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The 2020 Revival and Reformation daily devotional messages are from the book The Faith I Live By by Ellen. G. White.
The All-sufficient Christ
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14.
Many are suffering from maladies of the soul far more than from diseases of the body, and they will find no relief until they come to Christ, the wellspring of life.... Christ is the mighty Healer of the sin-sick soul.
If we let go of Jesus we have nothing to hold on to.... Perpetual grace in ever-flowing streams is blessing those who will, if athirst, come unto Him and drink.
He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountains of this world will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They long for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet that want. The need of the world, “the desire of all nations,” is Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul....
He who tastes of the love of Christ will continually long for more; but he seeks for nothing else. The riches, honors, and pleasures of the world do not attract him. The constant cry of his heart is, More of Thee. And He who reveals to the soul its necessity is waiting to satisfy its hunger and thirst. Every human resource and dependence will fail. The cisterns will be emptied, the pools become dry; but our Redeemer is an inexhaustible fountain. We may drink, and drink again, and ever find a fresh supply. He in whom Christ dwells has within himself the fountain of blessing—“a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” From this source he may draw strength and grace sufficient for all his needs.
He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the soul is like a spring in the desert, welling up to refresh all, and making those who are ready to perish eager to drink of the water of life.
The All-sufficient Christ
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24.
Jesus is the sinner’s friend, His heart is ever open, ever touched with human woe; He has all power, both in heaven and upon earth.
In the person of Christ we behold the eternal God engaged in an enterprise of boundless mercy toward fallen man.
Christ came to this world to show that by receiving power…
The All-sufficient Christ
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5.
The blood of Christ is the eternal antidote for sin.
Christ’s death on the cross was one of willing obedience, else in it there would have been no merit; for justice would not punish in the place of the sinner an innocent being who was unwilling to bear the penalty.
Jesus…
The Character of God Revealed
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9.
Our precious Saviour has invited us to join ourselves to Him and unite our weakness with His strength, our ignorance with His wisdom, our unworthiness with His merit.
Rigid precision in obeying the law would…
The Character of God Revealed
I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:32.
The ten holy precepts spoken by Christ upon Sinai’s mount ... made known to the world the fact that He had jurisdiction over the whole human heritage. That law of ten precepts of the greatest love that can be presented to man is the voice of God from heaven speaking to the soul in promise, “This do, and you will not come under the dominion and control…
The Character of God Revealed
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9.
Grace is an attribute of God exercised toward undeserving human beings. We did not seek for it, but it was sent in search of us.
Divine grace is the great element of saving power; without it all human effort is unavailing.
Are you in Christ? Not if you do not acknowledge…
Faith and the Gospel
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31.
Faith is not an opiate, but a stimulant. Looking to Calvary will not quiet your soul into nonperformance of duty, but will create faith that will work, purifying the soul from all selfishness.
The faith in Christ which saves the soul is not what it is represented to be by many. “Believe, believe,” is their cry; “only believe in Christ, and…
Faith and the Gospel
Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. Romans 2:23, 24.
All who join themselves to the church but not to the Lord will in time develop their true character. “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:16. The precious fruit of godliness, temperance, patience, kindness, love, and charity, does not appear in…
God’s Character and Providences
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.
The fact that we are called upon to endure trial shows that the Lord Jesus sees in us something precious which He desires to develop. If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us. He does not cast worthless stones into His furnace. It is valuable…
Faith and the Gospel
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. James 2:17.
The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. In its great need the soul cries out for a power out of and above itself; and through the operation of the Holy Spirit the nobler powers of the mind are imbued with strength to break away from the bondage of sin.
When man surrenders to Christ, the mind is brought under the control of the law, but it is the royal law,…
Faith and the Gospel
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6.
Faith is not certainty of knowledge, it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is trusting in God—believing that He loves us, and knows what is for our best good. Thus, instead of our own way, it leads us to choose His way. In…
Faith and the Gospel
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14.
It is the sophistry of Satan that the death of Christ brought in grace to take the place of the law. The death of Jesus did not change, or annul, or lessen in the slightest degree, the law of ten commandments. That precious grace offered to men through a Saviour’s blood, establishes the law of God. Since the fall of man, God’s moral government…
Faith and the Gospel
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17.
Since the fall of Adam, it has been the fashion of the world to sin, and it is for our interest to know what sin is. John declares: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4.
God’s purpose is ... to save from…
Faith and the Gospel
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 29:13, 14.
By sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied.... The sense of sin has poisoned the springs of life.
By nature we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our condition in such words as these: “Dead in trespasses and sins;” “the whole head is sick, and the…
The Contest Over God’s Law
If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15.
The law was not spoken ... exclusively for the benefit of the Hebrews. God honored them by making them the guardians and keepers of His law, but it was to be held as a sacred trust for the whole world. The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all. Ten precepts, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, cover the duty…
The Contest Over God’s Law
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. John 15:10.
The law of God is the only true standard of moral perfection. That law was practically exemplified in the life of Christ. He says of Himself, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.”
The law is an expression of the thought of God; when received in Christ, it becomes our thought.... God desires us…
The Contest Over God’s Law
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Psalm 119:18.
Jesus Christ is the glory of the law. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness are to be reflected from His messengers upon the minds of sinners, in order that they may be led to say, with one of old, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Many ... do not discern the wondrous things that are to be seen in God’s law.…
The Contest Over God’s Law
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. Psalm 119:165.
Adam taught his descendants the law of God, and it was handed down from father to son through successive generations. But ... there were few who accepted it and rendered obedience. By transgression the world became so vile that it was necessary to cleanse it by the Flood from its corruption. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, and Noah taught…
The Contest Over God’s Law
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:17.
Man was created a free moral agent. Like the inhabitants of all other worlds, he must be subjected to the test of obedience; but he is never brought into such a position that yielding to evil becomes a matter of necessity. No temptation or trial is permitted to come to him which he is unable to resist. God made such…
The Contest Over God’s Law
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws. Daniel 7:25.
Satan could not hinder the plan of salvation. Jesus was crucified, and arose again the third day. He [Satan] told his angels that he would make even the crucifixion and resurrection tell to his advantage. He was willing that those who professed faith in Jesus should believe that the laws…
The Contest Over God’s Law
The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. Psalm 111:7, 8.
The law of God existed before the creation of man or else Adam could not have sinned. After the transgression of Adam the principles of the law were not changed, but were definitely arranged and expressed to meet man in his fallen condition.
The angels were governed…
Man’s Fall and Redemption
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:14.
The plan by which alone man’s salvation could be secured, involved all heaven in its infinite sacrifice. The angels could not rejoice as Christ opened before them the plan of redemption; for they saw that man’s salvation must cost their loved Commander unutterable woe. In grief and wonder they listened to His words as He…
Man’s Fall and Redemption
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16.
Another compact—called in Scripture the “old” covenant—was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice....
God…
Man’s Fall and Redemption
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Genesis 17:7.
As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary, so there are two covenants. The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall, there was given a divine promise that the seed…
Sin and the First Rebel
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2.
Evil originated with Lucifer, who rebelled against the government of God. Before his fall he was a covering cherub, distinguished by his excellence. God made him good and beautiful, as near as possible like Himself.
Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise responsible…