And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws. Daniel 7:25.
Satan could not hinder the plan of salvation. Jesus was crucified, and arose again the third day. He [Satan] told his angels that he would make even the crucifixion and resurrection tell to his advantage. He was willing that those who professed faith in Jesus should believe that the laws regulating the Jewish sacrifices and offerings ceased at the death of Christ, if he could push them further, and make them believe that the law of ten commandments died also with Christ….
He [Satan] told his angels … that the Ten Commandments were so plain that many would believe that they were still binding; therefore he must seek to corrupt the fourth commandment, which brings to view the living God. He led on his representatives to attempt to change the Sabbath, and alter the only commandment of the ten which brings to view the true God, the maker of the heavens and the earth. Satan presented before them the glorious resurrection of Jesus, and told them that by His rising on the first day of the week, He changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. Thus Satan used the resurrection to serve his purpose. He and his angels rejoiced that the errors they had prepared took so well with the professed friends of Christ.
Satan, working through unconsecrated leaders of the church, tampered with the fourth commandment … and essayed to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which God had blessed and sanctified (Genesis 2:2, 3), and in its stead to exalt the festival observed by the heathen as “the venerable day of the sun.”
The Lord has clearly defined the road to the city of God; but the great apostate has changed the signpost, setting up a false one—a spurious sabbath…. The enemy of all good has turned the signpost round, so that it points to the path of disobedience as the path of happiness…. He has thought to change times and laws.
The Faith I Live By p. 81
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for my husband, Don. His Christian walk is suffering. He is cussing at me and taking things. this man is not the Christian man I married. I am now married to a stranger. He is always angry. Please pray god convicts his heart about the way he is behaving. Jacqueline
—-Please pray for the families whose children were shot yesterday in the school shooting.
—-I need prayer for my friend Keith. He has atrial fibrillation. John
—-Please pray for a mother who has brain cancer. Rebecca
—-Please pray for my sister, she’s getting some test done today, hope that everything comes out good Karen
—-Please pray my neighbor won’t break in and harm me and my cats. Also l need a job full-time. Ann
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Dear Friends,
When we lived in Washington state, we often took our vacation in northwest Montana. It was so beautiful there. As we were driving along, we passed by an area that had many tourist attractions. Silver Mountain was a ski resort that was also open in the summer, It still ran its tram ride up and over the mountains as there was a restaurant on the top of Silver mountain as well as a hiking trail where one could enjoy the natural beauty of the place.
Ron and the children wanted to ride that tram and walk around for awhile up at the resort. I had no objections to walking on the firm ground of the mountaintop, it was getting there that worried me. I have always been afraid of heights. As I looked at that little gondola suspended on a thin cable, fingers of fear crept over me. There was no way that I was going to go in that thing. I would wait for them at the bottom. My family coaxed and pleaded. Finally I relented.
Ron paid the fare for the ride. As we waited to enter the next tiny cubical suspended by what looked to me like a mere thread, all of the stories I had read about people falling to their death when the cable broke came to my mind. We would be high enough that that sort of disaster could be repeated. Could I, would I, trust that cable not to break?
All too soon, it was our turn to be suspended in space. Reluctantly, I entered the gondola along with my family. To say I was afraid was an understatement. Those stories of disasters in other places and at other times became more vivid in my mind. The attendant closed the door with a finality that was terrifying.
Off we went, suspended in space by the small connection that we had to the cable above. At first the ride didn’t seem too bad as we ascended the first mountain, but as we came over the top, we were surprised to see that the ride did not end there. It continued to a nearby mountain and we were whisked along above a small town below. The houses below looked far too small. I began to calculate what would happen if the cable snapped or the connection was lost and wondered if the occupants of one of the houses below would be surprised if we suddenly plummeted downwards and came crashing through their roof. I was just about to panic, when one of my children did. (It was not the child who was afraid of heights like I am) For the rest of the ride, I was so busy trying to console her, that I did not have time to worry about myself or that tiny connection above. Before I realized it, we were past the scary part of the ride and back into something we could handle.
How often our life is like being in that gondola. We are “suspended” by a mere thread of faith. We become frightened and feel forsaken. Doubts and fears wash over us and we feel as if we cannot go on. Yet, if we will look away from self, “trust in the LORD, and do good,” our life’s journey will not be so frightening. Ps 37:3 We will be so busy helping others through their problems and fears, that we will not have time to focus on our own.
Our Dear Saviour commands, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Mark 12:31; Luke 6:31; John 13:35 What good advice to remember in all of our dealing with others. If each of us were to follow this principle, how different our life and the lives of those around us would be. If each of us would set self aside and allow Jesus’ love to flow through us, how kind and considerate we would be to each other. How carefully and tenderly we would treat our fellowmen.
John has much to say about our dealing with others. “Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 3:17, 18; 4:20-5:4 So keeping the first four commandments which deal with our relationship with the Great Lawgiver, as well as the last six which deal with our relationship with those about us, is an act of faith. This faith, which comes from God, gives us the ability to look away from ourselves and look to the welfare of others. “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil 2:3, 4, 13
“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 1 Peter 3:8-13
Rose