Hold Fast

Hold fast faith, hope, and love - these three.
For He is faithful who has promised,
He ever shall my hope of glory be.
Hold fast, Hold fast, till He comes;
Till Love Himself descends in majesty.

Stepping Closer to Christ in Joy (sharing an audio book of Steps to Christ)

Yesterday, as I went about the everyday duties of the home life I have chosen, I was kept from straying too far into the path of discouragement by the words of Inspiration channeled to me through an audio book of Steps to Christ (chapter 13) that I had on as I worked:


         Many, walking along the path of life, dwell upon their mistakes and failures and disappointments, and their hearts are filled with grief and discouragement. While I was in Europe, a sister who had been doing this, and who was in deep distress, wrote to me, asking for some word of encouragement. The night after I had read her letter I dreamed that I was in a garden, and one who seemed to be the owner of the garden was conducting me through its paths. I was gathering the flowers and enjoying their fragrance, when this sister, who had been walking by my side, called my attention to some unsightly briers that were impeding her way. There she was mourning and grieving. She was not walking in the pathway, following the guide, but was walking among the briers and thorns. "Oh," she mourned, "is it not a pity that this beautiful garden is spoiled with thorns?" Then the guide said, "Let the thorns alone, for they will only wound you. Gather the roses, the lilies, and the pinks."  {SC 116.3}

         Have there not been some bright spots in your experience? Have you not had some precious seasons when your heart throbbed with joy in response to the Spirit of God? When you look back into the chapters of your life experience do you not find some pleasant pages? Are not God's promises, like the fragrant flowers, growing beside your path on every hand? Will you not let their beauty and sweetness fill your heart with joy?  {SC 117.1}

         The briers and thorns will only wound and grieve you; and if you gather only these things, and present them to others, are you not, besides slighting the goodness of God yourself, preventing those around you from walking in the path of life?  {SC 117.2}

          It is not wise to gather together all the unpleasant recollections of a past life,--its iniquities and disappointments,--to talk over them and mourn over them until we are overwhelmed with discouragement. A discouraged soul is filled with darkness, shutting out the light of God from his own soul and casting a shadow upon the pathway of others. {SC 117.3}
   
          Thank God for the bright pictures which He has presented to us. Let us group together the blessed assurances of His love, that we may look upon them continually: The Son of God leaving His Father's throne, clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might rescue man from the power of Satan; His triumph in our behalf, opening heaven to men, revealing to human vision the presence chamber where the Deity unveils His glory; the fallen race uplifted from the pit of ruin into which sin had plunged it, and brought again into connection with the infinite God, and having endured the divine test through faith in our Redeemer, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and exalted to His throne--these are the pictures which God would have us contemplate.  {SC 118.1}


Exactly. Christians should be the happiest people in the world. We have Christ! What more can we desire? We only need to trust that His love will never fail us. That reminded me of the quote that I put into a bookmark I made early this year.

Because we are the gift of His Father, and the reward of His work, Jesus loves us. He loves us as His children. Reader, He loves you. Heaven itself can bestow nothing greater, nothing better. Therefore trust.  {DA 483.3}

I praise the Lord for speaking to me with the words I most needed to hear at that moment. In gratitude, I would like to share this audio book with those who desire to be blessed with God's word even as they go about the needed earthly work. 

Click here to view/download all 13 chapters of the Steps to Christ audio book.




A couple of years ago, a sister said to me, "Every moment must be a moment of learning." 
Thank God for a way to do just that.


(Written with Great Controversy playing in the background.)

A Sinner's Prayer: a work finally finished

This is a piece I found as I was going through my files this morning. Apparently, I began to write it in October 2012, but didn't get to finish it until today. The parts in red are those I wrote almost three years back; the ones in blue I put in only today to finish the poem. 

A SINNER'S PRAYER

My heart is sore within me

My knees tremble as I kneel

I've had my way, I disobeyed

But I feel empty still

Lord, raise me from the mire

This is my soul's desire

Take away my guilt and fear

Wash me, this is my prayer.

I don't deserve to face You

But there is no one else.

There is no good in running,

Or hiding from Your grace.

Lord, free me from my chains

Your grace I humbly claim

I ask, save me not from pain,

But cleanse me, Lord, from sin.

What amazes me and drove me to post this piece is how much I can still relate to the sentiment expressed in the unfinished poem, so much so that I could still pick up the thought and continue it. But more than that, I am more amazed at how much more of God's grace I have come to understand by study and experience in the three-year gap. 

I think today of 1 John 1:9,"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Jesus loves us so much that the forgiveness He offers is not just a pardon from the sinful act committed, but also a cleansing from the unrighteousness within that causes the wrong act/thought/deed/sentiment. I love how Inspiration puts it in the book Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing:

But forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose. When God gives the promise that He "will abundantly pardon," He adds, as if the meaning of that promise exceeded all that we could comprehend: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:7-9. God's forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10. And again he says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12.

My Redeemer is indeed faithful and true. Praise God for His wonderful mercy and matchless grace!