FRIDAY MORNING MANNA
Biblical Numerology: NUMBER SIX Part III
Six Empowering Topics for Today’s Mothers
My favorite Bible-based author and inspirational writer is Ellen G. White. By study and experience, her voluminous works are indeed, to me, “the lesser light that leads to the greater light”— the Bible and Christ Himself. Wikipedia says, she wrote “more than 40 books and 5,000 periodical articles during her lifetime” but unfortunately adds, “believed by many deluded readers to have the spiritual gift of prophecy in the Bible.” I do, and am not delusional. Below are some of them, summarized under six favorite Mother-topics of mine, all of them interconnected, for Mother’s Day 2017:
1. QUEEN OF THE HOME
“The king upon his throne has no higher work than has the mother. The mother is queen of her household. She has in her power the molding of her children’s characters, that they might be fitted for the higher, immortal life. An angel could not ask for a higher mission; for in doing this work she is doing service for God. Let her only realize the high character of her task, and it will inspire her with courage. Let her realize the worth of her work, and put on the whole armor of God [Eph. 6: 10-20], that she may resist the temptation to conform to the world’s standard. Her work is for time and for eternity.” – Signs of the Times, March 16, 1891.
“The mother is the queen of the home, and the children are her subjects. She is to rule her household wisely, in the dignity of her motherhood. He influence in her home is to be paramount; her word, law. If she is a Christian, under God’s control, she will command the respect of her children.”- Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, p. 111.
2. MOTHER’S INFLUENCE REACHES INTO ETERNITY
“The sphere of the mother’s influence may be humble; but her influence, united with the father’s, is as abiding as eternity. Next to God, the mother’s power for good is the strongest known on earth.” – Good Health, March, 1880/ AH 240
“The mother’s influence is an unceasing influence; and if it is always on the side of right, herchildren’s character will testify to her own moral earnestness and worth. Her smile, her encouragement, may be an inspiring force. She may bring sunshine to the heart of her child by a world of love, a smile of approval . . . .
When her influence is for truth, for virtue, when she is guided by divine wisdom, what a power for Christ will be her life! Her influence will reach on through time to eternity. What a thought is this — that the mother’s looks and words and actions bear fruit in eternity, and the salvation or ruin of many will be the result of her influence!” – Signs of the Times, March 16, 1891.
“It is impossible to estimate the power of a praying mother’s influence. She acknowledges God in all her ways. She takes her children before the throne of grace and presents them to Jesus, pleading for His blessing upon them. The influence of those prayers is to those children are as a ‘wellspring of life.’[Prov. 16; 22]. These prayers, offered in faith, are the support and strength of the Christian mother. To neglect the duty of praying with our children is to lose one of the greatest blessings within our reach, and one of the greatest helps amid the perplexities, cares, and burdens of the mothers’ life- work.” – Patriarchs & Prophets, p. 244.
World’s Debt to Godly Mothers. – “The day of God will reveal how much the world owes to godly mothers for men who have been unflinching advocates of truth and reform—men who been bold to do and dare, who stood unshaken amid trials and temptations’ men who shoes the high and holy interests of truth and the glory of God before worldly honor or life itself.” – Signs of the Times, Oct. 11, 1910/AH 243.
Mother’s Role in the Eternal Damnation of Her Children – “Amid the ransomed throng of the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter, the loved and loving John, and their true-hearted brethren, and with them the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing [Rev. 21: 8], are those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero, the monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exultation of those whom he once tortured, and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight.
His mother is there to witness the result of her own work; to see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged and developed by her influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to shudder.”- Great Controversy, pp. 667-8.
“There is the proud, ambitious Napoleon, whose approach had caused kingdoms to tremble.” –Early Writings, p. 293.
Christ is the Judge. [See John 5: 22]. “God has committed all judgment unto the Son, for without controversy, He is God manifest in the flesh [1 Tim. 3: 16]. God designed that the Prince of Suferrers in humanity should be Judge of the whole world. He who came from the heavenly courts to save men from eternal [second] death; . . . He who submitted to be arraigned before an earthly tribunal, and who suffered the ignominious death of the cross—He alone is to pronounce the sentence of reward or of punishment.” – Review & Herald, Nov. 22, 1898.
3. JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN!
“Jesus was ever a lover of children. He accepted their childish sympathy and their open, unaffected love. The grateful praise from their pure lips was music to His ears, and refresh His spirit when oppressed by contact with crafty and hypocritical men. Wherever the Savior went, the benignity of His countenance, and His gentle, kindly manner won the love and confidence of children.
Among the Jews it was customary for children to be brought to some rabbi, that he might lay his hands upon them in blessing; but the Savior’s disciples thought His work too important to be interrupted this way. When mothers came to Him with their little ones, the disciples looked on them with disfavor. They thought these children too young to be benefitted by a visit to Jesus, and concluded that He would be displeased at their presence. But it was the disciples with whom He was displeased. The Savior understood the care and burden of the mothers who were seeking to train their children according to the word of God. He had heard their prayers. He Himself had drawn them to His presence.
One mother with her child had left her home to find Jesus. On the way she told a neighbor her errand. , and the neighbor wanted to have Jesus bless her children. Thus several mothers came together, with their little ones. Some of the children had passed beyond the years of infancy to childhood and youth. When the mothers made known their desire, Jesus heard with sympathy the timid, tearful request. But He waited to see how the disciples would treat them. When He saw them send the mothers away, thinking to do Him a favor, He showed them their error, saying, ”Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God’ [Matt. 19: 14, K.J.V.] He took the children in His arms, laid His hands upon them, and gave them the blessing for which they came.
The mothers were comforted. They returned to their homes strengthened and blessed by the words of Christ. They were encouraged to take up their burden with new cheerfulness, and to work hopefully for their children. The mothers of today are to receive His words with the same faith. Christ is as verily a personal Savior today as when He lived a man among men. He is as verily the Helper of mothers today as when He gathered the little ones to His arms in Judea . . . .
Jesus knows the burden of every mother’s heart. He who had a mother that struggled with poverty and privations sympathizes with every mother in her labors. He who made a long journey in order to relieve the anxious heart of a Canaanite woman will do as much for the mothers of today. He who gave back to the widow of Nain her only son, and who in His agony upon the cross remembered His own mother, is touched today by the mother’s sorrow. In every grief and every need He will give comfort and help.
Let mothers come to Jesus with their perplexities. They will find grace sufficient to aid them in the management of their children. The gates are open to every mother who would lay her burdens at the Savior’s feet. He who said, ‘Suffer little children to come unto Me,’ still invites the mothers to lead up their little ones to be blessed by Him. Even the babe in its mother’s arms may dwell under the shadow of the Almighty [Ps. 91] through the faith of the praying mother.”- Desire of Ages, pp. 511-12.
4. ANGELS WILL IMMORTALIZE NAMES OF FAITHFUL MOTHERS
“We see a retinue of angels on either side of the gate; and as we pass in, Jesus speaks, ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom that is prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ [Matt. 25: 34]. Here He tells you to be a partaker of His joy, and what is that? It is the joy of seeing of the travail of your soul, fathers. It is the joy of seeing that your efforts, mothers, are rewarded. Here are your children; the crown of life is upon their heads, and the angels immortalize the names of the mothers whose efforts have won their children to Jesus Christ.” – Child Guidance, p. 568.
Timothy Raised by Godly Mother and Grandmother – “Timothy’s father was a Greek and his mother a Jewess. From a child he had known the Scriptures [2 Tim. 3: 15]. The piety he saw in his home life was sound and sensible. The faith of his mother and grandmother in the sacred oracles was to him a constant reminder of the blessing of doing God’s will. The word of God was the rule by which these two godly women had guided Timothy. The spiritual power of the lessons that he had received from them kept him pure in speech and unsullied by evil influences with which he was surrounded. Thus his home instructors [mother and grandmother] had o-operated with God in preparing him to bear burdens. . . . Those who had taught Timothy in his childhood were rewarded by seeing the son of their care linked in close fellowship the great apostle.” – Acts of the Apostles, p. 203.
NOTE: These godly women did not need to be ordained as pastors in order to fulfill God’s highest work for women and mothers. And God’s order has not changed.
5. COMFORT FOR BEREAVED MOTHERS (Lines Penned on Death of the Child of Mrs. White’s Twin Sister).
“Our fondest hopes are often blighted here. Our loved ones are torn from us by death. We close their eyes and habit them for the tomb, and lay them away from our sight. But hope bears our spirits up. We are not parted forever, but shall meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. The Life-giver is coming. Myriads of holy angels escort Him on His way. He bursts the bands of death, breaks the fetters of the tomb, the precious captives come forth in health and immortal beauty.
As the little infants come forth immortal from their dusty beds, they immediately wing their way to their mother’s arms. They meet again nevermore to part. But many of the little ones have no mother there. We listen in vain for the rapturous song of triumph from the mother. The angels receive the motherless infants and conduct them to the tree of life.
Jesus places the golden ring of light, the crown upon their little heads. God grant that the dear mother of ‘Eva’ may be there, that her little wings may be folded upon the glad bosom of her mother.” –The Youth’s Instructor, April, 1858/2 SM 258-9.
6. NO OTHER WORK CAN EQUAL MOTHER’S, IN IMPORTANCE (Work Compared with Artist, Sculptor, Author, Musician):
“There is a God above, and the light and glory from His throne rests upon the faithful mother as she tries to educate her children to resist the influences of evil. No other work can equals hers in importance. She has not, like the artist, to paint a form of beauty upon canvas, nor, like the sculptor, to chisel it from marble. She has not, like the author, to embody a noble thought in words of power, nor, like the musician, to express a beautiful sentiment in melody. It is hers, with the help of God to develop in a human soul, the likeness of the divine.”- Ministry of Healing, p. 378.
(To be continued nest week)