The Upward Look - a daily audio devotional

Preparing for Heaven, June 25

Written by David DeRose MD, MPH | June 25

Bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8.

I have kept very well since the warm weather came. I am surprised that at my age [75] I am favored with such good health. I can go up and down stairs as easily and as quickly as any member of my family. Generally, I am cheerful. I do not want to cast a shadow in my family. I desire that every word that falls from my lips shall be fragrant with Christlike love...

We have been commissioned to go forth as God’s missionaries. In the Bible we learn what work God has given us to do, and there, too, we learn how to do this work. No one can know the will of God so certainly as he who abides in Christ. There are some who are constantly inquiring and speculating and guessing, but who, instead of advancing, are retrograding. They are not united with Christ.

We are not to stumble along in uncertainty. Christ says, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). As we advance, we become used to following. The path of life shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

How deeply grieved the Saviour is by the loss of one of the souls for whom He made so great a sacrifice. He would bring all into the kingdom of heaven. He desires all to see the King in His beauty... Let us not keep looking at the defects of others. Let us look ever to Jesus... There are sinners to be saved, and in word and deed we are to fulfill Christ’s purpose for them, as His agencies of healing...

I am making earnest efforts to win the crown of life which at the last great day the Judge of all will give to those who love His appearing. Let us not allow our lips to be tarnished by unbelief. Let us talk the truth. Let us refuse to be deceived by the seducing spirits that will come.

Sister [Lucinda] Hall, will it not be a blessed thing to be an overcomer, to sit with the royal family in the kingdom of heaven, to have a place in the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love His appearing? Be of good courage, my sister. Let nothing discourage you. Keep cheerful. Stand under the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness.—Letter 121, June 25, 1903, to Lucinda Hall, a close friend.

Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 190.