There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24. Disappointments you will have, but ever bear in mind that Jesus, the living, risen Saviour, is your Redeemer, your Restorer. He loves you, and it is better to share His love than to sit with princes and be separated from Him…. Come daily to Jesus, who loves you. Open your heart to Him freely. In Him there is no disappointment. You will never find a better counsellor, a safer guide, a more sure defense. Through all your trials … you have had a never-failing Friend, who has said, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” But how often is the Lord neglected for the society of others, and for things of no value! … We dare not let His name languish on our lips, and His love and memory die out of our hearts. “Well,” says the cold, formal professor, “this is making Christ too much like a human being;” but the Word of God warrants us to have these very ideas. It is the want of these practical, definite views of Christ, that hinders so many from having a genuine experience in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is the reason that many are fearing and doubting and mourning. Their ideas of Christ and the plan of salvation are vague, dreary, and confused…. If ever there was a time when men needed the presence of Christ at their right hand, it is now, so that when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Communion with Christ—how unspeakably precious! Such communion it is our privilege to enjoy, if we will seek it. The everlasting assurance shall be yours that you have a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. This text is taken from Sons and Daughters of God by Ellen G. White. For free access to more of her writings, please visit...

I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. . . . I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. Ps. 119:14-16 The Bible presents to our view the unsearchable riches and immortal treasures of heaven. Man’s strongest impulse urges him to seek his own happiness, and the Bible recognizes this desire and shows us that all heaven will unite with man in his efforts to gain true happiness. It reveals the condition upon which the peace of Christ is given to men. It describes a home of everlasting happiness and sunshine, where no tears nor want shall ever be known. That blessed book will teach you to be honest, temperate in all things, frugal, industrious, truthful, and upright. Its counsels heeded will make you a faithful companion of youth, giving you an influence that will ever lead upward, to purity of character; an influence that will lead away from sin, into paths of righteousness. Will such a life be without enjoyment? Ah, no! It will be full of comfort, full of satisfaction, because you are bringing heaven into your life, peace into your soul, and leaving a testimony that “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”. . . I would that all the young could understand how precious is the offering of a youthful heart to God. How lovingly the angels guard the steps of God-fearing, God-loving youth. Jesus knows them by name, and their example is helping other youth to do right. The youth who has hidden within the heart and mind a store of God’s words of caution and encouragement, of His precious pearls of promise, from which he can draw at any time, will be a living channel of light. He has connection with the Source of all light. The Sun of Righteousness sends its light and healing beams into his soul, irradiating rays of light to all around him. From My Life Today – Page 165 ~Ellen G....

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭3-4‬...

“Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” [Matthew. 25:23] The reason why some are restless is that they do not go to the only true source of happiness. They are ever trying to find out of Christ that enjoyment which is found alone in Him. In Him are no disappointed hopes. Oh, how is the precious privilege of prayer neglected! . . . Prayer is the strength of the Christian. When alone, he is not alone; he feels the presence of the One who said, “Lo, I am with you alway.” The young want just what they have not, namely, religion. Nothing can take the place of it. The Christian’s hope is just what is needed. Religion will prove to the believer a comforter, a sure guide to the Fountain of true happiness. There is no true joy except Christ’s joy. All the supposed happiness a man fancies he can gain without Christ will prove to be as ashes, a disappointment. Do not suppose for a moment that an irreligious man can be a happy man. No man can really enjoy life without religion. Love to God purifies and ennobles every taste and every desire, intensifies every affection, and brightens every worthy pleasure. It enables men to appreciate and enjoy all that is true, and good, and beautiful. You will ever find with the true Christian a marked cheerfulness, a holy, happy confidence in God, a submission to His providences, that is refreshing to the soul. Faith in God’s love and overruling providence lightens the burdens of anxiety and care. It fills the heart with joy and contentment in the highest or the lowliest lot. Religion tends directly to promote health, to lengthen life, and to heighten our enjoyment of all its blessings. It opens to the soul a never-failing fountain of happiness. From My Life Today – Page 163 by Ellen ....

Sound Mind in a Sound Body “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.”  Psalm 103:2, 3 –  The Saviour ministered to both the soul and the body. The gospel which He taught was a message of spiritual life and of physical restoration. Deliverance from sin and healing of disease were linked together. The same ministry is committed to the Christian physician. He is to unite with Christ in relieving both the physical and spiritual needs of his fellow men. He is to be to the sick a messenger of mercy, bringing to them a remedy for the diseased body and for the sin-sick soul. When the poor paralytic was brought to the house where Jesus was teaching, a dense crowd surrounded the door, barring every way of access to the Saviour. But faith and hope had been kindled in the heart of the poor sufferer, and he proposed that his friends take him to the rear of the house, break up the roof, and let him down into the presence of Christ. The suggestion was acted upon; as the afflicted one lay at the feet of the mighty Healer, all that man could do for his restoration had been done. Jesus knew that the sufferer had been tortured with a sense of his sins, and that he must first find relief from this burden. With a look of tenderest compassion, the Saviour addressed him, not as a stranger, or even a friend, but as one who had even then been received into the family of God: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Many are suffering from maladies of the soul far more than from diseases of the body, and they will find no relief until they shall come to Christ, the wellspring of life. Complaints of weariness, loneliness, and dissatisfaction will then cease. Satisfying joys will give vigor to the mind and health and vital energy to the body. Today Christ is feeling the woes of every sufferer…. He knows how to speak the word, “Be whole,” and bid the sufferer, “Go, and sin no more.” – {My Life Today p.154 ~ Ellen G. White...

”Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” Ecclesiastes 12:1 I wish I could portray the beauty of the Christian life. Beginning in the morning of life, controlled by the laws of nature and of God, the Christian moves steadily onward and upward, daily drawing nearer his heavenly home, where await for him a crown of life, and a new name, “which no man knoweth saving him that receiveth it.” Constantly he grows in happiness, in holiness, in usefulness. The progress of each year exceeds that of the past year. God has given the youth a ladder to climb, a ladder that reaches from earth to heaven. Above this ladder is God, and on every round fall the bright beams of his glory. He is watching those who are climbing, ready, when the grasp relaxes and the steps falter, to send help. Yes, tell it in words full of cheer, that no one who perseveringly climbs the ladder will fail of gaining an entrance into the heavenly city. Angels of God, that ascend and descend the ladder that Jacob saw in vision, will help every soul who will to climb even to the highest heaven. They are guarding the people of God and watching how every step is taken. Those who climb the shining way will be rewarded; they will enter into the joy of their Lord. Early piety ensures to its possessor the full enjoyment of all that makes life happy. . . . Those who wait until the span of life is almost ended before they seek God, lose a life of pure, elevated happiness–happiness that never comes in pursuit of the pleasures that this life affords. Those who have been long acquainted with God, who from their youth have drawn their happiness from the pure fountain of heaven, are prepared to enter the family of God. From My Life Today – Page 161 ~Ellen G....