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Recipe – Rosemary Potatoes and Tea

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Rosemary Tea

1-2 tsp. fresh rosemary chopped (or 1 Tbsp. dried). Pour 1 cup of boiling water over leaves and steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain and drink tea.

 

Rosemary Potatoes

Cut the amount of potatoes you want in half or quarters and place in a bowl. Pour on some olive oil, salt, garlic (2–3 minced cloves) and fresh, chopped rosemary. Toss until the potatoes are well coated. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into 1 layer; roast in the oven for at least 1 hour at 400 degrees or until browned and crisp. Turn them a couple of times for even baking.

Food – Rosemary, the Boost You May Need

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Rosemary was traditionally used to help alleviate muscle pain, improve memory, boost the immune and circulatory system, and promote hair growth. Rosemary is a perennial plant (it lives more than 2 years). Dr. Keith Scott, in his book states the following:

“The leaves of this hardy Mediterranean plant are used to flavor a variety of dishes and beverages, and are added to some cosmetics. … It has gained an important place in traditional medicine, including its use as an antiseptic and as a treatment for respiratory problems, stomach cramps and arthritic pain. Rosemary is also believed to enhance the memory.”

Medicinal Properties
Cancer Rosemary contains significant quantities of several antioxidants which exhibit potent anti-tumourigenic properties.
Cardiovascular Disease and Blood Lipids Like oregano, rosemary has cardioprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and two of its compounds directly prevent the formation of atheromatous plaques in the arteries.
Alzheimer’s Disease Rosmarinic acid has shown promising preventive and, in some cases, therapeutic effects against Alzheimer’s disease. Although its mechanisms are not fully understood, rosmarinic acid prevents the deposition of amyloid plaque in the brain.
Toxins Rosemary has specifically been shown to protect the liver from damage by environmental toxins. More broadly, potent antioxidants present in rosemary, such as rosmarinic acid and caffeic acid, are effective scavengers of free-radical toxins and assist in the prevention of inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Allergies The traditional use of rosemary as a treatment for respiratory problems has now been validated by clinical studies investigating its anti-allergenic properties. These have demonstrated that rosemary is an effective therapy for hay fever and asthma-causing allergies.

Rosemary Tea

1-2 tsp. fresh rosemary chopped (or 1 Tbsp. dried). Pour 1 cup of boiling water over leaves and steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain and drink tea.

Rosemary Potatoes

Cut the amount of potatoes you want in half or quarters and place in a bowl. Pour on some olive oil, salt, garlic (2–3 minced cloves) and fresh, chopped rosemary. Toss until the potatoes are well coated. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into 1 layer; roast in the oven for at least 1 hour at 400 degrees or until browned and crisp. Turn them a couple of times for even baking.

Children’s Story – The Lamp in the Window

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Swish-swish!” went the rain. “Boom-boom!” crashed the thunder. And all round the car the wind whistled and moaned. Rudy crouched down in the back seat. “Is it much farther to Grandmother’s?” he asked.

Daddy, who was driving very slowly, answered, “I don’t think so, but I’m not certain just where we are.”

Rudy blinked as he tried to see out into the rainy darkness. “Can’t you see by the headlights?” he asked.

“Not in this downpour!” exclaimed Mother, wiping the windshield in front of her with her handkerchief. “I can’t even see the ditches.”

“I can see them all right.” Daddy shifted gears cautiously. “I’m just hoping we don’t slide into one.”

“Me, too,” added Rudy. How he wished he was safe inside Grandmother’s warm kitchen.

Rudy and his parents lived in the United States, but they had come to England to surprise his grandmother with a visit. At the airport they had rented a car to drive into the country to Grandmother’s house, but they hadn’t counted on the rainstorm that was almost making them lose their way.

Thinking about his grandmother made Rudy hungry. “Wouldn’t a big bowl of Grandmother’s potato soup taste good!” he exclaimed.

“It certainly would,” Mother agreed, but an extra-loud crash of thunder muffled her words.

The thunder was followed by a brilliant flash of lightening that made Rudy duck his head. What happened next neither Daddy, Mother, nor Rudy knew exactly. Rudy didn’t feel the car turn, but when he looked up he could see the fence posts right up against the front headlights.

“Daddy, is there a fence in the middle of the road?” Rudy cried.

“No,” said Daddy, rolling down a window. “We skidded. The car is sitting crosswise in the road.”

“Can you turn around?” asked Mother.

“I can try,” answered Daddy. He began backing up, but the car wheels spun in the soft mud, round and round. The car rocked back and forth for a while, then the engine stopped.

“It’s no use,” said Daddy. “We’re on high center. The wheels have sunk down to the axles in the mud. We’ll have to walk the rest of the way to Grandmother’s.”

Rudy looked into the rainy blackness and swallowed hard. “How can we see to walk?” he managed to ask.

“I have the flashlight,” said Daddy. “We can follow the road. I don’t think it’s much farther.”

Rudy buttoned his coat and stepped out of the car into the rain and mud. Daddy took his left hand and Mother took his right.

“Just follow me,” said Daddy, “and keep your head down. That way the rain won’t beat into your face.”

For a while Rudy kept his head down, but soon he looked up to see where they were walking. In the beam of the flashlight he could see an open field.

Puzzled, he stopped. “Daddy!” he cried suddenly. “There’s no field near Grandmother’s house, is there?”

Daddy stopped walking too. “No, son, there isn’t,” he said in a tired voice. “We’ve missed the road some way.”

For a moment Rudy stood listening to the storm around him and his parents. Then he asked, “Daddy, don’t you think we should pray? Maybe Jesus will help us get to Grandmother’s house.”

“Yes, I think He will.” Daddy turned off the flashlight and put it in his coat pocket so that he could fold his hands.

Then he began his prayer. “Jesus, my family and I are lost. Without Your help, we will never be able to reach my mother’s house tonight. Please allow Your lamp to guide us.”

Soon after Daddy had finished his prayer the rain slowed to a heavy mist and the wind died.

“We can see better now,” said Daddy, “and the rain won’t beat in our faces so badly.”

Rudy found he could walk better, too, without having to hold his head down. He tried to see through the darkness beyond the beam of Daddy’s flashlight, and presently he saw an orange-colored glare.

“Daddy, I see a light!” Rudy cried happily.

“I see it, too,” said Mother. “I think it is a light from a window, but it looks a little strange.”

Daddy was laughing at Mother’s bewilderment. “It’s Grandmother’s kerosene lamp,” he explained. “She always turns the electricity off during a storm, but it is odd that we can see the lamp so plainly.”

Everyone walked faster now, and in a few minutes they were happily inside Grandmother’s warm kitchen. The first thing Rudy saw after he had greeted his grandmother was the kerosene lamp sitting on a chair by the window.

“We saw your lamp, Grandmother!” he told her excitedly.

His grandmother looked at the lamp and shook her head in a puzzled way. “It is strange,” she said, “but about ten minutes ago I was sitting here reading when all of a sudden I had a feeling that maybe someone needed to see my lamp. So I moved it from the table and put it on that chair by the window.”

Daddy and Mother and Rudy looked at one another. Then Daddy smiled. “That must have been about the time we were praying.”

“And you asked Jesus to be our lamp to guide us to Grandmother’s house,” Rudy added, remembering every word of Daddy’s prayer.

There were happy tears in Grandmother’s eyes as she listened, and she repeated a verse from the Psalms, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Grandmother looked at Daddy and added softly, “Jesus heard your prayer and told me to move my lamp.”

“He certainly did,” agreed Daddy, “so let’s all thank Him right now.”

What a happy moment it was as everyone knelt to thank Jesus for the kerosene lamp in the window that had brought the family safely out of the storm.

Heaven, Please! Helena Welch, 48–53.

Life Sketches – The Love of the Truth

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Every year the state of this world seems to decline. Many wonder how much longer it can be sustained. Will nations continue in their present state or will there be a transition into another world-wide kingdom? Bible prophecy predicts the future of the nations of our world.

After Paul and Silas had been beaten,  placed in prison, and finally delivered by the Lord in the city of Philippi, they went to Thessalonica, a significant city where a large church had been raised up. Recorded in the Bible are two letters that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians.

We are told in Acts 17:1–4 that, “When they (Paul and Silas) had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went into them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’ And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.”

Many of the people there had formerly been Greeks, idol worshippers, and philosophers, but had become Christians. The evidence that primarily induced these Jews and Greeks to see the light of truth was when Paul showed them from Old Testament prophecies what was predicted in regard to the Messiah. He was to come as a poor man. He would be despised and rejected by the Jews and finally killed. (See Isaiah 53; Psalm 22.)  Every prediction about the Messiah was fulfilled in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He was crucified to pay the price of the sins of the world. He was resurrected on the third day. He ascended to heaven and He is coming back to this world someday to establish a universal kingdom.

The evidence proved there was only One whom that could be. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every prophecy of the Messiah. He was born at the right place, Bethlehem, according to Micah 5:2. He came at exactly the right time, predicted in Daniel 9. He came in His ministry to the right region. Isaiah predicted that He would go to Galilee, and He died in the way predicted in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. He was resurrected, and He led captivity captive (Psalm 68:18). When Paul preached all of these things, many people became Christians and were convinced not only of fulfilled prophecy, but believed what was predicted for the future.

The apostles taught that in the future, Christ would come again the second time and establish a universal kingdom. The early Christian church believed that. However, in the city of Thessalonica, just as in other cities, there were Jews who didn’t believe what Paul preached, and they raised an insurrection in the city and caused Paul to be taken out of town.

It says in Acts 17 that they made an assault on Jason’s house, and they took security from Jason (verses 5, last part, 9). In the meantime, Paul had escaped, and they went to another town by the name of Berea. The apostle says concerning the Bereans in verse 11, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” They were commended for not just taking man’s word but searched the Scriptures to see if Paul’s words were truth.

Paul used the same teaching technique as Jesus. Speaking to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus Jesus said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25–27). His life, His death, and His resurrection all fulfilled Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah. Verse 44 says, “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ ”

In the first chapters of the book of Acts, you will find that the apostle Peter followed the same technique, showing from the Old Testament that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. Paul showed the people that it was impossible for them to explain the Passover without Christ as revealed in the Old Testament, and how the brazen serpent that was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness was a symbol of Jesus Christ lifted up upon the cross. He taught them that all of the Jewish religious services and ceremonies would be valueless if they should reject the Saviour, whom the ceremonies represented. Paul taught that Jesus Christ was the key that unlocked the meaning of the Old Testament and gave access to its rich treasures.

Paul showed the people in Thessalonica that the expectation of the Jews in regard to the Messiah coming as a ruler was not according to prophecy. The Old Testament predicted that He would come as a humble person, He would be poor, He would be rejected, He would be despised and killed. Then he showed them that at some time in the future, Jesus would return to this world a second time in power, and great glory, and that He would establish His kingdom upon the earth and would subdue all authority and all the rulership of the nations.

The Second Coming of Christ was very prominent in all the apostles’ teaching. They had received this information, not only from the Lord Himself in person (see Matthew 24; Luke 17), they also received it from the angels who were present when the Lord ascended to heaven. In Acts 1:9–11, it says, “Now when He [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’ ”

One of the foundational doctrines of the apostolic Christian church was that someday Jesus would return to this world in the clouds of heaven, just as He went. In fact, it is stated that not only will He return, but He will return in the glory of the Father, and the glory of His angels with Him. It will be an event that will be witnessed by the entire world.

Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.” They will mourn because they are not prepared to meet their Maker. They are scared. This is one of the most detailed accounts anywhere in the Bible of exactly what will happen when Jesus returns to this world.

Paul said, “I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we (the believers) who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

When a Christian dies, it is different from those who have no hope of eternal life. For the Christian there is hope, for death is a temporary sleep. When Jesus returns, those who believe on Him will be raised again to life and be given eternal life. However, Paul, in the same letter says what is going to happen to those who are not ready for the Lord to come. He says, “Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–3).

However, the Thessalonians expected Jesus’ return in their lifetime; so a second letter was written in which Paul tried to make very clear their misunderstanding so that they would not be confused in their faith. Disappointment often results in unbelief. It is very important that our faith be based only on what the word of God says, and not on what we think or hope will happen.

“It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble (persecute) you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:5–10).

These things that the apostle Paul taught made a deep impression on the minds of the people, but, there were still some who got confused, expecting to happen during their lifetime what Paul had predicted. Their confusion made it necessary for him to explain some things more clearly, which is a very great help to us, so that we understand exactly what he was trying to teach them. Paul went on to point out that he didn’t teach them that the Day of the Lord was going to happen in their lifetime, as they thought.

Some people today are confused, thinking that the apostle thought that the second coming of Christ would occur in the first century A.D. The apostles did not believe that. Peter did not believe it and Paul did not believe it. Peter predicts what would happen after his death, and Paul makes it very clear that they were not to expect the Day of the Lord to occur in their day.

Notice what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–5: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away (that is, the apostasy) comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (that is, the antichrist). Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?”

Paul reminds them that when he was with them he told them that the Day of the Lord would not come unless there had first, in the Christian church, come a tremendous apostasy, a falling away, from the truth.

Notice what Paul told the Ephesians: “Therefore take heed to yourselves (the elders of the church at Ephesus) and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure (after Paul’s death) savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

“Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:28–30).

Notice that Paul here is talking to the clergy, the elders of the church, and he says that from among the clergy or leaders of the Christian church, there would rise up men who would speak perverse things, and draw the disciples after themselves.

He then admonishes them, “Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (verse 31). This is prominent in the writings of Paul, and not only Paul but both the apostles John and Peter predicted the very same thing (1 John 2; 2 Peter 2). They predicted that a great apostasy would develop in the Christian church after the time of the apostles.

Paul, writing about it to the Thessalonians said, “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:5–10).

Do you love the truth, friend? Do you want to know the truth of God and follow it and obey it? If you love the truth, you will find it for God will reveal it to you and you will be saved. But what will happen if you don’t love the truth? Paul says, “For this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (verse 11). The lie, of course, is the idea that you can be saved while you are living a lawless life. The mystery of lawlessness is the idea that you can be lawless, a breaker of God’s law, and still receive eternal life. The Bible says, “… that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (verse 12).

But why is it that people do not believe the truth? Jesus told the Jews it was because they “had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12). How is it with you? Do you love truth and do you want to follow the truth of the Bible or are you living a life of pleasure in unrighteousness?

All who have pleasure in unrighteousness will be deceived. “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 John 5:17). “Sin is breaking God’s law” (1 John 3:4, literal translation.) Since all unrighteousness is sin, and sin is breaking God’s law, what does it mean to have pleasure in unrighteousness? It means to have pleasure in sin. This prophecy in the Bible predicts that those who have pleasure in sin will be deceived, because they did not love the truth and will not be ready for the coming of the Lord.

O friend, which way will it be for you? Will you be one of those who loves the truth, and obeys it or will you be one of those who has pleasure in unrighteousness and is deceived? The choice is yours.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Health – Clean Forgot

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When I was growing up, there were six of us in my family, four children and two adults. I can remember on Saturday evenings when it would be bath time. Now back then we had one tub. Mama would fill it up with bubbles and then the cleanest child would take his bath first, after mom and dad of course. Then it would go right down to the dirtiest—which were usually my brothers! Tub baths always felt so good. Then we would put on clean clothing. Oh, what a delight! We all survived those ‘good old days.’ It always feels good to be clean. I am sure you will find the following quotations very interesting and informative about cleanliness.

“A great amount of suffering might be saved if all would labor to prevent disease, by strictly obeying the laws of health. Strict habits of cleanliness should be observed. Many, while well, will not take the trouble to keep in a healthy condition. They neglect personal cleanliness, and are not careful to keep their clothing pure. Impurities are constantly and imperceptibly passing from the body, through the pores, and if the surface of the skin is not kept in a healthy condition, the system is burdened with impure matter. If the clothing worn is not often washed and frequently aired, it becomes filthy with impurities which are thrown off from the body by sensible and insensible perspiration. And if the garments worn are not frequently cleansed from these impurities, the pores of the skin absorb again the waste matter thrown off. The impurities of the body, if not allowed to escape, are taken back into the blood and forced upon the internal organs. Nature, to relieve herself of poisonous impurities, makes an effort to free the system. This effort produces fevers and what is termed disease. But even then, if those who are afflicted would assist nature in her efforts by the use of pure, soft water, much suffering would be prevented. But many, instead of doing this, and seeking to remove the poisonous matter from the system, take a more deadly poison into the system, to remove a poison already there.” Counsels on Health, 61.

“Most persons would receive benefit from a cool or tepid bath every day, morning or evening. Instead of increasing the liability to take cold, a bath, properly taken, fortifies against cold, because it improves the circulation; the blood is brought to the surface, and a more easy and regular flow is obtained. The mind and the body are alike invigorated. The muscles become more flexible, the intellect is made brighter. The bath is a soother of the nerves. Bathing helps the bowels, the stomach, and the liver, giving health and energy to each, and it promotes digestion.” The Ministry of Healing, 276.

“If every family realized the beneficial results of thorough cleanliness, they would make special efforts to remove every impurity from their persons and from their houses, and would extend their efforts to their premises. Many suffer decayed vegetable matter to remain about their premises. They are not awake to the influence of these things. There is constantly arising from these decaying substances an effluvium that is poisoning the air. By inhaling the impure air, the blood is poisoned, the lungs become affected, and the whole system is diseased. Disease of almost every description will be caused by inhaling the atmosphere affected by these decaying substances.

“Families have been afflicted with fevers, some of their members have died, and the remaining portion of the family circle have almost murmured against their Maker because of their distressing bereavements, when the sole cause of all their sickness and death has been the result of their own carelessness. The impurities about their own premises have brought upon them contagious diseases and the sad afflictions which they charge upon God. Every family that prizes health should cleanse their houses and their premises of all decaying substances.” Counsels on Health, 62.

“Every form of uncleanliness tends to disease. Death-producing germs abound in dark, neglected corners, in decaying refuse, in dampness and mold and must. No waste vegetables or heaps of fallen leaves should be allowed to remain near the house to decay and poison the air. Nothing unclean or decaying should be tolerated within the home. In towns or cities regarded perfectly healthful, many an epidemic of fever has been traced to decaying matter about the dwelling of some careless householder.

“Perfect cleanliness, plenty of sunlight, careful attention to sanitation in every detail of the home life, are essential to freedom from disease and to the cheerfulness and vigor of the inmates of the home.” The Ministry of Healing, 276.

Remember to keep clean inside and outside your home, including yourself!

Question & Answer: How did Jesus prepare His disciples for His death and resurrection?

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Several Scriptures reveal that Jesus told them how He would be treated but they could not accept His words.

“From that time forth Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You.’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men’ ” (Matthew 16:21–23).

“Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said unto them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again” (Matthew 20:17–19).

See also: Mark 8:31–33; Mark 9:31, 32; Luke 9:21, 22; 18:31–34.

Further comment:

“Before His crucifixion the Saviour explained to His disciples that He was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and angels were present to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples were looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should suffer an ignominious death. The words which they needed to remember were banished from their minds; and when the time of trial came, it found them unprepared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had not forewarned them. So in the prophecies the future is opened before us as plainly as it was opened to the disciples by the words of Christ. The events connected with the close of probation and the work of preparation for the time of trouble, are clearly presented. But multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths than if they had never been revealed. Satan watches to catch away every impression that would make them wise unto salvation, and the time of trouble will find them unready.” The Great Controversy, 594.

“… Jesus was carefully opening to His disciples the sufferings through which He must pass—that He would be crucified and that He would rise again the third day. But their understanding seemed dull, and they could not comprehend what He told them.” Early Writings, 161.

Keys to the Storehouse – Don’t Shirk

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A shirker is somebody who gets out of responsibility. Do you shirk? Do you allow others to bear the responsibility while you sit back and watch or maybe even murmur? Or do you bear and strengthen the team?

“Caleb was faithful and steadfast. He was not boastful, he made no parade of his merits and good deeds; but his influence was always on the side of right. And what was his reward? When the Lord denounced judgments against the men who refused to hearken to His voice, He said: ‘But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.’ ” Testimonies, vol. 5, 303.

Which class do you occupy: cowards and murmurers or are you classed with the faithful Caleb? While the cowards and murmurers perished in the wilderness, faithful Caleb had a home in the promised Canaan. The Lord God of Israel saith, “… for them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Samuel 2:30).

“Hannah prayed and trusted; and in her son Samuel she gave to the Israel of God a most precious treasure—a useful man, with a well-formed character, one who was as firm as a rock where principle was concerned.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 304.

What treasure do you offer to our Lord—a  well-formed heavenly character or a well-formed earthly character?

“In Joppa there was a Dorcas, whose skillful fingers were more active than her tongue. She knew who needed comfortable clothing and who needed sympathy, and she freely ministered to the wants of both classes. And when Dorcas died, the church in Joppa realized their loss. It is no wonder that they mourned and lamented, nor that warm teardrops fell upon the inanimate clay. She was of so great value that by the power of God she was brought back from the land of the enemy, that her skill and energy might still be a blessing to others.” Ibid.

Are your fingers more active than your tongue? Do you offer sympathy and comfort when needed?

“Such patient, prayerful, and persevering fidelity as was possessed by these saints of God is rare; yet the church cannot prosper without it. It is needed in the church, in the Sabbath school, and in society. Many come together in church relationship with their natural traits of character unsubdued; and in a crisis, when strong, hopeful spirits are needed, they give up to discouragement and bring burdens on the church; and they do not see that this is wrong. The cause does not need such persons, for they are unreliable; but there is always a call for steadfast, God-fearing workers, who will not faint in the day of adversity.” Ibid.

Heavenly Father: Keep me from becoming a coward or a murmurer. Make me like faithful Caleb. Use me as an instrument of Thy righteousness. I offer you my heart to fill with Your love and mercy and sympathy and comfort so that others around me may be blessed. Don’t ever allow me to shirk, but to strengthen all around me through Thy grace, which is truly sufficient. Amen.

 

Testimony – From Prison in the Philippines

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My name is Amelia Sanchez.* I am 35 years old and I am currently incarcerated in a prison in Manila where I have been for about two years. I was a very successful business woman prior to coming to this facility. The events that caused me to be in this place happened rapidly and caused me to lose everything dear to me in this life: family and friends, possessions, a business, but most of all my dignity as a person.

On February 17, 2017, at my arraignment hearing I was surprised to see a familiar friend who I was allowed to speak with for a short while. He said that he would come to visit me with a pastor friend of his. He kept his word and did come to the prison with his Pastor friend, Joenel Panganiban. Pastor Joenel brought LandMarks magazine to me where I was able to learn Bible truth. It was through his personal efforts and visits that I came to learn the gospel of Jesus. He really showed me that knowing and living for Jesus is the only reason for this earthly life, and the bonus is that a large number in this jail have come to understand the truths that I have learned.

Because of Pastor Joenel’s faithful encouragement, I now do my very best to live according to the truths of the Bible. I now know how to pray. I encourage my fellow prisoners with the same Bible truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the good news of salvation. I continually encourage them (a group of 30 now) to read the Bible and now have regular devotional time before 6:00 a.m. This daily practice has given us the name of “prayer warriors.” This has also been noticed by the personnel in charge of the jail and testify how well behaved this group is since Pastor Joenel has been our mentor.

In December 2017, we were allowed a special time with Pastor Joenel and his team who brought us food and gifts. On this blessed day we enjoyed Bible themed events and all the inmates happily joined in. The Bureau officers so appreciated the assistance and sacrifice of Pastor Joenel and his team that they were requested to return for the celebration of Women’s Month in March 2018.

I want to thank all the LandMarks team for such a wonderful magazine. The magazine has been such a blessing to me and to my co-inmates. Thanks to all who write the articles that teach us Bible truth and help us to grow in faith. We enjoy all that is contained in the magazine from the health articles, current events, the children’s corner, and crossword. Again, thank you and God bless you.

* [A pseudonym has been used to protect her identity.]

Pen of Inspiration – The School of the Hereafter

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Parents and teachers lie down in their last sleep, their lifework seeming to have been wrought in vain; they know not that their faithfulness has unsealed springs of blessing that can never cease to flow; only by faith they see the children they have trained become a benediction and an inspiration to their fellow men, and the influence repeat itself a thousandfold. Many a worker sends out into the world messages of strength and hope and courage, words that carry blessing to hearts in every land; but of the results he, toiling in loneliness and obscurity, knows little. So gifts are bestowed, burdens are borne, labor is done. Men sow the seed from which, above their graves, others reap blessed harvests. They plant trees, that others may eat the fruit. They are content here to know that they have set in motion agencies for good. In the hereafter the action and reaction of all these will be seen.

Of every gift that God has bestowed, leading men to unselfish effort, a record is kept in heaven. To trace this in its wide-spreading lines, to look upon those who by our efforts have been uplifted and ennobled, to behold in their history the outworking of true principles—this will be one of the studies and rewards of the heavenly school.

There we shall know even as also we are known. There the loves and sympathies that God has planted in the soul will find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages, the sacred fellowship that binds together “the whole family in heaven and earth” (Ephesians 3:15)—all are among the experiences of the hereafter.

There will be music there, and song, such music and song as, save in the visions of God, no mortal ear has heard or mind conceived. …

There every power will be developed, every capability increased. The grandest enterprises will be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations will be reached, the highest ambitions realized. And still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of body and mind and soul.

All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s children. With unutterable delight we shall enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. We shall share the treasures gained through ages upon ages spent in contemplation of God’s handiwork. And the years of eternity, as they roll, will continue to bring more glorious revelations. “Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20) will be, forever and forever, the impartation of the gifts of God.

The life on earth is the beginning of the life in heaven; education on earth is an initiation into the principles of heaven; the lifework here is a training for the lifework there. What we now are, in character and holy service, is the sure foreshadowing of what we shall be.

“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister” (Matthew 20:28). Christ’s work below is His work above, and our reward for working with Him in this world will be the greater power and wider privilege of working with Him in the world to come.

“Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God” (Isaiah 43:12). This also we shall be in eternity.

For what was the great controversy permitted to continue throughout the ages? Why was it that Satan’s existence was not cut short at the outset of his rebellion? It was that the universe might be convinced of God’s justice in His dealing with evil; that sin might receive eternal condemnation. In the plan of redemption there are heights and depths that eternity itself can never exhaust, marvels into which the angels desire to look. The redeemed only, of all created beings, have in their own experience known the actual conflict with sin; they have wrought with Christ, and, as even the angels could not do, have entered into the fellowship of His sufferings; will they have no testimony as to the science of redemption—nothing that will be of worth to unfallen beings?

Even now, “unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places” is “made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God.” And He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places: … that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:10, R.V.; 2:6, 7). …

In our life here, earthly, sin-restricted though it is, the greatest joy and the highest education are in service. And in the future state, untrammeled by the limitations of sinful humanity, it is in service that our greatest joy and our highest education will be found—witnessing, and ever as we witness learning anew “the riches of the glory of this mystery;” “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

“It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Then, in the results of His work, Christ will behold its recompense. In that great multitude which no man could number, presented “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24), He whose blood has redeemed and whose life has taught us, “shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11).

Excerpts from Education, 305–309.

The Never Ending Future

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Nothing brings more joy to the hearts of the followers of Christ than the thought of spending eternity in the presence of the One who died that we might enjoy a never-ending future. God’s word gives us unbridled hope in that regard.

One example of that hope is given in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power” (1 Corinthians 6:14). This is just one of many texts that states firmly and positively the assurance of a never-ending future for God’s faithful people. However, reading this verse in context makes it clear that this assurance is only for those who glorify God in body and in spirit. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 9)? Only through the righteousness of Christ, inherited by faith, can we hope to glorify God as we must.

There is a surprising number of texts that promise everlasting life to the faithful through the same experience of being raised from the dead just as Christ was.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him” (Romans 6:4–9).

Resurrection from the grave freed Christ from the dominion of death. That same deathless future awaits those who “walk in newness of life” and are united together “in the likeness of His resurrection,” symbolized through the act of baptism.

Paul gave further assurance to the Corinthians in his second letter to them: “knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you” (2 Corinthians 4:14).

It is clear that Paul understood the never-ending future that awaits those who fulfill the conditions of God’s promises.

As reassuring as Paul’s statements are, even greater assurance is found in the words of Christ Himself.

Following the healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, when the Jews were seeking to kill Him, Jesus gave a lengthy discourse in which He explained His relationship with the Father in fairly explicit detail, no doubt angering the self-righteous Jews even more. In that discourse, He spoke words that, had the eyes of their understanding not been blinded by the enemy of souls, should have given them either unbridled joy or left them quaking in fear, depending on whether or not they chose to accept Him as the Son of God.

“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:26–29).

The day after the feeding of the five thousand, when the multitude were seeking Him for the loaves and the fishes, Christ explained that “the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). In response to their demand to “give us this bread always” (verse 34), Christ asserted that “I am the bread of life” (verse 35). Then He spoke words that further inflamed His opponents but gives us further assurance of a never-ending future:

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:39, 40).

Christ again gives assurance of a never-ending future to the faithful just prior to the resurrection of Lazarus. After Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died,” Jesus assured her “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:21, 23). Martha, in an expression of her clear understanding of Jesus’ teaching, said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (verse 24).

Jesus then provided yet another promise of everlasting life when He stated, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (See John 11:21–26.)

It is critical to note in this promise the condition necessary for its fulfillment. It is exactly the same as that given to Nicodemus near the beginning of his ministry when Christ told him, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Clearly a never-ending future awaits those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and who have chosen to manifest that belief in their daily lives by taking up their cross daily and following the Lamb whithersoever He leadeth. That never-ending future can begin today if you choose to commit your life to Him who is “the bread of life.”

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.