,” said David, “and my groaning is not hid from thee.”

“My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when must I come and appear before God?” “When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me.” (Psalm 38:9; 42:2, 4)

A Christian can see in that precious teaching, how someone could write in childlike trust:

“I showed before him my trouble.” (Psalms 142:1-2)

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“…you shall not go out with haste…” (Isa 52:12)

It is unlikely that we have begun to understand the amazing power there is in stillness. I know I am always in such a hurry. I must always be doing something in high gear. So much so to the point where I am often in danger of not giving God a chance to work.

As Christians, we can depend upon it. God would never say to us: “Be still” or “sit still” or “stand still” unless He is going to do something! Something Big! And this is one of my biggest troubles in the Christian life. I keep wanting to do something to be a Christian, to “do God’s work,” when I really need to just slow down, wait, and let Jesus work in me, or in someone or somewhere else. I wonder, how long is it going to take me to learn to sit still, and let God have free course to do something in me. To trust Him to be able to do what I cannot? Do we as Christians really know how still we must be when our likeness is being taken? God has one over riding purpose; that we might be like Jesus. After all, isnt this what a Christian is? Someone who is like Jesus?

One of the most interesting things about this verse today from Isaiah 52:12 is really quite a remarkable revelation. We have all heard the candied mantras of relationship Gurus who say things like “don’t walk behind me and be my follower, don’t walk in front of me and make me follow you, but just walk beside me and be my friend.” But this can sometimes seem a bit like not standing still.It sounds really busy and hectic at times. In our opening text the people were told:

“You will leave Babylon, but they will not force you to leave in a hurry. You will not be forced to run away. The LORD will be in front of you. The God of Israel will be behind you.” (ERV)

What struck me so dramatically here is that the text says God will be BOTH behind and in front of them! And that can mean only one thing, that we, as Christians are surrounded by His love. We are completely surrounded when we follow God’s will. When we “stand still. And “see the salvation of the Lord.” (Exodus 14:13, 2 Chron 20:14) Not just in other people. But us. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord in YOU.”

Moses was greatly troubled that his people should manifest so little faith in God, notwithstanding they had repeatedly witnessed the manifestation of His power in their behalf. How could they charge upon him the dangers and difficulties of their situation, when he had followed the express command of God?  True, there was no possibility of deliverance unless God Himself should interpose for their release; but having been brought into this position in obedience to the divine direction, Moses felt no fear of the consequences. His calm and assuring reply to the people was, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” {PP 284.1}

Completely Surrounded By God’s Love And Caring

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. (Psalm 125:2)

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;You surround me with songs of deliverance.” (Psalms 32:7)

“since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)

 

“For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” (Zech 2:5)

You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.(Psalms 139:5)

Sometimes when we become impatient of standing still, of waiting on God’s time, God’s ways, we can become hostile, despairing, unhappy, or even worse. But God, in His Word is encouraging us to quiet down, to quietly realize that we are surrounded by His love,and we are merely waiting and watching for the wonderful way that God is going to help and rescue us from whatever mess we are in. When it looks like we are trapped by circumstances, the best advice we can know is to simply stand still and watch God rescue us. To watch God do a new thing.

“The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, says, “If you come back to me you will be saved. Only by remaining calm and trusting in me can you be strong.” But you don’t want to do that.” (Isa 30:15, ERV)

Here, God warned Judah that turning to Egypt and other nations for military might could not save them. Only God could do that. They must wait for him “in quietness and confidence.” No amount of fast talking or hasty activity could speed up God’s grand design. We can have nothing to say to God but thank you. Salvation comes from God alone. (Gal 6:14, Eph 2:13) Because he has saved us, we can trust him and be peacefully confident that he will give us strength to face our difficulties. We should lay aside our well-laid plans and allow Jesus to act.

Perhaps this is why when Johnny Apple Seed was asked what he would do if he learned that Jesus was coming tomorrow, he replied: “I would just keep planting my apple trees.” He knew the secret of Stand Still, Slow Down, Be Quiet.

The whole Bible tells us that true Christians are brand-new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives them new life, new purposes, and they are not the same anymore. We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated—we are re-created (new creations), living in vital union with Christ (Col 2:6-7). At conversion we do not merely turn over a new leaf; we begin a new life under a new Master.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isa 43:19)

“If anyone is in Christ Jesus, ALL things become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)

Are you feeling stuck in a rut? Not sure of God’s will. Then Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet. A new exodus will take place in your life through the new wilderness that The Holy Spirit Himself will lead you to and through. The past miracles that we read about in scripture, all of the previous victories in our lives are nothing compared to what God intends to do for us and in us and through us in the future!

Let us take care that we do not thwart God’s purpose in our lives. We were made to show forth His praise, (Isa 43:21); but we must beware of causing a revoking of His gracious purpose (See Num 14:34, R.V. margin): by prayerlessness, Isa 43:22; by the neglect of little things, Isa 43:23; by the lack of sweetness and tenderness in our disposition, (Isa 43:24).

Christ will be with you as you strive to strengthen your perceptive faculties, that you may more clearly behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Our stunted faculties that steal away our hope and our direction in life must be aroused. A new thing must happen. The Old Testament scriptures, blending with the New, will be to us in this our day and age as the dawning of a new creation, or as the resurrection of the soul.

Jesus said of the Old Testament Scriptures–and how much more it is true of the New–“They are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Yes, the whole Bible tells us of Christ. From the first record of creation, for “without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3), to the closing promise, “Behold, I come quickly” (Revelation 22:12), we are reading of His works and listening to His voice, and realizing His will. If you would become acquainted with the Savior, study the Holy Scriptures.

Don’t be afraid or doubt God when it seems your life is nothing but dark clouds of confusion and hardship. A true wilderness experience. It just may be that you are in fact completely surrounded by God’s love as was Moses when he directly, deliberately went right into the dark cloud in his life. Because Moses knew the secret that he was completely surrounded by those clouds, and more importantly, Moses knew that thats exactly, right where God was:

“Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Exodus 20:21).

God still has His hidden secrets, hidden from even the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things that you cannot understand; wait patiently. Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet. Presently He will reveal to you “the treasures of darkness,” the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil of God’s face. Mystery is the means of God’s “new thing” that He wants to do!

Treasures Of Darkness

Never be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. (Heb 13:5).  Remember, there IS light in every cloud! The other side of your cloud is radiant with God’s glory.

“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.”

When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is near. God is in the dark cloud. Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching; under the shrouding curtain of His pavilion, when you are completely surrounded, you will find Jesus awaiting you, for He has promised:

I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am [also your God](Isa 45:3, NKJV)

 

“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,to subdue nations before him;to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,that thou mayest know that I,the Lord, which call thee by thy name,am the God of Israel.” (Isa 45:1-3).

Are we just so busy, or so troubled, that we are getting in Gods way? It looks like our Lord wants to do a lot for us, and that we are completely surrounded by the tokens of His divine favor and His “everlasting love.” (Jer 31:3). God always reaches toward his people with kindness motivated by His deep and everlasting love. He is eager to do the best for us if we would only let him. If we would just give it all up. If we would realize that there is nothing we can do. That we are completely surrounded. If we would Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet.

In Scripture we are assured that divine favor would be shown to us, just like the remnant of Judah, in answer to fervent prayer. “I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.”(Jer 29:14,PK 552.3)

Often had Daniel and his companions gone over the prophecies outlining God’s purpose for His people. And just as the rapid course of events signalled the mighty hand of God at work among the nations, Daniel gave special thought to the promises God had made to Israel. His faith in the prophetic word led him to enter into many experiences of the very thick, dark clouds foretold by the sacred writers. Yet all Daniel had to do was to Stand Still,Slow Down, And Be Quiet.

“After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon,” the Lord had declared,”I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace,and not of evil,to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:10-13).

God says that we already have an expected end/purpose. We dont need to find what is already in place. Surely, it must be time for some of us to Stand Still, Slow Down, And Be Quiet!