January 5

    "By the life and the death of Christ, the thoughts of men also are brought to view. From the manger to the cross, the life of Jesus was a call to self-surrender, and to fellowship in suffering. It unveiled the purposes of men. Jesus came with the truth of heaven, and all who were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit were drawn to Him. The worshipers of self belonged to Satan's kingdom. In their attitude toward Christ, all would show on which side they stood. And thus everyone passes judgment on himself."

                   Desire of Ages, page 57 from the chapter, 'The Dedication'

     We were studying God’s judgement during the closing weeks of last year. We came to the conclusion that God’s judgement was inevitable. Some wondered how God could judge before the end of time. We note one side of the judgement process here, “…thus everyone passes judgment on himself.”

     We go back to the start of the chapter and note the priest just doing his job. In what way had he passed judgement on himself? Anna and Simeon were present at the dedication and also passed judgement on themselves. Who needs God to pass judgement when our actions reveal where our interests lie?

     There is another issue here. Why are we getting concerned about God judging others? At this moment we ought to be concerned about ourselves and the people around us. Take note of this, “…Jesus came with the truth of heaven, and all who were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit were drawn to Him.”

     What matters is not our behaviour but His Spirit. True, we have to listen to the voice, but we He draws us to Him. It is His work. But then, we are not to simply rest on the call. I love the definition of discipleship we have in our latest lesson book. If you use the same book as me you only need look on page 4.

     “Though the term (discipleship) has many facets, in this study we will look at discipleship as the process by which we become followers of Jesus and, as such, better soul-winners.”

     Be concerned for your own salvation, and then be reminded that God has called you to use His Spirit to win your friends and family to the same family – as disciples.

 

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here