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Help Only in Christ, January 20
I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10
.
I know that all who are saved in the kingdom of God will have battles to fight
against Satan; and I know that he will work every device to secure you to himself,
for through you he could afflict us and weaken our courage and bring a burden
of care upon us. But I am glad for every letter that we receive expressing your
feelings of determination to press on and fight the good fight of faith. You say you
love Jesus and mean to devote your lives to His service. Precious resolution!
The more you preserve your Christian integrity to know and understand for
yourself the way of life and salvation, the less of the worldly mold will be upon
you. The more you know of Jesus, the more you will desire to know, and the more
ignorant you will feel that you are in regard to things of eternal interest. We want
the right spirit, the teachable spirit, willing to learn in Christ’s school the lessons
of humility and meekness. “Learn of me,” said the heavenly Teacher, “for I am
meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is
easy and my burden is light” (
Matthew 11:29, 30
).
It is when we seek to carry our own burdens and when we manufacture a yoke
for our own necks that the yoke is grievous and the burden becomes heavy. We
want Christ’s meekness; then little things will not irritate us. We may have zeal in
working, but this is not all that we need. We want true Christian sympathy. We
want self and our will submerged in the will of Christ. We want an eye single to
the glory of God. We want to be continually anxious and working for the honor
and glory of God.
The soundness of our principles will be tested, and the strength of our loyalty
will be proved. I wish all could see as I have seen the sharp, keen, persevering
workings of Satan to tempt and to deceive. His vigilance never relaxes. He has
ready access to souls because they are not attentive to heed the warnings God has
given them.... So many invite the enemy to tempt them. They walk so carelessly
that they become an easy prey. They throw wide open the citadel of the soul
and invite his entrance, place themselves in circumstances where they will be
entrapped....
We are to remain just the people God designed we should be, gathering the
divine rays of light from the Son of righteousness, and diffusing these rays amid
the moral darkness that covers the earth.—
Letter 8a, January 20, 1879
, to Edson
and Emma White.
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