Text written by Ellen G. White; originally published by Fleming Revell - Steps to Christ

a broken heart

Grandpa George had a failing heart.  It was so diseased, his doctor had told him he would need a heart transplant or die.  So his name was placed on the waiting list for a donor, and each night his grandchildren prayed that if it was God's will a heart would soon be available for him.

  Then it happened, but not in the way anyone could have guessed, or wanted.  George's grandson, Scott, was an active teenager, who loved riding his motorcycle with his friends.  Scott prayed daily that his grandfather would get a heart.  But he did more than just pray.  He acted upon it, too.  He encouraged his friends to sign organ donor cards.

  Then one day--a day that Scott's friends can never forget--Scott became the answer to his own prayers.  He was in a terrible motorcycle accident.  His friends stood around helplessly as he lay on the pavement, his body crumpled at an odd angle.

  The ambulance soon arrived, its sirens wailing, and sped Scott to the hospital.  Their tests revealed that though his heart was still beating, he was brain-dead.

  Scott's parents raced to the hospital in shock.  When they heard that his death was inevitable, they knew what he would want them to do.  They signed a form releasing Scott's heart to his own grandfather.

  The surgery was completed within a few hours, and in the following weeks Scott's grandfather recovered nicely.  He told reporters, "I have a new heart; but it's broken."

  Scott's grandfather lives each day to the fullest in honor of the gift his grandson gave to him.  "If I waste this life, Scott's gift will have been in vain," he says.

  What about you?  Somebody died so that you could live forever.  That's how special you are to Him.  And that's why He's coming soon to take you to live with Him.  Don't waste His gift.  Be there waiting to greet Him when He comes.

Precious promises

The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.  Psalm 29:11

O let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.  Isaiah 27:5

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.  Isaiah 32:17

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!  Isaiah 52:7

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.  
Isaiah 26:3

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  Galatians 5:22, 23

Great peace have they which love They law: and nothing shall offend them.  Psalm 119:165

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.  
Psalm 37:11

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8

Text written by Ellen G. White; originally published by Fleming Revell - Steps to Christ

the right connection

  How would you get a gravel-filled boat up from the bottom of a river?  In New York State several years ago a group of engineers were commissioned to build a bridge at a certain point across a river.  They discovered, to their dismay, that an old fishing boat had been filled with gravel and rocks and sunk to the bottom of the river right where they needed to put the bridge supports.  Among other things, they tried using massive cranes to lift the boat out of the water, but nothing worked.

  At last one of the newest members of their firm, a young man familiar with the ways of the sea, made a suggestion.  Why not tie the two barges to the boat at low tide?  Perhaps the pull of the water would lift the boat up from the mire.

  Finding this suggestion their only remaining alternative, the engineers arranged to have it done.  When the tide was out, strong cables attached to the barges were laid under the boat and attached to its sides.  Then they waited for the tide to come in.

  Slowly--almost imperceptibly--the barges began rising.  The cables tightened and strained.  Then, as the cables were winched in tighter, the engineers saw the top of the old fishing boat rise out of the water.  The strength of the sea had done what man-made machines could not do.

  God wants to lift all of us out of the mire of sin and despair.  He wants us to realize that this world is not our final home.  Look up!  Someday God will come and take us out of this world.  But only those who are attached to Him will go.  Are you connected to Him?

Precious promises

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whos confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.  Isaiah 55:7

I acknowledged my sins unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.  Psalms 32:5

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, they sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.  Isaiah 44:22

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  
Ephesians 4:32

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:57

Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?  1 John 5:5

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  1 John 5:4

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.
Revelation 3:21

Text written by Ellen G. White; originally published by Fleming Revell - Steps to Christ

Excess baggage

  We're going to need a horn and turn signals on this thing if we get down much lower, shouted Captain McIntyre.  "I don't believe we can make it to the runway.  I hope the traffic lights on Highway 41 are green.  I'd hate to get a ticket."

  Captain McIntyre worked feverishly to restart the dead engine, but none of the tricks he'd seen or heard in his 30 years as a pilot could produce the needed miracle.  "Well, Mac, back in Scotland if we couldn't pull the wagon, then we left some of the load," the flight engineer suggested.

  "Good idea."  The captain turned to the crew.  "That's your job.  Everything that's not tied down goes out the door and everything that's tied down gets untied.  The only exceptions are things that yell and scream when you try to throw them out."

  In a quiet panic, the crew threw out everything they could, trying to save their seemingly doomed mission.  A brand new Mercedes Benz rolled from the cargo bay and hurtled into the ocean, landing with a silent splash before sinking to the bottom.  Designer suitcases with their contents followed.  Video cameras and lights broke on impact with the ocean surface.  Their value was nothing compared to human lives.

  Still, the plane dropped ever closer to the earth, unable to soar, yet not crashing.  "Cap'n, what about the musical instruments and your guitar?" Captain McIntyre gulped as he thought of his beautiful stringed friend of 40 years splintering as it hit the water.  "No exceptions," Mac yelled.  "It's it or me." Those words echoed in his ears.  At last, after interminable minutes of uncertainty, the plane gained a little altitude and the captain brought it down safely on Highway 41.

  How often we fly with excess baggage.  "I've got to be good" "God can't love me like I am."  "How can He possibly forgive me?"  Jesus not only forgave sins while here on earth, but He ate and drank with sinners.  He wants you just like you are.  You don't have to change yourself before you come to Him--He'll change you!  He has promised to give you a new heart and power to life a holy life.

Precious promises

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from They presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.  Psalm 51:10,11

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.  Ezekiel 36:26, 27

Teach me to do They will; for Thou art my God: The spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.  Psalm 143:10

Not by might, nor by power, but by thy Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.  Zechariah 4:6

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  
Romans 15:13

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; . . . and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:16,17,19

And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.  The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things.  John 14:16,26