LESSON 4 *January 18–24

God Is Passionate and Compassionate

God Is Passionate and Compassionate

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Ps. 103:13, Isa. 49:15, Hos. 11:1–9, Matt. 23:37, 2 Cor. 11:2, 1 Cor. 13:4–8.

Memory Text: “ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you’ ” (Isa. 49:15, NKJV).

Emotions are often viewed as undesirable and to be avoided. For some people, emotions are intrinsically irrational, and thus, the good man or woman would not be described as “emotional.” In some ancient Greek philosophy, the idea of the “rational” man, who is (mostly) either impervious to passions or who rules over his emotions by way of unemotional reason, is prized as the ideal.

Unbridled emotions can be problematic, yes. However, God created people with the capacity for emotions, and God Himself is displayed throughout Scripture as experiencing profound emotions. If God can experience deep emotions, as the Bible consistently portrays, then emotions cannot be intrinsically bad or irrational—for the God of the Bible is perfectly good and possesses perfect wisdom.

In fact, there are beautiful truths to be garnered from the realization that God’s love for us is a deeply emotional love, but always with the caveat that though God’s love (emotional or otherwise) is perfect, it should not be thought of as identical to emotions as humans experience them.

* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 25.


Sabbath Afternoon, January 18

Lesson 4 - God Is Passionate and Compassionate

Christ’s love is deep and earnest, flowing like an irrepressible stream to all who will accept it. There is no selfishness in His love. If this heaven-born love is an abiding principle in the heart, it will make itself known, not only to those we hold most dear in sacred relationship, but to all with whom we come in contact. It will lead us to bestow little acts of attention, to make concessions, to perform deeds of kindness, to speak tender, true, encouraging words. It will lead us to sympathize with those whose hearts hunger for sympathy.—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 101.
 

God does not deal with us as finite men deal with one another. His thoughts are thoughts of mercy, love, and tenderest compassion. . . .

Satan is ready to steal away the blessed assurances of God. He desires to take every glimmer of hope and every ray of light from the soul; but you must not permit him to do this. Do not give ear to the tempter. . . . The parable [of the prodigal son] tells you how the wanderer will be received: “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” Luke 15:18–20.

But even this parable, tender and touching as it is, comes short of expressing the infinite compassion of the heavenly Father. The Lord declares by His prophet, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3. While the sinner is yet far from the Father’s house, wasting his substance in a strange country, the Father’s heart is yearning over him; and every longing awakened in the soul to return to God is but the tender pleading of His Spirit, wooing, entreating, drawing the wanderer to his Father’s heart of love.—Steps to Christ, pp. 53, 54.
 

Our heavenly Father . . . hates sin, but He loves the sinner, and He gave Himself in the person of Christ, that all who would might be saved and have eternal blessedness in the kingdom of glory. What stronger or more tender language could have been employed than He has chosen in which to express His love toward us? He declares, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” Isaiah 49:15. . . .

As you read the promises, remember they are the expression of unutterable love and pity. The great heart of Infinite Love is drawn toward the sinner with boundless compassion. “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Ephesians 1:7. Yes, only believe that God is your helper. He wants to restore His moral image in man. As you draw near to Him with confession and repentance, He will draw near to you with mercy and forgiveness.—Steps to Christ, pp. 54, 55.

SUNDAY January 19

More Than a Mother’s Love

Perhaps the greatest love common to human experience is the love of a parent for a child. The Bible often uses the imagery of the parentchild relationship to depict God’s amazing compassion for people, emphasizing that God’s compassion is exponentially greater than even the deepest and most beautiful human expression of the same emotion.

Read Psalm 103:13, Isaiah 49:15, and Jeremiah 31:20. What do these depictions convey about the nature and depth of God’s compassion?

* Your notes will not be saved!

According to these texts, God relates to us as His beloved children, loving us as a good father and mother love their children. Yet, as Isaiah 49:15 explains, even a human mother might “forget her nursing child” or “not have compassion on the son of her womb” (NKJV), but God never forgets His children, and His compassion never fails (Lam. 3:22).

Notably, the Hebrew term raḥam, used for compassion here and in many other texts describing God’s abundant compassionate love, is believed to be derived from the Hebrew term for womb (raḥam). And thus, as scholars have noted, God’s compassion is a “womb-like mother-love.” Indeed, it is exponentially greater than any human compassion, even that of a mother for her newborn.

According to Jeremiah 31:20 (NKJV), God views His covenant people as His “dear son” and “pleasant child,” despite the fact that they often rebelled against Him and grieved Him. Even so, God declares, “My heart yearns for him” and “I will surely have mercy on him.” The term translated “mercy” here is the term used above for divine compassion (raḥam). Further, the phrase “My heart yearns” can be translated literally as “My innards roar.” This description is the deeply visceral language of divine emotion, signifying the profound depth of God’s compassionate love for His people. Even despite their infidelity, God continues to bestow His abundant compassion and mercy on His people and does so beyond all reasonable expectations.

For some of us, recognizing that God’s compassion for us is akin to that of a loving father or mother is deeply comforting. However, some people might struggle because their parent or parents were not loving. What other ways could God’s compassion be revealed to them?


Sunday, January 19

More Than a Mother’s Love

You have probably heard of the sad story of the mother who, with her husband and child, attempted to cross the Green Mountains in midwinter. Their progress was arrested by night and a storm. The husband went for help and lost his way in the darkness and the drifted snow, and was long in returning. The mother felt the chill of death coming upon her, and she bared her bosom to the freezing blast and the falling snow, that she might give all that remained of her own life to save that of her child. When the morning came, the living babe was found wrapped in the mother’s shawl . . . wondering why she did not awaken from her sleep.

Here is seen love stronger than death, that binds the mother’s heart to her child. And yet God says that the mother will sooner forget her child than that He will forget a soul that trusts in Him. That the Lord loves us is enough to call forth deepest gratitude, every hour of our lives. God’s love is speaking to you. . . . Only trust the love of Jesus, and you will realize the deepest joy.—Letter 12, August 9, 1873, to Edson and Emma White.
 

Christ’s love for His children is as strong as it is tender. It is a love stronger than death, for He died for us. It is a love more true than that of a mother for her children. The mother’s love may change, but Christ’s love is changeless. “I am persuaded,” Paul says, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, 39).

In every trial we have strong consolation. Is not our Saviour touched with the feeling of our infirmities? Has He not been tempted in all points like as we are? And has He not invited us to take every trial and perplexity to Him? Then let us not make ourselves miserable over tomorrow’s burdens. . . . He who gives strength for today will give strength for tomorrow.—In Heavenly Places, p. 269.
 

In the gracious blessings which our heavenly Father has bestowed upon us, we may discern innumerable evidences of a love that is infinite, and a tender pity surpassing a mother’s yearning sympathy for her wayward child. When we study the divine character in the light of the cross, we see mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness blended with equity and justice. In the language of John we exclaim, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”

We see in the midst of the throne One bearing in hands, and feet, and side the marks of suffering endured to reconcile man to God, and God to man. Matchless mercy reveals to us a Father, infinite, dwelling in light unapproachable, yet receiving us to Himself through the merits of His Son.—Reflecting Christ, p. 284.

MONDAY January 20

Gut-Wrenching Love

The incalculable depths of God’s compassionate love for humanity are manifested in Hosea. God had commanded the prophet Hosea, “ ‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord’ ” (Hos. 1:2, NKJV). Hosea 11 later depicts God’s relationship with His people, but with the metaphor of a loving father for his child.

Read Hosea 11:1–9. How does the imagery in these verses bring to life the way God loves and cares for His people?

God’s love for His people is likened to the tender affection of a parent for a child. Scripture uses the imagery of teaching a young child to walk; taking one’s beloved child in one’s arms; healing and providing sustenance; and otherwise tenderly caring for His people. Scripture also states that God “carried” His people just “ ‘as a man carries his son’ ” (Deut. 1:31, NKJV). In “His love and in His mercy He redeemed them” and “lifted them and carried them all the days of old” (Isa. 63:9, NASB).

In contrast to God’s unwavering faithfulness, His people were repeatedly unfaithful, ultimately pushing God away and bringing judgment upon themselves and deeply grieving Him. God is compassionate, but never to the exclusion of justice. (As we will see in a later lesson, love and justice go together.)

Have you ever been so upset about something that your stomach churns? That is the kind of imagery used for the depth of God’s emotions over His people. The imagery of one’s heart turning over and compassions being kindled is idiomatic language of deep emotions, used of both God and humans.

This imagery, of compassions being kindled (kamar), is used in the case of the two women who came before Solomon, each one claiming the same baby as her own. When Solomon ordered the infant cut in two (with no intention to harm the child), this imagery described the emotional reaction of the real mother (1 Kings 3:26; compare with Gen. 43:30).

Anyone who has ever been a parent knows what the lesson is talking about. No other earthly love begins to compare. How does this help us understand the reality of God’s love for us, and what comfort can, and should, we draw from this understanding?


Monday, January 20

Gut-Wrenching Love

The Saviour manifested divine compassion toward the Syrophenician woman. His heart was touched as He saw her grief. He longed to give her an immediate assurance that her prayer was heard; but He desired to teach His disciples a lesson, and for a time He seemed to neglect the cry of her tortured heart. . . .

It was Christ Himself who put into that mother’s heart the persistence which would not be repulsed. It was Christ who gave the pleading widow courage and determination before the judge. It was Christ who, centuries before, in the mysterious conflict by the Jabbok, had inspired Jacob with the same persevering faith. And the confidence which He Himself had implanted, He did not fail to reward.—Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 175, 176.
 

It is Satan’s work to fill men’s hearts with doubt. He leads them to look upon God as a stern judge. He tempts them to sin, and then to regard themselves as too vile to approach their heavenly Father or to excite His pity. The Lord understands all this. Jesus assures His disciples of God’s sympathy for them in their needs and weaknesses. Not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father’s heart. . . .

God is bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every sincere prayer He answers, “Here am I.” He uplifts the distressed and downtrodden. In all our afflictions He is afflicted. In every temptation and every trial the angel of His presence is near to deliver.—The Desire of Ages, p. 356.
 

In losing sight of the true character of Jehovah, the Israelites were without excuse. Often had God revealed Himself to them as one “full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Psalm 86:15. “When Israel was a child,” He testified, “then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.” Hosea 11:1.

Tenderly had the Lord dealt with Israel in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and in their journey to the Promised Land. “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:9. . . .

It was upon his knowledge of the long-sufferance of Jehovah and of His infinite love and mercy, that Moses based his wonderful plea for the life of Israel when, on the borders of the Promised Land, they refused to advance in obedience to the command of God. At the height of their rebellion the Lord had declared, “I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them;” . . . But the prophet pleaded the marvelous providences and promises of God in behalf of the chosen nation. And then, as the strongest of all pleas, he urged the love of God for fallen man.—Prophets and Kings, pp. 311, 312.

TUESDAY January 21

The Compassion of Jesus

In the New Testament, the same kind of imagery as in the Old is used to depict God’s compassion. Paul refers to the Father as the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3, NKJV). Further, Paul explains in Ephesians 2:4 that God is “rich in mercy” and redeems humans “because of His great love with which He loved us” (NKJV).

In various parables, Christ Himself repeatedly uses terms of visceral, gut-wrenching emotion to depict the Father’s compassion (Matt. 18:27, Luke 10:33, Luke 15:20). And the same language that depicts divine compassion in the Old Testament and New Testament also is used in the Gospels to depict Jesus’ compassionate responses to those in distress.

Read Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Mark 1:41, Mark 6:34, and Luke 7:13. See also Matthew 23:37. How do these verses shed light on the way Christ was moved by the plight of people?

Again and again in the Gospels, Christ was said to be moved to compassion by people in distress or in need. And He not only felt compassion, He addressed the people’s needs, as well.

And yes, Jesus also lamented over His people. One might imagine the tears in Christ’s eyes as He looks out over the city—“ ‘How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!’ ” (Matt. 23:37, NKJV). Here, we see that the lament of Christ matches closely with that depicted of God throughout the Old Testament. In fact, many biblical scholars note that the imagery of a bird taking care of her young is imagery only used of divinity in the ancient Near East. Here, many see an allusion to the imagery in Deuteronomy 32:11, of God as a bird hovering over, protecting, and taking care of its young.

There is no greater example of God’s great compassionate love for us than Jesus Himself—who gave Himself for us in the ultimate demonstration of love. Yet, Christ is not only the perfect image of God. He is also the perfect model of humanity. How can we model our lives after the life of Christ, focusing on the felt needs of others, and, thus, not merely preaching God’s love but showing it in tangible ways?


Tuesday, January 21

The Compassion of Jesus

When Christ saw the multitudes that gathered about Him, “He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Christ saw the sickness, the sorrow, the want and degradation of the multitudes that thronged His steps. To Him were presented the needs and woes of humanity throughout the world. Among the high and the low, the most honored and the most degraded, He beheld souls who were longing for the very blessings He had come to bring, souls who needed only a knowledge of His grace to become subjects of His kingdom. “Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38.

Today the same needs exist. The world is in need of workers who will labor as Christ did for the suffering and the sinful. There is indeed a multitude to be reached. The world is full of sickness, suffering, distress, and sin. It is full of those who need to be ministered unto—the weak, the helpless, the ignorant, the degraded.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 254.
 

Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be open for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon your Burden Bearer.

Circumstances may separate friends; the restless waters of the wide sea may roll between us and them. But no circumstances, no distance, can separate us from the Saviour. Wherever we may be, He is at our right hand, to support, maintain, uphold, and cheer. Greater than the love of a mother for her child is Christ’s love for His redeemed. It is our privilege to rest in His love, to say, “I will trust Him; for He gave His life for me.”

Human love may change, but Christ’s love knows no change. When we cry to Him for help, His hand is stretched out to save.—The Ministry of Healing, p. 72.
 

“The Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.” Deuteronomy 32:9-12. Thus He brought the Israelites unto Himself, that they might dwell as under the shadow of the Most High. Miraculously preserved from the perils of the wilderness wandering, they were finally established in the Land of Promise as a favored nation.—Prophets and Kings, p. 17.

WEDNESDAY January 22

A Jealous God?

The God of the Bible is the “compassionate God.” In Hebrew, God is called el raḥum (Deut. 4:31). The term “el” means “God,” and raḥum is a different form of the root for compassion (raḥum). Yet, God is called not only the compassionate God but also the jealous God, el qana’. As Deuteronomy 4:24 puts it, “ ‘The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God [el qana’].’ ” (See Deut. 4:24, Deut. 6:15, Josh. 24:19, Nah. 1:2.)

First 1 Corinthians 13:4 declares that “love is not jealous” (RSV). How could it be, then, that God is a “jealous God”? Read 2 Corinthians 11:2 and consider the way God’s people were unfaithful to Him throughout the narratives of the Bible (see, for example, Ps. 78:58). What light do these passages shed on understanding divine “jealousy”?

The “jealousy” of God is often misunderstood. If you refer to someone as a jealous husband or wife, you likely do not mean it as a compliment. The term jealousy often has negative connotations in many languages. However, in the Bible, divine jealousy has no negative connotations. It is the righteous passion of a loving husband for an exclusive relationship with his wife.

While there is a kind of jealousy that is against love (1 Cor. 13:4), according to 2 Corinthians 11:2, there is a good and righteous “jealousy.” Paul refers to it as “godly jealousy” (2 Cor. 11:2). God’s jealousy is only and always the righteous kind and may better be spoken of as God’s passionate love for His people.

God’s passion (qana’) for His people stems from His profound love for them. God desires an exclusive relationship with His people; He alone is to be their God. Yet, God is often depicted as a scorned lover, whose love is unrequited (see Hosea 1–3, Jer. 2:2, Jer. 3:1–12). Thus, God’s “jealousy” or “passion” is never unprovoked but always responsive to the infidelity and evil people. God’s jealousy (or “passionate love”) lacks the negative connotations of human jealousy. It is never envious but always the proper righteous passion for an exclusive relationship with His people and for their good.

How can we learn to reflect that same kind of good “jealousy” toward others that God displays toward us?


Wednesday, January 22

A Jealous God?

Our God is a jealous God; He is not to be trifled with. . . .

We can never by searching find out God. He does not lay open His plans to prying, inquisitive minds. We must not attempt to lift with presumptuous hand the curtain behind which He veils His majesty. The apostle exclaims, “How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” It is a proof of His mercy that there is the hiding of His power, that He is enshrouded in the awful clouds of mystery and obscurity; for to lift the curtain that conceals the Divine Presence is death. No mortal mind can penetrate the secrecy in which the Mighty One dwells and works. We can comprehend no more of His dealings with us and the motives that actuate Him than He sees fit to reveal. He orders everything in righteousness, and we are not to be dissatisfied and distrustful, but to bow in reverent submission. He will reveal to us as much of His purposes as it is for our good to know; and beyond that we must trust the hand that is omnipotent, the heart that is full of love.—Lift Him Up, p. 361.
 

In His dealings with the human race, God bears long with the impenitent. He uses His appointed agencies to call men to allegiance, and offers them His full pardon if they will repent. But because God is long-suffering, men presume on His mercy. . . . The patience and long-suffering of God, which should soften and subdue the soul, has an altogether different influence upon the careless and sinful. It leads them to cast off restraint, and strengthens them in resistance. . . .

Very few realize the sinfulness of sin; they flatter themselves that God is too good to punish the offender. But the cases of Miriam, Aaron, David, and many others show that it is not a safe thing to sin against God in deed, in word, or even in thought. God is a being of infinite love and compassion, but He also declares Himself to be a “consuming fire, even a jealous God.”—Ellen G. White Comments, in The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, p. 1166.
 

Marriage, a union for life, is a symbol of the union between Christ and His church. The spirit that Christ manifests toward the church is the spirit that husband and wife are to manifest toward each other.

Neither husband nor wife is to make a plea for rulership. The Lord has laid down the principle that is to guide in this matter. The husband is to cherish his wife as Christ cherishes the church. And the wife is to respect and love her husband. Both are to cultivate the spirit of kindness, being determined never to grieve or injure the other. . . .

Let not your married life be one of contention. If you do you will both be unhappy. Be kind in speech and gentle in action, giving up your own wishes. . . . Bring into your united life the fragrance of Christlikeness.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, pp. 46, 47.

THURSDAY January 23

Compassion and Passionate

The God of the Bible is compassionate and passionate, and these divine emotions are supremely exemplified in Jesus Christ. God is sympathetic (compare with Isa. 63:9, Heb. 4:15), deeply affected by the sorrows of His people (Judg. 10:16, Luke 19:41), and willing to hear, answer, and comfort (Isa. 49:10, 15; Matt. 9:36; Matt. 14:14).

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4–8. In what ways does this passage call us to reflect God’s compassionate and amazing love in our relationships with others?

We long to be in relationship with persons who exemplify the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8. But how often do we seek to become this kind of person toward others? We cannot make ourselves long-suffering and kind; we cannot make ourselves not be envious, conceited, rude, or selfseeking. We cannot muster a love in ourselves that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” and “never fails” (1 Cor. 13:7, 8, NKJV). Such love can be exemplified in our lives only as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And praise God that the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into the hearts of those who, by faith, are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 5:5).

By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, in what practical ways might we respond to, and reflect, God’s profoundly emotional, but always perfectly righteous and rational, love? First, the only appropriate response is to worship the God who is love. Second, we should respond to God’s love by actively showing compassion and benevolent love to others. We should not simply be comforted in our Christian faith but should be motivated to comfort others. Finally, we should recognize that we cannot change our hearts, but that only God can.

So, let us ask God to give us a new heart for Him and for others—a pure and purifying love that elevates what is good and removes the chaff from within.

Let our prayer be: “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, . . . so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thess. 3:12, 13, NKJV).

Why is a death to self and to the selfishness and corruption of our natural hearts the only way to reveal this kind of love? What are the choices that we can make in order to be able to die this death to self?


Thursday, January 23

Compassion and Passionate

Love is not simply an impulse, a transitory emotion, dependent upon circumstances; it is a living principle, a permanent power. The soul is fed by the streams of pure love that flow from the heart of Christ, as a well-spring that never fails. O, how is the heart quickened, how are its motives ennobled, its affections deepened, by this communion! Under the education and discipline of the Holy Spirit, the children of God love one another, truly, sincerely, unaffectedly,—“without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” And this because the heart is in love with Jesus. Our affection for one another springs from our common relation to God. We are one family, we love one another as He loved us. . . .

To love as Christ loved means to manifest unselfishness at all times and in all places, by kind words and pleasant looks. Genuine love is a precious attribute of heavenly origin, which increases its fragrance in proportion as it is dispensed to others.—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 101.
 

The Saviour overcame to show man how he may overcome. All the temptations of Satan, Christ met with the word of God. By trusting in God’s promises, He received power to obey God’s commandments, and the tempter could gain no advantage. To every temptation His answer was, “It is written.” So God has given us His word wherewith to resist evil. Exceeding great and precious promises are ours, that by these we “might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4.

Bid the tempted one look not to circumstances, to the weakness of self, or to the power of temptation, but to the power of God’s word. All its strength is ours. “Thy word,” says the psalmist, “have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” “By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” Psalm 119:11; 17:4.—Temperance, p. 107.
 

There can be no growth or fruitfulness in the life that is centered in self. If you have accepted Christ as a personal Saviour, you are to forget yourself, and try to help others. Talk of the love of Christ, tell of His goodness. Do every duty that presents itself. Carry the burden of souls upon your heart, and by every means in your power seek to save the lost. As you receive the Spirit of Christ—the Spirit of unselfish love and labor for others—you will grow and bring forth fruit. The graces of the Spirit will ripen in your character. Your faith will increase, your convictions deepen, your love be made perfect. More and more you will reflect the likeness of Christ in all that is pure, noble, and lovely.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Galatians 5:22, 23. This fruit can never perish, but will produce after its kind a harvest unto eternal life.—Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 67, 68.

FRIDAY January 24

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Beatitudes,” pp. 6–44, in Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing.
 

“All who have a sense of their deep soul poverty, who feel that they have nothing good in themselves, may find righteousness and strength by looking unto Jesus. He says, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden.’ Matthew 11:28. He bids you exchange your poverty for the riches of His grace. We are not worthy of God's love, but Christ, our surety, is worthy, and is abundantly able to save all who shall come unto Him. Whatever may have been your past experience, however discouraging your present circumstances, if you will come to Jesus just as you are, weak, helpless, and despairing, our compassionate Saviour will meet you a great way off, and will throw about you His arms of love and His robe of righteousness. He presents us to the Father clothed in the white raiment of His own character. He pleads before God in our behalf, saying: I have taken the sinner’s place. Look not upon this wayward child, but look on Me. Does Satan plead loudly against our souls, accusing of sin, and claiming us as his prey, the blood of Christ pleads with greater power.”—Ellen G. White, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 8, 9.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Look at what inspiration above said about how, thanks to Jesus, we are presented to the Father. “He presents us to the Father clothed in the white raiment of His own character.” No matter how discouraged we might get at times over our faults and shortcomings, or how often we don’t reflect to others the kind of love that God pours out on us, why must we always come back to the wonderful news that we are accepted by the Father because Jesus “presents us to the Father clothed in the white raiment of His own character”?

  2. Imagine how the mother must have felt in the case of the two women who came before Solomon claiming the same baby was their child. Consider again the language of emotion described in 1 Kings 3:26. How does this shed light on the same kind of language that is used to describe God’s emotions for His people, in Hosea 11:8?

  3. Throughout the Gospels, we have seen that Jesus often was moved by the needs of people. And what did He do? He acted in a way that addressed the people’s needs. What are practical ways that you as an individual, or even perhaps as a class, can meet the needs of those who need comforting?


Friday, January 24

For Further Reading

The Upward Look, “Look,” p. 180;

Messages to Young People, “Not Feeling but a Changed Life,” pp. 72, 73.

INSIDE STORY

Attacked by Drunken Men

By Andrew McChesney

A drunken man accosted the 21-year-old missionary woman on a public bus and tried to hug and kiss her. As she struggled against his advances, the other passengers looked the other way until an elderly woman yelled something to the bus driver. The bus stopped, then under the guidance of the elderly woman, several passengers threw the man off. She came over to the sobbing missionary, patted her arm, and said something that the missionary couldn’t understand.

This was the nightmare that Joanne (Park) Kim seemed to face nearly every week in Mongolia. It was the early 1990s, and she was a single American woman serving as one of the first Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in impoverished, post-Communist Mongolia.

On another occasion, a drunken neighbor mistook Joanne’s apartment for his own. He kicked down her flimsy wooden door with his steel-toe boots and started to beat her. Joanne grabbed a broom and, screaming, fought back. It was a losing battle until Joanne used the broom to bang on the ceiling and her fellow missionaries, a married American couple, heard from their apartment above, and rushed down to rescue her.

The last straw for Joanne came when she and a fellow missionary were waiting at a bus stop on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. A mother had invited them to her child’s first haircut, which called for a big celebration in Mongolia. Joanne was instructed to wait at the bus stop because she would never be able to find the ger home on the unmarked streets, so she and the other missionary sat on the curb and waited for the mother to arrive.

Then four drunken men sat beside them and tried to hug and kiss Joanne.

Joanne and the other missionary moved away, but the men followed. Everyone at the crowded bus stop looked away. The men dragged the women to a deserted alley. Joanne screamed and kicked and fought back, but she was no match for the four men. Then the men threw the women onto the ground. Joanne thought it was the end.

Suddenly, the men’s faces turned pale. They turned and ran away.

Joanne looked around to see who had come to save them. No one was there. At that moment, Joanne knew that the men must have seen an angel.

Attacked by Drunken Men

This mission story offers an inside look at American missionary Joanne (Park) Kim, who helped start the Seventh-day Adventist work in post-Communist Mongolia and continues to serve as a missionary there. You also can participate in the mission work through this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, part of which will help open a recreation center where children can grow spiritually, mentally, socially, and physically in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Read more about Joanne next week.

Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org.