The March to Victory
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57.
Nothing can be more helpless, nothing can be more dependent, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly upon the merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour. The Christian life is a life of warfare, of continual conflict. It is a battle and a march. But every act of obedience to Christ, every act of self-denial for His sake, every trial well endured, every victory gained over temptation, is a step in the march to the glory of final victory.
If we take Christ for our guide, He will lead us safely along the narrow way. The road may be rough and thorny; the ascent may be steep and dangerous; there may be pitfalls upon the right hand and upon the left; we may have to endure toil in our journey; when weary, when longing for rest, we may have to toil on; when faint, we may have to fight; when discouraged, we may be called upon to hope; but with Christ as our Guide we shall not lose the path to immortal life, we shall not fail to reach the desired haven at last.
Christ Himself has trod the rough pathway before us and has smoothed the path for our feet. The narrow path of holiness, the way cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in, is illuminated by Him who is the light of the world. As we follow in His steps, His light will shine upon us, and as we reflect the light borrowed from the glory of Christ, the path will grow brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.
We may think it pleasant at first to follow pride and worldly ambition, but the end is pain and sorrow. Selfish plans may present flattering promises and hold out the hope of enjoyment, but we shall find that our happiness is poisoned and our life embittered by hopes that center in self. In following Christ we are safe, for He will not suffer the powers of darkness to hurt one hair of our heads. He will keep that which is committed to His trust, and we shall be more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
That I May Know Him p. 253
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Prayer Requests
—–Just a short prayer request. We are starting tomorrow our first Health Evangelism Course that is held within the Adventist Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. It is the 1 month curriculum divided into 10 weekends. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will be present, and that He will lead His children in this town to be equipped in order to perform the important task of reaching out to this huge city. Martin
—–I have a friend and classmate who has just been DX with ALS….please remember ‘John” in your prayers…thanks, Carol
—– Please pray for a friend in _____ and her son ……Bob is in great trouble healthwise, and family troubles as well. We would appreciate very much if you would pray for him. Unnur
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Dear Friends,
Now that I am retired, I’ve been able to do some deep cleaning that I had neglected while I was working. I plan on going through everything and getting rid of things that we no longer need. Last week, while Brian and Esther were here, Esther suggested that we rearrange the living room to make more space. It reminds me of the last time that I rearranged things.
In 2005, my mother was no longer able to live by herself, so she moved in with us. Before she got here, we had to move our furniture out of the front bedroom and move some of hers in. As we moved things around we discovered that a few things had found their way under the sofa and dressers that we hadn’t seen in awhile. Some of it was things we had been looking for but most could be thrown away. For a while things looked really messy and I was a nervous wreck, but it had to be done. Eventually, everything was clean and orderly and ready for my mother’s arrival.
Just so, it is good for us to do a little spiritual housecleaning as we prepare for our Soon-coming Saviour. It might shake us up and make us a “nervous wreck,” but just as we needed to have all things in readiness for my mother, so we must get ready to meet Jesus Who is coming sooner than any of us realize. In that process, we must pray as did David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” Ps 139:23, 24; 119:133 Paul urged us to do some spiritual rearranging when he said, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil 2:12, 13 He goes on to speak of a type of rearranging that our Heavenly Father does to get us ready to meet Him, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb 12:5-11
Jesus is coming soon and now is the time to prepare to meet Him. Now is the time to give diligence to make [our] calling and election sure: for if [we] do these things, [we] shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10, 11
Rose