The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Psalm 97:1, 2.
The law of love is the foundation of God’s government, and the service of love the only service acceptable to Heaven. God has granted freedom of will to all, endowed men with capacity to appreciate His character, and therefore with ability to love Him and to choose His service. So long as created beings worshiped God they were in harmony throughout the universe. While love to God was supreme, love to others abounded. As there was no transgression of the law, which is the transcript of God’s character, no note of discord jarred the celestial harmonies.
But known unto God are all His works, and from eternal ages the covenant of grace (unmerited favor) existed in the mind of God. It is called the everlasting covenant, for the plan of salvation was not conceived after the fall of man, but it was that which was “kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and . . . made known unto all the nations . . .” (Romans 16:25, 26, R.V.). . . .
Before Him who ruleth in the heavens the mysteries of the past and future are alike outspread, and God sees beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, the outworking of His purpose of love and blessing. Though clouds and darkness are round about Him, yet righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne. . . . Through the plan of salvation a larger purpose is to be wrought out even than the salvation of man and the redemption of the earth. Through the revelation of the character of God in Christ, the beneficence of the divine government would be manifested before the universe, the charge of Satan refuted, the nature and result of sin made plain, and the perpetuity of the law fully demonstrated.
Then the extermination of sin will vindicate God’s love and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law.
That I May Know Him p. 366
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Prayer Requests
—- Long after his retirement years Ron Spear continued working for His Lord. Friday morning – day of preparation, Ron went to a peaceful sleep with his fathers, awaiting the resurrection. His urgent message to get ready, get ready, get ready, needs to be picked up and sounded out by us. Dean
—– Please pray for the following meetings. • Loma Linda, CA (Mar 3 – 15) Anil Kanda will be conducting Restoration meetings • Taladega, AL (March 7 – 9) South Central’s Prayer Summit • Dorchester, MA (March 8) International Day of Prayer – Theme: “What Kind of Footprints Will You Leave?” • Boston, MA (March 8) The New England Region Women’s Ministries of Seventh-day Adventist is sponsoring a one day International Day of Prayer Conference. Theme ” What Kind of Footprints will you Leave? • Harker Heights, TX (Mar 15) New Hope SDA Women’s Ministry Department is hosting a Women’s Retreat on 15 March 2014 • Portland, ME (Mar 21 – 23) Compassion Rally. Diane
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Dear Friends,
One winter day when Brian and Esther Marie and Mike and Eileen were here, Esther asked if we could go to the zoo. Since the weather was good and she had been asking since summertime, we decided that it would be a good day to go. The only thing that made the day a little sad was that Ronnie Jay had to work. It was fun to see all of the different animals there, yet I kept saying, “Ronnie Jay would have liked to see that.”
Our Great Creator made such a large variety of creatures for us to enjoy. As we were walking along seeing all that there was to see, I couldn’t help thinking of a time when the animals will not have to be in cages and we will be able to interact with them without fear. The Bible speaks of that wonderful time. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.” “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind…. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.”Isa11:6-8; 65:17-25
We can see in our mind’s eye that glorious day! Jesus, Himself, will lead us to living fountains of waters. We will drink deeply of its clear unpolluted refreshment. As we sit under the shade of the tree of life, a lion walks over and lays down at our side. We reach over and pet him and he purrs in contentment. A huge elephant lumbers by and we go over to him. He allows us to get on his back and we take a ride along the river. From our vantage point, we look in every direction and what meets our eyes sends a thrill of joy to our heart. All creation is at peace. The beautiful flowers are sending forth their sweet perfume. The leaves of the trees will never die and fall to the ground. The various creatures are happily playing together without even a trace of fear. The redeemed are shouting praises to the One Who gave His life that they could be there. Yet, in the heart of our Great Redeemer will be a longing for those who failed to accept His wonderful grace. As we are enjoying the pleasures that He has prepared for us, He will remember those who could have been with Him for all eternity if they hadn’t chose to cling to sin.
May we accept God’s great gift of salvation that we may enjoy all the wonders of His Kingdom where “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Cor 2:9 May we allow the Holy Spirit to fit us to dwell in that fair land, that we may bring happiness to our Dear Saviour’s Great Heart of Love. May we bring the good news of salvation to those around us that they, too, will fellowship with our Wonderful Lord throughout eternity is my prayer.
Rose