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Worship: For Heaven’s Sake Many have yet to reach their calling. Have you? Wherever you are, a work for God may still be done. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake There are spiritual lessons in our bones! Pastor Flemons, a doctor of biblical wellness, discussed the skeletal system and how it relates to the plan of redemption. (Read more below.)
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Worship: Prepare for Your Calling! The Call of Elisha
Wellness: Saved to the Bone! The Skeletal System and Salvation
TOPICS THIS WEEK – April 2 – 8
Worship Sunday – The Fall of the House of Ahab; Monday – The Call of Elisha; Tuesday – The Healing of the Waters; Wednesday – A Prophet of Peace; Thursday – Naaman Friday – Elisha’s Closing Ministry; Saturday, the Sabbath – “Nineveh, That Great City”
[All topics per Prophets and Kings by Ellen G. White.]
Wellness Sunday – Saturday, the Sabbath – The Skeletal System
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Words of Encouragement
James 1:3-4 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them.
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For Heaven’s Sake…
“The prophetic call came to Elisha while, with his father’s servants, he was plowing in the field. He had taken up the work that lay nearest. He possessed both the capabilities of a leader among men and the meekness of one who is ready to serve. Of a quiet and gentle spirit, he was nevertheless energetic and steadfast. Integrity, fidelity, and the love and fear of God were his, and in the humble round of daily toil he gained strength of purpose and nobleness of character, constantly increasing in grace and knowledge. While co-operating with his father in the home-life duties, he was learning to co-operate with God.PK 218.1
“By faithfulness in little things, Elisha was preparing for weightier trusts. Day by day, through practical experience, he gained a fitness for a broader, higher work. He learned to serve; and in learning this, he learned also how to instruct and lead. The lesson is for all. None can know what may be God’s purpose in His discipline; but all may be certain that faithfulness in little things is the evidence of fitness for greater responsibilities. Every act of life is a revelation of character, and he only who in small duties proves himself “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed” can be honored by God with higher service. 2 Timothy 2:15.PK 218.2
“Because they are not connected with some directly religious work, many feel that their lives are useless, that they are doing nothing for the advancement of God’s kingdom. If they could do some great thing how gladly they would undertake it! But because they can serve only in little things, they think themselves justified in doing nothing. In this they err. A man may be in the active service of God while engaged in the ordinary, everyday duties—while felling trees, clearing the ground, or following the plow. The mother who trains her children for Christ is as truly working for God as is the minister in the pulpit.PK 219.1
“Many long for special talent with which to do a wonderful work, while the duties lying close at hand, the performance of which would make the life fragrant, are lost sight of. Let such ones take up the duties lying directly in their pathway. Success depends not so much on talent as on energy and willingness. It is not the possession of splendid talents that enables us to render acceptable service, but the conscientious performance of daily duties, the contented spirit, the unaffected, sincere interest in the welfare of others. In the humblest lot true excellence may be found. The commonest tasks, wrought with loving faithfulness, are beautiful in God’s sight.PK 219.2
“As Elijah, divinely directed in seeking a successor, passed the field in which Elisha was plowing, he cast upon the young man’s shoulders the mantle of consecration. During the famine the family of Shaphat had become familiar with the work and mission of Elijah, and now the Spirit of God impressed Elisha’s heart as to the meaning of the prophet’s act. To him it was the signal that God had called him to be the successor of Elijah.PK 219.3
“… Elisha must count the cost—decide for himself to accept or reject the call. If his desires clung to his home and its advantages, he was at liberty to remain there. But Elisha understood the meaning of the call. He knew it was from God, and he did not hesitate to obey. ….PK 220.1
“The call to place all on the altar of service comes to each one. We are not all asked to serve as Elisha served, nor are we all bidden to sell everything we have; but God asks us to give His service the first place in our lives, to allow no day to pass without doing something to advance His work in the earth. He does not expect from all the same kind of service. One may be called to ministry in a foreign land; another may be asked to give of his means for the support of gospel work. God accepts the offering of each. It is the consecration of the life and all its interests, that is necessary. Those who make this consecration will hear and obey the call of Heaven.PK 221.3
“To everyone who becomes a partaker of His grace, the Lord appoints a work for others. Individually we are to stand in our lot, saying, “Here am I; send me.” Whether a man be a minister of the Word or a physician, whether he be merchant or farmer, professional man or mechanic, the responsibility rests upon him. It is his work to reveal to others the gospel of their salvation. Every enterprise in which he engages should be a means to this end.PK 222.1
If today, you realize you left your calling, “Go back!” is the advice Pastor Flemons has for you. “We give up too easily,” he says. “Go back. Grow in grace, and God will bless you.”
(This study is based on chapter 17, “The Call of Elisha” in Prophets and Kings (PK), by Ellen G. White.)
For Health’s Sake…
The skeletal system provides support and structure to the body, just as the law of God provides support and structure to our lives. When God created us, He put within our physiology the plan of redemption. Like the wilderness sanctuary and brick-and-mortar temple reflected Christ, so do our body temples. (Read Psalm 77:13 and John 14:6.)
The axial and appendicular skeleton are like the two laws upon which hang all the law and the prophets. The axial skeleton is the central vertical skeleton. The appendicular skeleton consists of our extremities: the legs and arms. There are two primary divisions of the Ten Commandments. Upon these two hang all Ten Commandments: love for God (the first four) and love for man (the last six). (Read Matthew 22:40.)
The axial skeleton protects the brain, heart (or thoracic region) and pelvic region. Romans 7:25 tells how we love God with our mind. Isaiah 40:11 tells of how God carries us in His bosom (thoracic region). And John 3:3 refers to being born again. The region of birth is in the pelvic region. Thus, from the skull to the pelvic region, the axial skeleton reflects the vertical relationship of the plan of redemption: from man to God. It reflects the first four commandments in that they teach man’s duty to God.
The appendicular skeleton protects the extremities. It represents the last six commandments that govern man’s duty to man. That is the horizontal relationship. Matthew 23:1-4 speaks of how heavy burdens were placed on the shoulders of mankind by mankind. And Romans 10:15 speaks of the beautiful feet of those who preach the gospel of peace.
As there are five books of God’s law, there are five principle roles of the skeletal system. It supports, protects, enables movement, provides storage, and is the site of blood cell formation. There are 206 bones in our bodies. These bones represent the letter of the law, whereas the cartilage on the bones represents the softer spirit of the law. The joints, which give flexibility, show how the law applies to every situation in your life.
You can do nothing unless you think, say or do. The law of God governs everything. Like the law of God, the skeletal system covers every area of thought, speech and action. As faith without works is dead, so is bone without muscle, which is attached to the origin bone (or God, the Father) at one end and the insertion bone (or Jesus) at the other end. By the muscle, the insertion bone always moves to the bone of origin. It, like faith, must be exercised daily for successful growth and good health.
Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”