Preparing for Heaven

I have kept very well since the warm weather came. I am surprised that at my age [75] I am favored with such good health. I can go up and down stairs as easily and as quickly as any member of my family. Generally, I am cheerful. I do not want to cast a shadow in my family. I desire that every word that falls from my lips shall be fragrant with Christlike love….

We have been commissioned to go forth as God’s missionaries. In the Bible we learn what work God has given us to do, and there, too, we learn how to do this work. No one can know the will of God so certainly as he who abides in Christ. There are some who are constantly inquiring and speculating and guessing, but who, instead of advancing, are retrograding. They are not united with Christ.

We are not to stumble along in uncertainty. Christ says, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). As we advance, we become used to following. The path of life shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

How deeply grieved the Saviour is by the loss of one of the souls for whom He made so great a sacrifice. He would bring all into the kingdom of heaven. He desires all to see the King in His beauty…. Let us not keep looking at the defects of others. Let us look ever to Jesus…. There are sinners to be saved, and in word and deed we are to fulfill Christ’s purpose for them, as His agencies of healing….

I am making earnest efforts to win the crown of life which at the last great day the Judge of all will give to those who love His appearing. Let us not allow our lips to be tarnished by unbelief. Let us talk the truth. Let us refuse to be deceived by the seducing spirits that will come.

Sister [Lucinda] Hall, will it not be a blessed thing to be an overcomer, to sit with the royal family in the kingdom of heaven, to have a place in the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love His appearing? Be of good courage, my sister. Let nothing discourage you. Keep cheerful. Stand under the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness.—Letter 121, June 25, 1903, to Lucinda Hall, a close friend.
The Upward Look p. 190
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for D who is still depressed and has anger issues. B
—-Please pray! My hubs and I are spiking fevers. He’s 99.2, I’m 102. Sylvia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
While Ron was in college, I worked in the physical therapy department at Lyster Army Hospital in southern Alabama. It was very easy and interesting work. Often the soldiers would come in for treatment when they just wanted a day off. They would complain of a stiff neck or a sore back, but when giving them the treatments, it seemed that they were perfectly fine. The captain that was the head of the department didn’t care whether the soldiers had a legitimate complaint or not. He was more interested in having a good time. He made working there a lot of fun.
After I had worked there about a year, Captain M. was transferred to another base. Major Win was much different. He was tall, quiet, very stern, and quite unapproachable. The fun stopped. He had the opinion that all of the patients who came to our department were there because they didn’t want to work that day. He delighted in giving them painful examinations and hard excercises. From that point I hated my job.
One day, a young soldier walked into our department. He had some rather unusual complaints about pain and weakness. The major felt that he was only there to get out of work and treated him more harshly than he normally treated the soldiers. The young man took it all in a gentle and smiling way. I felt sorry for him because I knew that even if he were exaggerating his condition, the major’s treatment was painful. Several times a week the young man came back. Each time he told of more symtoms. Each time he seemed to get worse. Finally, the young man was transferred to a different hospital by his doctor.
A few weeks later, Major W. came into the department with a more solemn look on his face than usual. He asked me if I remembered the young man. I did. He told me that he had been talking with the young man’s doctor and that the other hospital had tested him and they had found a tumor on the soldier’s upper spine. Major W. had been giving him exercises and treatment the were contrary to what that young man needed and had actually made it worse. He was very sorry that he had done so, but it was too late. The damage was irreversible.
How we treat others harshly because we misjudge them. How many times we permanently injure those around us by word or deed. How easy to be sure that we know someone’s motives, and yet be just as wrong as was Major W. Jesus warns, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matt 7:1-5
Yet, not all judging is wrong for He commands, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24 How can we judge righteously? He gives the answer, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matt 7:20 We cannot judge another person’s motives, but we can know them by their fruits. Does the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance) show forth in their life? Gal 5:22 Yet even then, we must be very careful in our “fruit inspection.”
When judging another, we must remember that “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth.” Rom 14:10, 4
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecc 12:13, 14 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2Cor 4:5; 5:10 Until that time, let us treat others with love and kindness and leave the judging to Him.
Rose