#36: Keep Doing What You Do

Trying to do this ministry that I have committed to is sometimes discouraging. However while studying our Sabbath School lessons, I once read and have kept, these encouraging words. Hope it will encourage someone else.

            “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 
             sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matthew 13:33 NIV).

Hmmm….. So where do you come in?

[Words taken from “The Undiscovered Jesus” – Lesson Help for Adult SS Lessons Q2 2015]

Listen to this beautiful song: "Carry your candle". Go to  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnJv5ach6y0

SS Thoughts #35: You Don’t Have To Fight!

Most of us spend a great deal of time and energy trying to defend our reputations, our positions, our actions, our words, our decisions, and ourselves. We are truly wasting our time. When others are judgmental toward us, we may finally after much effort convince them of our purity of heart. However since people tend to be judgmental in nature, they will soon find something else to judge us for.

BUT we have an Advocate!!!!

When we need to be defended, our Advocate defends us, acting as a legal assistant would for a client. This Advocate is the Holy Spirit—appointed by God to come to our defense and plead our cause. This third member of the Triune has literally been called to our side to help us in every way, (John 14:16-26 & John 16:7-11).

So you don’t have to fight..... You don't have to defend yourself when you are accused of wrong actions..... Your best course of action is to pray and let the Holy Spirit do His job and be your Advocate and Defender. Knowing this should bring encouragement and comfort to all of us.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:38-39. NIV)

[Partially adapted from Joyce Meyer’s Devotional: Hearing from God Each Morning]

Update:
A friend shared the 'donkey' story as an illustration that whatever you do people will criticize: 

SS Thoughts #34: A Bridge To Us?

Bridges are soooo useful. They allow us to connect areas that could otherwise remain separated. Some bridges give us the feeling that they are solid and strong. Others appear quite frail—persons are afraid to trust the bridge to hold them. Or their fear of heights might prevent them from venturing onto such bridges. Bridges with a sound foundation support the load of traffic easily, but a bridge with weak foundations can lead to great loss of life/vehicles.

I’ll share a couple quotes from Pastor Samuel Telemaque’s Outline for the Adult SS Lessons (Q2-2015; #12): a) “We need to build our lives on the foundation of Christ, that we may be strong enough to support the loads we are asked to carry…. b) Jesus, being perfect in all aspects, bridged the gap between God and man, by becoming the only God-Man—completely divine, yet completely human at the same time”.

As our Savior, Jesus offers salvation for all people. Laying aside His kingly position, He reached down to connect with lowly, sinful, human beings—but He desires to restore His own image in us. By becoming human, He understands completely our weaknesses and infirmities and wants to support us.

c) Jesus built bridges for communication of the gospel. E. G. White urges us not to be “stereotyped in one manner of working”, but to adapt our methods of witness in creative ways, (Evangelism, p. 106). Facebook is a good forum to reach out to others in our global community and share the good news of the gospel.

Won’t you reach up to Jesus for His support, and to accept His offer of salvation? Won’t you reach out and across and share Him with others who also need to know Him?

A bridge to us (2):

Someone made a comment to my post on Facebook that made me want to add something.

The comment: "Bridges can indeed be a source of help or a place of calamity... I am thankful however that Jesus is the bridge that takes mankind once again before the Heavenly Father.... Thank you for your Cross Lord!"

This reminded me of an often-shared 'cross' story:

The man in the video clip was exhausted from carrying his cross, and cried out to God asking Him to lighten the load.  In the next picture, the man had a saw in his hand and was cutting off a portion from the bottom of the cross and then thanking God for making it lighter.  This happened several times and the cross got shorter and shorter. The others around him kept carrying the full weight of their cross, but his kept getting lighter and lighter and he was thrilled.

When they got to the huge gap in the road, the others used their cross that had not been shortened to get over to the other side—to figuratively get to heaven. This fella’ did not have that option—his cross was too short…. Hmmmm…. Our burdens make us stronger.

Romans 5:3-5 says, “…we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produce perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit…”  

Watch the short video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1hn0u9Hgyg