True to Principle

Among the children of Israel who were carried captive to Babylon at the beginning of the seventy years’ captivity were Christian patriots, men who were as true as steel to principle, who would not be corrupted by selfishness, but who would honor God at the loss of all things.

But Daniel did not hesitate. The approval of God was dearer to him than the favor of the most powerful earthly potentate—dearer than life itself. He determined to stand firm in his integrity, let the result be what it might. He “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” And in this resolve he was supported by his three companions.{PK 483.1}

Strength In Cooperating With God

It baffles my mind to know. Yet it makes my heart rejoice, that we can, I can, you can. It's such a privilege, a privilege incomprehensible to my finite mind. Possible because of His love for faulty, worthless, sinful, rebellious man.

That we can: cooperate with God, that man can be on vantage ground with God.
That we can: *"be partakers of the divine nature, having escape the corruption that is in the world through lust"  

Strength in Cooperating With God—[Romans 5:12, 18, 19 quoted.] The apostle contrasts the disobedience of Adam and the full, entire obedience of Christ. Think of what Christ’s obedience means to us! It means that in His strength we too may obey. Christ was a human being. He served His heavenly Father with all the strength of His human nature. He has a twofold nature, at once human and divine. He is both God and man.

Christ came to this world to show us what God can do and what we can do in cooperation with God. In human flesh He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the enemy. He knows what it is to hunger and thirst. He knows the weakness and the infirmities of the flesh. He was tempted in all points like as we are tempted.Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan. Christ stands before us as our divine example, our all-powerful Helper. We have been bought with a price that it is impossible to compute. Who can measure the goodness and mercy of redeeming love (Manuscript 76, 1903)?

Man on Vantage Ground With God—As related to the first Adam, men receive from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death. But Christ steps in and passes over the ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He redeems Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall by coming forth from the trial untarnished. This places man on vantage ground with God. It places him where, through accepting Christ as his Saviour, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Thus he becomes connected with God and Christ (Letter 68, 1899).

It's a privilege that I must not pass by, for if I do, I would never be able to see him face to face and live with Him for eternity. It's a must.

Let's not be satisfied to be incomplete. 

                                                                                                                         *2 Peter 1:4

Last day of school

Yesterday June 12, 2014 ended this school year. Filled with happiness, sorrow, trials, and triumphs.

Yesterday also ended school in its entirety, from pre-school to 12th grade, it's now all past.

I thank God for seeing me through school, for without Him nothing could have been accomplished.  He has helped me through many trials, particularly through eleventh and twelfth grade.

I remember discussing about finishing the twelfth grade with my friends back in sixth grade, thinking to myself, "Jesus will come before that, that's to long from now."  Then feeling how junior high was, (to me at that time) I liked it and was awaiting high school. But then, my parents decided to home-school my siblings and I the following school year and for the rest. My hope's and dreams just crashed and I lamented the fact of being home-schooled. But as we got into it and time progressed, I loved it! And thanked God for such a privilege...and my mother for homeschooling us.

If it wasn't for God intervening and impressing my my parents to do this, I wouldn't be the person I am today, through God's grace. Trust me He had a lot of refining to do, and is still doing in me. I'm not saying though that if your going to school, God cannot refine you, I just needed that, how I was, was not because of anybody, for I make my own choices.

Now college is in front of me, but with God as my guide, and I following where He leads, it will be a blessing, and I intern may be a blessing to others.  

Please pray for me as I enter, in this next phase of life, to live for God and not myself, to do His will and not my feeble own, to glorify Him in everything that I do and say. I'll pray for you that you may do the same. :)

Sanctuary

Cooking---biscuits ;)

Gardening

Always On Duty

*"The strongest evidence of man’s fall from a higher state is the fact that it costs so much to return. The way of return can be gained only by hard fighting, inch by inch, hour by hour. In one moment, by a hasty, unguarded act, we may place ourselves in the power of evil; but it requires more than a moment to break the fetters and attain to a holier life. The purpose may be formed, the work begun; but its accomplishment will require toil, time, perseverance, patience, and sacrifice"

This was part of what I read this morning for my personal devotion.
I'm so glad I read about this particular subject for this is what I really needed...

Why?

Well I kinda forget at times that victory doesn't come that easy, and  then I get stuck in trying and trying "in my own power " I don't get anywhere. Then I flop down in frustration, and ask myself, "Why?"

Now this is the answer to the question...

*"We cannot allow ourselves to act from impulse. We cannot be off guard for a moment. Beset with temptations without number, we must resist firmly or be conquered. Should we come to the close of life with our work undone, it would be an eternal loss".

Then this paragraph continued to lay the ax to the root.

*"The life of the apostle Paul was a constant conflict with self. He said, “I die daily.” 1 Corinthians 15:31. His will and his desires every day conflicted with duty and the will of God. Instead of following inclination, he did God’s will, however crucifying to his nature."

"Does this describe you? "
"No."

*"At the close of his life of conflict, looking back over its struggles and triumphs, he could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.” 2 Timothy 4:7,8

It couldn't come any more plain, the shoe perfectly fit.

This is the challenge:

*The Christian life is a battle and a march. In this warfare there is no release; the effort must be continuous and persevering. It is by unceasing endeavor that we maintain the victory over the temptations of Satan. Christian integrity must be sought with resistless energy and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose.
No one will be borne upward without stern, persevering effort in his own behalf. All must engage in this warfare for themselves; no one else can fight our battles. Individually we are responsible for the issues of the struggle; though Noah, Job, and Daniel were in the land they could deliver neither son nor daughter by their righteousness.

Persevering effort on my behalf must be.
So this, by God's grace will be kept fresh in my mind, so the, "getting stuck" and the "frustration " wouldn't have to be. I must be always on duty.


                                                                              *Ministry of Healing 452,453
                           
                                                                                                 

A Peek Into Total Surrender.

He was:

Fearless.

Faithful.

Dead to self.

Burning with a desire for the salvation of souls.

Humble.

He loved God with "perfect love."


Meanwhile another traveler was approaching Constance. Huss was conscious of the dangers which threatened him. He parted from his friends as if he were never to meet them again, and went on his journey feeling that it was leading him to the stake. Notwithstanding he had obtained a safe-conduct from the king of Bohemia, and received one also from the emperor Sigismund while on his journey, he made all his arrangements in view of the probability of his death.
In a letter addressed to his friends at Prague he said: "My brethren, . . . I am departing with a safe-conduct from the king to meet my numerous and mortal enemies. . . . I confide altogether in the all-powerful God, in my Saviour; I trust that He will listen to your ardent prayers, that He will infuse His prudence and His wisdom into my mouth, in order that I may resist them; and that He will accord me His Holy Spirit to fortify me in His truth, so that I may face with courage, temptations, prison, and, if necessary, a cruel death. Jesus Christ suffered for His well-beloved; and therefore ought we to be astonished that He has left us His example, in order that we may ourselves endure with patience all things for our own salvation? He is God, and we are His creatures; He is the Lord, and we are His servants; He is Master of the world, and we are contemptible mortals--yet He suffered! Why, then, should we not suffer also, particularly when suffering is for us a purification? Therefore, beloved, if my death ought to contribute to His glory, pray that it may come quickly, and that He may enable me to support all my calamities with constancy. But if it be better that I return amongst you, let us pray to God that I may return without stain--that is, that I may not suppress one tittle of the truth of the gospel, in order to leave my brethren an excellent example to follow. Probably, therefore, you will nevermore behold my face at Prague; but should the will of the all-powerful God deign to restore me to you, let us then advance with a firmer heart in the knowledge and the love of His law."--Bonnechose, vol. 1, pp. 147, 148.
In another letter, to a priest who had become a disciple of the gospel, Huss spoke with deep humility of his own errors, accusing himself "of having felt pleasure in wearing rich apparel and of having wasted hours in frivolous occupations." He then added these touching admonitions: "May the glory of God and the salvation of souls occupy thy mind, and not the possession of benefices and estates. Beware of adorning thy house more than thy soul; and, above all, give thy care to the spiritual edifice. Be pious and humble with the poor, and consume not thy substance in feasting. Shouldst thou not amend thy life and refrain from superfluities, I fear that thou wilt be severely chastened, as I am myself. . . . Thou knowest my doctrine, for thou hast received my instructions from thy childhood; it is therefore useless for me to write to thee any further. But I conjure thee, by the mercy of our Lord, not to imitate me in any of the vanities into which thou hast seen me fall." On the cover of the letter he added: "I conjure thee, my friend, not to break this seal until thou shalt have acquired the certitude that I am dead."-- Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 148, 149.

                                                                                                   {Great Controversy pg. 104.4.-105.2}
We also can be:

Fearless.

Faithful.

Dead to self.

Burning with a desire for the salvation souls.

Humble.

We CAN love God with "perfect love."

Right?

Joy, Thankfulness, and Conformation

Today was a blessing.

This morning I saw an e-mail I've been waiting for for some weeks, I shrieked fro joy as I read the first several words, and said....

"Mammy I got accepted to Uchee!"
"Let me see!" she replied.

Then I read the rest of the e-mail.

Next I then called my grandmother, and shared the news with her.

After joyful praises to God, my parents prayed with and for me, thanking God for what He has done, and for His will to be done.

After which I went outside for my daily prayer walk, thanking Him once again, (you can never thank Him enough really) and also that I will follow uncompromisingly His will and plan for my life. "Twas beautiful!"

Later on in the day certain things that I needed just started to fall right in place, and all I could say is....

" WOW Lord, thank you...It's just conformation that this is Your will."

I will by God's grace follow wither soever He leads me.

God Is Love

*My heart is full, there's so much I want to write...
One thing that stands out though, that "God is love"...
That's a very common thing to say,many people say it, it's basically a cliche. But to sit down, with Ministry of Healing, the Bible, my journal and with the "much needed" aid of the Holy Spirit, while meditating and praying, I saw...that God truly is love. And love is God. Although I may slip and fall, all muddy and dirty I may be, His loving hands is stretched out as He offers to pick me up. And if I'm smart enough I'll take hold of his tender hands and get up. And amazingly, as He has "full"grasp of me, at once He cleanses me of all my filthiness, and from muddy and dirty with His robe of righteousness put on me I'm fresh, white and clean. But if I choose not to lay hold of His hand, with tears in His eyes He pleads that I give Him my hands, for His heart breaks to see me so loathsome, He desires to pick me up and make me clean...He also have given freedom of choice, because He's so loving. And if I continue to reject and push away, and say no to the Lord, He will go away, pained in heart of the hardness and coldness of my heart. As Jesus has left the old devil now has sway over me, and it would be better had I not be born.

  How can I do such a thing?
How can I have such a cold, hard heart?
But when I sin I;m pushing Him away, until He goes, (because, only because of me). No more tender hands, tearful eyes, and His loving heart...And to think if that happens, (and it wouldn't by God's grace) I will still have a place in His heart, He will never forget me. That's love. God is the definition of love. That's the love that I long for,...I "will" to love as Jesus loves. 

*Journal entry (4-16-14)

A favorite part of my home.

Thought I'd share some pics of the part of my home that's a favorite. 

If I ever leave here I'm so going to miss it.

Vessel

    We have nothing to lose but all to gain.

    Jesus gave up everything so that we may recieve all.

So why withhold? Why drawback? Why not give all?

It isn't rocket science, it's simple, "give my all" surrender myself to Him.

Let the Lord take this broken vessel, and break, shape, and mold me into His vessel. Fully fit for Him to work with, to use according as His will.

"In the human heart cleansed from all moral impurity dwells the precious Saviour, ennobling, sanctifying the whole nature, and  making the man a temple for the Holy Spirit...MYP 159.1

Inspiration from Above

If we would but think of God as often as we have evidence of His care for us we should keep Him ever in our thoughts and should delight to talk of Him and to praise Him. We talk of temporal things because we have an interest in them. We talk of our friends because we love them; our joys and our sorrows are bound up with them. Yet we have infinitely greater reason to love God than to love our earthly friends; it should be the most natural thing in the world to make Him first in all our thoughts, to talk of His goodness and tell of His power....
Our devotional exercises should not consist wholly in asking and receiving.   Let us not be always thinking of our wants and never of the benefits we receive.   We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks.   We are the constant recipients of God’s mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise Him for what He has done for us....
Our God is a tender, merciful Father.   His service should not be looked upon as a heart-saddening, distressing exercise.   It should be a pleasure to worship the Lord and to take part in His work....
We must gather about the cross.   Christ and Him crucified should be the theme of contemplation, of conversation, and of our most joyful emotion.   We should keep in our thoughts every blessing we receive from God, and when we realize His great love we should be willing to trust everything to the hand that was nailed to the cross for us. {CSA 28}

For Others

I get up from my knees. There is much to do and not much time to do it. "Okay" I said, "What will I do first? "
"Go and write down all what you need to do. " ....."Okay Lord. " I said. So I went to get a book, my hands then reached for a old notebook I used in school some time back. I flip the pages,.... Then it landed on a title for a song, which I had written out the lyrics for.
The song, "Spend Time With Jesus. "
I smile as I then closed the book. And these words burned within my conscience, "Spend some time with Me, put Me first."
So got my gadget, turned to the book, "Prayer " and saw this quote in Christ Object Lessons.
Christ was continually receiving from the Father that He might communicate to us. “The word which ye hear,” He said, “is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me.” John 14:24. “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” Matthew 20:28. Not for Himself, but for others, He lived and thought and prayed. From hours spent with God He came forth morning by morning, to bring the light of heaven to men. Daily He received a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the early hours of the new day the Lord awakened Him from His slumbers, and His soul and His lips were anointed with grace, that He might impart to others. His words were given Him fresh from the heavenly courts, words that He might speak in season to the weary and oppressed. “The Lord God hath given Me,” He said, “the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned.” - COL 139.1
This just blew me away.
"Others??..... when I ....."
Yes others,.... no matter what.
"Oh yes Lord others. Our lives is not our own."
#1) God first
#2) Others second
and ourselves last.

I Like This Poem

The next time you feel God can't use you remember the following people:
NOAH was drunk...
ABRAHAM was too old...
ISSAC was a day-dreamer...
JACOB was a liar...
JOSEPH was abused...
MOSES couldn't talk...
GIDEON was afraid...
RAHAB was a prostitute...
DAVID had an affair and was a murderer...
ELIJAH was suicidal...
JONAH ran from God...
JOB went bankrupt...
ZACCHEUS was to small...
PETER denied Christ...
The DISCIPLES fell asleep while praying...
MARY MAGDALENE was demon possessed...
The SAMARITAN WOMAN was divorced -more than once...
PAUL was to religious...
And LAZERUS was DEAD!!!
NOW WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?

John and the Final Generation

This morning I was reading chapter 10 in Desire of Ages and I came upon these two quotes that stood out to me.
We are to be modern day John's preparing the way for Christ's second advent as he was preparing the way for the first.
We must stand firm on Christ the solid rock and dare to be different in this ungodly world.
John was to go forth as Jehovah’s messenger, to bring to men the light
of God. He must give a new direction to their thoughts. He must impress them with the holiness of God’s requirements, and their need of His perfect righteousness. Such a messenger must be holy. He must be a temple for the indwelling Spirit of God. In order to fulfill his mission, he must have a sound physical constitution, and mental and spiritual strength. Therefore it would be necessary for him to control the appetites and passions. He must be able so to control all his powers that he could stand among men as unmoved by surrounding circumstances as the rocks and mountains of the wilderness. {DA. 100.4}......
In preparing the way for Christ’s first advent, he was a representative of those who are to prepare a people for our Lord’s second coming.   The world is given to self-indulgence.   Errors and fables abound.   Satan’s snares for destroying souls are multiplied.   All who would perfect holiness in the fear of God must learn the lessons of temperance and self-control.   The appetites and passions must be held in subjection to the higher powers of the mind.   This self-discipline is essential to that mental strength and spiritual insight which will enable us to understand and to practice the sacred truths of God’s word.   For this reason temperance finds its place in the work of preparation for Christ’s second coming. {DA.101.2}