SAMPLE STATEMENTS
God
never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if
they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the
purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. {DA 224.5}
Worry
is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the
beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief.
Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we
know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and
honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path
before their feet. {DA 330.1}
In
every difficulty we are to see a call to prayer. There is no one living
who has any power that he has not received from God, and the source whence
it comes is open to the weakest human being. Whatsoever ye shall ask in My
name, said Jesus, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. {DA 667.4}
Those
who decide to do nothing in any line that will displease God, will know,
after presenting their case before Him, just what course to pursue. And
they will receive not only wisdom, but strength. Power for obedience, for
service, wilt be imparted to them, as Christ has promised. {DA 668.4}.
The
way to heaven is consecrated by the Saviour's footprints. The path may be
steep and rugged, but Jesus has traveled that way; His feet have pressed
down the cruel thorns, to make the pathway easier for us. Every burden
that we are called to bear He Himself has born. {DA 480.4}
Never
can the cost of our redemption be realized until the redeemed shall stand
with the Redeemer before the eternal throne. Then as the glories of the
eternal home burst upon our enraptured senses we shall remember that Jesus
left all this for us, that He not only became an exile from the heavenly
courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss. Then we
shall cast our crowns at His feet, and raise the song, 'Worthy Is the Lamb
that was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength,
honor' {DA 131.2}
Our
Redeemer has opened the way so that most sinful, the most needy, the most
oppressed despised, may find access to the Father. All may have a home in
the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare . . 'Behold, I have set
before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.' {DA 113.2}
Every
promise in God's word is ours. By every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God are we to live. When assailed by temptation, look not to
circumstances or to the weakness of self, but to the power of the word.
All its strength is yours. {DA 123.4}
Do not
wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word, and it will be
fulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in
acting upon His word you will receive strength. {DA 203.2}
At all
times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the
outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and
alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith.
Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no
circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter.
Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right hand to
support, sustain, uphold, and cheer. {DA 669.4}
As the
mother teaches her children to obey because they love her, she is teaching
them the lessons In the Christian life. The mother's love represents to
the child the love of Christ, and the little who trust and obey their
mother are learning to and obey the Saviour. {DA 515.4}
The
approval of God rests with loving assurance upon children and youth who
cheerfully take their part in the duties of the household, sharing the
burdens of father and mother. Such children will go out from the home to
be useful members of society. {DA 72.4}
As the
character of the Divine One was manifested to him, John saw his own
deficiencies, and was humbled by the revelation. Day by day, in contrast
with his own violent spirit, he beheld the tenderness and forbearance of
Jesus, and heard His lessons of humility and patience. Day by day his
heart was drawn out to Christ, until he lost sight of self in love for his
Master. The power and tenderness, the majesty and meekness, the strength
and patience, that he saw in the daily life of the Son of God, filled his
soul with admiration. He yielded his resentful, ambitious temper to the
molding power of Christ, and divine love wrought in him a transformation
of character. {AA 557.1}
The
nearer we come to Jesus, and the more clearly we discern the purity of His
character, the more clearly shall we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
and the less shall we feel like exalting ourselves. There will be a
continual reaching out of the soul after God, a continual, earnest,
heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the heart before Him. At
every advance step in our Christian experience our repentance will deepen.
We shall know that our sufficiency is in Christ alone. {AA 561.2}
There
are many who, though striving to obey God's commandments, have little
peace or joy. This lack in their experience is the result of a failure to
exercise faith. They walk as it were in a salt land, a parched wilderness.
They claim little, when they might claim much; for there is no limit to
the promises of God. Such ones do not correctly represent the
sanctification that comes through obedience to the truth. The Lord would
have all His sons and daughters happy, peaceful, and obedient. Through the
exercise of faith the believer comes into possession of these blessings.
Through faith, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every
defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.
{AA 563.2}
Prayer
is heaven's ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the
development of Christian character. The divine influences that come in
answer to the prayer of faith will accomplish in the soul of the suppliant
all for which he pleads. For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a
Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He
has promised, we may ask; and the promise is, Ye shall receive.
It
was in the mount with God that Moses beheld the pattern of that wonderful
building that was to be the abiding place of His glory. It is in the mount
with God--in the secret place of communion--that we are to contemplate His
glorious ideal for humanity. {AA 564.1}
These examples of human steadfastness bear witness to the faithfulness of
God's promises--of His abiding presence and sustaining grace. They testify
to the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world. It is the work
of faith to rest in God in the darkest hour, to feel, however sorely tried
and tempest-tossed, that our Father is at the helm. The eye of faith alone
can look beyond the things of time to estimate aright the worth of the
eternal riches. Jesus does not present to His followers the hope of
attaining earthly glory and riches, of living a life free from trial.
Instead He calls upon them to follow Him in the path of self-denial and
reproach. He who came to redeem the world was opposed by the united forces
of evil. In an unpitying confederacy, evil men and evil angels arrayed
themselves against the Prince of Peace. His every word and act revealed
divine compassion, and His unlikeness to the world provoked the bitterest
hostility. So it will be with all who will live godly in Christ Jesus.
Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the Spirit of
Christ. {AA 576.1}
In
every command and in every promise of the word of God is the power, the
very life of God, by which the command may be fulfilled and the promise
realized. {COL 38.1}
There
is nothing so ennobling and invigorating as a study of the great themes
which concern our eternal life. Let the youth seek to grasp these
God-given truths, and their minds will expand and grow strong in the
effort. {COL 42.1}
Christ
gave all for us, and those who receive Christ will be ready to sacrifice
all for the sake of their Redeemer. The thought of His honor and glory
will come before anything else. {COL 49.2}
Many
of Christ's followers forget the lesson He has bidden us learn from the
flowers of the field. They do not trust to His constant care. Christ
cannot carry their burden, because they do not cast it upon Him. {COL
51.2}
Whatever
attracts the mind from God, whatever draws the affections away from
Christ, is an enemy to the soul. {COL 53.2}
True,
we cannot change ourselves; but the power of choice is ours, and it rests
with us to determine what we will become. … The Spirit of God is ever
seeking to break the spell of infatuation that holds men absorbed in
worldly things, and to awaken a desire for the imperishable treasure. {COL
56.1}
Only
he who receives the Scriptures as the voice of God speaking to himself is
a true learner. He trembles at the Word; for to him it is a living
reality. {COL 59.2}
A
knowledge of the truth depends not so much upon strength of intellect as
upon pureness of purpose, the simplicity of an earnest, dependent faith.
To those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance, angels of God
draw near. The Holy Spirit is given to open to them the rich treasures of
the truth. {COL 59.3}
God
bids us fill the mind with great thoughts, pure thoughts. He desires us to
meditate upon His love and mercy, to study His wonderful work in the great
plan of redemption. Then clearer and still clearer will be our perception
of truth, higher, holier, our desire for purity of heart and clearness of
thought. The soul dwelling in the pure atmosphere of holy thought will be
transformed by communion with God through the study of Scriptures. {COL
60.1}
The
object of the Christian life is fruit bearing--the reproduction of
Christ's character in the believer, that it may be reproduced in others.
{COL 67.1}
The
little children may be Christians, having an experience in accordance with
their years. This is all that God expects of them. {COL 84.1}
Christ
longs to have care-worn, weary, oppressed human beings come to Him. He
longs to give them the light and joy and peace that are to be found
nowhere else. The veriest sinners are the objects of His deep, earnest
pity and love. He sends His Holy Spirit to yearn over them with
tenderness, seeking to draw them to Himself. {COL 225.3}
It is
the purpose of redemption, not only to blot out sin, but to give back to
man those spiritual gifts lost because of sin's dwarfing power. {COL
266.2}
When
the appeals of the Holy Spirit come to the heart, our only safety lies in
responding to them without delay…. It is unsafe to delay obedience. {COL
280.4}
God
desired to bring all peoples under His merciful rule. He desired that the
earth should be filled with joy and peace. He created man for happiness,
and He longs to fill human hearts with the peace of heaven. He desires
that the families below shall be a symbol of the great family above. {COL
290.2}
We have
been redeemed by a costly ransom. Only by the greatness of this ransom can
we conceive of its results. On this earth, the earth whose soil has been
moistened by the tears and blood of the Son of God, are to be brought
forth the precious fruits of Paradise. In the lives of God's people the
truths of His word are to reveal their glory and excellence. Through His
people Christ is to manifest His character and the principles of His
kingdom. {COL 296.3}
The
Lord desires through His people to answer Satan's charges by showing the
results of obedience to right principles. {COL 296.4}
It is
the atmosphere of grace which surrounds the soul of the believer, the Holy
Spirit working upon mind and heart, that makes him a savor of life unto
life, and enables God to bless his work. {COL 298.2}
To
praise God in fullness and sincerity of heart is as much a duty as is
prayer. We are to show to the world and to all the heavenly intelligences
that we appreciate the wonderful love of God for fallen humanity and that
we are expecting larger and yet larger blessings from His infinite
fullness. {COL 299.2}
Far
more than we do, we need to speak of the precious chapters in our
experience. After a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, our joy in the
Lord and our efficiency in His service would be greatly increased by
recounting His goodness and His wonderful works in behalf of His children.
{COL 299.3}
God
makes no requirement without making provision for its fulfillment. Through
the grace of Christ we may accomplish everything that God requires. {COL
301.2}
The
Saviour made each work of healing an occasion for implanting divine
principles in the mind and soul. {MH 20.1}
He was the
Majesty of heaven, but He humbled Himself to take our nature, that He
might meet men where they were. {MH 22.1}
He
presented the truth in such a way that ever after it was to His hearers
intertwined with their most hallowed recollections and sympathies. He
taught in a way that made them feel the completeness of His identification
with their interests and happiness. {MH 23.1}
He
passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing
remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself He presented a
lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. {MH 25.5}
He
sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising, setting
before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless,
attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of
God. {MH 25.5}
Wherever
hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He
reveals to them the Father, and the service acceptable to Him who reads
the heart. For such He uses no parables. {MH 28.2}
Christ
was hid in God, and God was revealed in the character of His Son. To this
revelation Jesus desired the minds of the people to be directed. {MH 32.2}
Human
effort will be efficient in the work of God just according to the
consecrated devotion of the worker--by revealing the power of the grace of
Christ to transform the life. We are to be distinguished from the world
because God has placed His seal upon us, because He manifests in us His
own character of love. {MH 37.2}
By
every word of God we are to live. Nothing that God has spoken is to be
lost. Not one word that concerns our eternal salvation are we to neglect.
Not one word is to fall useless to the ground. {MH 48.1}
All
day He ministered to the throngs that came to Him, and at eventide, or in
the early morning, He went away to the sanctuary of the mountains for
communion with His Father. {MH 55.1}
All
who are under the training of God need the quiet hour for communion with
their own hearts, with nature, and with God. In them is to be revealed a
life that is not in harmony with the world, its customs, or its practices;
and they need to have a personal experience in obtaining a knowledge of
the will of God. We must individually hear Him speaking to the heart. When
every other voice is hushed, and in quietness we wait before Him, the
silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God. {MH 58.3}
Many
hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction, by which those
who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. A living
faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which, through the
grace of Christ, the soul becomes a conquering power. {MH 62.2}
We
have nothing to recommend us to God; the plea that we may urge now and
ever is our utterly helpless condition, which makes His redeeming power a
necessity. Renouncing all self-dependence, we may look to the cross of
Calvary and say: In my hand no price I bring; Simply to Thy cross I cling.
{MH 65.1}
If thou
canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Mark 9:23.
It is faith that connects us with heaven and brings us strength for coping
with the powers of darkness. In Christ, God has provided means for
subduing every evil trait and resisting every temptation, however strong.
{MH 65.2}
Grasp
His promises as leaves from the tree of life: 'Him that cometh to Me I
will in nowise cast out.' John 6:37. As you come to Him, believe that He
accepts you, because He has promised. You can never perish while you do
this—never. {MH 65.3}
Our
Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man's
necessity. … The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin He came to
remove. It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came
to give them health and peace and perfection of character. {MH 17.1}
Whatever
your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your
spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be open for you to
disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and
more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His
strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting
them upon your Burden Bearer. {MH 72.1}
Circumstances
may separate friends; the restless waters of the wide sea may roll between
us and them. But no circumstances, no distance, can separate us from the
Saviour. Wherever we may be, He is at our right hand, to support,
maintain, uphold, and cheer. Greater than the love of a mother for her
child is Christ's love for His redeemed. It is our privilege to rest in
His love, to say, I will trust Him; for He gave His life for me. {MH 72.2}
Human
love may change; but Christ's love knows no change. When we cry to Him for
help, His hand is stretched out to save. {MH 72.3}
By sin
we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied. Of
ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than was the
impotent man capable of walking. Many realize their helplessness; they are
longing for that spiritual life which will bring them into harmony with
God, and are striving to obtain it. But in vain. In despair they cry, O
wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?
Romans 7:24, margin. Let these desponding, struggling ones look up. The
Saviour is bending over the purchase of His blood, saying with
inexpressible tenderness and pity, Wilt thou be made whole? He bids you
arise in health and peace. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole.
Believe the Saviour's word. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to
serve Him, and in acting upon His word you will receive strength. {MH
84.4}
Look
to Jesus, and the darkness that encompasses you will be dispelled by the
bright shining of His presence. When sin struggles for the mastery in your
soul, and burdens the conscience, look to the Saviour. His grace is
sufficient to subdue sin. Let your grateful heart, trembling with
uncertainty, turn to Him. Lay hold on the hope set before you. Christ
waits to adopt you into His family. His strength will help your weakness;
He will lead you step by step. Place your hand in His, and let Him guide
you. Never feel that Christ is far away. He is always near. His loving
presence surrounds you. {MH 85.1}
God
does not control our minds without our consent; but every man is free to
choose what power he will have to rule over him. None have fallen so low,
none are so vile, but that they may find deliverance in Christ. {MH 93.1}
Henceforth,
Christ's followers are to look upon Satan as a conquered foe. Upon the
cross, Jesus was to gain the victory for them; that victory He desired
them to accept as their own. {MH 94.2}
The
rainbow of promise encircling the throne on high . . testifies to the
universe that God will never forsake His children in the struggle with
evil. It is an assurance to us of strength and protection as long as the
throne itself shall endure. {MH 94.4}
The
Saviour understood the care and burden of the mothers who were seeking to
train their children according to the Word of God. He had heard their
prayers. He Himself had drawn them into His presence. One mother with her
child had left her home to find Jesus. On the way she told a neighbor of
her errand, and the neighbor wished to have Jesus bless her children. Thus
several mothers came here together, with their little ones . . The mothers
were comforted. They returned to their homes strengthened and blessed by
the words of Christ. They were encouraged to take up their burden with new
cheerfulness, and to work hopefully for their children . . How often, in
after-years, the memory of these words kept the children from straying
from the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord. {MH 41}
He who
gave back to the widow of Nain her only son, and in His agony upon the
cross remembered His own mother, is touched today by the mother's sorrow.
In every grief and every need, He will comfort and help. {MH 42.1}