May 4:  Cheerfulness and Contentment.

True Happiness Comes Only From God.
You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.--Psalm 4:7, NKJV

THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD not set too high a value, or depend too much, upon a happy flight of feeling.  These feelings are not always true guides.  It should be the study of every Christian to serve God from principle, and not be ruled by feeling.  By so doing, faith will be brought into exercise, and will increase.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, 161.

Feeling is not faith; the two are distinct.  Faith is ours to exercise, but joyful feeling and the blessing are God's to give.--Early Writings, 72.

If the Christian lives a humble, self-sacrificing life, peace and joy in the Lord will be the result.--Testimonies for the Christ, vol. 1, 161.

Happiness drawn from earthly sources is as changeable as varying circumstances can make it; but the peace of Christ is a constant and abiding peace.  It does not depend upon any circumstances in life, on the amount of worldly goods or the number of earthly friends.  Christ is the fountain of living water, and happiness drawn from Him can never fail.--Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 16.

                    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks;
                            for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
                                                                       --1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NKJV

             Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
                       but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
                   But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water
                                              springing up into everlasting life."
                                                                                     --John 4:13, 14, NKJV

May 3:  Cheerfulness and Contentment.

God Always Keeps His Promises.
"Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me."--Acts 27:25, NKJV

SOME ARE ALWAYS FEARING, and borrowing trouble....Their minds are continually dwelling upon something disagreeable which they fear may come; or some difficulty may really exist which, though small, blinds their eyes to the many things that demand gratitude.  The difficulties they encounter, instead of driving them to God, the only source of their help, separate them from Him because they awaken unrest and repining.

Do we well to be thus unbelieving?  Why should we be ungrateful and distrustful?  Jesus is our friend; all heaven is interested in our welfare.  We should not allow the perplexities and worries of everyday life to fret the mind and cloud the brow.  If we do we shall always have something to vex and annoy.  We should not indulge a solicitude that only frets and wears us, but does not help us to bear trials.

You may be perplexed in business; your prospects may grow darker and darker, and you may be threatened with loss; but do not become discouraged; cast your care upon God, and remain calm and cheerful.  Pray for wisdom to manage your affairs with discretion, and thus prevent loss and disaster.  Do all you can on your part to bring about favorable results.  Jesus has promised His aid, but not apart from our effort.  When, relying upon our Helper, you have done all you can, accept the result cheerfully.--Steps to Christ, 121, 122.

May 2:  Cheerfulness and Contentment.

We Are His Witnesses.
The following night the Lord stood by him, and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul: for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."--Acts 23:11, NKJV

THE PEOPLE OF GOD are His representatives upon the earth, and He intends that they shall be lights in the moral darkness of this world.  Scattered all over the country, in the towns, cities, and villages, they are God's witnesses, the channels through which He will communicate to an unbelieving world the knowledge of His will and the wonders of His grace.  It is His plan that all who are partakers of the great salvation shall be missionaries for Him.  The piety of the Christian constitutes the standard by which worldlings judge the gospel.  Trials patiently borne, blessings gratefully received, meekness, kindness, mercy, and love, habitually exhibited, are the lights that shine forth in the character before the world, revealing the contrast with the darkness that comes of the selfishness of the natural heart.--Patriarchs and Prophets, 134.

It is our duty to be very jealous for the glory of God and to bring no evil report, even by the sadness of the countenance or by ill-advised words, as if the requirements of God were a restriction upon our liberty.  Even in this world of sorrow, disappointment, and sin the Lord desires us to be cheerful, and strong in His strength.  The whole person is privileged to bear a decided testimony in every line.  In features, in temper, in words, in character, we are to witness that the service of God is good.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, 365.

                                                 "Do not tremble; do not be afraid.
                               Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago?
                                   You are my witnesses--is there any other God?
                                          No!  There is no other Rock--not one!"
                              
                                                    --Isaiah 44:8, NLT

May 1:  Cheerfulness and Contentment.


He Has Forgiven My Sins.
Behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."--Matthew 9:2, NKJV

THIS PARALYTIC had lost all hope of recovery.  His disease was the result of a sinful life, and his sufferings were embittered by remorse....

His great desire was relief from the burden of sin.  He longed to see Jesus and receive the assurance of forgiveness and peace with heaven.  Then he would be content to live or to die, according to God's will....

...He besought his friends to carry him on his bed to Jesus, and this they gladly undertook to do.  But so dense was the crowd that had assembled in and about the house where the Saviour was, that it was impossible for the sick man and his friends to reach Him....

Again and again the bearers of the paralytic tried to push their way through the crowd, but in vain.  The sick man looked about him in unutterable anguish.  How could he relinquish hope when the longed-for help was so near?  At his suggestion his friends bore him to the top of the house and, breaking up the roof, let him down at the feet of Jesus.

The discourse was interrupted.  The Saviour looked upon the mournful countenance and saw the pleading eyes fixed upon Him.  Well He knew the longing of that burdened soul.  It was Christ who had brought conviction to his conscience when he was yet at home....It was Christ who had drawn the sufferer to Himself.  Now, in words that fell like music on the listener's ear, the Saviour said, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."  Matthew 9:2.

The burden of guilt rolls from the sick man's soul.  He cannot doubt....Hope takes the place of despair, and joy of oppressive gloom.  The man's physical pain is gone, and his whole being is transformed.  Making no further request, he lay in peaceful silence, too happy for words.--The Ministry of Healing, 73-76.

April 30:  Joy Through Tribulation.

Our Heavenly Reward.
"Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."--Matthew 5:11, 12, NKJV

GREAT IS THE REWARD in heaven of those who are witnesses for Christ through persecution and reproach.  While the people are looking for earthly good, Jesus points them to a heavenly reward.  But He does not place it all in the future life; it begins here.  The Lord appeared of old time to Abraham and said, "I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."  Genesis 15:1.  This is the reward of all who follow Christ.  Jehovah Immanuel--He "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," in whom dwells "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"  (Colossians 2:3-9)--to be brought into sympathy with Him, to know Him, to possess Him, as the heart opens more and more to receive His attributes; to know His love and power, to possess the unsearchable riches of Christ, to comprehend more and more "what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God"  (Ephesians 3:18, 19)---"this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord."  Isaiah 54:17.

It was this joy that filled the hearts of Paul and Silas when they prayed and sang praises to God at midnight in the Philippian dungeon.  Christ was beside them there, and the light of His presence irradiated the gloom with the glory of the courts above.  From Rome, Paul wrote, unmindful of his fetters as he saw the spread of the gospel, "I therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."  Philippians 1:18.  And the very words of Christ upon the mount are re-echoed in Paul's message to the Philippian church, in the midst of their persecutions, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice."  Phiolippians 4:4.--Thoughts From the Mount of Blessings, 34, 35.

April 29:  Joy Through Tribulation.

Fiery Trials.
Being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials.--1 Peter 1:5, 6, NRSV

IN THIS LIFE we must meet fiery trials and make costly sacrifices, but the peace of Christ is the reward.  There has been so little self-denial, so little suffering for Christ's sake, that the cross is almost entirely forgotten.  We must be partakers with Christ of His sufferings if we would sit down in triumph with Him on his throne.  So long as we choose the easy path of self-indulgence and are frightened at self-denial, our faith will never become firm, and we cannot know the peace of Jesus nor the joy that comes through conscious victory.  The most exalted of the redeemed host that stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, clad in white, know the conflict of overcoming, for they have come up through great tribulation.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, 215.

                       In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while
          you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith--
              being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire--
                           may be found to result in praise and glory and honor
                      when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Although you have not seen him,
                            you love him; and even though you do not see him now,
                    you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
                for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
                                                                                                     --1 Peter 1:6-9, NRSV

                           I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power
               that raised him from the dead.  I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death.
                                                                                            --Philippians 3:10, NLT

                      Instead, be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ
                              in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy
                                       of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
                                                                                              --Peter 4:13, NLT

April 28:  Joy Through Tribulation.

A Share in Christ's Glory.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.--1 Peter 4:12, 13, NRSV

FOLLOW YOUR SAVIOUR through evil as well as good report; count it all joy, and a sacred honor, to bear the cross of Christ.  Jesus loves you.  He died for you.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 237.

The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, left His riches, His splendor, His honor and glory, and, in order to save sinful man, condescended to a life of humility, poverty, and shame; "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame."  Oh, why are we so sensitive to trial and reproach, to shame and suffering, when our Lord has given us such an example?  Who would wish to enter into the joy of their Lord while they were unwilling to partake of His sufferings?   What! the servant unwilling to bear the humility and shame and reproach which the Master bore unselfishly for him! the servant shrinking from a life of humility and sacrifice which is for his own eternal happiness, by which he may finally obtain an exceedingly great, an eternal reward!  The language of my heart is: Let me be a partaker with Christ of His sufferings, that I may finally share with Him the glory.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 409.

                                   He is the reflection of God's glory....
                                When he had made purification for sins,
                          he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
                              
                                                                   --Hebrews 1:3, NRSV

April 27:  Joy Through Tribulation.

Partakers of the Divine Nature.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for these who have been trained by it.--Hebrews 12:11, NIV

THE TRIALS TO WHICH Christians are subjected in sorrow, adversity, and reproach are the means appointed of God to separate the chaff from the wheat.  Our pride, selfishness, evil passions, and love of worldly pleasure must all be overcome; therefore God sends us afflictions to test and prove us, and show us that these evils exist in our characters.  We must overcome through His strength and grace, that we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  "For our light affliction," says Paul, "which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."  Afflictions, crosses, temptations, adversity, and our varied trials are God's workmen to refine us, sanctify us, and fit us for the heavenly garner.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, 115.

The precious Saviour will send help just when we need it.  The way to heaven is consecrated by His footprints.  Every thorn that wounds our feet has wounded His.  Every cross that we are called to bear He has borne before us.  The Lord permits conflicts, to prepare the soul for peace.--The Great Controversy, 633.

                               Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,
                                  so that through them you may participate in the divine nature,
                                having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
                                                                                                 --2 Peter 1:4, NIV

April 26:  Joy Through Tribulation.

Danger in Prosperity.
The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil to it.--Proverbs 10:22, NIV

IN THE MIDST of prosperity lurks danger.  Throughout the ages, riches and honor have ever been attended with peril to humility and spirituality.  It is not the empty cup that we have difficulty in carrying; it is the cup full to the brim that must be carefully balanced.  Affliction and adversity may cause sorrow, but it is prosperity that is most dangerous to spiritual life.  Unless the human subject is in constant submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the truth, prosperity will surely arouse the natural inclination to presumption....

Whenever pride and ambition are indulged, the life is marred, for pride, feeling no need, closes the heart against the infinite blessings of Heaven.  He who makes self-glorification his aim will find himself destitute of the grace of God, through whose efficiency the truest riches and the most satisfying joys are won.  But he who gives all and does all for Christ will know the fulfillment of the promise, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it."  Proverbs 10:22.  With the gentle touch of grace the Saviour banishes from the soul unrest and unholy ambition, changing enmity to love and unbelief to confidence.  When He speaks to the soul, saying, "Follow Me," the spell of the world's enchantment is broken.  At the sound of His voice the spirit of greed and ambition flees from the heart, and men arise, emancipated, to follow Him.--Prophets and Kings, 59, 60.

                              "The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
                                     he humbles and he exalts."
                                                                            --1 Samuel 2:7, NIV

April 25:  Joy Through Tribulation.

Be Cheerful and Rejoice.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.--Luke 6:21, NKJV

WHEN MEN shall revile you, and pressure you," said Jesus, "rejoice, and be exceeding glad."  And He pointed His hearers to the prophets who had spoken in the name of the Lord, as "an example of suffering affliction, and of patience."  James 5:10.  Abel, the very first Christian of Adan's children, died a martyr.  Enoch walked with God, and the world knew him not.  Noah was mocked as a fanatic and an alarmist.  "Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.  "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection."  Hebrews 11:36, 35.--Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 33.

Remember that this earth is not heaven.  Christ has declared: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."...

Jesus has not left you to be amazed at the trials and difficulties you meet.  He has told you all about them, and He has told you also not to be cast down and oppressed when trials come.  Look to Jesus, your Redeemer, and be cheerful and rejoice.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 127, 128.

                                        "Fear not, for I am with you;
                                 Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
                                            I will strengthen you,
                                              Yes, I will help you,
                             I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
                                                                             --Isaiah 41:10, NKJV