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29:1

@@@^Why not take the advice of the all-wise God? Why let hypocrisy bring you down to the level of the wicked, the indecent, and the disrespectful, — hypocrisy that leads down to the valley of indecision, of uncertainty, of calamity, of disgrace? Why should you in the name of the Lord spin devilish webs for unwary feet to be entangled in? Why should you serve your Enemy while professing to be Christ’s representative?

2:5

@@@^What does the reading instruct us to pray for? — For an appreciation of God’s love and for better understanding of Him; for the right understanding of what it means to pray the Lord’s prayer; for wisdom to know why we address God as our Father, why we are members of one family, brethren of one household; for grace to remember to pray not for ourselves only but for our neighbors, and even for our enemies.

16:4

@@@^“In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God. This petition calls upon you to possess His character. You can not hallow His name, you can not represent Him to the world, unless in life and character you represent the very life and character of God. This you can do only through the acceptance of the grace and righteousness of Christ.”

20:3

@@@^This group of Laodiceans will never, never have their eyes opened, will never be anything but wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. They can never be reached by Heaven, not even by the Lord Himself. If they thus continue, then the only thing Christ can do is to spue them out of His mouth, never again to mention their names at the Throne of Grace. Anything new from the Bible that is brought out by anyone but themselves, even though purported to be through Inspiration, they hastily brand “deception,” though they are already in a gross self deception. They read the Bible with the hope of finding proof by which to disagree with everyone but themselves.

14:2

@@@^If we are to be sorry for anyone, let us not be sorry for self. We sometimes think we are sorry for our sinning and our causing the Lord to be abused and crucified, but our sorrow is not real; it is only theoretical. When this Spirit of grace is poured upon us, then shall we fully realize that it was not the Jews’, but the sins of all of us that crucified Christ, and then we would count it a privilege to be abused for Christ’s sake.

10:4

@@@^The work that God has begun in the human heart by Divine light and knowledge, must continually go forward. “...Every individual must realize his own necessity. The heart must be emptied of every defilement, and cleansed for the indwelling of the Spirit. It was by the confession and forsaking of sin, by earnest prayer and consecration of themselves to God, that the early disciples prepared for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The same work, only in greater degree, must be done now. Then the human agent had only to ask for the blessing, and wait for the Lord to perfect the work concerning him. It is God who began the work, and He will finish His work, making man complete in Jesus Christ. But there must be no neglect of the grace represented by the former rain.

13:4

@@@^The outstanding events of each group are these: (1) Jerusalem is to be made “a cup of trembling” and the nations of the earth are to be “in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” (2) “In that day” the nations are to gather together against them. (3) “In that day” the Lord is to “smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness,” and He is also to open His “eyes upon the house of Judah.” The governors of Judah are then to say in their hearts, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.” (4) “In that day” Jerusalem is to be inhabited again. (5) “In that day he that is feeble among them” is to be as David; and the house of David is to be as God. (6) “In that day” the Lord is to seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. He will then pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications. (7) “In that day” there is to be a great mourning in Jerusalem.

10:4

@@@^We need to pray for power to resist criticizing others than ourselves and thus to get closer and closer to Christ and to abundantly receive of His grace. Never yet have I seen a father or a mother criticize their own son or daughter. When parents hear others criticizing their offspring, then the critics often get into trouble. But those same defendants of their own sons and daughters, often criticize others with the idea that they do it for the good of the ones they criticize. If they actually believe that their criticism is prompted by love to help rather than to wound, and not to bolster their reputation and to cover up sin, then pray tell me why the critics do not give their own children some of it?

2:4

@@@^“When a crisis comes in the life of any soul, and you attempt to give counsel or admonition, your words will have only the weight of influence for good that your own example and spirit have gained for you. You must @9be@7 good before you can @9do@7 good. You can not exert an influence that will transform others until your own heart has been humbled and refined and made tender by the grace of Christ. When this change has been wrought in you, it will be as natural for you to live to bless others as it is for the rose-bush to yield its fragrant bloom, or the vine its purple clusters.”

12:3

@@@^“But the Saviour never passed by one soul, however sunken in sin, who was willing to receive the precious truths of heaven. To publicans and harlots His words were the beginning of a new life.... Beneath an appearance of hatred and contempt, even beneath crime and degradation, may be hidden a soul that the grace of Christ will rescue, to shine as a jewel in the Redeemer’s crown.”

18:2

@@@^@0@9Verses 15-18 — “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.”@7@^Because there was nothing that could have been done to save our ancestors from shame, the Lord let the nations beat His people and scatter them to the four winds. He nevertheless left a promise that He would wait until they as a people have gone through their period of prodigality, until they as individuals discover their mistakes and give the Lord opportunity to display His grace to them. Those who wait for Him are certainly to receive His blessings.

19:1

@@@^@0@9Verse 19 — “For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when He shall hear it, He will answer thee.”@7@^What is the reason that God so patiently waits? and why does He promise His grace so abundantly to His people? — Because He is determined that they shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. His aim is to take them back there, and to give them rest. His purpose is to end their weeping, to hear their prayers, and to grant their needs.

10:3

@@@^The church is especially pointed out by the fact that, unlike the Old Testament Church, she has been spoiling but has not been spoiled; that she has been dealing treacherously but she herself has not been so dealt with. Inspiration, however, goes on to fore-cast a reverse of this situation: The church shall be spoiled and dealt with treacherously. His faithful ones in the midst of her, however, shall find grace, for they plead:

23:3

@@@^What are we to pray for this evening? — Let us remember that self is the only barrier between us and God, and that God will never force us to come to Him. Let us ask Him for power to use the grace He so freely provides. He would not have made us free moral agents if He did not expect us to use our wills. We should ask Him to help us to be “willing to be made willing,” and then join our wills to His, and so “work out our own salvation.” We need the strength of God to resist all evil, to overcome the world as Jesus overcame.

30:1

@@@^“Ample provisions have been made for all who sincerely, earnestly, and thoughtfully set about the work of perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Strength, grace, and glory have been provided through Christ, to be brought by ministering angels to the heirs of salvation. None are so low, so corrupt and vile, that they cannot find in Jesus, who died for them, strength, purity, and righteousness, if they will put away their sins, cease their course of iniquity, and turn with full purpose of heart to the living God. He is waiting to strip them of their garments, stained and polluted by sin, and to put upon them the white, bright robes of righteousness; and he bids them live and not die. In him they may flourish. Their branches will not wither nor be fruitless. If they abide in him, they can draw sap and nourishment from him, be imbued with his Spirit, walk even as he walked, overcome as he overcame, and be exalted to his own right hand.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 2, pg. 453.

2:2

@@@^“The only hope for us if we would overcome is to unite our will to God’s will, and work in cooperation with Him, hour by hour, and day by day. We can not retain self, and yet enter the kingdom of God. If we ever attain unto holiness, it will be through the renunciation of self, and the reception of the mind of Christ. Pride and self-sufficiency must be crucified. Are we willing to pay the price required of us? Are we willing to have our will brought into perfect conformity to the will of God? Until we are willing, the transforming grace of God can not be manifest upon us.”

2:3

@@@^We shall now kneel and pray for understanding that our hope of having a home in God’s Kingdom depends upon uniting our will with His will, and upon laboring in cooperation with Him; that holiness depends upon renouncing self and accepting Christ; that pride has no place in the Christian’s heart; that the transformation of the grace of God is obtained by our conforming to His Word.

2:4

@@@^“...He who, like the Jews in Christ’s day, builds on the foundation of human ideas and opinions, of forms and ceremonies of man’s invention, or on any works that he can do independently of the grace of Christ, is erecting his structure of character upon the shifting sand. The fierce tempests of temptation will sweep away the sandy foundation, and leave his house a wreck on the shores of time.”

12:2

@@@^“But to-day mercy pleads with the sinner. ‘As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?’ The voice that speaks to the impenitent to-day is the voice of Him who in heart-anguish exclaimed as He beheld the city of His love: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!’ In Jerusalem, Jesus beheld a symbol of the world that had rejected and despised His grace. He was weeping, O stubborn heart, for you! Even when Jesus’ tears were shed upon the mount, Jerusalem might yet have repented, and escaped her doom. For a little space the Gift of heaven still waited her acceptance. So, O heart, to you Christ is still speaking in accents of love: ‘Behold I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.’ ‘Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’”

13:3

@@@^Naturally men are unconscious of the fact that they cannot direct their own steps even after God starts them out as a father starts out his little son. We should never forget that when God’s ancient people rejected the prophets, including John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and the Apostles, when He could no longer lead them, their feet slipped in every direction, they fell from grace and lost everything. Only the followers of the prophets remained with God and they only composed the Christian church in its beginning. No other than God did direct their steps into the Church.