Category: Success

Even “Small” Sins Have Big Consequences?

The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. Proverbs 11:3, NKJV.

Christ has said: “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” The deeds of people’s lives are the fruit they bear. If they are unfaithful and dishonest in temporal matters, they are bringing forth briers and thorns; they will be unfaithful in the religious life and will rob God in tithes and offerings.

But sin is sin, whether committed by the possessor of millions or by the beggar in the streets.

The Bible condemns in the strongest terms all falsehood, false dealing, and dishonesty. Right and wrong are plainly stated. But I was shown that God’s people have placed themselves on the enemy’s ground; they have yielded to his temptations and followed his devices until their sensibilities have become fearfully blunted.

A slight deviation from truth, a little variation from the requirements of God, is thought to be, after all, not so very sinful, when pecuniary gain or loss is involved. But sin is sin, whether committed by the possessor of millions or by the beggar in the streets. Those who secure property by false representations are bringing condemnation on their souls. All that is obtained by deceit and fraud will be only a curse to the receiver.

Adam and Eve suffered the terrible consequences of disobeying the express command of God. They might have reasoned: This is a very small sin, and will never be taken into account. But God treated the matter as a fearful evil, and the woe of their transgression will be felt through all time.

In the times in which we live, sins of far greater magnitude are often committed by those who profess to be God’s children. In the transaction of business, falsehoods are uttered and acted by God’s professed people that bring His frown upon them and a reproach upon His cause.

The least departure from truthfulness and rectitude is a transgression of the law of God. Continual indulgence in sin accustoms the person to a habit of wrongdoing, but does not lessen the aggravated character of the sin. God has established immutable principles, which He cannot change without a revision of His whole nature.

If the Word of God were faithfully studied by all who profess to believe the truth, they would not be dwarfs in spiritual things. Those who disregard the requirements of God in this life would not respect His authority were they in heaven.—Testimonies for the Church 4:311, 312.

Courtesy: The Devotional, To Be Like Jesus, Ellen Gould White.

Be Honest With Others and With God

“You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 25:15, NKJV.

It is best to deal honestly with your fellow beings and with God. You are dependent upon Christ for every favor you enjoy; you are dependent upon Him for the future, immortal life; and you cannot afford to be without respect unto the recompense of reward. 

Those who realize their dependence upon God will feel that they must be honest with others, and, above all, they must be honest with God, from whom come all the blessings of life. The evasion of the positive commands of God concerning tithes and offerings is registered in the books of heaven as robbery toward Him.

No one who is dishonest with God or with others can truly prosper…. The Lord has bought us with His own precious blood, and it is because of His mercy and grace that we may hope for the great gift of salvation.

We are enjoined to deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Yet the Lord declares, “Ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” 

When we deal unjustly with other human beings or with our God, we despise the authority of God and ignore the fact that Christ has purchased us with His own life. 

The world is robbing God upon the wholesale plan. The more He imparts of wealth, the more thoroughly do people claim it as their own, to be used as they shall please. But shall the professed followers of Christ follow the customs of the world? Shall we forfeit peace of conscience, communion with God, and fellowship with our brethren and sisters because we fail to devote to His cause the portion He has claimed as His own? 

Let those who claim to be Christians bear in mind that they are trading on the capital entrusted them of God, and that they are required to faithfully follow the directions of the Scriptures in regard to its disposal. If your heart is right with God, you will not embezzle your Lord’s goods and invest them in your own selfish enterprises.

—The Review and Herald, December 17, 1889. 

Do Right in Business, Not Just in Church, June 2


Fact

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12, NRSV.

Those who truly fear God would rather toil day and night, and eat the bread of poverty, than to indulge a passion for gain which would oppress the widow and the fatherless, or turn strangers from their right.

Our Savior sought to impress upon His hearers that the person who would venture to defraud a neighbor in the smallest item would, if the opportunity were favorable, overreach in larger matters. The slightest departure from rectitude breaks down the barriers, and prepares the heart to do greater injustice.

By precept and example Christ taught that the strictest integrity should govern our conduct toward our fellow beings. Said the divine Teacher, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”

Just to the extent that people would advantage themselves at the disadvantage of others will their souls become insensible to the influence of the Spirit of God. Gain obtained at such a cost is a fearful loss. It is better to want than to lie; better to hunger than to defraud; better to die than to sin. Extravagance, overreaching, extortion indulged by those professing godliness, are corrupting their faith and destroying their spirituality.

The church is in a great degree responsible for the sins of its members. It gives countenance to the evil if it fails to lift its voice against it. The influence from which it has most to fear is not that of open opposers, infidels, and blasphemers, but of inconsistent professors of Christ. These are the ones who keep back the blessing of the God of Israel.

The business world does not lie outside the limits of God’s government. True religion is not to be merely paraded on the Sabbath and displayed in the sanctuary; it is for every day and for every place. Its claims must be recognized and obeyed in every act of life. Those who possess the genuine article will in all their business affairs show as clear a perception of right as when offering their supplications at the throne of grace.—The Southern Watchman, May 10, 1904.

Courtesy of: To Be Like Jesus by E.G. White, June 2.

What Does The World Need Now?

Show some love

Some of my childhood memories revolve around the music I grew up listening to. We all have a soundtrack of our lives that echo the times in which we live.

“What the World Needs Now” composed by Burt Bacharach is a song that was released and made popular by Jackie DeShannon in 1965, but Dionne Warwick sang a contemporary version most resonating to the new age.

The Lyrics go…

Lord, we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb.
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

What was true in the sixties is still rings true today.

What the world needs is a little love.

Once again the world is boiling over in unfathomable diseases and infections like corona virus, pestilences in Africa like locusts, riots, violent protests, racial unrest, hatred and fear. What is needed now is not another press conference, or another tweet from our leaders, or another protest march where people end up dead.

It should be clear to everyone that we do not have the answers to the problems that plague us. There is only one answer. What the world needs now is love.

And “God is love” (1 John 4:8). He’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.

In case we forgot,

Love is patient,

Love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

Let’s do our part to change the discordant soundtrack of our times and allow the music of God’s love to play through us.

What can you do today to show love and care to the world? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below. 🙂