Friday, January 27, 2017
Professed followers of Christ may possess many good and useful qualities; but their characters are greatly marred by an unkind, fretful, faultfinding, harshly judging temper....
Peacemakers! What a treasure is a peacemaker in the family; what a blessing in the church! Peacemakers may be tempted, but their life is hid with Christ in God. They look unto Jesus, copying His pattern.... They receive the peace which Christ gives....
The true nature of our religion is not found in the position we occupy, but in the gentle spirit, the kindness, the peace which we manifest. Our religion is made manifest in the home circle by the atmosphere surrounding the soul that brings happiness to the family....
True Christians will not ... speak in a cheap or fretting way. In the familiar circle of the home they will do services of love and Christian courtesy. These services may seem very commonplace, but the universe of heaven will be interested in the consistent walk of those who seek to benefit others....
It is not only our privilege but our duty to cultivate gentleness, to have the peace of Christ in the heart and as peacemakers and followers of Christ to sow precious seed that will produce a harvest unto eternal life. Professed followers of Christ may possess many good and useful qualities; but their characters are greatly marred by an unkind, fretful, faultfinding, harshly judging temper. The husband or the wife who cherishes suspicion and distrust creates dissension and strife in the home. Neither of them should keep his gentle words and smiles for strangers alone, and manifest irritability in the home, thus driving out peace and contentment....
It is practical Christlikeness alone that can make one a peacemaker in the home, in the church, in the neighborhood, and in the world. Home religion is practical sanctification.... The true quality of religion is gauged by the manner in which each member in the family does his duty to his associates.... Learn the precious lesson of being peacemakers in your home life. OHC 179
The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. Proverbs 11:31. They “shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:1. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are punished “according to their deeds.” The sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch—Satan the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare the righteousness of Jehovah. Hvn 129
"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9 (King James Version)