Forgiveness

Harsh words were exchanged between the two of us that caused a enormous rift in our relationship.  Unfortunately We couldn't escape each other, in fact we were living together in a house on the other side of the world.  Once I returned home to the States, I didn't even bother to keep in touch with her. But God was working on our hearts.  Two years later I saw her, we confessed one to another the hurt and pain we had caused to each other.  In fact, we even went a step further.  We washed one another feet.  Forgiveness restored our friendship.

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."  Ephesians 4:32

"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcised of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

"True forgiveness means not only that we relieve others of the transgressions they’ve committed against us, but also that we relieve ourselves of the resentment we’ve held against them. Then we change. Without change on our part toward those who wrong us, forgiveness is mere lip service."1 

"Forgiveness brings freedom. It releases you from the power and control you had allowed the offending person to have over you. It allows you freedom from the past patterns of bitterness and hurt that permeated your relationships with others. As we let go of grudges it gives us peace of mind and a healthier way of relating to others—and it makes us more understanding of those around us.

God expects His followers to demonstrate a spirit of forgiveness, but, as with everything else, He does not force His will upon us. He gives us freedom of choice."2 


____________________
1  The Relief of Forgiveness, Jimmy Phillips, Adventist Review

2 To Forgive or Not To Forgive? Karen Green, Adventist review

Experiencing Gethsemane Part Three

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. "Selah"  Psalms 46:1-3

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus experienced such deep darkness of anguish and pain that we cannot fathom or truly appreciate what He encountered just for us.  In fact, our struggles, our pain, and our trials are in no comparison what Jesus experienced.

But in no way does the Lord want us to down play our sufferings.  In fact, He wants us to understand He suffers with us!

"God with us in trials. God with us in disappointments. God with us in tribulations. God with us in trouble. God with us in weakness. God with us in sorrow. God with us in pain. God with us in sickness. God with us in temptation. God with us in adversity. God with us in suffering. God with us in death. Wherever you are, He's God with us. You can't wander too far. You cannot fall too low...

He's so close to us that in the original language it's not "God with us." It is the "with-us God." Too close to be separated by a preposition, He's God with us. 

Emmanuel is God with us, making Himself available, inserting Himself into the situation, making possible the impossible, opening doors that are closed and making a way out of "no way."God came on our side so He could take us on His side. God got into the battle so He could fight our battles for us. God took on our enemy so He could defeat the enemy that had defeated us."1

He loves you with everlasting love.  He is with you; never to forsake you.  He suffered so that He can understand humanity's suffering. 

_________________________
1 Jonathan A. Thompson was pastor of the Dupont Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Washington, D.C., when he delivered this message.

Experiencing Gethsemane Part Two

"He was despised and rejected by mankind.  A Man of sorrows and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem."  Isaiah 53:3

Have you ever experience your own Gethsemane?  Have you encounter such anguish and pain you thought you will never find relief? 

Broken relationships.  Rejection.  Abuse.  Loss of a child.  Cancer.  Loss of a home.  Betrayal.  Death.   Fiance trouble.  Job loss.  Broken promises.  Tragedy.  Reputation destroyed.  Deception.

Darkness covers you like a thick dense cloud. You can not see beyond the blackness.  You feel so alone and scared. 

Hopelessness.  Uncertainty.  Doubt.  Confusion.  Fear.  Anxiety.  Anger.  Depression.  Worthlessness.  Shame.  Stress.  Exhaustion.  Pain.  Insecurity.

No one seems to understand.  They say they do.  But you know they don't.  You feel misunderstood, forgotten, forsaken.  They say you are crazy to feel like that.  You wish they will show compassion.  You just heard from your doctor, "you have cancer."  They say "we are praying for you!"  But you crave more than just prayers.  You ache for the child, the spouse, the friend, the family member you lost in death or some form of tragedy.  They give you their condolences and encouragement.  But you want the anguish of your heart to be removed.  You feel so alone.  You wonder, "will I ever find peace and happiness again?"

Jesus hears and He sees.  In fact...He witnesses every heart ache.  He knows your frustration and anger.  He sees you betrayed and rejected by your friends and family.  He hears your cries for deliverance from your abuser.  He notes the fear in your voice as the doctor announced you have cancer.  He witness the anguish of your soul for your love ones.  He sees it all, He hears it all.

It is hard to grasp, to appreciate, to recognize that Jesus absolutely understands...

"He delivered us from such deadly peril, and He will deliver us.  On Him er have set our hope that He will deliver us again."  2 Corinthians 1:10


Note: This is a 3 part series

Experiencing Gethsemane Part One

Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”  Matthew 26:38 & 39

No picture can portray accurately the suffering Jesus experienced that dark dark night in the garden.  No human mind can comprehend the magnitude of distress He endured.  Not even the angels in heaven, although witnesses of His misery, could not fathom the deep distress of His heart.  He suffered alone.

Alone He cried out to God, His Father, asking Him to take away the cup of suffering from Him.  Alone He fought thoughts of defeat Satan constantly threw at Him.  Alone He prostrated Himself on ground in tears.  Alone His heart filled with fear as He looked forward to the cross.  Alone He struggled.  Alone He fought.  Who was there to help Him?

Surely His disciples!  They were there with Him in the garden!  In fact, Jesus specifically asked Peter, James, and John to pray with Him!  But no.  They were fast asleep!  What the Savior needed most was their prayers and supplications, their sympathy and encouragement.  He spent whole nights in prayer for His disciples, that their faith might not fail in the hour of trial.

Yet they could not stay awake with Him even for one hour!

Jesus allowed his disciples to sleep as He pleaded again and a third time for His father to relieve of Him the suffering!  A horror of great darkness overcame Him. He had lost the presence of His Father.  He feared that in His human nature He could not endure the test. 

The angels could not bear to see their beloved Commander suffering.  Angels longed to bring relief, but it was not meant to be. The angels understood that the Son of God had to drink the cup of woe, or the world will be lost forever. 

"As Jesus pleaded with His Father, He saw the helplessness of humanity. He saw the power of sin. The woes of a doomed world pass in view before Him. 

He made the final decision. He decided to save mankind at any cost to Himself. He had left the courts of Heaven, where all is purity, happiness, and glory, to save the one lost sheep, the one world that has fallen by transgression.   He could not turn from His mission. He became the propitiation of a race that has willed to sin. His prayer breathed only submission: "If this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done."

Having made the decision, He fell dying to the ground from which He had partially risen."1

_______________________________

Note: This is a 3 part series.
1. The Desire of Ages, P 692 & 693

A note from Melody…

Good morning Friends,

This is Melody once again, and I want to THANK Chelsey for helping keep the blog going during some very busy stressful times these past couple weeks. I've really appreciated her posts and the variety she's added to the "Morning Sonshine" thoughts and I've heard the same appreciation expressed from some of you. So we praise the Lord!

I wanted you readers to get a face with this author of the recent posts, so I am posting a picture here of our prayer team from the first week of Annual Council pre-meetings. Chelsey is the beautiful blonde on the far left. Chelsey and I went to college together, but it's only recently that we've started to talk and connect more. As I'm sure you've already seen, she's a true woman of faith and prayer and has been a real encouragement to me.

I still have quite a bit going on, so I'm going to ask Chelsey to continue to help me post off and on throughout the coming days. However, in the future, rather than asking her to include an explanation from me at the end of each post, I encourage you readers to just take note at the end of the post whether it was posted by Chelsey or Melodious Echo. That will be how you tell which one of us is writing! (Thanks again Chelsey for the beautiful job you've been doing!)

As we start a new week, I want to share this sobering statement:

"As a people we are not half awake to a sense of our necessities and to the times in which we live. Wake up the watchmen. Our first work should be to search our hearts and to become reconverted. We have no time to lose upon unimportant issues." Medical Ministry, p. 304

In many other places, we told, "We need to be re-converted DAILY!"

Let us cry as did David:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Ps. 139:23, 24

So today, as we begin another week afresh, let us ask God to search our hearts and make us new creations in Him…Today!

Gleams of the Golden Morning

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Matt. 24:27.

While all the world is plunged in darkness, there will be light in every dwelling of the saints. They will catch the first light of His second appearing.

Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Savior and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a "man of sorrows," to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. "Faithful and True," "in righteousness he doth judge and make war." And "the armies which were in heaven" (Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him. With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms--"ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light." Habakkuk 3:3, 4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. "And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." Revelation 19:16. 

With uplifted heads, with the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining upon them, with rejoicing that their redemption draweth nigh, they [the living saints], go forth to meet the Bridegroom, saying. "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us."
 
From Maranatha - Page 289

NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!

His Strength is Perfect

As I woke up this morning, I lay in bed for a bit just thinking about life and talking to God. I was up til 2:30 this morning working on a project, and so after only a few hours of sleep, I guess it's only natural that I didn't feel like getting up. But when the sun comes up, my brain wakes up...so here I was at 6:30am wide awake, with a body that didn't want to move!

After some time with God, I turned on my iPod...and this song came on. It's one of my all time favorites, but I thought it was very fitting for where I am today. I don't feel very strong right now...and as I listened, the tears just poured down my cheeks! Thankfully I don't have to be strong. His strength truly is PERFECT...it's just too bad that many of us wait to claim it until we've reached the end of our own resources! :-) For truly, it's been there all along...what a blessing!

"His Strength is Perfect"

I can do all things, through Christ who gives me strength

But sometimes I wonder what He can do through me.

No great success to show, no glory on my own.

Yet in my weakness He is there, to let me know...

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.

He'll carry us when we can't carry on.

Raised in His power, the weak become strong.

His strength is perfect...His strength is perfect!

We can only know, the power that He holds,

When we truly see how deep our weakness goes.

His strength in us begins, where ours comes to an end

He hears our humble cry and proves again.

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.

He'll carry us when we can't carry on.

Raised in His power, the weak become strong.

His strength is perfect...His strength is perfect!

"God is my STRENGTH and POWER: and He maketh my way PERFECT!" II Sam 22:33[i]

[i] Melodious Thoughts & Blessings, Tuesday, December 09, 2009

Morning By Morning He Awakens Me

I will never forget the morning God woke me up to spend quality time with Him.  The night before I had set my alarm for 4:00 AM.  But during the night, half awake and half asleep, somehow I turned off the alarm.  In spite of what I had done, God woke me up a few minutes before 4:00 AM.

"He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned."  Isaiah 50:4

While on earth, Jesus arose very early in the morning to commune with His Father in heaven.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35
 
In fact, many individuals in the Bible arose either just before or at daybreak to spend quality time with God.   Moses rose at dawn to build an alter to the Lord (Exodus 24:4),  Job made a habit to seek the Lord the moment he woke up  (Job 1:5).  King Jehoshaphat and his people rose early in the morning to pursue God and to sing praises to His Name (2 Chronicles 20:20-22), King David took pleasure waking up early to present his requests to the Lord (Psalm 5:3)., and I am sure there were many others who took the time to be in the presence of the Lord morning by morning.

My voice I shall hear you in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer to you, and I will look up. Psalms 5:3

As for me, I find the early morning hours in solitude with my Savior seems to make my day brighter and cheerier in spite of hardships and trials that may come my way.  Am I perfect at getting up just before dawn?  No, but I am learning, what it means, to be consistent in my early morning devotions.

I found a small article from George Muller, encouraging his readers to rise early in the morning to take the time to converse with the King of heaven and to spend time in His Word:

“I want to encourage all believers to get into the habit of rising early to meet with God. Someone may ask, ‘But why should I rise early?’ To remain too long in bed is a waste of time. Wasting time is unbecoming a saint who is bought by the precious blood of Jesus. His time and all he has is to be used for the Lord. 

If we sleep more than is necessary for the refreshment of the body, it is wasting the time the Lord has entrusted us to be used for His glory, for our own benefit, and for the benefit of the saints and unbelievers around us. It may be said, ‘But how shall I set about rising early?’ My advice is: Do not delay. Begin tomorrow. But do not depend on your own strength. You may have begun to rise early in the past but have given it up. If you depend on your own strength in this matter, it will come to nothing. In every good work, we must depend on the Lord. If anyone rises so that he may give the time which he takes from sleep to prayer and meditation, let him be sure that Satan will try to put obstacles in the way.

 Trust in the Lord for help. You will honor Him if you expect help from Him in this matter. Pray for help, expect help, and you will have it. In addition to this, go to bed early. If you stay up late, you cannot rise early. Let no pressure of engagements keep you from going habitually early to bed. If you fail in this, you neither can nor should get up early because your body requires rest. 

Rise at once when you are awake. Remain not a minute longer in bed or else you are likely to fall asleep again. Do not be discouraged by feeling drowsy and tired from rising early. This will soon wear off. After a few days you will feel stronger and fresher than when you used to lie an hour or two longer than you needed. Always allow yourself the same hours for sleep. Make no change except on account of sickness.”1

"Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, 'Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.' This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ."2

_____________________________
1  George Muller Autobiography, p. 117-119
2  Step to Christ, Chap 8, p. 71

NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!

Jesus Intercedes Along With Us

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  Hebrews 7:25

To understand this, think first of His intercession: He ever lives to make intercession for them.

In the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus the wondrous reconciliation took place, by which man became partaker of the Divine life and blessedness.

He asks of the Father, and receives from the Father.  He receives in intercession what the Godhead has to give: His mediation on the throne is as real and indispensable as on the cross. Nothing takes place without His intercession: it engages all His time and powers, is His unceasing occupation at the right hand of the Father.

And we participate not only in the benefits of this His work, but in the work itself. This because we are His body. Body and members are one: ‘The head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of thee.’ We share with Jesus in all He is and has: ‘The glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them.’ We are partakers of His life, His righteousness, His work: we share with Him in His intercession too; it is not a work He does without us.

We do this because we are partakers of His life: ‘Christ is our life;’ ‘No longer I, but Christ liveth in me.’  His life in us is an ever-praying life.  

Andrew Murray, With Christ in School of Prayer


NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!
 

God Sings Over Us With Joy!

The Lord your God is in your midst, He is mighty to save.  He rejoices over you with gladness, He quiets you in His love, He rejoices over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

Just think with me for one minute.  Can you imagine God rejoicing over you with singing?  As His heart swells with love for you, He can not help but serenade you.  Can you imagine that?  The God of the universe breaks into song of devotion to His children!  His affection towards us is profound!

We see ourselves as wretched, dirty, sinful human beings who do not deserve such adoration and affection from God.  Why would He even consider us?  After all we are the ones who killed Him, by our sins, 2000 years ago.  Every day we crucify Him anew when we stumble and fall.  We are so unworthy of His goodness and grace, even His love and mercy!  Yet...

"Souls who are troubled by doubts and fears regarding their acceptance by the Lord Jesus Christ. His word to you is, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine." You desire to please the Lord, and you can do this by believing His promises. He is waiting to take you into a harbor of gracious experience, and He bids you, "Be still, and know that I am God." You have had a time of unrest; but Jesus says to you, "Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you rest." The joy of Christ in the soul is worth everything. "Then are they glad," because they are privileged to rest in the arms of everlasting love."1

We do not have to do anything to gain God's favor.  We can approach Him just as we are.  We are worthy of Him because of what He did for us in the name of love; He shed His blood for us on the cross!  Redeeming love!!

What an amazing God we have!  He draws us to Himself with cords of love; He calls us by name, and we are precious in His sight!  We are unable to fully fathom His far-reaching love for us.  Neither can we truly acknowledge His song of love because it is too magnificent and broad for us to take a hold of!  We have nothing to offer, yet He gave His all for us!  He is constantly rejoicing over us!  He is continually singing over us!

"I will rejoice over [you] Jerusalem and take delight in My people..."Isaiah 65:19
________________
1) Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 519


NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!

A Changed Heart

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Eze. 36: 26. 

When Jesus speaks of the new heart, He means the mind, the life, the whole being. To have a change of heart is to withdraw the affections from the world, and fasten them upon Christ. To have a new heart is to have a new mind, new purposes, new motives. What is the sign of a new heart?-- a changed life. There is a daily, hourly dying to selfishness and pride.

The appetites and passions, clamoring for indulgence, trample reason and conscience underfoot. This is the cruel work of Satan, and he is constantly putting forth the most determined efforts to strengthen the chains by which he has bound his victims. Those who have been all their lives indulging wrong habits do not always realize the necessity of a change. . . . Let the conscience be aroused and much is gained. Nothing but the grace of God can convict and convert the heart; here alone can the slaves of custom obtain power to break the shackles which bind them. The self- indulgent must be led to see and feel that a great moral renovation is necessary if they would meet the claims of the divine law; the soul- temple has been defiled, and God calls upon them to arouse and strive with all their might to win back the God- given manhood which has been sacrificed through sinful indulgence.

Oh, what rays of softness and beauty shone forth in the daily life of our Saviour! What sweetness flowed from His very presence! The same spirit will be revealed in His children. Those with whom Christ dwells will be surrounded with a divine atmosphere. Their white robes of purity will be fragrant with perfume from the garden of the Lord. Their faces will reflect light from His, brightening the path for stumbling and weary feet. 

No man who has the true ideal of what constitutes a perfect character will fail to manifest the sympathy and tenderness of Christ. The influence of grace is to soften the heart, to refine and purify the feelings, giving a heaven- born delicacy and sense of propriety.
 

From God's Amazing Grace - Page 98

NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!

Resting In the Lord Until He Comes In Glory

The pain lays heavy on my heart.  I ask God "why" and all I get is silence.  My Turkish friend is dead.  My heart is ready to break.  How can I bear the sorrow and the grief that threatens to weigh me down.

I can not hold back the tears as his wife speaks to me.  They loved each other very much.  Why did God allow them to be torn apart by death?

He survived the horrific car accident!  Yet, a couple days later he is dead.  How is that possible?  One minute he was talking, the next minute the doctors were working on his chest to get his heart pumping again.  His heart never took up a beat again.

"Why Lord, why did he have to die?"

I may never know the answer to that question until heaven.  But I do know this:  Even though we may not understand why certain things happen to us, we can have the assurance God is with us and He can be trusted.   

"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.  Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."  Isaiah 57:1 & 2

We may not understand why.  But the righteous who sleep are secure in Christ.  No more temptations to face, no more trials to conquer, no more pain or heart ache.  They are just resting until:

The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the aire.  And thus we hall always be with the Lord.  1 Thessalonians 4:16 & 17

Even so come Lord Jesus.

 NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!

Prayer Myths

Prayer involves trust. Risk. Putting aside ourselves and going for it. What kills this trust in us? Probably a lot of things. One childhood day, we ask for love. And it's denied us for no reason. Parents may abuse us. Teachers may be strict and unfeeling. The pain that confronts us may be too intense, and we retreat into an emotional fortress. The standards may be too high for us to reach, and nobody gives us help or hope. Someone we love may betray us or be lost to us.

Just as big a blockage to prayer as the losses of loved ones and failures of our authority figures are the myths that we are told in the religious culture about our ability to talk to God. Here are a few:

Myth 1: Prayer connects only when we ask God for the right thing.
The truth is that God initiates prayer-we don't. This is evident in Scripture. God spoke directly to an idol-worshiping, nomadic sheik named Abraham, led him to a new land and established a relationship with him through faith (Gen. 12, 13). The Bible records that God spoke to Moses as a man speaks with his friend (Ex. 33:11). Jesus told His disciples, "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:15, 16, NKJV). Jesus says, "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me" (Rev. 3:20, NRSV).

Our prayer is not the first step to Jesus. It is Jesus who stirs us to pray. Our prayer lets Him into our needs and permits Him to share the bread of life with us.

Myth 2: God communicates only with good people.
If God talks only to well-scrubbed, clear-thinking individuals who keep the Ten Commandments, then we all are in real trouble.

Consider this radical statement of Jesus to religious bootlickers: "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight" (Luke 16:15). When the religious establishment criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners, He replied, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matt. 9:12, 13).

What does this mean for prayer? It says that God loves desperate souls and that people in trouble have ready access to Him. It means that Jesus Christ identifies with our screwups and mistakes. The Bible tells us that Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses and was "tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin" (Heb. 4:15). That text concludes, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (verse 16).

When is your time of greatest need? When you're lonely, angry, hungry, tired, guilty, despairing, drunk, damaged . . . The Word of God says unequivocally that you can be confident in those moments to approach God through Jesus and receive His mercy and His grace to help you. 

Myth 3: We have to know the right words to pray.
A little more than a year ago I was called by a friend, an administrator who had been devastatingly and treacherously betrayed, threatening his good reputation and career. He was upset beyond words. I told him to read Psalm 109 before he went to sleep that night. This prayer of David reads, in part, as follows:

"O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. . . .
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.
Appoint an evil man to oppose him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. . . .
May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes.
May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. . . .
But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me"
(Ps. 109:1-22).
You may ask why a prayer such as this is even in the Bible. It's there for two reasons. It shows us that we can pray about anything, even when we are angry. Second, David did the best thing he could do with his anger-he put the problem squarely in God's hands. My friend told me the next day that this prayer helped save his spiritual life by allowing him to bring his feelings to God. 


Myth 4: Be careful about what you ask God, because He may give it to you and you won't be able to handle it.

Jesus described God as a father who was wounded by an ungrateful son who took his inheritance early and squandered it all on sleazy sex and illicit substances. But when the son came home for a job, the father ran to him, welcomed him, forgave him, and, most incredible of all, threw a welcome-home party (Luke 15:11-32). Jesus said: "Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matt. 7:9-11, NRSV).

This is the God that Jesus Christ came to reveal. A Father who can't be compared to earthly parents, because in good times and bad, stress and failure, shame and rebellion, He just keeps on loving you, knowing that the only relationship that will mean anything in time and eternity is one based on loving response.

God's heart is great for us. It longs for us. He invites us to relationship-real, honest communion through prayer. No performance, no teaching, no tradition, no doctrine, no other commitment can substitute for a relationship with Christ.


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Kent A. Hansen is an attorney who lives in Corona, California. 

Receiving Our Eternal Reward

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:3.

In our life here, earthly, sin-restricted though it is, the greatest joy and the highest education are in service. And in the future state, untrammeled by the limitations of sinful humanity, it is in service that our greatest joy and our highest education will be found.

“If any man’s work abide ..., he shall receive a reward.” 1 Corinthians 3:14. Glorious will be the reward bestowed when the faithful workers gather about the throne of God and of the Lamb.... They have been partakers with Christ in His sufferings, they have been workers together with Him in the plan of redemption, and they are partakers with Him in the joy of seeing souls saved in the kingdom of God, there to praise God through all eternity.

A Christian once said that when he reached heaven he expected to meet with three causes of wonder. He would wonder to find some that he did not expect to see there. He would wonder not to see some that he expected to meet, and, lastly, he would wonder most to find so unworthy a sinner as himself in the Paradise of God. Many who have stood in high places as Christians upon earth will not be found with the happy throng that shall surround the throne. Those who have had knowledge and talent, and yet have delighted in controversy and unholy strife, will not have a place with the redeemed.... They desired to do some great work, that they might be admired and flattered by men, but their names were not written in the Lamb’s book of life. “I know you not,” are the sad words that Christ addresses to such. But those whose lives were made beautiful by little acts of kindness, by tender words of affection and sympathy, whose hearts recoiled from strife and contention, who never did any great work in order to be lauded of men, these are found recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. Though the world counted them as insignificant, they are approved of God before the assembled universe.

 

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9.

As we enter the kingdom of God, there to spend eternity, the trials and the difficulties and the perplexities that we have had here will sink into insignificance. Our life will measure with the life of God.

There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.

All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar.... With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork.... As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption, and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise....

One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshaded beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.

-The Faith That I Live By, P. 370 & 371

Persistant Prayer-- Seeking Revival and Reformation

"In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.  I will sing of your strength; proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.  Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."6 

I had set my alarm for 6:15, this morning, but instead I awoke at 5.  I knew it was the Lord who woke me up.  I sensed the Lord was in my room, I dared not to go back to sleep.  I hadn't plan on waking up at 5.  My desire was to sleep until 6:15 and spend a solid hour with the Lord before I begun my day.  I guess He had different plans in mind for me this morning.

As I sought God in prayer, I had an overwhelming compelling desire to go back to sleep.  In disgust, I went from kneeling to supine position.  Closing my eyes, I told the Lord, "I am having a hard time staying awake, I am exhausted, I want to sleep."  I was struggling with my flesh, and continued to seek the Lord in this matter.  I went as far as setting my alarm for 7:15 and closed my eyes in frustration.

God heard my heart--not more than one minute later, my eyes popped open, my heart cried out to Him and the exhaustion I was feeling at that moment fled away.  "He satisfies me in the morning with His unfailing love..."  


This is what I would like to convey; revival and reformation.  Revival is about renewing our focus on Jesus.  Letting the Holy Spirit to remove our lethargic spiritual condition with renewed sense of need for revival fire to ignite our hearts once and forever more.

Do we need revival personally? Each of us can administer the simple self-test by asking ourselves, “Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ’s our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things.”1  Revival is an ongoing experience in the life of every believer. Since our natures are fallen, the Holy Spirit leads us to spiritual renewal every day.2

Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from the spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices. Reformation will not bring forth the good fruit of righteousness unless it is connected with the revival of the Spirit. Revival and reformation are to do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend.”³

Reformation is allowing the Holy Spirit to reorganize our lives according to Biblical values and principles. Reformation is also simply choosing to surrender our lives to Christ, and to submit to God's will in every area of our lives.  It is the charge, the commitment to please and honor God in everything we do; the willingness to live in harmony with God's commandments. 

Only through a personal relationship with God will bring about revival and reformation.  What joy it will be to seek God’s face until the earth is full of His glory!4 

"Revival--It asks whether we will be the first to give the answer, to offer ourselves for the Holy Spirit to do His full work of convincing of sin and consuming self. It asks if we will accept and carry the answer to our brethren and prove what God can do. Oh, this prayer for revival may mean much to us in more ways than one, but let us not fear. 

Is God ready to pour out His blessings?   God is ready! As the sun pours its light and warmth on every tiny flower to give it growth and beauty, God’s love is waiting and longing to pour itself into hearts that reach out after Him. Sometimes it may appear as if He waits long and delays His coming. But let us be sure of this: He does not wait one moment longer than is needful... Let us give ourselves to such prayer—intelligent, deliberate, intense prayer."5

Persistence compels us to the true center of prayer...


NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!
 ___ ____________________________________________________
1 Step to Christ p. 58
2 Mark Finley, Is "reformation" a confusing term? Adventist Review
3 Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1902
4 Andrew Murray, Revival
5 Andrew Murray, A Revived Church, Chap 2
6 Psalms 5:3, 59:16, 92:3, 90:14 

Our Need for Passionate Prayer

"...He hears the prayers of the Righteous." Proverbs 15:29  "The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer." Psalms 6:9

Prayer.  It is a weapon to use to fight against the forces of evil.  Prayer.  It is a direct line to the very throne room of God.  Prayer.  It is used to send angels on their mission of rescuing souls from peril.  Prayer.  It is a surrender of self and uniting our heart with His.  Prayer. It is a tool to strengthen one's faith in the Lord.  Prayer.  It is given to intercede for friends, family, and strangers who are unable or unwilling to intercede for their own salvation.  Prayer is vital.

How often do we persist in prayer?  When was the last time we have wrestle with God in prayer over a lost soul?  If we are honest with ourselves, most of us would admit we do not take enough time in prayer.  I love George Muller's response to someone's question about how often we should pray: "Hours every day. But I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk and when I lie down and when I arise. And the answers are always coming."

May God give us a strong, over powering burden for prayer.  We need it. I lack the burden, I desperately need God to give me a passion of prayer.  This world is fast approaching its doom and there are so many lost people who need our prayers to mix in with those of the Savior's on their behalf.  

May our hearts yearn for more of God through prayer.  May we find joy in abundance when we commune with Him.

"Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray--to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight--all through the day. Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word 'concern' out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice." Robert E Lee

"Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him"-Step to Christ, p 93. 

NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!

Jesus Risked Everything to Save Us

For awhile now I been wanting to share with my blog audience (on a different blog) the most daring rescue God has ever done for His created beings.  But I never got around to it.  So Here is a question we should ask ourselves:  Can we truly appreciate the gift that God gave to us 2000 years ago?  I don’t know what your answer would be, but my response is:  I don't think we can truly cherish or comprehend the great sacrifice Jesus did just for us.  In all reality, how much can we grasp as we contemplate all that Jesus risked in order to save us?  Not by much. 


My ability to create a beautiful picture of Christ's plan of salvation cannot be done.  It is too detailed and precious for me to even attempt to explain the magnitude of God's love for a fallen race.  Below is probably one of the most colorful displays of expression of the plan of salvation that I have ever come across.  Please enjoy.  (It is a little long, I tried to condense it as much as possible without losing the flavor of what the message is trying to convey.)


Scene:  After the fall of Adam and Eve--


Sorrow filled heaven, as it was realized that man was lost and that world which God had created was to be filled with mortals doomed to misery, sickness, and death, and there was no way of escape for the offender. The whole family of Adam must die. I saw the lovely Jesus and beheld an expression of sympathy and sorrow upon His countenance. Soon I saw Him approach the exceeding bright light which enshrouded the Father. Said my accompanying angel, “He is in close converse with His Father.” The anxiety of the angels seemed to be intense while Jesus was communing with His Father. Three times He was shut in by the glorious light about the Father, and the third time He came out from the Father, His person could be seen. His countenance was calm, free from all perplexity and doubt, and shone with benevolence and loveliness, such as words cannot express.

He then made known to the angelic host that a way of escape had been made for lost man. He told them that He had been pleading with His Father, and had offered to give His life a ransom, to take the sentence of death upon Himself, that through Him man might find pardon; that through the merits of His blood, and obedience to the law of God, they could have the favor of God and be brought into the beautiful garden and eat of the fruit of the tree of life.


At first the angels could not rejoice, for their Commander concealed nothing from them, but opened before them the plan of salvation. Jesus told them that He would stand between the wrath of His Father and guilty man, that He would bear iniquity and scorn, and but few would receive Him as the Son of God. Nearly all would hate and reject Him. He would leave all His glory in heaven, appear upon earth as a man, humble himself as a man, become acquainted by His own experience with the various temptations with which man would be beset, that He might know how to succor those who should be tempted; and that finally, after His mission as a teacher would be accomplished, He would be delivered into the hands of men and endure almost every cruelty and suffering that Satan and his angels could inspire wicked men to inflict; that He would die the cruelest of deaths, hung up between the heavens and the earth as a guilty sinner; that He would suffer dreadful hours of agony, which even angels could not look upon, but would veil their faces from the sight. Not merely agony of body would He suffer, but mental agony, that with which bodily suffering could in no wise be compared. 

The weight of the sins of the whole world would be upon Him. He told them He would die and rise again the third day, and would ascend to His Father to intercede for wayward, guilty man.

The angels prostrated themselves before Him. They offered their lives. Jesus said to them that He would by His death save many, that the life of an angel could not pay the debt. His life alone could be accepted of His Father as a ransom for man. Jesus also told them that they would have a part to act, to be with Him and at different times strengthen Him; that He would take man's fallen nature, and His strength would not be even equal with theirs; that they would be witnesses of His humiliation and great sufferings; and that as they would witness His sufferings and the hatred of men toward Him, they would be stirred with the deepest emotion, and through their love for Him would wish to rescue and deliver Him from His murderers; but that they must not interfere to prevent anything they should behold; and that they should act a part at His resurrection; that the plan of salvation was devised, and His Father had accepted the plan.


With a holy sadness Jesus comforted and cheered the angels and informed them that hereafter those whom He should redeem would be with Him, and that by His death He should ransom many and destroy him who had the power of death. And His Father would give Him the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, and He would possess it forever and ever. Satan and sinners would be destroyed, nevermore to disturb heaven or the purified new earth. Jesus bade the heavenly host be reconciled to the plan that His Father had accepted and rejoice that through His death fallen man could again be exalted to obtain favor with God and enjoy heaven.


Then joy, inexpressible joy, filled heaven. And the heavenly host sang a song of praise and adoration. They touched their harps and sang a note higher than they had done before, for the great mercy and condescension of God in yielding up His dearly Beloved to die for a race of rebels. Praise and adoration were poured forth for the self-denial and sacrifice of Jesus; that He would consent to leave the bosom of His Father and choose a life of suffering and anguish, and die an ignominious death to give life to others.


Said the angel, "Think ye that the Father yielded up His dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven, whether to let guilty man perish, or to give His beloved Son to die for him." Nothing but the death and intercessions of His Son would pay the debt and save lost man from hopeless sorrow and misery."


I saw that it was impossible for God to alter or change His law to save lost, perishing man; therefore He suffered His beloved Son to die for man's transgression.


Through Christ a door of hope was opened, that man, notwithstanding his great sin, should not be under the absolute control of Satan. Faith in the merits of the Son of God would so elevate man that he could resist the devices of Satan. Probation would be granted him in which, through a life of repentance and faith in the atonement of the Son of God, he might be redeemed from his transgression of the Father's law, and thus be elevated to a position where his efforts to keep His law could be accepted. Without the atonement of the Son of God there could be no communication of blessing or salvation from God to man--The Story of Redemption, Chapter 6
 


NOTE:  Due to my busy schedule right now, my friend, Chelsey, is the contributor to today's "Morning Sonshine" thought.  Thank you Chelsey!!