Standard of Truth

The Bible gives us a way by which we can evaluate the validity of a message or messenger:

"To the Law and to the Testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no Light in them!" Isaiah 8:20.

In a world filled with religious confusion, the standard of truth is the Word of God.

 Bible study Lesson 2, Seeing the Signs, by It Is Written, 2014

Faith and Feelings

Faith and feelings should not be confused.  Faith is ours to exercise in the Word of God, regardless of our feelings, and often in opposition to our feelings.

Many fail to accept the pardon and assurance of the acceptance of Heaven, because they do not take God at His word, but instead turn their attention to changing moods and feelings.

Faith always precedes the joyful feelings which naturally result from the assurance of forgiveness and acceptance. The order is never reversed.


From Bible Readings for the Home, p 86, 1958
Note - column 2,
 Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, California and Omaha, Nebraska

A Promise

Do not dishonor God by words of repining, but praise Him with heart and soul and voice.  Look on the bright side of everything.  Do not bring a cloud or shadow into your home.  Praise Him who is the light of your countenance and your God.  Do this, and see how smoothly everything will go. 

Selected Messages Vol. 2 p 267, e g white

Our Friend in Trials and Sufferings

Sometimes, we are called to pass through periods of trial and hardship.  Our future seems hedged with difficulties.  Our faith and loyalty are tested to the limit.  But NEVER does God desert us.  He awaits the right moment to come to our rescue.

 Maybe you are troubled, perplexed, and afraid; it may be because you have forgotten that you have Jesus for a Friend.   Jesus is “a very present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1.  Take Jesus at His word and go boldly and with confidence and tell Jesus all that is on your heart.

What To Do Right Now

God loves you so much. He gave His life to save you from eternal death.

He longs for you to be happy now and in your eternal Home in Heaven when He comes to take you back Home with Him.

Give your life to Him.  Don’t say no to Jesus!

Life has many problems. Turn away from these sorrows and turn to God, now and always.

Limit to satan's Power

Satan… knows better than we do the limit of his power, and how easily he can be overcome if we resist him and face him. Through Divine strength, the weakest saint is more than a match for satan and all his [demons].

Testimonies Vol. 5, 293, E G White

Help for Anxiety

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  Psalm 9:9

When I said, “my foot is slipping,” God’s love supported me. When anxiety was great within me, God’s love brought joy to my soul.  Psalm 94:18-19

For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand, and says to you, “Do not fear, I will help you.”  Isaiah 41:13

My body and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and portion forever.  Psalm 73:26

Jesus says, “Do not let your heart be troubled, Trust in God, trust also in Me.”  John 14:1

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayer and thankfulness, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which is higher than all understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-8

FINAL JUDGMENT GOING ON NOW!

Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of the Judgment. Momentous are the interests involved. The Judgment is now passing in Heaven above. …In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review.

When the work of the investigative Judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for eternal life or eternal death. Probation ends a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven.

The righteous and the wicked will still be living on earth in their mortal state –there will be planting and building, eating and drinking - they will all be unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in Heaven above….

Watch and pray; for you know not when the time is. Mark 13:33

Watch…lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. Mark 13:35-36

Perilous is the condition of those who, growing weary of their watch, turn to the attractions of the world. 


While business men and women are absorbed in the pursuit of wealth, while the pleasure-lover is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments – it may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence, “Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.”  (Daniel 5:27)

Based on Excerpts from The Great Controversy, p 490-491 E G White

Appropriate Now !

Please read Blog January 12, 2015 - Stupendous Crisis Coming. Seems so appropriate right now.

Demonic Miracles & Healings?

Many Christians assume that any supernatural power must come from God. Can Satan actually heal? And if so, how can we tell the working of the devil from the working of God?

Just before Jesus’ coming, demons will work miracles, [see Revelation 16:14]. Genuine miracles from the devil! And these satanic powers perform their wonders in the name of Jesus Christ, [see Matthew 7:22-23.]

So false prophets will use Christ's name to practice evil and lawlessness. Through these deceivers the devil performs all kinds of lying wonders to entrap the unsuspecting. Miracles themselves are not proof of God's presence.

Never forget. Some miracles are the work of the devil done in the spirit of lawlessness – violating God’s law. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3.

Genuine love for God is the test, and true love for God means obeying His commandments. Love for God means more than a warm fuzzy feeling in our hearts when we worship. The proof of Christian love is not miracles, not speaking in tongues – the proof is keeping God’s commandments. John 14:15.

based on a book by George Vandeman in Comrades in Christ, p 21

Confirmation

Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me." John 6:39 [KJV]

In seventh and eighth grade (1967-1969) church catechism class was conducted by Pastor Keith. This class prepared us for the "Rite of Confirmation" when we renewed our baptismal vows spoken for us by our parents and godparents when we were infants.

Catechism was not as expected. A Catechism book was used in our study. We memorized printed answers to printed questions and the Bible seemed to take second place. Being in the last row, where I could not see, did not help my concentration, but "we must sit alphabetically."

Thumbing through the Bible I read a text that was so impressive that I wrote it in large letters in my catechism book, "We ought to obey God rather than man," Acts 5:29.

We were required to memorize the catechism's version of the Ten Commandments.

One day in Catechism we were studying the Sabbath commandment, third in the Catechism, fourth in the Bible, when Kurt asked, "Why are the catechism's Ten Commandments different from the Bible's?"

Pastor Keith asked if anyone had mentioned this to him. Kurt said his grandmother had.

 The pastor said the Bible and Catechism agree on everything, then changed the subject.

Kurt persisted and the class urged him on. As he read the Sabbath commandment from the Bible and then from the Catechism we were amazed they did not agree. Kurt pointed out that the Bible specified the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, not Sunday the first day as the pastor taught.

Pastor Keith angrily snapped, "Do not mention this subject again! You are too young to understand, you do not know anything! You have not even been confirmed! You are to take my word for what the Bible says and accept it!"

He dismissed us early under a veil of fear and confusion.

. Questions were raised such as, “Why does the Bible say one thing and the catechism another? Why does the pastor get upset if we ask Bible questions?”

On Confirmation Sunday the pastor gave each confirmand a personal Bible text. Mine was, "lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world," Matthew 28:20. I had never heard this text before, and it filled me with questions and awe; "the end of the world?"

Always Room for One More

God never downsizes His kingdom. There is always room for one more.

Feel the pain - Cry if you want

Go ahead, feel the pain - Cry if you want. Acknowledge something has died even if it is just a dream of how your life was supposed to go. Tears have a way of cleansing the soul and refreshing the spirit. As you release all that is bottled up inside, God collects those precious tears in a bottle, and does not disregard them. See Psalm 56:8.

Unveiling the Diva Mystique p 82, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Harvest House Publishers, 2005

Before our eyes...

Today men and nations are being tested by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake...

. Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. 

Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Savior's prophecy of the events to precede His coming.

Prophets & Kings, pp 536-537, E G White

See blog Jan 12, 2015 - Stupendous Crisis

Finances

"There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches." Proverbs 13:7

"Better is a little with righteousness, than vast wealth without justice [God]." Proverbs 16:8

From a Bible view, God promises to provide for us when we put the principles of Heaven first in our lives.

 In a world where little is certain, in an age of tremendous financial insecurity, God promises that when we are faithful to Him, He will provide.

No one ever trusted God in vain. He never disappoints those who trust in Him.

Chapter by G Edward Reid, in the book God will Provide, pages 21, 27. by John Bradshaw of It Is Written

God's Leading Statesmen

God has His agents among the leading men and women of the nation. With unanswerable arguments statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose measures that would greatly impede the work of God. Thus a few people will hold in check a powerful current of evil.

Based on The Great Controversy, chapter 38-The Final Warning, page 610, E G White

A Russian Blue named Timmy - Timmy the Troublemaker

Being pet-less we finally decided to adopt a Russian Blue kitten named Timothy. Timothy cried all the way home, but it was really fun having a kitten!

The first week Timmy jumped on the coffee table into Andy’s toast with jelly! Later, tiny Tim jumped into the toilet as it was flushing and luckily we were there to save him from going down the drain!

Tim liked to help Andy with carpentry work including hammers; you can imagine how hard it was for Andy to hammer with Timmy constantly pressing his nose against the nail! Uncovering a furnace vent, the next thing we knew Timmy was stuck inside!

We have handles on our doors rather than knobs, which is a mistake because Timmy can open any door he chooses. If guests are in the bathroom Timmy will open the door, bare his teeth and run away! Timmy is not dumb, but he is weird! Another time Tim opened a door to the outside! We searched all over the yard in our night-clothes but it was already dark…..then I felt a furry beast crawling up my leg under my nightgown! I screamed! and the culprit was…...you guessed it, Timothy!

While we were painting the bedroom, Timmy decided to sneak in and walk in the paint tray. Prancing around the room, he left white paw prints all over the blue carpet and then rubbed his face, sides and tail against the freshly painted walls! Timmy was promptly given a bath and refrained from any more painting tricks.

At exactly 10:00 p.m. Timmy likes to be put into his kennel and have a fuss made over him. One evening, due to company, we forgot the routine and Timmy came into the living room every few minutes to remind us. At 10:25 p.m. we still had not put Tim to bed, so being resourceful he got even. Timmy got out a pair of dirty underwear from the hamper and proudly pranced around our guests carrying his prize! Our guests roared with laughter, we turned red, and Timothy was promptly put to bed!

Despite all his trouble making, Timmy is loved.

 How much more does God love us despite all our trouble making!

Gold & Fire

In regards to our faith and trials - "Gold is not afraid of fire."

God Rescues Every Time

God hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

The righteous face many troubles, but God rescues them every time.

Psalm 34:17-19

Mysteries Explained

All that has perplexed us in the providences of God will in the world to come be made plain. The things hard to be understood will then find explanation.

The mysteries of grace will unfold before us. Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken promises, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony. We shall know that Infinite Love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying.

As we realize the tender care of God who makes all things work together for our good, (Romans 8:28), we shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of Heaven. In the Home of the redeemed, there will be no tears, no funerals...no mourning. ...One rich tide of happiness will flow and deepen as eternity rolls on.

Christian Experiences and Teachings, p 235, E G White (See Revelation 21:3-4)

I've had too many mysteries in my life, this quote gives me assurance that someday they will be explained. Deb M