I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Psalm 32:8.
Often the Christian life is beset with dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before, and bondage and death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly, Go forward…. Faith looks beyond the difficulties, and lays hold of the unseen, even Omnipotence, therefore it cannot be baffled. Faith is the clasping of the hand of Christ in every emergency.
Every ship sailing the sea of life needs to have the divine Pilot on board; but when storms arise, when tempests threaten, many persons push their Pilot overboard, and commit their bark into the hand of finite man, or try to steer it themselves. Then disaster and wreckage generally follow, and the Pilot is blamed for running them into such dangerous waters. Do not commit yourselves into the keeping of men, but say, “The Lord is my helper”; I will seek His counsel; I will be a doer of His will…. It is as impossible for us to receive qualification from man, without the divine enlightenment, as it was for the gods of Egypt to deliver those who trusted in them…. Do not trust yourself to men. Act under the divine Guide.
You have been chosen by Christ. You have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. Plead before God the efficacy of that blood. Say unto Him: “I am Thine by creation; I am Thine by redemption. I respect human authority, and the advice of my brethren; but I cannot depend wholly upon these. I want Thee, O God, to teach me. I have covenanted with Thee to adopt the divine standard of character, and make Thee my counselor and guide—a party to every plan of my life; therefore teach me.” Let the glory of the Lord be your first consideration…. Let every act of your life be sanctified by a holy endeavor to do the Lord’s will, that your influence may not lead others into forbidden paths.
The Faith I Live By p 100
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for my brother-in-law Roy who is having health issues. Rose
—-The SDA community in ____ woke up this morning to hear the very tragic and sad news in the La Brea SDA church. Four members were brutally murdered last night, a teacher at one of our schools, her daughter and two members . Please pray for the local church, the school, Pastor Alexis (the local pastor) and the SDA community. Joanie
—- I am requesting special prayers for my sister Arlene who is diagnosed with a recurring cancer, sister Audrey with various medical conditions. Errol
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Dear Friends,
Almost twenty years ago, we were travelling to the state of Washington to see an old friend. As we were traveling on Interstate 90 we had to drive over Lookout Pass. It was snowing in the mountains— not a few lazy flakes either! It was a blizzard! We could not see anything but the thick, white flakes coming down like a curtain around us.
Esther (who was still a teenager) was driving and was quite scared as she could not see anything but white. To make matters worse, the windshield wipers were not clearing the snow off the windshield. She said, “Mother, I don’t know what to do. I can’t see anything.” We knew we were in trouble. We could not pull over as we would soon be covered with a blanket of snow and probably would have been hit from behind or have frozen to death. We were disoriented and lost even though we could see a little of the barrier at the side of the road which we were following as best we could. We started praying to the only One Who could help us. We could so identify with a story that our Dear Saviour told about the one lost sheep who was lost in the mountains. “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” Luke 15:4-7
*Safe were the ninety and nine in the fold, Safe, though the night was stormy and cold; But said the shepherd, when counting them o’er, “One sheep is missing: There should be one more!” The shepherd went out to search for his sheep, And all through the night on the rocky steep He sought till he found him, with love-bands he bound him, And I was that one lost sheep.
Although His feet were weary and worn, And though His hands were rent and torn; E’en though the road was rugged and steep, Still the good shepherd sought long for his sheep. The shepherd went out to search for his sheep, And all through the night on the rocky steep He sought till he found him, with love-bands he bound him, And I was that one lost sheep.
There in the night He heard a faint cry From the lost sheep just ready to die; Then in His arms, to shield from the cold. He brought the lost one safe back to the fold. The shepherd went out to search for his sheep, And all through the night on the rocky steep He sought till he found him, with love-bands he bound him, And I was that one lost sheep.
How much we needed a Shepherd right then to find us in that blizzard and carry us down that snow-covered mountain. In answer to our prayer, our Loving Shepherd sent a car speeding around us, slowing down after he got by. We followed his tail lights until we were safely down the mountain.
Just so, we need a Shepherd to lead us through the blizzard of this world. How many times we feel lost and disoriented needing someone to show us the way. How often the troubles and trials of life surround us until we are overwhelmed just as we were on that mountain. We cannot see the way out. We cannot find the path to travel. We cry, “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.” Ps 102:1, 2 Our Good Shepherd does not leave us to go through our trials alone. He, Who is the Light of the World says, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God.” “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” John 8:12; 10:14,15; Isa. 43:1-3; Ps 50:15
May we follow the Good Shepherd in whatever path He leads us. May we look “unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb 12:2 “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, [may we] receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” is my prayer
Rose
*That One Lost Sheep by L. Phillip Knox
My Guide and Pilot