FAHAMUDROID

From the Heart — Day 243 of 365 A Job Well Done, August 31 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. John 17:4 . When Christ expired on the cross, crying with a loud voice, “It is finished,” His work was completed. The way was laid open, the veil was rent in twain. Humanity could approach God without sacrificial offerings, without the service of earthly priests. Christ Himself was a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Heaven was His home. He came to this world to reveal the Father. His work on the field of His humiliation and conflict was now done. He ascended up into the heavens and is forever set down on the right hand of God. Christ's life on this ea...

From the Heart — Day 242 of 365 Calvary, August 30 At last two false witnesses came forward and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’” Matthew 26:60, 61 . This was the only charge that could be brought against Christ. But these words had been misstated and misapplied. Christ had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.... But he spake of the temple of his body.” Priests and rulers, with many others, taunted Him with this false statement. While He hung upon the cross, it was repeated in mockery by the scribes and Pharisees and echoed by the multitude. “They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, ...

From the Heart — Day 241 of 365 Gethsemane, August 29 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” Mark 14:32 . As Christ left the disciples, bidding them pray for themselves and for Him, He selected three, Peter, James, and John, and went still farther into the seclusion of the garden. These three disciples had been with Him at His transfiguration; they had seen the heavenly visitors, Moses and Elias, talking with Jesus, and Christ desired their presence on this occasion also.... Christ expressed His desire for human sympathy and then withdrew Himself from them about a stone's cast. Falling upon His face He prayed, saying, “O my Father, if it...

From the Heart — Day 240 of 365 Coworkers With Christ, August 28 Greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 . Christ's work was largely confined to Judea. But though His personal ministry did not extend to other lands, people from all nations listened to His teaching and carried the message to all parts of the world. Many heard of Jesus by hearing of the wonderful miracles that He performed. And the knowledge of His suffering and death, which were to be witnessed by the large number in attendance at the Passover, would be spread from Jerusalem to all parts of the world. Used as Christ's representatives, the apostles would make a decided impression on all minds. The fact that they were hu...

From the Heart — Day 239 of 365 The Joy of Christ's Fellowship in Heaven, August 27 There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8 . While sitting round the Communion table, Christ spoke words of intense interest to His disciples. He was soon to pass through scenes that would be to them the severest test. Not only did He see distinctly His own humiliation and suffering, but He saw also the effect that this would have upon the disciples. He would not leave them in darkness regarding His future work.... He knew that in their sorrow they would be assailed by the enemy, for Satan'...

From the Heart — Day 238 of 365 Receive to Give, August 26 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7 . The work of building up the kingdom of Christ will go forward, though to all appearances it moves slowly, and means are so limited that impossibilities seem to testify against advance.... The disciples were bidden to feed the hungry multitude before eating themselves. After the wants of all had been supplied, the command was given, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” Twelve baskets full were gathered up, and then Christ and His disciples ate of the precious, heaven-...

From the Heart — Day 237 of 365 Feeding the 5,000, August 25 You give them something to eat. Matthew 14:16 . The disciples thought they had withdrawn where they would not be discovered, but as soon as the multitude missed the divine Teacher, they inquired, “Where is he?” Some among them had noticed the direction in which Christ and His disciples had gone, and soon an immense crowd was looking for Christ. Fresh additions were made to this number until the congregation was composed of no less than five thousand men, besides women and children. From the hillside Jesus looked upon the moving multitude, and His great heart of love and compassion was stirred with sympathy. Interrupted as He was and robbed of His rest, He w...

From the Heart — Day 236 of 365 Quenching the Soul's Thirst, August 24 Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw. John 4:15 . The woman was so astonished at His words that she rested her pitcher on the well, and, forgetting the thirst of the stranger and His request to give Him to drink, forgetting her errand to the well, she was lost in her earnest desire to hear every word.... Jesus now abruptly changed the subject of conversation and bade the woman call her husband. She frankly replied, “I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” As the p...

From the Heart — Day 235 of 365 The Water of Life, August 23 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” John 4:7 . As the world's Redeemer, the Son of God took upon Him our human nature.... Hungry and thirsty, He tarried to rest at Jacob's well, near the city of Sychar, while His disciples went to buy food in the city.... As Jesus sat by the well side, the cool, refreshing water, so near and yet so inaccessible to Him, only increased His thirst. He had neither rope nor bucket with which to draw, and He waited until someone should come to the well. He might have performed a miracle and thus have obtained a draft from the well, had He wished, but this was not God's plan....

From the Heart — Day 234 of 365 The Blind Man Healed, August 22 Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. John 9:3 . “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” ... In the question the disciples asked Jesus, they showed that they thought all disease and suffering the result of sin. This is indeed truth, but Jesus showed that it was an error to suppose that everyone who was a great sufferer was also a great sinner. While He corrected their errors, He spat upon the ground and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind...

From the Heart — Day 233 of 365 Abundant Evidence for Faith, August 21 The man ... told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. John 5:15 . As the restored one went on his way with quick, elastic step, his pulses bounding with the vigor of renewed health, his countenance glowing with hope and joy, he was met by the Pharisees, who told him, with an air of great sanctity, that it was not lawful to carry his bed on the Sabbath day. There was no rejoicing at the deliverance of that long-imprisoned captive, no grateful praise that One was among them who could heal all manner of disease. Their traditions had been disregarded, and this closed their eyes to all the evidence of divine power. Bigoted and self-righteous, they wou...

From the Heart — Day 232 of 365 Act When Opportunity Knocks, August 20 Do you want to be made well? John 5:6 . The healing of the sick man at Bethesda has a lesson of priceless worth to every Christian, a lesson of solemn and fearful import to the unbelieving and the skeptical. As the paralytic lay beside the pool, helpless and well-nigh hopeless, Jesus drew near and asked, in tones of pity, “Wilt thou be made whole?” Be made whole! This had been the burden of his desire and prayers for long, weary years. With trembling eagerness he told the story of his efforts and disappointments. No friend was at hand to bear him with sturdy arm into the healing fountain. His agonizing appeals for help fell unheeded; all around him ...

From the Heart — Day 231 of 365 Blinded by Prejudice, August 19 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. John 5:38 . As at different times during Christ's work divinity flashed through humanity and He stood transfigured before the people, the Jewish leaders were deeply impressed. But as they talked it over with one another, their unbelief strengthened, and the evidence that should have convinced them was rejected. The strongest evidence was no evidence to them, while the weakest, most superficial arguments, if against the truth which the Savior brought, were sound in their estimation. They had started upon a path leading to eternal ruin.... Christ saw that the Jewish teacher...

From the Heart — Day 230 of 365 Revealing the Father, August 18 He who has seen Me has seen the Father. John 14:9 . The fact that the people were more interested in Christ's teaching than they were in the dry, tedious arguments of the Jewish teachers maddened the scribes and Pharisees. These teachers spoke with uncertainty, interpreting the Scriptures to mean one thing and then another. This left the people in great confusion. But as they listened to Jesus, their hearts were warmed and comforted. He presented God as a loving Father, not as an avenging judge. He drew all, high and low, rich and poor, to see God in His true character, leading them to call Him by the endearing name, “Our Father.” By loving words an...

From the Heart — Day 229 of 365 Rejected, August 17 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. John 1:11 . At the first advent of Christ, which was in apparent obscurity, the angels of heaven could scarcely be restrained from pouring forth their glories to grace the birth of the Son of God. The glorious manifestations of heaven were not entirely restrained. The wonderful event was not without some attestations of a divine character. That birth, so little prepared for on earth, was celebrated in the heavenly courts with praise and thanksgiving in behalf of sinners.... He who came in human flesh and submitted to a life of humiliation was the Majesty of heaven, the Prince of life, and yet the wise men of the earth, the pr...

From the Heart — Day 193 of 365 Heaven's Ladder, July 12 This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven! Genesis 28:17 . Jacob was not perfect in character. He sinned against his father, his brother, his own soul, and against God. Inspiration faithfully records the faults of good men, those who were distinguished by the favor of God; indeed, their faults are much more fully transcribed than their virtues.... They were assaulted by temptations and were often overcome by them, but they were willing to learn in the school of Christ. Were these characters presented before us as faultless, it would tend to discourage us in our strivings after righteousness.... It shows that God will by no means clear the ...

From the Heart — Day 193 of 365 Heaven's Ladder, July 12 This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven! Genesis 28:17 . Jacob was not perfect in character. He sinned against his father, his brother, his own soul, and against God. Inspiration faithfully records the faults of good men, those who were distinguished by the favor of God; indeed, their faults are much more fully transcribed than their virtues.... They were assaulted by temptations and were often overcome by them, but they were willing to learn in the school of Christ. Were these characters presented before us as faultless, it would tend to discourage us in our strivings after righteousness.... It shows that God will by no means clear the ...