Tag: character

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Devotionals

CRISIS REVEAL CHARACTER

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

March 16 2020
CRISIS REVEAL CHARACTER.

“Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth In man, and maketh flesh his [right] arm [for power], and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inherit the parched places of the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth In the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is (read verse 8 containing the the conditional promise).” Jer. 17:5-8.

Verses 9,10 reveals the hidden contents of our hearts. But consider the following: “It is in a crisis that character is revealed. When the earnest voice proclaimed at midnight, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him! and the sleeping virgins were roused from their slumbers, it was SEEN who had made preparation for the event. Both parties were taken unawares; BUT one was prepared for the emergency, and the other was found without preparation. So NOW, a sudden and UNLOOKED-FOR calamity, something that brings the soul face to face with DEATH, will show whether there is real faith in the promises of God.

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Devotionals

HIGHER EDUCATION? STUDY CHRIST’S PARABLES

February 10 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

HIGHER EDUCATION? STUDY CHRIST’S PARABLES.

“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet [Isaiah].”

Matt. 13: 34, 35 (read the rest). “In the Savior’s parable teaching is an indication of what constitutes “higher learning.’ Christ might have opened to men the deepest truths of science. He might have unlocked mysteries which have required many centuries of toil and study to penetrate. He might have made suggestions in scientific lines that would have afforded food for thought and stimulus for invention to the close of time.

But He did not do this. He said nothing to gratify curiosity, or to satisfy man’s ambition by opening doors to worldly greatness. In all His teaching, Christ brought the mind of man in contact with the Infinite Mind. He did not direct the people to study men’s theories about God, His Word, or His works.

He taught them to behold Him as manifested in His works, in His Word, and by His providences. Christ did not deal with abstract theories, but in that which is essential to the development of character, that which will enlarge men’s capacity for knowing God, and increase his efficiency to do good.

He spoke to men of those truths that relate to the conduct of life, and that take hold upon eternity.” COL 22, 23. There are 40 parables of Christ recorded in the NT. Don’t you think they’re priceless compared to all the politics, entertainment and unnecessary “cares of this life”?! If you do let’s find whatever time is left to study these “higher education” subjects! NMF 

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Devotionals

WISE OR FOOLISH VIRGINS?

February 5, 2020

MID-WEEK MESSAGE FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

WISE OR FOOLISH VIRGINS?

“Behold, The Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!” Matt. 25:6.— “The great controversy is nearing its end. Every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that the end to all things is at hand. Wars and rumors of wars declare it. Is there a Christian whose pulse does not beat faster as he anticipates the great events opening before us? The Lord is coming. We hear the footsteps of an approaching God.” OHC346. 

What/Who are the Foolish virgins? “The state of the CHURCH represented by the foolish virgins, is also spoken of as the Laodicean state.” 2RH420. 

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Devotionals

TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS

November 6, 2019

MID-WEEK MESSAGE FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS.

“The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it will soon be cut off, and we fill fly away…..So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (apply our hearts unto wisdom, KJV).” Psalms 90: 10,12, NKJV.

Without life time has no existence, no meaning, no value. God in Christ alone is the Source, Giver and Sustainer of life, temporal and eternal. Thus we read: “Our time belongs to God. Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory.

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Devotionals

Are We A Saving Influence?

September 23, 2019

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

Are We A Saving Influence?

See 2 Cor. 2:15, 16 first. Savor means “aroma” and “influence.”  Throw a pebble into a lake, and a wave is formed, and another, and another. As they increase the circle widens, until it reaches the very shore.

Beyond our knowledge or control it tells upon others in blessing OR cursing. Character is power.

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FMM

Is our religion the religion of man? or of Christ and the Bible?

"Waiting For The Word" Photo Credit by Flickr/Heinrich Hofmann

FRIDAY MORNING MANNA

Is our religion the religion of man? or of Christ and the Bible?

   

     “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent; hath He said, and shall not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall He not make it good?” Numbers 23: 19.

To anyone first reading this column and wonders who and what are paramount and supreme in all its articles and reports, look no further. First, it is God the Father in Christ Jesus as revealed in the wonders of creation but especially in the Bible through enlightenment of the Holy Spirit upon the mind of the searcher, and, the plan of redemption of the gospel. So before we return to the topic of the series, consider the following from the inspired pen of Ellen G. White, based on the Bible which more than adequately articulates the foregoing:  

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FMM

True Happiness According to the Scriptures

FRIDAY MORNING MANNA

True Happiness According to the Scriptures

    Happy is the man who finds, and the man who gains understanding . . . . her ways are the ways of pleasantness, and all her ways are peace . . . .and happy are all who retain her. (see Proverbs 3: 13-18, NKJV.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! But how do we make this really happen? Is there fail-proof formula? By what metric do we measure this specific happiness’ index? In what meaningful sense will 2018 really be new? How did we start it beginning New Year’s Eve, i.e., by sunset of January 31 of the 1017?

Was it “peaceful and quiet with family members,” as the pleasant pharmacy tech at Loma Linda Community Pharmacy told me yesterday or like the world celebrates with a super-boosted adrenaline trip from a sugar high and other popular boosters through to past midnight, winding up with a nasty headache and a downer “rainy days and Mondays” feeling —into the very first day of the New Year?  “A journey of a thousand miles [or a year] begins with the first step.”

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FMM

What shall I do to inherit eternal life?

FRIDAY MORNING MANNA  

Biblical Numerology: NUMBER FOUR & FORTY– Part  IXX

 ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life?’

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK:

“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made them upright;

but they have sought out many inventions.”

– King Solomon, Ecclesiastes 7: 29, K.J.V.

This is the question those who are convicted by the Holy Spirit will ask, not the popular yet unbiblical question: “Are you saved?” Such questioners force the issue by even demanding, “It’s answerable by either a Yes or No.” The Creator of the heavens and the earth,

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