December 23, 2016
With the terrible weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads to presumption. These were temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us. Desire of Ages, p. 116.
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December 23, 2016
The seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. Rev. 11:15.
The coming of Christ to usher in the reign of righteousness has inspired the most sublime . . . utterances of the sacred writers. . . . The psalmist sang of the power and majesty of Israel’s King:...”Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad . . . before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” Psalm 96:11-13.
Said the prophet Isaiah:…”He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it....” Isaiah 25:8....
When the Saviour was about to be separated from His disciples, He comforted them in their sorrow with the assurance that He would come again: “Let not your heart be troubled....In my Father’s house are many mansions....I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.” John 14:1-3....
The angels who lingered upon Olivet after Christ’s ascension repeated to the disciples the promise of His return: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. And the apostle Paul, speaking by the Spirit of Inspiration, testified: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Says the prophet of Patmos: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” Revelation 1:7.
About His coming cluster the glories of that “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:21. Then the long-continued rule of evil shall be broken; “the kingdoms of this world” will become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15.
From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 316.
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December 23, 2016
Empero sin fe es imposible agradar a Dios; porque es menester que el que a Dios se allega, crea que le hay y que es galardonador de los que le buscan. Hebreos 11:6.
“La fe consiste en confiar en Dios, en creer que nos ama y sabe lo que es mejor para nuestro bien. Así, en vez de nuestro camino, nos induce a preferir el suyo. En vez de nuestra ignorancia, acepta su sabiduría; en vez de nuestra debilidad, su fuerza; en vez de nuestro pecado, su justicia. Nuestra vida, nosotros mismos, somos ya suyos; la fe reconoce su derecho de posesión, y acepta su bendición. Se indican la verdad, la integridad y la pureza como secretos del éxito de la vida. La fe es la que nos pone en posesión de estas virtudes. Todo buen impulso o aspiración provienen de Dios; la fe recibe de Dios la vida que es lo único que puede producir crecimiento y eficiencia verdaderos.”— Obreros Evangélicos, 273.
“Cuando hablamos de la fe debemos tener siempre presente una distinción. Hay una clase de creencia enteramente distinta de la fe. La existencia y el poder de Dios, la verdad de su Palabra, son hechos que aun Satanás y sus huestes no pueden negar de corazón. La Biblia dice que ‘los demonios lo creen y tiemblan,’ pero ésta no es fe. Donde no sólo hay una creencia en la Palabra de Dios, sino una sumisión de la voluntad a él; donde se le da a él el corazón, y los afectos se fijan en él, allí hay fe, fe que obra por el amor y purifica el alma. Mediante esta fe el corazón se renueva conforme a la imagen de Dios. Y el corazón que en su estado carnal no se sujetaba a la ley de Dios ni tampoco podía, se deleita después en sus santos preceptos.... Y la justicia de la ley se cumple en nosotros, los que no andamos ‘conforme a la carne, mas conforme al espíritu.’”— El Camino a Cristo, 46, 47.
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December 23, 2016
Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; for You render to each one according to his work. Psalm 62:12, NKJV.
The Lord God of Sabaoth will hear earnest prayer. He will lead those who feel their dependence upon Him, and will so guide the workers that many souls shall come to a knowledge of the truth.
Truth as it is in Jesus exercises a transforming influence upon the minds of its receivers. Let no one forget that God is always a majority, and that with Him success is bound to crown all missionary effort. Those who have a living connection with God know that divinity works through humanity. Every soul that cooperates with God will do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
The Lord is a God of mercy, and cares even for the dumb beasts He has created. When He healed on the Sabbath day, and was accused of breaking the law of God, He said to His accusers: "Doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed; and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him."
The Lord looks upon the creatures He has made with compassion, no matter to what race they may belong. God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
Speaking to His disciples, the Savior said, "All ye are brethren." God is our common Father, and each one of us is our brother's keeper. - The Review and Herald, January 21, 1896.
From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 149.
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December 23, 2016
He who by faith receives the word is receiving the very life and character of God. - COL 38
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December 22, 2016
“Porque el que santifica y los que son santificados, de uno son todos; por lo cual no se avergüenza de llamarlos hermanos”. Hebreos 2:11.
De Enoc se ha escrito que vivió sesenta y cinco años y engendró un hijo. Luego, caminó con Dios por trescientos años. En el transcurso de estos primeros años, Enoc amó y temió a Dios y guardó sus mandamientos... Pero después del nacimiento de su primer hijo, alcanzó una experiencia superior, estableció una relación más estrecha con Dios. Así comprendió más plenamente cuáles eran sus obligaciones y responsabilidades como hijo de Dios...
¡Qué bendición que hayamos tenido un Enoc!... A pesar de la corrupción que lo rodeaba, caminó con Dios, y su luz refulgió en medio de una era degenerada. Y si Enoc caminó con Dios en medio de la corrupción de esos días, ¿por qué los hombres y mujeres de nuestros días no podrían hacer lo mismo?
Muchos de nosotros sabemos algo de esta experiencia. Sabemos que en medio de la tristeza y la congoja nos sentimos débiles, pero también sabemos que Jesús está a nuestro lado, simpatiza con nosotros, y nos ayudará. Podemos mantener comunión con nuestro mejor Amigo, pues está a nuestro lado. No necesitamos ascender a los cielos para traerlo, él ya está aquí dispuesto a asistirnos.
Mientras transitamos por las calles con aquellos que no se interesan por Dios, por el cielo o por las cosas celestiales, podemos hablarles de Jesús. Tenemos algo más precioso que ellos donde fijar nuestros ojos: en Jesús. Él está con nosotros en medio de la oscuridad moral que reina en estos días. Podemos contarle las aflicciones de nuestra alma y de la maldad del mundo, y nada de esto nos apartará del camino. Podemos hablar con Jesús. Podemos hablar con Jesús como Enoc habló con Dios, y le contaba al Señor sus pruebas...
Enoc desarrolló un carácter recto y en consecuencia fue traspuesto al cielo sin ver la muerte. Cuando el Señor regrese por segunda vez, habrá algunos que serán traspuestos sin ver la muerte y deseamos saber si estaremos en ese grupo. Queremos saber si estaremos por completo del lado del Señor, siendo partícipes de la naturaleza divina, habiendo escapado a la corrupción que impera en el mundo por la concupiscencia, sin trazar nuestro trayecto en el que no tengamos que afrontar pruebas y dificultades, sino estableciendo una relación correcta con Dios y permitiendo que él se responsabilice de las consecuencias.
Enoc era una luz que brillaba en el mundo de sus días y ¡cuánto se difundió su luz! La luz que Enoc reflejó del Cielo era amplia y profunda y hubo quienes anduvieron en la luz, fueron benditos en dicha luz, murieron bajo esa luz, y tendrán parte en la primera resurrección.—Manuscrito 83, 1886.
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December 22, 2016
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Job 19:25.
One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that of Christ’s second coming, to complete the great work of redemption. To God’s pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in “the region and shadow of death,” a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise of His appearing, who is “the resurrection and the life,” to “bring home again His banished.” The doctrine of the second advent is the very key-note of the Sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith have waited the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer’s power and bring them again to the lost Paradise. ... Enoch, only the seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, he who for three centuries on earth walked with his God, was permitted to behold from afar the coming of the Deliverer. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” The patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken trust: “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:... in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.”
May the God of all grace so enlighten your understanding that you may discern eternal things, that by the light of truth your own errors, which are many, may be discovered to you just as they are, that you may make the necessary effort to put them away, and in the place of this evil, bitter fruit may bring forth fruit which is precious unto eternal life.
Humble your poor, proud, self-righteous heart before God; get low, very low, all broken in your sinfulness at His feet. Devote yourself to the work of preparation. Rest not until you can truly say: My Redeemer liveth, and, because He lives, I shall live also.
If you lose heaven, you lose everything; if you gain heaven, you gain everything. Do not make a mistake in this matter, I implore you. Eternal interests are here involved.
From Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 315.
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