Goodness is True Greatness

Christ Triumphant - a Devotional by E.G. White

Goodness is True Greatness

Today's Text: And his master saw that the Lord was with him.... And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. Genesis 39:3, 4

The Message:      God can make the humblest followers of Christ more precious than fine gold, even than the golden wedge of Ophir, if they yield themselves to His transforming hand. They should be determined to make the noblest use of every faculty and opportunity. The Word of God should be their study and their guide in deciding what is the highest and best in all cases. The one faultless character, the perfect Pattern set before them in the gospel, should be studied with deepest interest. The one lesson essential to learn is that goodness alone is true greatness....      The weakest follower of Christ has entered into an alliance with Infinite Power. In many cases God can do little with men and women of learning, because they feel no need of leaning upon Him who is the source of all wisdom....      If you trust in your own strength and wisdom, you will surely fail. God calls for complete and entire consecration, and anything short of this He will not accept. The more difficult your position, the more you need Jesus. The love and fear of God kept Joseph pure and untarnished in the king's court....      It is impossible to stand upon a lofty height without danger. The tempest leaves unharmed the modest flower of the valley, while it wrestles with the lofty tree upon the mountain height. There are many people whom God could have used in poverty-He could have made them useful there, and crowned them with glory hereafter-but prosperity ruined them. They were dragged down to the pit, because they forgot to be humble-forgot that God was their strength-and became independent and self-sufficient.      Joseph bore the test of character in adversity, and the gold was undimmed by prosperity. He showed the same sacred regard for God's will when he stood next to the throne as when in the prisoner's cell. Joseph carried his religion everywhere, and this was the secret of his unwavering fidelity. As a representative of Christ, you must have the all-pervading power of godliness. You must be hid in Jesus. You are not safe unless you hold the hand of Christ. You must guard against everything like presumption and cherish that spirit that would rather suffer than sin. No victory you can gain will be so precious as that gained over self. Selfish ambition, desire for supremacy, will die when Christ takes possession of the affections.-Manuscript 14, 1889.

Commentary: My friend, Joseph connected himself with the God of His father and as such connected himself with the source of all goodness, and through him was manifested the character of God to his master and his household.  In the same way, through Jesus, we are to be connected to the source of all goodness, that we may show to the world the character of God. In another story in the Bible a certain rich young ruler came to Jesus saying "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  In answer to the rich young ruler Jesus said in Matthew 19:17 "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."  Before He entered into conversation with the man, Jesus revealed to the rich young ruler that there is only One that is good and that is God.  He was not saying that He was not good, but He was pointing him to the source of all goodness and that is the Father. It is only as we are connected with the true source of all goodness that we can ourselves be good.  That source is found only in the One true God.  The rich young ruler desired to have eternal life and Jesus said in John 17:3 "And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."  As we are connected to the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ, we receive eternal life from Him.  Jesus said "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5).  Eternal life springs fourth from the Father through the Son and to us that we may live, but unless we are constantly connected to Jesus we cannot have eternal life. There are many in the church today that are like the rich young ruler.  They desire to have eternal life but are not truly connected to the Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man.  They have connected themselves to a counterfeit mediator called God the Holy Spirit and as such are left wanting.  They are wanting because they are connected to another mediator while the Scriptures tell us in 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"  Jesus is our mediator, He is our Comforter, and He is our only connection to the One true God. My friend, if you are like the rich young ruler, feeling like there is something missing in your walk with God, come to Jesus that you may be connected to the Father who is the source of eternal life.  The Holy Spirit as taught by the trinity, says that the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son, and since the only true Mediator is Jesus Christ, this counterfeit mediator cannot connect you to the Father, for we have only "one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.", and unless we are connected to God through the holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, we cannot receive eternal life. May you filled with living water through your connection to Jesus today. God bless,

Video of the Week Jesus or Barabbas - Part 1 with Daniel Mesa This video series explores 307 Bible verses Daniel Mesa has found (and corresponding quotes) about God the Father and His Son. This is a continuing series of short presentations about who the God of the Bible really is.