Thought of the Day
February 3, 2017
God will reward those who come to Him in earnest faith. - BE August 12, 1901
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Friday, February 3, 2017
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Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
February 3, 2017
Never Dishonor God by Violating Righteous Principles
So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners. Proverbs 1:19, NKJV.
To every person is given his or her work. Each has a place in the eternal plan of heaven. It is the duty of fathers and mothers to overcome their own lawlessness, their untidy habits. Truth is clean and pure and of great value and needs to be brought into the character building. Those who have the truth, the love of the truth in their hearts, will make any and every sacrifice that this truth may have the first place in everything....
There are those in our churches who have much to say in regard to Christianity, but in whose presence we should always be guarded, for they dismiss the Word of God from their business transactions. When there is buying and selling to be done, God is not by their side. The enemy is on the ground, and he takes possession of them. Christian brotherhood and love is laid a sacrifice on the altar of greed. God, heaven, the precepts of Jehovah, His oft-repeated injunctions, are obliterated from the soul. They know not what it means to practice the principles laid down in the Word of God. They sell their souls for unlawful gain. So thick is the veil which blinds their eyes that they can see only the fraudulent gain. So hard is the incrustation that envelops the heart that it feels not the love and tenderness and pity of Christ for their fellow beings. The holiness and truth of God are shut out from their souls.
Will the people of God frown down all this corrupting influence? Will they give their hearts to God? Will they deal mercifully with their fellow mortals? Will Seventh-day Adventists bear in mind that they cannot swerve from truth in their dealings with their fellow beings, that they cannot violate justice or let go their integrity without forsaking God? Anything that dishonors Him will never benefit you. People who expect to prosper by violating the eternal principles of righteousness are laying up for themselves a harvest they will not care to reap. They place themselves in the enemy's ranks and bring degradation upon themselves. Although for a time they may seem to prosper, they can never help to compose the family of God. - Sermons and Talks 2:133, 134.
From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 192.
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Daily readings for 2017-02-03: To Be Like Jesus
Hi Raul Diaz,
To Be Like Jesus — Day 3 of 335
The Promise of Redemption, February 3
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15, NKJV.
In drooping flower and falling leaf Adam and his companion witnessed the first signs of decay. Vividly was brought to their minds the stern fact that every living thing must die. Even the air, upon which their life depended, bore the seeds of death.
Continually they were reminded also of their lost dominion. Among the lower creatures Adam had stood as king, and so long as he remained loyal to God, all nature acknowledged his rule; but when he transgressed, this dominion was forfeited. The spirit of rebellion, to which he himself had given entrance, extended throughout the animal creation. Thus not only the life of humans, but the nature of the beasts, the trees of the forest, the grass of the field, the very air they breathed, all told the sad lesson of the knowledge of evil.
But mortals were not abandoned to the results of the evil they had chosen. In the sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of redemption. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman,” God said, “and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of the dust to which they must return, they listened to words that could not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through Christ.
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in “righteousness and holiness of truth” (Ephesians 4:24, margin). Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope.
As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake the evil, and inviting them to receive the good.—Education, 26, 27.
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Thursday, February 2, 2017
Daily readings for 2017-02-03: To Be Like Jesus
Hi Raul Diaz,
To Be Like Jesus — Day 3 of 335
The Promise of Redemption, February 3
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15, NKJV.
In drooping flower and falling leaf Adam and his companion witnessed the first signs of decay. Vividly was brought to their minds the stern fact that every living thing must die. Even the air, upon which their life depended, bore the seeds of death.
Continually they were reminded also of their lost dominion. Among the lower creatures Adam had stood as king, and so long as he remained loyal to God, all nature acknowledged his rule; but when he transgressed, this dominion was forfeited. The spirit of rebellion, to which he himself had given entrance, extended throughout the animal creation. Thus not only the life of humans, but the nature of the beasts, the trees of the forest, the grass of the field, the very air they breathed, all told the sad lesson of the knowledge of evil.
But mortals were not abandoned to the results of the evil they had chosen. In the sentence pronounced upon Satan was given an intimation of redemption. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman,” God said, “and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of the dust to which they must return, they listened to words that could not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained through Christ.
This intimation also nature repeats to us. Though marred by sin, it speaks not only of creation but of redemption. Though the earth bears testimony to the curse in the evident signs of decay, it is still rich and beautiful in the tokens of life-giving power. The trees cast off their leaves, only to be robed with fresher verdure; the flowers die, to spring forth in new beauty; and in every manifestation of creative power is held out the assurance that we may be created anew in “righteousness and holiness of truth” (Ephesians 4:24, margin). Thus the very objects and operations of nature that bring so vividly to mind our great loss become to us the messengers of hope.
As far as evil extends, the voice of our Father is heard, bidding His children see in its results the nature of sin, warning them to forsake the evil, and inviting them to receive the good.—Education, 26, 27.
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Devoción Matutina en español
Devoción Matutina en español
February 2, 2017
Las cualidades no faltan
1 Samuel 9:1, 2.
Entre los hijos de Israel no había otro más hermoso que él. 1 Samuel 9:2.
Las cualidades personales del futuro monarca eran tales que halagaban el orgullo que había impulsado el corazón del pueblo a desear un rey... De porte noble y digno, en la flor de la vida, bien parecido y alto, parecía nacido para mandar. Sin embargo, a pesar de estos atractivos exteriores, Saúl carecía de las cualidades superiores que constituyen la verdadera sabiduría. No había aprendido en su juventud a dominar sus pasiones impetuosas y temerarias; jamás había sentido el poder renovador de la gracia divina.— Historia de los Patriarcas y Profetas, 659, 660.
El Señor no dejó que Saúl fuera colocado en una posición de responsabilidad sin la iluminación divina. Iba a desempeñar nuevos deberes, y el Espíritu del Señor vino sobre él. El resultado fue que se convirtió en un hombre nuevo. El Señor dio a Saúl un nuevo espíritu, otros pensamientos, otras metas y deseos distintos de los que había tenido previamente. Esta iluminación, con el conocimiento espiritual de Dios, que lo colocaba en situación ventajosa, debía sujetar su voluntad a la voluntad de Jehová.— The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 2:1013.
Saúl tenía mente e influencia capaces de gobernar un reino, si sus facultades hubiesen estado sometidas al dominio de Dios, pero los mismos dones que lo capacitaban para hacer el bien podían ser usados por Satanás, al ser rendidos a su poder, y le permitirían ejercer amplia influencia para el mal. [Saúl] podía ser más cabalmente vengativo, perjudicial y decidido en perseguir sus designios impíos que otros hombres, a causa de las superiores facultades mentales y afectivas que le habían sido entregadas por Dios.— Ibid..
Confiando en su propia fuerza y juicio, Saúl actuaría impulsivamente, cometiendo graves errores. Pero si permanecía humilde, tratando constantemente de ser guiado por la sabiduría divina, y avanzando a medida que la providencia de Dios abría el camino, podría cumplir los deberes de su alto cargo con éxito y honor. Bajo la influencia de la gracia divina, toda buena cualidad se hubiera fortalecido, mientras los rasgos malos progresivamente hubieran perdido su poder. Esta es la obra que el Señor promete hacer por los que se consagran a él. Id. 1016, 1017.* Esdras 4-6
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Daily Devotional
Daily Devotional
February 2, 2017
Pray to Reflect Christ's Unfathomable Love
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32, NKJV.
Who can measure the love Christ felt for a lost world as He hung upon the cross, suffering for the sins of the guilty? This love was immeasurable, infinite.
Christ has shown that His love was stronger than death. He was accomplishing humanity's salvation; and although He had the most fearful conflict with the powers of darkness, yet, amid it all, His love grew stronger and stronger.... The price was paid to purchase the redemption of men and women, when, in the last soul struggle, the blessed words were uttered which seemed to resound through creation: "It is finished." ...
The length, the breadth, the height, the depth, of such amazing love we cannot fathom. The contemplation of the matchless depths of a Savior's love should fill the mind, touch and melt the soul, refine and elevate the affections, and completely transform the whole character....
Some have limited views of the atonement. They think that Christ suffered only a small portion of the penalty of the law of God; they suppose that, while the wrath of God was felt by His dear Son, He had, through all His painful sufferings, the evidence of His Father's love and acceptance; that the portals of the tomb before Him were illuminated with bright hope, and that He had the abiding evidence of His future glory. Here is a great mistake. Christ's keenest anguish was a sense of His Father's displeasure. His mental agony because of this was of such intensity that many can have but faint conception of it....
Here is love that no language can express. It passes knowledge. Great is the mystery of godliness. Our souls should be enlivened, elevated, and enraptured with the theme of the love of the Father and the Son to humanity. The followers of Christ should here learn to reflect in some degree that mysterious love preparatory to joining all the redeemed in ascribing "blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, ... unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." - Testimonies for the Church 2:212-215.
From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 19.
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Thought of the Day
Thought of the Day
February 2, 2017
The welfare of your soul and your eternal happiness depend upon whether your foundation is built upon Christ. - RH May 11, 1896
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