Morning Manna

Lately, I've been reading through Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5. It's a power-packed book!

One morning while reading, I came across these pertinent thoughts: "The preaching of the gospel is God's chosen agency for the salvation of souls. But our first work should be to bring our own hearts into harmony with God, and then we are prepared to labor for others." {5T 87, 88}  

We know that we need Christ before we can share Christ; we need to be converted, etc. But this is a little different slant...it says we need to be in harmony with God. Being "in harmony" means having the same thoughts and opinions and living as He does. (It's a step beyond simply being forgiven!)

Then there's an example of a man who thought he was "with God"—who considered himself to be on God's side—but who wasn't in harmony. "When rebuked by the Lord through His prophet, Saul stoutly asserted that he had obeyed the voice of God; but the bleating sheep and lowing oxen testified that he had not."

Saul claimed to be an obedient believer, but his claims didn't make it true. He claimed to be loyal, but his actions denied it. How might we "assert" that we are loyal to God, that we are in His army, when we're not actually in harmony with Him? Here are some answers which aren't too hard to apply to our private lives: "In the same manner do many today assert their loyalty to God, but their concerts and other pleasure gatherings, their worldly associations, their glorifying of self, and their eager desire for popularity all testify that they have not obeyed His voice. . . . The consistent Christian is not only a new but a noble creature in Christ Jesus." {5T 88}  

I want my Christianity to be more than an assertion. I want to live in harmony, obedient. I want Him to make me not only new, but noble! Then, I'm prepared to labor for others!

Blessings to one and all,

Cheyenne Reiswig

From a post in YD's Morning Manna devotional sharing group.

Of All the Week the Best: Peaceful Activity

This activity is best when done with a group of people. Each person should have a Bible with a concordance in the back. Other helpful materials would include a Strong’s Concordance, an Index to the Writings of Ellen White, and an assortment of Spirit of Prophecy books.

On Sabbath afternoon, after prayer, give each person a pencil and a paper. Tell them they each have 20 minutes to find out all they can about PEACE. During this time, everyone should work quietly and individually.

Those Juniors, Part 14: Tempting to Teach, # 1

by Eric B. Hare

Last week: It is deduction that is easier; it requires little thought, and the teacher does the explaining. But it is induction that makes a lasting impression on the students. Teaching should be a process of retaining knowledge, which is best done through induction.

Referring to the clever way in which the unjust steward prepared for his future, Christ said, “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”1  We do not understand that Christ was approving dishonesty, but He was commending the ability to think ahead and plan. It is evidently possible to learn something good from a bad man.

The Cost of Love

by Kezzia Keener

I must admit it: I didn't quite know what I was asking for that day as I knelt beside my bed, asking God to teach me to love like He loved. Honestly, though, it didn't occur to me that maybe I should examine the cost a little more. I only knew that I had come face to face with Love Himself, and I just wanted to love like Him. 

About a year passed, and I found myself revisiting the topic. Progress in love seemed slow to me, and each day I seemed to find more and more things that I needed to surrender to Him. I still desired to love like Him, but the effort involved in learning His way seemed overwhelming. I’d gotten distracted along the way, making it seem even harder. Needless to say, my sense of failure left me feeling depressed. 

I thank God that He didn't leave me to my own devising. In the months since, I have begun to understand a little better what it means to “love like Him.”

I mean, who but God could come to a pile of filthy rags and rotting sores that smell very strongly of death, and simply love with a love strong enough to hold me—and all my unrighteousness—close to His heart, and call me His, beautiful, forgiven—before the transformation.

I don’t understand this love. I don’t begin to understand. But I still want to love like Him.

I know it won’t be easy. I’ll have to surrender and throw out and confess and struggle, but He’ll give the strength I need. My life is in His hands. I am His, and I can trust Him to make of me what He wants me to be. When I partner with His almighty power, there are no impossibilities.

My prayer has changed a little bit. Now I’m asking Him not just to teach me to love like He loves, but to purify me (with fire, if needed) and cleanse me from every stain. I still don’t think I know where this prayer will take me, but I want Him in my heart, forever, no matter the cost. So may I be broken if He may be glorified, and may His fire burn all my heart’s dross so His love can be mine.

Power Within

by Arthur T. Pierson

Thousands live above 12,000 feet in the Andes of South America, and mountain peaks soar as high as 22,000 feet. In such a place, it took quite an effort to lay train tracks. But at last the day came when an engineer drove the first locomotive up through the mountains of Bolivia.* Native Bolivians from all across the mountainsides heard of the great engine and traveled many miles to see it.

One group of Indians came all the way from the Amazon basin to see the strange sight. Finding the engine stationary on the tracks, they sat back on their haunches and discussed what this monster could be. “It is made to go,” one observed. Another said, “Let us make it go.” They got out their ropes and hooked them onto various parts of the engine, and then about 30 men began to pull. With several great heaves, they managed to move the locomotive six yards. Standing back to see what they had done, they exclaimed, “Ay-ay-ay-ay Tatai Tatito! The great and little father has given us power to do a wonderful thing!”

The next day, the engineer shoveled coal into the firebox. Hitching two cattle cars onto the engine, he invited the Amazon Indians to step inside. Then, opening the regulator, the engineer let steam into the cylinder, which began to move the piston and the wheels of the locomotive. The Indians shouted with surprise to be carried along at ten miles an hour, instead of slowly dragging the engine themselves!

Steam engines, of course, were not made to be pulled by human power. Instead, the power to propel them comes from a fire within. The same can be said of effectual, fervent prayer. We don’t move Heaven by working up human zeal; instead, God moves us by placing the Holy Spirit within. Then, as we pray, the Spirit helps our human frailty, giving us divine earnestness to pray for things that match God’s will. With the power of the Spirit within, we can know that the Father hears us and will grant our petitions!

*About a century ago.

From The Missionary Review, Volume 30, 1907.