Keys Storehouse

Keys to the Storehouse – A Genuine Apology

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Today, genuine, heartfelt apologies are a rare commodity. Many people go to great lengths to convince the other person that they were responsible for the impatient or angry reaction that they received. In making an apology for not responding in a Christlike manner, are you a person who has to justify your actions and make excuses for yourself putting the blame right back on the other person to whom you are apologizing?

James says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” James 5:16. This does not say to blame your faults on the other person while you are confessing and you will be healed.

The devil made me do it was a popular saying used when people did something they knew was unacceptable. Many people used this saying to as an excuse for whatever they did in their life, but can we use that excuse and blame another person for our own anger? Is it their fault and are we justified blaming others for our own impatience? It comes right down to the fact that each person is responsible for his/her own sins. Whatever the circumstances, a reaction of anger and impatience is sin and we are not at liberty to blame others for our lack of control.

Those very trying circumstances that often come our way are opportunities to exercise that most precious gift—the power of choice! Instead of a negative reaction, why not call on the One who is all powerful and not willing that any would perish but overcome the devil by reflecting the character of Jesus. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict the heart of the one stirring up trouble and not ours to cast blame.

Approaching a person and saying, “I am so sorry I was impatient with you, but you …” or “I am sorry I lost my temper, but you …” is an attempt to transfer blame on someone else for my own lack of control so I will feel better. When apologizing for a wrong word or act and then qualifying it by using the word but, shows that the apology is not genuine. It is devoid of sorrow of heart and merely an attempt to cover the guilt with fig leaves, leaving no healing for either party.

A heartfelt apology is filled with the sad reality that the person has fallen short of the glory of God—fallen short of the character of Jesus in the moment of testing and trial that the Lord has allowed. Whenever I hear somebody apologizing while excusing themselves by blaming somebody else for their actions, I immediately send up a prayer for them.

The expression of regret or sorrow in an apology is like balm on an open wound that brings healing to both parties. The admission of guilt to a wounded person often results in a deeper relationship between the two, for where there had once been contention, now there is a proven trust. The next time you find yourself apologizing, remember to avoid the but word and you may be surprised to see the result of the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit by also receiving an apology in return.

Heavenly Father, put within me that heartfelt sorrow when I have misrepresented Your character. Alert me to the danger of blaming others. Take away that homemade fig leaf covering that I so often use to excuse or cover my actions and words that are not Christlike and cover me with the blood of Jesus and give me a heart of repentance. Help me to take full responsibility of my actions so that all parties will be healed. Amen.

Find peace and healing as you turn this key and enter the Storehouse.

Keys to the Storehouse – The Atmosphere of Heaven

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Just think about what the atmosphere of heaven is really like—where agape love is part of the heart and is lived out in everything. In just a casual reading of I Corinthians 13:4–8, we do not see or realize the positive impact this would make in our lives and the lives of those around us, if our hearts were truly full of love and it flowed out through our influence and actions and not merely just words. Would you not like to walk in the atmosphere of heaven right here and now? I surely would!

When each has an understanding of the real meaning of the words in I Corinthians 13:4–8 and the Holy Spirit works a miracle transformation in the heart and life, a heavenly influence would be felt that would impact everything and everyone around us. What does it really mean?

  • Love suffers long (patient)—agape love drives away all impatience
  • Love is kind (friendly)—agape love leaves room for no unkindness
  • Love envies not (jealous)—agape love banishes all jealousy
  • Love vaunts not itself (boasts)—with agape love, boasting and self-assertion disappear
  • Love is not puffed up (pride)—agape love makes no place in the heart for pride
  • Love does not behave itself unseemly—agape love makes no room for recklessness, foolishness and rashness
  • Love seeks not its own—with agape love, self is dead, selfishness is unknown
  • Love is not provoked—agape love banishes anger and wrath
  • Love takes no account of evil—brooding over so-called wrongs will be no more. Bitterness will not be found with agape love in the heart
  • Love beareth all things—complaining will never be heard
  • Love believeth all things—mistrust will not destroy fellowship
  • Love hopeth all things—despair, anxiety, despondency go

Whenever impatience and unkindness dwell in your life, it is evident that God’s agape love, which comes from God, is absent from your heart. There is such a need to really understand and to allow that heavenly atmosphere, that agape love into our very hearts—into our very lives.

Why are we in this world? In Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 171, it says, “Believers in Christ are, in this world, to bring into action the principles of heaven.” Now is the time to bring into action in our personal lives these most wonderful principles of heaven so others may receive the blessings from God through us. God is waiting for you and me to represent His kingdom right here and right now.

There is no impatience, unkindness, rashness, bitterness, anger, complaining or brooding over so-called wrongs in God’s kingdom. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17. What a most wonderful atmosphere that could begin in our hearts right now and flow forth to others.

Oh Heavenly Father, I want more than anything to walk in the midst of that heavenly atmosphere so that others will receive a little sampling of heaven right here and now through me. Please fill me with Your agape love and let it so transform me as to bring into action the principles of heaven that all will be blessed. Amen.

Turn this key to the Storehouse to receive your heavenly sample right now.

Keys to the Storehouse – Which Bundle are you Choosing?

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A train of cars was shown me, going with the speed of lightning. The angel bade me look carefully. I fixed my eyes upon the train. It seemed that the whole world was on board, that there could not be one left. Said the angel, ‘They are binding in bundles ready to burn.’ Then he showed me the conductor, who appeared like a stately, fair person, whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced. I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was. He said, ‘It is Satan. He is the conductor in the form of an angel of light. He has taken the world captive. They are given over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they may be damned. This agent, the next highest in order to him, is the engineer, and other of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them, and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition.’

“I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway. All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth, in bundles, or companies. Said the angel, ‘The third angel is binding, or sealing, them in bundles for the heavenly garner.’ ” Early Writings, 88, 89. [Emphasis supplied.]

“The wicked are being bound up in bundles, bound up in trusts, in unions, in confederacies. Let us have nothing to do with these organizations. God is our Ruler, our Governor, and He calls us to come out from the world and be separate (11 Corinthians 6:17). … If we refuse to do this, if we continue to link up with the world and to look at every matter from a worldly standpoint, we shall become like the world. When worldly policy and worldly ideas govern our transactions we cannot stand on the high and holy platform of eternal truth.” Last Day Events, 116.

In which bundle are you being bound? Is it the bundle or company that is obeying God as He calls us to come out from the world and be separate? Or is it the bundle or company that stands on the wide road with the whole world and following after worldly policy and ideas? We are known by our fruits. What are your fruits showing?

Even Abigail, the wife of Nabal, knew at that time about the bundles of life and gave the warning to David who was in danger of making the wrong decision and being bound into the wrong bundle. What decisions are you making today?

“And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. … Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.” I Samuel 25:23, 29.

Oh Lord, Give me the strength to step from that speeding car, the world, which is encircling me and destroying my spiritual, mental, and physical health. Deliver me from the whirlwind of deception and error. Hold up my goings in Thy paths only, that my footsteps slip not so that I may be bound into the bundle of life with others. Amen.

Keys to the Storehouse – Strong Man Armed

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“How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” Matthew 12:29.

For the longest time I had a hard time understanding the meaning of this verse and how it applied to my life. Before I made my commitment to the Lord Jesus, there was a strong man who had control of my house and all the goods it contained, the talents and gifts given from the Lord. I thought all was well because, “When men give themselves over to be the slaves of Satan, he does not manifest the enmity toward them which he does to those who bear the name of Christ, and give themselves to the service of God. … Satan will permit those to have a degree of rest who are bound as slaves to his chariot, for they are his willing captives.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 299.

This is what we need to understand. “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.” Luke 11:21. As bond slaves, we think we are at peace!

When is it that the anger of the strong man is raised and our so-called peace is shaken? “His enmity is aroused when the message of mercy reaches his bondslaves, and they seek to wrench themselves away from his power, that they may follow the true Shepherd. Then it is that he seeks to bind them with additional chains to hold them in their captivity. The conflict between the soul and Satan begins when the captive begins to tug at the chain, and longs to be free; for it is then that the human agent begins to co-operate with heavenly intelligences, when faith takes hold on Christ.” Ibid.

When the Holy Spirit moves upon our hearts and we begin to yearn for freedom in Christ, this is the time when Jesus can enter into the strong man’s house and spoil his goods. “Then it is that the Stronger than the strong man armed, is the helper of the soul, and the poor captive is strengthened by the Holy Spirit to obtain his freedom.” Ibid. Praise the Lord!

“Jesus is stronger than the strong man armed, and will rescue from the power of Satan every soul that relies wholly upon him. Although we may be weak and helpless in ourselves, yet all the forces of heaven are at the command of the believing child of God, and the hosts of hell cannot make him depart from the right course if he clings to God by living faith.” The Review and Herald, May 20, 1884.

“He who unites himself with Christ will gather to himself the graces of Christ. … By cooperation with the Saviour, he becomes the instrument through which God works. Then when Satan comes and strives to take possession of the soul, he finds that Christ has made him stronger than the strong man armed.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1092.

Heavenly Father, I now understand that the strong man armed was Satan in control of my life and all of its talents. I am so thankful that I invited Jesus into my heart and that He is stronger than the strong man armed. I am so thankful that through Him I am free and that the doors of my heart are open for the Holy Spirit to use all of the gifts and talents You have bestowed upon me to Your glory in turning others heavenward. I cling to Thee so that the strong man armed can no longer use me to turn others earthward. Thank You for freedom from the strong man armed. Amen.

Keys to the Storehouse – The Serpent’s Meat

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Satan is filled with wrath against anyone who professes to be a follower of Jesus—the Christian. Many of us have too well felt his wrath. The only way that Satan can wound the Saviour is by ruining the souls of His saints through his deceptive devices. We need to recognize temptations in order to resist them and endure the trials.

Satan, the serpent, spreads an attractive table to lure the unsuspecting away from the Lord’s table to eat his meat. The world-loving majority is attracted by the delicacies offered there, but at what cost?

“Shall we allow ourselves to be separated from Christ, and thus lose the eternal reward, the great gift of everlasting life? Shall we not accept the enmity which Christ has placed between man and the serpent? Shall we not eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, which means to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God? Or shall we become earthly, eating the serpent’s meat, which is selfishness, hypocrisy, evil-surmising, envy, and covetousness?” Manuscript Releases, vol. 18, 344. [Emphasis supplied.]

We all have a choice to make. Will we eat and grow in grace at the Lord’s table, living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)? Or will we gorge on the serpent’s fare, developing characters fit only to be tied into bundles ready to be burned (Matthew 13:30)? If you find yourself at the wrong table today, don’t finish that meal! It may be sweet in the mouth, but it will be bitter in the stomach and be the cause of much spiritual sickness, sorrow and hurt to all around you. The serpent serves morsels of profession that come to naught—the soup of evil surmising which sours all around you, stones of self-indulgence, greed, self-centeredness and unkindness with chunks of impatience, resentment, spite, grudging and discontentment.

This is the meat that the serpent provides to entice you to feast upon. Feasting at this table pleases its Satanic host, while causing untold suffering to Jesus and darkening the lives of all around. Please do not finish that meal!

“Satan is filled with wrath against Jesus. But he cannot hurt the Saviour except by conquering those for whom Christ died. He knows that when through his devices souls are ruined, the Saviour is wounded.” Ibid.

We want to resist the temptation to chew on anything that the serpent may want to offer, whether it be impatience, complaining, murmuring, selfishness or anything else that may be sour or distasteful. We are being watched to see at which table we are seated when temptations come.

“The heavenly universe is watching with the deepest interest the conflict between Christ in the person of His saints, and the great deceiver. Those who recognize and resist temptation are fighting the Lord’s battles.” Ibid.

Oh Lord: Rescue me from the serpent’s meat if I should ever thoughtlessly sit at his table and cause sorrow and heartache to all around. I choose to sup with Thee. Fill me to overflowing with heavenly fruits that I will have no room to drink the soup of evil surmising which is very sour to all around, or to crunch on the stones of self-indulgence, greed, self-centeredness, unkindness or to chew on the chunks of impatience, resentment, spite, grudging and discontentment. I come to Your table asking You to feed me and nourish me to overflowing so there will be no room for the serpent’s meat. Amen!

Keys to the Storehouse – Heart Longing

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There are times that many have a heart-longing that just does not seem to be satisfied by home, family or friends. It is a longing, a desire, for spiritual fulfillment which only God can supply. At the moment of this longing there are no words to express it to our heavenly Father.

One day as this longing came upon me, I happened to be reading in the book of Colossians and the Lord opened to my eyes, and to my heart, a perfect prayer to put into words to express this longing. Please look at the scripture found in Colossians 1:9–11 (KJV).

“… and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.”

“How complete this prayer is! There is no limit to the blessings that it is our privilege to receive. We may be ‘filled with the knowledge of His will.’ The Holy Ghost would never have inspired Paul to offer this prayer in behalf of his brethren, if it had not been possible for them to receive an answer from God in accordance with the request. Since this is so, we know that God’s will is manifested to His people as they need a clearer understanding of His will.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 906.

There is no limit to the blessings you and I may receive when we pray that prayer. Paul was praying for his brethren that most beautiful prayer and I realized that this prayer spoke of the longing of my heart also. Needless to say, I transformed that prayer into my personal prayer and I have been much blessed. I share my personalized version with you, as follows, so you may be blessed as much as I have been blessed.

“God of heaven and earth: I desire to be filled with the knowledge of Thy will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that I may walk worthy of Thee unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in a knowledge of Thee; that I may be strengthened with all might according to Thy glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.”

Pray this with all of your heart and God will satisfy your longing.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word which puts prayers into our hearts that may ascend heavenward to Thy glory. Thank You for Your Word which satisfies our need and personal yearnings for a closer relationship with You. Bless us now as we personalize and put into our hearts Thy Word and then with heart yearning, send that personalized Word up to You. Amen.

Keys to the Storehouse – Danger of Shadows

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The word light has always fascinated me. What is that light that is so important that Jesus tells us to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”? Matthew 5:16.

We need to identify it, because “Satan is working with all his hellish power to quench that light which should burn brightly in the soul and shine forth in good works.” Ellen G. White Comments, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1179.

That light must be very important for Satan to want to quench or smother it! Once we know exactly what he is attacking, we can pray and enlist divine help to preserve it.

“What is light? It is piety, goodness, truth, mercy, love; it is the revealing of the truth in the character and life. … Every soul is to be a bright and shining light, showing forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).” Christian Service, 21.

That light is the principle of righteousness, transplanted into our hearts and radiating forth in bright beams from within. Darkness is that earthy character, which is eradicated wherever light is radiating and shining forth.

“True character is not shaped from without, and put on; it radiates from within. If we wish to direct others in the path of righteousness, the principles of righteousness must be enshrined in our own hearts. … The consistent life, the holy conversation, the unswerving integrity, the active, benevolent spirit, the godly example—these are the mediums through which light is conveyed to the world.” The Desire of Ages, 307.

That light is our consistent Christlike life, our holy conversation, and our unswerving integrity, that godly example that shines through us to touch the lives of others. This is what Satan wants to quench and to shadow.

Impatience, discontentment, sadness and gloom all are Satan’s shadows blocking out the light shining through us to others.

As we bask in the light of the Word, we learn to recognize these shadows that do not represent Christ! Resist the devil’s shadows that he may not quench the light that reflects through us to others, the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Satan does all in his power to quench the spirit so the light will go out, leaving the people in darkness. “Trials patiently borne, blessings gratefully received, meekness, kindness, mercy, and love, habitually exhibited, are the lights that shine forth in the character before the world.” Conflict and Courage, 59.

This heavenly light is the target of Satan’s attack. He failed in his attempt to destroy Jesus and all those who cling to His cross and receive power from Him will overcome him in the strength of Jesus Christ and will be conquerors reflecting the light of love and truth and mercy to all around.

“The life of Christ in the soul, His love revealed in the character, would make them the light of the world.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 39, 40.

Father, Open my eyes that I may recognize the shadows of darkness that I have allowed to destroy Your marvelous light. I pray for the character of Jesus to be revealed in my life every moment of every day. Put a song of praise into my heart so that when the trials or shadows appear and try to cover my life, they will not find a home. Thank you Jesus that I can put on the whole armour of God that will protect me from Satan and allow Your light to shine brightly through me without any shadows so that others may be blessed. Amen.

Keys to the Storehouse – The Weights, the Cross and the Yoke

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Jesus says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. He also says, “Take My yoke upon you” [Matthew 11:29]. What are the cross and the yoke?

“The yoke and the cross are symbols representing the same thing—the giving up of the will to God.” The Review and Herald, October 23, 1900.

Your cross is giving up your will and yoking up with God’s will. Why is it so hard to let go of your will, your self—your life as it is? In Luke 9:24 it says, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

In the Greek-English Lexicon, that word for life means the life you live/lifestyle—the earthly. So when you try to preserve your life/lifestyle with all of its weights of character defects, you will lose it anyway—because it will be destroyed. But if you will lose your life—destroy your earthly lifestyle and yoke up with Christ—your life will be saved.

Your self has a battle to fight, because it wants to hold on to the weights that you are to lay aside, the things that so easily beset you (Hebrews 12:1). Why would you want to hang on to weights such as envy, evil thinking, evil speaking, covetousness and eventually be destroyed? Lay those weights aside and yoke up with Christ.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1.

“[Hebrews 12:1 quoted.] … Who are the witnesses? They are those spoken of in the previous chapter—those who have breasted the evils and difficulties in their way, and who in the name of the Lord have braced themselves successfully against the opposing forces of evil. They were sustained and strengthened and the Lord held them by His hand.

“There are other witnesses. All about us are those who are watching us closely, to see how we who profess a belief in the truth conduct ourselves. At all times and in all places, so far as possible, we must magnify the truth before the world.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 934.

These weights are cumbersome and not worth hanging on to. Yoke up with Christ as that great cloud of witnesses before you have done.

“Jesus invites us to come to Him and He will lift the weights from our weary shoulders and place upon us His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light. … The sacrifices which we must make in following Christ are only so many steps to return to the path of light, of peace and happiness.” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, 480.

Heavenly Father, Grant me the grace to let go of these earthly things that weigh me down, these earthly characteristics which misrepresent Your character and that will destroy the opportunity for me to inherit eternal life. Give me the strength to die to self and to yoke up with Jesus. Amen.

Keys to the Storehouse – Ye Know Not What Ye Ask

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When you ask the Lord for patience, are you sure you know what you are asking for? How is patience gained? “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Is it not through trials and tribulations? To wait is the test for many who are impatient.

When you ask the Lord for the honor of standing with Him, do you understand what is involved? He may require you to stand and endure the reproaches of others even when you are right.

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you asked the Lord over and over for it only to find that when you received it, you found it to be a real disaster for your life?

Do you ask to serve the Lord in other areas while not fulfilling those duties before you right now? “Those who overlook the life duties lying directly in their pathway, who neglect mercy and kindness, courtesy and love, to even a little child, are neglecting Christ. …

“James and John presented by their mother a petition requesting that they might be permitted to occupy the highest positions of honor in Christ’s kingdom. The Saviour answered, ‘Ye know not what ye ask’ (Mark 10:38). How little do many of us understand the true import of our prayers! Jesus knew the infinite sacrifice at which that glory must be purchased, when He, ‘for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame’ (Hebrews 12:2). That joy was to see souls saved by His humiliation, His agony, and the shedding of His blood.” The Sanctified Life, 56.

“Jesus asked them, ‘Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can’ (Mark 10:38, 39).

“How little did they comprehend what that baptism signified!” Ibid., 57.

Jesus said to them, “ ‘Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with’ [Matthew 20:23], Christ declared—before Him a cross instead of a throne, two malefactors His companions at His right hand and at His left. James and John were to be sharers with their Master in suffering—the one, destined to swift-coming death by the sword; the other, longest of all the disciples to follow his Master in labor and reproach and persecution.” The Acts of the Apostles, 542.

Are you able to drink of the cup? Do you know for what you are asking?

“How little do the young suffer, or deny self, for their religion. To sacrifice is scarcely thought of among them. … Self must be gratified, pride must be indulged. They forget the Man of sorrows, who was acquainted with grief. The sufferings of Jesus in Gethsemane, his sweating as it were great drops of blood in the garden, the platted crown of thorns that pierced his holy brow, do not move them. They have become benumbed. Their sensibilities are blunted, and they have lost all sense of the great sacrifice made for them. …

“Said the angel, ‘If such should be ushered into the city of God, … they would have no sense of how dearly that inheritance was purchased for them. They would never realize the matchless depths of a Saviour’s love. They have not drank of the cup, nor been baptized with the baptism. … Those only who have partaken of the sufferings of the Son of God, and have come up through great tribulation, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, can enjoy the indescribable glory and unsurpassed beauty of heaven.’ ” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, 252, 253. [Emphasis author’s.]

Father, I do not know how to come in or go out or even how to pray. I just know that I would like my name to be written in the book of life. I ask that Your will be done and that You help me to drink of the cup that will prepare my heart for heaven.

Keys to the Storehouse — The Price–Is It Too High?

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Price means that which must be given, done, or undergone to obtain something. (Webster’s Dictionary) What is the price of heaven—what must be given, done, or undergone—and is it too high?

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12, 13.

What must be given, done, or undergone for you and me to obtain heaven?

“Given”—Have you given of yourself—Is the price too high to give of yourself in the study of the word of God so that your heart may “receive” the only begotten Son of God? Who or what is receiving of the time which God has given to you as a gift and what are you receiving in return? Are you receiving worldliness for God’s gift of time? Are you receiving destruction for the gift of health? What are you receiving for the gift of time—the price of heaven? or the price of eternal life lost?

“Done”— Receiving God’s word into your heart—Is it done? Is your heart so complete in its relationship with Jesus that it can be said, “It is done—finished”? Or is the heart wide open to worldly influences and distractions, which are the price of eternal life lost? Will you receive the words “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” [Matthew 25:12]—which is the price of heaven? Or is there an unfinished/undone work—the price of eternal life lost?

“Undergo/undergone”—The old self needs to experience or “undergo” a transformation of self. See Ephesians 4:22–24. Is your “old self” undergoing a transformation? “The old nature, born of blood and the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The old ways, the hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up; for grace is not inherited. The new birth consists in having new motives, new tastes, new tendencies.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1101. The new self—the new birth is the receiving of Jesus—the price of heaven; the old self is the price of eternal life lost.

In The Desire of Ages, on page 385, we are told: “The price of heaven is Jesus.”

Jesus is the price you will pay for heaven. It is the giving of your heart—your affection, your life—to receive Jesus. “Heaven is worth everything to us. We must not run any risk in this matter. We must take no venture here. We must know that our steps are ordered by the Lord. May God help us in the great work of overcoming.” Temperance, 114.

Is heaven in your future or is the loss of eternal life your earnings? “It is eternal loss if we gain the whole world, with all its pleasure and glory, and yet lose the soul. Heaven is cheap enough at any cost.” Confrontation, 78.

Father, I pray that I may not shrink from trials, but bear them with patience. I yield my heart fully to the transforming grace of Thy Holy Spirit that I may be able to give, to do, and to undergo all that is needed to receive the price of heaven and not the price of eternal life lost. Amen.