Day 1

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of -- Genesis 22:1, 2.

I was cited the case of Abraham. God said to him, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Abraham obeyed God. He did not consult his feelings, but with a noble faith and confidence in God he prepared for his journey. With a heart rent with anguish he beheld the proud and loving mother gazing with fond affection upon the son of promise. But he led that loved son away. Abraham suffered, yet he did not let his will rise in rebellion against the will of God. Duty, stern duty, controlled him. He dared not consult his feelings or yield to them for one moment. His only son walked by the side of the stern, loving, suffering father, talking engagedly, uttering over and over the fond name of father, and then inquiring: "Where is the sacrifice?" Oh, what a test for the faithful father! Angels looked with pleased wonder upon the scene. The faithful servant of God even bound his beloved son and laid him upon the wood. The knife was raised, when an angel cried out: "Abraham, Abraham. . . . Lay not thine hand upon the lad."

I saw that it is no light thing to be a Christian. It is a small matter to profess the Christian name; but it is a great and sacred thing to live a Christian life. There is but a little time now to secure the immortal crown, to have a record of good acts and fulfilled duties recorded in heaven. Every tree is judged by its fruit. Everyone will be judged according to his deeds, not his profession or his faith. The question will never be asked, How much did he profess? but, What fruit did he bear? If the tree is corrupt, the fruit is evil. If the tree is good, it cannot produce evil fruit -- Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 454.

Day 2

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul -- Deuteronomy 13:1-3.

The fact that God, to whom the Christian entrusts himself, will not permit the enemy to tempt His children beyond their strength and ability to endure should be a source of great encouragement. It is not God's wish that men should suffer. God does not tempt man (see James 1:13). Man has brought this condition of affairs upon himself by his disobedience (see Gen. 1:27, 31; 3:15-19; Eccl. 7:29; Rom. 6:23). Since this is the case, God uses these experiences to develop human character according to His will (see 1 Peter 4:12, 13; MH 470, 471, 478). When men are tempted, therefore, they should remember that the temptation comes, not because God sends it, but because He permits it. Moreover, if rightly met, in the strength God supplies, temptations may be the means of accelerating the Christian's growth in grace. Seeing that God has given assurance that temptations are never beyond the individual's strength to endure, man himself is entirely responsible for falling into sin.

Literally, "the way out." The "the" indicates that for every particular temptation there is a particular provision made by God for escape. This "way out" is not a way to avoid the temptation, but a way out of the tragedy of falling into sin, of being overcome by the temptation. At the same time that God permits the trial or temptation to come, He will also have in readiness the means whereby we may gain the victory and escape from committing sin. Jesus, the Christian's example of right living, found that "way out" in the written Word of God (see Luke 4:4, 8, 12). So we, His followers, may find the "way out" in Jesus, the living Word (see John 1:1-3, 14). He is ever ready and willing to deliver those who call upon Him and to keep them from falling into sin (Ps. 9:9; 27:5; 41:1; 91:15; 2 Peter 2:9; Rev. 3:10) -- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, [1 Cor. 10:13].

Day 3

Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly -- Job 1:19-22.

The expression seems to describe a wind sweeping across the desert and coming with full force upon the inhabited area. The first and third tragedies were perpetrated by rapacious men-the Sabeans and the Chaldeans. The second and fourth tragedies resulted from fire and wind-agencies beyond human control. Job was given no opportunity to recover his equilibrium between blows. The poignancy of the tragedies were accentuated by the ruthless timing of the events. In a few short minutes his world collapsed. Job might have cursed the Sabeans and the Chaldeans. He might have cursed the fire and the wind. He might have cursed the God who allowed such catastrophes. Instead, he "worshipped." Compare the experience of David, who, after the death of his child, "came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped" (2 Sam. 12:20).

Ever since the Fall, Satan has maligned God's character. Worse still, he has sought to make it appear that the evil deeds he has done should be charged against God. Job's conduct was a dramatic denial of Satan's insinuation (v. 11). To the question, "Does Job fear God without regard for selfish gain?" Job gave the answer "Yes." Satan was perplexed. He had seen many who would have cursed God under similar circumstances-but Job's attitude was inexplicable.

Fire raged over the parish of a German pastor, laying in ruins his home and the homes of his people. Then death claimed his wife and children. Disease laid him prostrate; then blindness overtook him. Under this avalanche of trouble, he dictated these words:

"My Jesus, as Thou wilt;
O may Thy will be mine!
Into Thy hand of love
I would my all resign."

In his reaction to the initial tragedy, Job said nothing he need later regret; he did not stoop to self-pity or melodramatic mourning; he kept his head when lesser men would have disintegrated under the staggering blows -- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, [Job 1:19-22].

Day 4

Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips -- Job 2:9, 10.

Job's wife tries to persuade Job to do what Satan wanted him to do. She says in effect, "What good is your virtue doing you? You might as well curse God and take the consequences." The LXX greatly enlarges the speech of Job's wife: "And when much time had passed, his wife said to him, How long wilt thou hold out, saying, Behold, I wait yet a little while, expecting the hope of my deliverance? for, behold, thy memorial is abolished from the earth, even thy sons and daughters, the pangs and pains of my womb which I bore in vain with sorrows; and thou thyself sittest down to spend the nights in the open air among the corruption of worms, and I am a wanderer and a servant from place to place and house to house, waiting for the setting of the sun, that I may rest from my labours and my pangs which now beset me: but say some word against the Lord, and die."

The origin of the above statement is uncertain. It is not in any Hebrew manuscript now extant, and there are reasons for doubting whether it was in the earliest manuscripts of the LXX.

Here, again, is the complete resignation previously expressed in ch. 1:21. Job's question may be paraphrased as follows, "Should we receive all God's benefits as a matter of course and then complain when He sends affliction?" -- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, [Job 2:9-10].

Day 5

For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place -- Psalms 66:10-12.

God had allowed calamity to come upon Israel as a test of her loyalty to Him. Anciently the refining of silver was a slow process. Israel had suffered long. God never allows His people to be tried beyond their strength.

The Corinthians were not to think that the conditions under which they were expected to live faithful lives were exceptional, and that they had difficulties to meet that were peculiar to them. Their trials and temptations were no different from those experienced by men the world around. This statement seems to be added to the warning of the preceding verse as an encouragement. The Corinthians were in danger of falling, and must watch, but they could take heart because the temptation would not be beyond their strength to endure successfully.

God is true to His promises, true to the call He has extended to men to serve Him. If He permitted temptations to come to His people that were beyond their strength to overcome, then His promises would appear to be wholly unreliable (see Ps. 34:19; 1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Peter 2:9). The faithfulness of God is the Christian's source of security against the enemy. There is no security in depending on self, but if the believer relies entirely on the promises of our covenant-keeping God, he will be safe. However, he should remember that God will not deliver him if he deliberately places himself on the enemy's ground by going where he is likely to meet temptation (see Matt. 7:13, 14, 24, 25; 1 Cor. 9:25, 27; 10:14; Gal. 5:24; 2 Tim. 2:22; EW 124, 125; MB 118) -- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, [Psalm 66:10, 1 Cor. 10:13].

Day 6

Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand -- Daniel 12:10.

I was shown that those who compose these churches should be Bible students, studying the will of God most earnestly that they may learn to be labourers in the cause of God. They should sow the seeds of truth wherever they may be, at home, in the workshop, in the market, as well as in the meetinghouse. In order to become familiar with the Bible, they should read it carefully and prayerfully. In order to cast themselves and their burden on Christ, they must begin at once to study to realise the value of the cross of Christ and learn to bear it. If they would live holy lives they must now have the fear of God before them.

It is trial that leads us to see what we are. It is the reason of temptation that gives a glimpse of one's real character and shows the necessity for the cultivation of good traits. Trusting in the blessing of God, the Christian is safe anywhere. In the city he will not be corrupted. In the counting room he will be marked for his habits of strict integrity. In the mechanic's shop every portion of his work will be done with fidelity, with an eye single to the glory of God. When this course is pursued by its individual members, a church will be successful. Prosperity will never attend these churches until the individual members shall be closely connected with God, having an unselfish interest in the salvation of their fellow men. Ministers may preach pleasing and forcible discourses, and much labour may be put forth to build up and make the church prosperous; but unless its individual members shall act their part as servants of Jesus Christ, the church will ever be in darkness and without strength. Hard and dark as the world is, the influence of a really consistent example will be a power for good -- Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 285, 286.

Day 7

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God -- Zechariah 13:8, 9.

[To a Brother] God has been testing and proving you; how have you borne the test? You needed to be planed and polished, to have the rough and jagged points of your character removed, that you might become refined for the kingdom of heaven. How hard it is for human nature to deny inclination; how hard for men to leave flattering worldly inducements and, through love of their Saviour and their fellow men, to deny their own pleasure in order to engage more directly in the service of God. . . .

Have any of us an opportunity of doing something for Christ, how eagerly should we seize it and with the greatest earnestness do all we can to be co-workers with Him. The very trials that test our faith most severely, and make it seem that God has forsaken us, are designed to lead us more closely to Christ, that we may lay all our burdens at His feet and experience the peace He will give us in exchange. You need a new conversion; you need to be sanctified through the truth and to become in spirit like a little child, meek and humble, relying wholly upon Christ as your Redeemer. Your pride and independence are closing your heart to the blessed influences of the Spirit of God and rendering it as unimpressible as the hard-beaten highway. You have yet to learn the great lesson of faith. When you surrender yourself entirely to God, when you fall all broken upon Jesus, you will be rewarded by a victory the joy of which you have never yet experienced. As you review the past with a clear vision, you will see that at the very time when life seemed to you only a perplexity and a burden, Jesus Himself was near you, seeking to lead you into the light. Your Father was by your side, bending over you with unutterable love, afflicting you for your good, as the refiner purifies the precious ore. When you have thought yourself forsaken, He has been near you to comfort and sustain. We seldom view Jesus as He is, and are never so ready to receive His help as He is to help us.

What a victory you will gain when you learn to follow the opening providences of God with a grateful heart and a determination to live with an eye single to His glory, in sickness or health, in abundance or want. Self is alive and quivering at every touch. Self must be crucified before you can overcome in the name of Jesus and receive the reward of the faithful -- Testimonies to the Church, vol. 4, pp. 217, 220, 221.

Day 8

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 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 -- James 1:2-4.

Heaven will be cheap enough, if we obtain it through suffering. We must deny self all along the way, die to self daily, let Jesus alone appear, and keep His glory continually in view. I saw that those who of late have embraced the truth would have to know what it is to suffer for Christ's sake, that they would have trials to pass through that would be keen and cutting, in order that they may be purified and fitted through suffering to receive the seal of the living God, pass through the time of trouble, see the King in His beauty, and dwell in the presence of God and of pure, holy angels.

As I saw what we must be in order to inherit glory, and then saw how much Jesus had suffered to obtain for us so rich an inheritance, I prayed that we might be baptised into Christ's sufferings, that we might not shrink at trials, but bear them with patience and joy, knowing what Jesus had suffered that we through His poverty and sufferings might be made rich. Said the angel, "Deny self; ye must step fast." Some of us have had time to get the truth and to advance step by step, and every step we have taken has given us strength to take the next. But now time is almost finished, and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months. They will also have much to unlearn and much to learn again. Those who would not receive the mark of the beast and his image when the decree goes forth, must have decision now to say, Nay, we will not regard the institution of the beast -- Early Writings, p. 67.

Day 9

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him -- James 1:12.

A new year has commenced. What has been the record of the past year in your Christian life? How stands your record in heaven? I entreat you to make an unreserved surrender to God. Have your hearts been divided? Give them wholly to the Lord now. Make a different life history the coming year from that of the past. HumbleÐ your souls before God. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him." Put away all pretence and affectation. Act your simple, natural self. Be truthful in every thought and word and deed, and "in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Ever remember that the moral nature needs to be braced with constant watchfulness and prayer. As long as you look to Christ, you are safe; but the moment you think of your sacrifices and difficulties, and begin to sympathise with and pet yourself, you lose your trust in God and are in great peril.

Search carefully and see whether the truth which you have accepted has become a firm principle with you. Do you take Christ with you when you leave the closet of prayer? Does your religion stand guard at the door of your lips? Is your heart drawn out in sympathy and love for others outside of your own family? Are you diligently seeking a clearer understanding of Scriptural truth, that you may let your light shine forth to others? These questions you may answer to your own souls. Let your speech be seasoned with grace and your demeanour show Christian elevation -- Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 521, 522.

Day 10

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ -- 1 Peter 1:6, 7.

It is because God is leading them that these things come upon them. Trials and obstacles are the Lord's chosen methods of discipline and His appointed conditions of success. He who reads the hearts of men knows their characters better than they themselves know them. He sees that some have powers and susceptibilities which, rightly directed, might be used in the advancement of His work. In His providence He brings these persons into different positions and varied circumstances that they may discover in their character the defects which have been concealed from their own knowledge. He gives them opportunity to correct these defects and to fit themselves for His service. Often He permits the fires of affliction to assail them that they may be purified.

The fact that we are called upon to endure trial shows that the Lord Jesus sees in us something precious which He desires to develop. If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us. He does not cast worthless stones into His furnace. It is valuable ore that He refines. The blacksmith puts the iron and steel into the fire that he may know what manner of metal they are. The Lord allows His chosen ones to be placed in the furnace of affliction to prove what temper they are of and whether they can be fashioned for His work.

The potter takes the clay and moulds it according to his will. He kneads it and works it. He tears it apart and presses it together. He wets it and then dries it. He lets it lie for a while without touching it. When it is perfectly pliable, he continues the work of making of it a vessel. He forms it into shape and on the wheel trims and polishes it. He dries it in the sun and bakes it in the oven. Thus it becomes a vessel fit for use. So the great Master Worker desires to mould and fashion us. And as the clay is in the hands of the potter, so are we to be in His hands. We are not to try to do the work of the potter. Our part is to yield ourselves to be moulded by the Master Worker -- Ministry of Healing, pp. 471, 472.