Today we start a new devotional book “Faith I Live By” by Ellen G. White. It is my hope that we all will increase in knowledge and faith through these readings.
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Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105.
We all need a guide through the many strait places in life as much as the sailor needs a pilot over the sandy bar or up the rocky river, and where is this guide to be found? We point you … to the Bible.
God, has given us His Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Its teachings have a vital bearing on our prosperity in all the relations of life….
The Bible is the great standard of right and wrong, clearly defining sin and holiness. Its living principles, running through our lives like threads of gold, are our only safeguard in trial and temptation. The Bible is a chart, showing us the waymarks of truth. Those who are acquainted with this chart will be enabled to tread with certainty in the path of duty, wherever they may be called to go.
When faith in God’s Word is lost, the soul has no guide, no safeguard. The youth are drawn into paths which lead away from God and from everlasting life.
To this cause may in great degree be attributed the widespread iniquity in our world today. When the Word of God is set aside, its power to restrain the evil passions of the natural heart is rejected.
When God’s Word is made the man of our counsel, when we search the Scriptures for light, heavenly angels come near to impress the mind and to enlighten the understanding, so that it can be truly said, “The entrance of thy words giveth light….” Psalm 119:130.
The Word of God is light and truth…. It is able to guide every step of the way to the city of God.
Faith I Live By p. 7
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Prayer Requests
—–Please put Gale M. on your prayer list her son Keith passed away yesterday and she is not taking it very well. Mary
—–Please pray for me. I need a miracle in my life right now. God knows what it is. Mary
—–I want you pray for my father who is going for a surgery operation CE
—–I need prayer for extreme anger that I dont know where came from, so am assuming from satan. Please pray that God will heal this. Barbara
—–Please pray for my brother in law. His body is filled with infection and he’s on antibiotics. Lord please bring healing. He’s always in pain and can’t eat. The stomach is inflamed and has a hole. Please prayer warriors you are needed more than ever. Mariana
—–Please pray for a lady who was in a trailer fire. She is in critical condition. Rose
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Dear Friends,
When I was a little girl, my grandfather, Edwin Harmon, was the most important person in my life. From the moment he came home from work, until I went to bed, I followed him everywhere. No matter where my Grandfather was, you would find me. He did not mind having me around even though he was very tired from working as a bookbinder all day. When he was not there, I was very lonely as we lived in a neighborhood where there were very few children.
As I would watch his every move, he would explain to me what he was doing. When I watched him make change purses from pungent Moroccan leather, he would let me smell the rich leather he used and explained the difference between the smells of quality and cheap leathers. He would explain the origin of the sponge he used to wet the leather and the whalebone he used to crease it. As he cleaned fish, he showed me the still-beating heart and various other parts and without realizing it, I got a lesson in anatomy. As he ate his bedtime snack of aged cheese he loved, he would explain how it was made. No matter what he did, he would teach me. I listened intently to his every word.
This is the kind of relationship our Heavenly Father longs to have with us. Our Great Creator greatly desires for us to keep our focus on Him, to love to spend time with Him as much as He loves to spend time with us. He longs for us to listen to His voice, to hear our response, to interact with us throughout the day. He promises, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Ps 32:8 He desires to have us ask Him anything, to talk with Him about our perplexities, to bring our joys or our sorrows to Him, “casting all [our] care upon him, for he careth for [us].” 1 Peter 5:7
Jesus bids us, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:4-11 “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” 14:23 Just before His final moments, Jesus prayed, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” 17:24
May that close walk begin now. May our whole focus be upon our Great Creator and Redeemer. May we have that close and loving relationship with Him, that He so greatly desires for us to have. May we please Him by daily studying His Holy Word, diligently keeping what is written therein, and sincerely praying as did David, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18
Rose