Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White
| Only Genuine Faith Survives When Tested |
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Today's Text:
And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses. Exodus 14:31
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The Message:
The voices of the people rang out over the waters of the Red Sea in glorious triumph. But soon their faith was tested. The Lord would know how much He could depend on His people to be true and loyal to Him. They went three days' journey into the wilderness and found no water. "And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter."... "The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?" Instead of trusting and fearing the Lord, believing in Him under apparently discouraging circumstances, they cast reflections upon their leader. So people act in this generation. Satan's plan of temptation is always the same. While everything moves prosperously, people think that they have faith. But when suffering, disaster, or disappointment comes, they lose heart. A faith that is dependent on circumstances or surroundings, that lives only when everything goes smoothly, is not a genuine faith. In his trouble Moses cried to the Lord. This is what the children of Israel, so recently delivered, ought to have done. The Lord heard the cry of His servant, against whom the people had said so many bitter things. He showed Moses a tree, "which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet." It was not the virtue of the tree that turned the bitter water to sweet; it was the power of Him who was enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, the One who can do all things.... Did the people then appreciate and acknowledge God's blessings? Were their hearts filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to Him? Did they have a praise service, as when they stood on the banks of the Red Sea? We have no evidence that their faith was strengthened by God's mercy and grace and love toward them.... When trial comes to prove us, when we cannot see an increase of prosperity and comfort before us, but a probable lessening of these things, when there is a pressure necessitating sacrifice on the part of all, how shall we receive Satan's insinuations that we are going to have a hard time, that everything is going to pieces, that there is sore trouble ahead of us? ... We ought to gather up the fragments of heaven's blessings and tokens for good, saying, Lord, I believe in Thee, in Thy servants, and in Thy work. I will trust in Thee.-Letter 49a, 1896. |
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Commentary:
My friend, how is your faith today? Do you have a trust in God that will see you through trial and temptation? When things don't seem to be going your way, do you, like Israel of old, mummer and complain and loose faith, or do you praise God for the blessings that He has provided you in the past and look forward to the blessings that He will give you in the future? If you find that when you are tired that your faith in Him falters, it is because your relationship with Him is not what it should be. It is time to seek after Him with all of your heart.
There are many in the church today that only have a superficial relationship with the Lord. While things are going well they are happy and content, but when trials come into their lives it is revealed just how deep their love for God goes. One of the main reasons for this is that they are not connected to the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ.
The heart of the problem with the church is that Satan has introduced to the church a false understanding of who God is. He has artfully replaced the One true God of the Bible (John 17:3), with the false god of the trinity. The trinity teaches that God is made up of three god beings, and as such separates the people of God from the only source of power that can enable them to overcome the trials of life. The trinity has the outward resemblance of righteousness, and seems to connect one with God, but its true nature is not of God.
By introducing the Holy Spirit as a separate being from the Father and the Son it introduces to the people another mediator. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" The Holy Spirit is not another person, but the Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself, and it is by His Spirit that we are connected to the One true God which is the Father.
My friend, if you desire to draw nigh unto God, you first need to know who God is, and in order to know who God is you need to be connected to the only mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ the righteous. The trinity cannot connect you to God because it is a false doctrine of men. Jesus said in Matthew 15:9 "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
If you desire to stand firm for God in the last days you must be connected to the only source of power that can give you the victory over sin, and that is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
God bless,
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