Category: Motivation Monday

 

We may look up through nature to nature‘s God. In the beautiful, lofty trees, the shrubs, the flowers, God reveals His character. He is to be compared to the most beautiful lilies and roses and pinks. I love to look upon the things of God in nature, for the Lord impresses upon them His character. In love to us He has given them, and He means that we shall have pleasure in them. Then let us not worship the beautiful things in nature, but let us look up through them to nature‘s God, and be led to worship the Giver. Let these beautiful ministries of love answer the purpose of God, and draw our hearts to Him, to be filled with the beauties of His character, and adore His goodness, His compassion, His inexpressible love.

The Upward Look, 327

“Mercy’s sweet call is now sounding; but it will soon die away. Probation’s hour will soon be ended. The seven last plagues will fall, and then those who have chosen the pleasures of the world and rebelled against God, will cry for mercy when there will be none to answer their prayers. But a voice will be heard,—“Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.” And as they realize that they have no shelter from the dreadful storm of God’s wrath, they will plead for one little hour of probation that they may again hear the sweet voice, inviting “every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” It will then fall upon the ear, in that dreadful hour. “Too late! too late!”

Youth’s Instructor- January 1, 1854

“God wants His people in these days to review the trials through which ancient Israel passed, in order to learn how to prepare for the heavenly Canaan. Many look back to the Israelites and are amazed at their unbelief. They feel that they themselves would not have been so ungrateful. But when their faith is tested even by little trials, they reveal no more faith or patience than ancient Israel did. They complain about the way in which God has chosen to purify them. Though their present needs are supplied, many constantly fear that poverty will come on them, and their children will be left to suffer. Obstacles, instead of leading them to seek help from God, separate them from Him because they bring out unrest and discontent.

Why should we be ungrateful and distrusting? Jesus is our friend. All heaven is interested in our welfare. Anxiety and fear grieve the Holy Spirit of God—it is not God’s will for His people to be weighed down with care.

Our Lord does not tell us there are no dangers in our path, but He points us to a never-failing place of safety. He invites the weary and care-burdened, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Take off the yoke of anxiety and care that you have placed on your own neck, and “take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”. Instead of grumbling and complaining, the language of our hearts should be, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”

Beginning of the End, 141

“Inspiration faithfully records the faults of good people who were distinguished by the favor of God. This has given the infidel opportunities to scoff at the Bible, but it is one of the strongest evidences of the truth of Scripture that it does not gloss over the facts or suppress the sins of its chief characters. If the Bible had been written by uninspired persons, it would surely have presented its honored characters in a more flattering light.

Seeing where others struggled through discouragements like our own, where they fell when tempted as we have done and yet took heart again and conquered through the grace of God, we are encouraged in our quest for righteousness. Though sometimes they were beaten back, they recovered their ground and were blessed by God. So we too may be overcomers in the strength of Jesus. On the other hand, the record of their lives may serve as a warning to us. God sees sin in His most favored ones, and He deals with it in them even more strictly than in those who have less light and responsibility.”

Beginning of the End, 114

“Every man, and every woman, and every child must be in earnest. It is no time to be discouraged now, for the evil one is pressing upon us harder than ever before, and we cannot afford to lose ground by going backward. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we must rally for the right; and we must strive not to have our children taken right out of our arms, and out of our homes, to pass into the ranks of the enemy. We cannot afford it. We must work for God, and we must work for heaven, with all the might and faith there is in us.”

The Review and Herald, December 21, 1886

“Heaven’s path is too narrow for rank and riches to ride in state, too narrow for the play of ambition, too steep and rugged for carriages of ease to climb. Toil, patience, self- sacrifice, reproach, poverty, hard work, enduring the contradiction of sinners against Himself, was the portion of Christ, and it must be the portion of man if he ever enters the Paradise of God.”
Selected Messages Book 2, 166