Tuesday, September 3, 2019

When Eternal Life Begins

Today's Devotion
Thursday, September 5, 2019
When Eternal Life Begins
Today's Text

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

1 John 5:11, 12
Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life.” The divinity of Christ is the believer's assurance of eternal life. “He that believeth in me,” said Jesus, “though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” John 11:25, 26. The Desire of Ages, 530.

To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment. “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death,” “he shall never taste of death.” John 8:51, 52. To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:4. The Desire of Ages, 787.

He who Himself was soon to die upon the cross stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and asserted His right and power to give eternal life. The Desire of Ages, 530.

“I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:40. Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave—not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal. The Desire of Ages, 388.

Jesus is ... crying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 7:37; Revelation 22:17; John 4:14. The Desire of Ages, 454.

Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.
My Thoughts:
My friend, eternal life comes only through the Son of God. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:12). How sad it is today that so many professed followers of Christ have accepted a counterfeit in place of the real. This counterfeit has the appearance of the Son of God, but in realty is not.

The trinity teaches that the Son of God is not truly a son, but is only a metaphor that one of the God-beings has assumed for the salvation of man. This counterfeit being called God the Son is God first and Son second, meaning that his divinity comes from himself.

The Father in the trinity is also only a metaphor since in order to be a father one must have a son. As such the trinity, while having the form of God, is a lie. Of this the Scriptures declare is the spirit of antichrist. "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." (1 John 2:22, 23).

The trinity robs us from receiving the very life of God given to us through His Son. It gives us a false experience of righteousness by faith that leaves longing for a righteousness of heart that it cannot supply. This leads us to look to the law for righteousness. But while the law is holy, righteous, and good, it cannot transform the heart.

My friend, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). If you will seek after Him, He will give you of the water of life freely.

Won't you turn away from the counterfeit unto the true today, that the longing of your soul may be satisfied?

God bless,
I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)
Freed IN Christ - Imad Awde
Freed in Christ - By Imad Awde

What is the Curse of the law? Why did Jesus have to die? What does that mean for us?
Friday: The Lord is in This Place

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Monday, September 2, 2019

Sorrow With Hope

Today's Devotion
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Sorrow With Hope
Today's Text

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13
To the afflicted ones I would say, be of good comfort in the hope of the resurrection morning. The waters of which you have been drinking are as bitter to your taste as were the waters of Marah to the children of Israel in the wilderness, but Jesus can make them so sweet with His love.... 

God has provided a balm for every wound. There is a balm in Gilead, there is a Physician there. Will you not now as never before study the Scriptures? Seek the Lord for wisdom in every emergency. In every trial plead with Jesus to show you a way out of your troubles, then your eyes will be opened to behold the remedy and to apply to your case the healing promises that have been recorded in His Word. In this way the enemy will find no place to lead you into mourning and unbelief, but instead you will have faith and hope and courage in the Lord. The Holy Spirit will give you clear discernment that you may see and appropriate every blessing that will act as an antidote to grief, as a branch of healing to every draught of bitterness that is placed to your lips. Every draught of bitterness will be mingled with the love of Jesus, and in place of complaining of the bitterness, you will realize that Jesus’ love and grace are so mingled with sorrow that it has been turned into subdued, holy, sanctified joy. 

When Henry White, our eldest son, lay dying, he said, “A bed of pain is a precious place when we have the presence of Jesus.” When we are obliged to drink of the bitter waters, turn away from the bitter to the precious and the bright. In trial grace can give the human soul assurance, and when we stand at the deathbed and see how the Christian can bear suffering and go through the valley of death, we gather strength ... and we fail not, neither are we discouraged in leading souls to Jesus. Selected Messages 2:273, 274. 

Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.
My Thoughts:
My friend, only God knows the pain and suffering that comes with the loss of a loved one. And though the loss seems unbearable, He is there to comfort and to sustain us. Death comes to all, but to those who trust in Jesus, death is but a sleep that is but for a short while. At His second coming of Jesus, all those who have been laid in the grave in faith of the promise, will be raised to be reunited with their loved ones, never more to be separated.

This is the promise of God. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). Though we are sorrowful, we lay hold of His promise to us and we are strengthened.

May you lay hold of His love and promise to us today.

God bless,
I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)
Freed IN Christ - Imad Awde
Freed in Christ - By Imad Awde

What is the Curse of the law? Why did Jesus have to die? What does that mean for us?
Thursday: When Eternal Life Begins

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The Life-giver is Coming

Today's Devotion
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
The Life-giver is Coming
Today's Text

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Job 14:14
The Life-giver will call up His purchased possession in the first resurrection, and until that triumphant hour, when the last trump shall sound and the vast army shall come forth to eternal victory, every sleeping saint will be kept in safety and will be guarded as a precious jewel, who is known to God by name. By the power of the Saviour that dwelt in them while living and because they were partakers of the divine nature, they are brought forth from the dead. SDA Bible Commentary 4:1143.

Our fondest hopes are often blighted here. Our loved ones are torn from us by death. We close their eyes and habit them for the tomb, and lay them away from our sight. But hope bears our spirits up. We are not parted forever, but shall meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. The Life-giver is coming. Myriads of holy angels escort Him on His way. He bursts the bands of death, breaks the fetters of the tomb, the precious captives come forth in health and immortal beauty. The Youth's Instructor, April 1858.

Our personal identity is preserved in the resurrection, though not the same particles of matter or material substance as went into the grave.... In the resurrection every man will have his own character. God in His own time will call forth the dead, giving again the breath of life, and bidding the dry bones live. SDA Bible Commentary 6:1093.

There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. The Review and Herald, November 22, 1906.

The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ's faithful ones will appear in “the beauty of the Lord our God,” in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. The Great Controversy, 645.

Are we ready so that if we shall fall asleep, we can do so with hope in Jesus Christ? My Life Today, 349.

Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.
My Thoughts:
My friend, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, is the life-giver and has given us His life that we may have everlasting life. Our spirit, the essence of who we are, remains intact in the grave. Though there is no conscientiousness in the grave, our spirit lays dormant, waiting the call of God. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Daniel 12:2).

It is in this life that we are to choose between the life-giver and self. All will be raised from the sleep of death to either be resurrected to everlasting life or be destroyed in the lake of fire. Those who surrender their lives to Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, will receive the Spirit of Christ within their hearts; they receive His divine nature that transforms their lives.

My friend, now is the time to choose between life and death. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, and as He received life from the Father, He will impart His life to us.

May you surrender your life to Jesus today.

God bless,
I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)
Freed IN Christ - Imad Awde
Freed in Christ - By Imad Awde

What is the Curse of the law? Why did Jesus have to die? What does that mean for us?
Wednesday: Sorrow With Hope

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