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How to Have Heaven Here, September 19
Desire a better country, that is, an heavenly.
Hebrews 11:16
.
We want to seek with all the powers that God has given us to unfold the
Scriptures to those who are in darkness. There is happiness, hope, and peace
for the desponding. We cannot afford to give our God-given ability and devote
it to the commonplace things of this earth. We want a faith that will grasp
the promise set before us in the gospel. What if we should lose our soul? It
would be better for us had we never been born. One soul is worth more than
all the gold and silver that could be heaped up on this earth....
We want to cultivate living faith in God. We want to have our eyes turned
away from the attractions of this earth and centered upon heaven and heavenly
things. We do not want the earth to intervene between us and God, but we
want an eye single to the glory of God. We talk of heaven and of its blessing,
and it would be a great loss to lose it. Well then, if it so lovely, so desirable,
bring it into this life, bring it into your families and educate your children not
to live for this world but for the future, immortal life....
You can have a little heaven here below, if you will only get your eye fixed
upon God—not looking at Christ half the time and at the world the other half.
When you live for God, He will put His everlasting arm beneath you, and
then He says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (
Matthew 11:30
).
Do you believe it? I can testify this is so. By my past experience I can testify
that I would not [want to] have one trial less, one sorrow less, for Paul says,
“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (
2 Corinthians 4:17, 18
). We
want to look at the things of eternal interest, that we may think seriously in
regard to what use we have made of our reasoning powers, whether we have
tried to strengthen them with idle things which we cannot take with us when
we shall be caught up to meet Christ in the air....
We want to be fitting that we may have an abundant entrance into the city
of God.... Everything compared with this is of no consequence.—
Manuscript
16, September 19, 1886
, “The Privilege of Being a Christian.”
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