February 19: Heavenly Happiness.

God Delights in Those Who Fear Him.
The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.--Psalm 147:11, ESV

ALL HEAVEN REJOICES when weak, faulty human beings give themselves to Jesus, to live His life.--Messages to Young People, 108.

Christ has pledged Himself to be our substitute and surety, and He neglects no one.  He who could not see human beings exposed to eternal ruin without pouring out His soul unto death in their behalf, will look with pity and compassion upon every soul who realizes that he cannot save himself.

He will look upon no trembling supplicant without raising him up.  He who through His own atonement provided for man an infinite fund of moral power, will not fail to employ this power in our behalf.  We may take our sins and sorrows to His feet; for He loves us.  His every look and word invites our confidence.--Christ's Object Lessons, 157.

However wretched may be the specimens of humanity that men spurn and turn aside from, they are not too low, too wretched, for the notice and love of God.  Christ longs to have care-worn, weary, oppressed human beings come to Him.  He longs to give them the light and joy and peace that are to be found nowhere else.--Christ's Object Lessons, 225.

                              "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
                                                                                                     --Matthew 11:28, ESV

      "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you,
                               Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
                                                                                              --John 14:27, ESV

February 18: Heavenly Happiness.

God Is Pleased With His Beloved Son.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him, and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."--Matthew 3:16, 17, ESV

THE WORD THAT WAS SPOKEN to Jesus at the Jordan, "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," embraces humanity.  God spoke to Jesus as our representative.  With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless.  "He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."  Ephesians 1:6.  The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us.  It tells us of the power of prayer,--how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of heaven.  By sin, earth was cut off from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory.  His love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven.  The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation.  The voice which spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.--The Desire of Ages, 113.

                                    Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
                               For we do not know what to pray for as we ought,
                      but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
                              
                                                                                  --Romans 8:26, ESV

February 17: Heavenly Happiness.

He Gave His Son for Our Redemption.
It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.--Isaiah 52:10, KJV

THE PLAN FOR OUR REDEMPTION was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam.  It was a revelation of "the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal."  Romans 16:25, R.V.  It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God's throne.  From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate.  God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency.  So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  John 3:16.--The Desire of Ages, 22.

He who is infinite in wisdom could devise no plan for our salvation except the sacrifice of His Son.  The compensation for this sacrifice is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy, and immortal.  The result of the Saviour's conflict with the powers of darkness is joy to the redeemed, redounding to the glory of God throughout eternity.  And such is the value of the soul that the Father is satisfied with the price paid; and Christ Himself, beholding the fruits of his great sacrifice, is satisfied.--The Great Controversy, 652.

                            Knowing that you were ransomed...with the precious blood of Christ,
                                              like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
                                      He was foreknown before the foundation of the world
                                but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.
                                                                                                   --1 Peter 1:18-20, ESV

February 16: Heavenly Happiness.

God Knows the End From the Beginning.
"And declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.' "--Isaiah 46:10, NKJV

HE THAT RULETH in the heavens is the one who sees the end from the beginning--the one before whom the mysteries of the past and the future are alike outspread, and who, beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, beholds the accomplishment of His own purposes of love and blessing.--Patriarchs and Prophets, 43.

The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy beings, all waiting to do His will.  Through these messengers He is in active communication with every part of His dominion.  By His Spirit He is everywhere present.  Through the agency of His Spirit and His angels He ministers to the children of men.

Above the distractions of the earth He sits enthroned; all things are open to His divine survey; and from His great and calm eternity He orders that which His providence sees best.--The Ministry of Healing, 417.

                      Daniel replied, "There are no wise men, enchanters,
                magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king's secret.
                        But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets,
           and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future."
                              
                                                                    --Daniel 2:27, 28, NLT

February 15: Heavenly Happiness.

God Delights in Our Freedom.
He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.--Psalm 18:19, NLT

CHRIST DELIGHTS to take apparently hopeless material, those whom Satan has debased and through whom he has worked, and make them the subjects of His grace.  He rejoices to deliver them from suffering, and from the wrath that is to fall upon the disobedient.--Gospel Workers, 516.

The world is a workshop in which, through the cooperation of human and divine agencies, Jesus is making experiments by His grace and divine mercy upon human hearts.  Angels are amazed as they behold the transformation of character brought about in those who yield themselves to God.--Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 49.

The leaven of truth works a change in the whole man, making the coarse refined, the rough gentle, the selfish generous.  By it the impure are cleansed, washed in the blood of the Lamb.  Through its life-giving power it brings all there is of mind and soul and strength into harmony with the divine life.  Man with his human nature becomes partaker of divinity.  Christ is honored in excellence and perfection of character.  As these changes are effected, angels break forth in rapturous song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude.--Christ's Object Lessons, 102.

                                     And they sang a new song with these words:
                       "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seal and open it.
                      For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God
                                     from every tribe and language and people and nation."
                              
                                                            --Revelation 5:9, NLT

February 14: Heavenly Happiness.

More Mercy.
Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who needs a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."--Matthew 9:12, 13, NIV

BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES were not acceptable to God in ancient times unless the spirit was right with which the gift was offered.  Samuel said: "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."  All the money on earth cannot buy the blessing of God nor ensure you a single victory.

Many would make any and every sacrifice but the very one they should make, which is to yield themselves, to submit their wills to the will of God.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, 84.

"To obey is better than sacrifice."  And without obedience and unselfish love, the richest offerings are too meager to be presented to the Possessor of all things--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, 57.

God has commanded nothing that is unessential, and there is no other way of manifesting reverence so pleasing to Him as by obedience to that which He has spoken.--Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 111.

                          For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
                  and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."
                                                                                                      --Hosea 6:6, NIV

February 13: Heavenly Happiness.

God Delights in Mercy.
Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgressions of His heritage?  He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.--Micah 7:18, NKJV

GOD "DELIGHTETH IN MERCY."  "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked."  Micah 7:18; Ezekiel 33:!1.  To him the work of destruction and the denunciation of judgment is a "strange work."  Isaiah 28:21.  But it is in mercy and love that He lifts the veil from the future, and reveals to me the results of a course of sin.--The Desire of Ages, 582.

The word of God reveals His character.  He Himself has declared His infinite love and pity.  When Moses prayed, "Show me Thy glory," the Lord answered, "I will make all My goodness pass before thee."  Exodus 33:18, 19.  This is His glory.  The Lord passed before Moses, and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin."  Exodus 34:6, 7.  He is "slow to anger, and of great kindness," "because He delighteth in mercy."  Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:18.--Steps to Christ, 10.

             He prayed to the Lord, "Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?
                                 That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.
                            I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,
                                             slow to anger and abounding in love,
                                         a God who relents from sending calamity."
                              
                                                                --Jonah 4:2, NIV

February 12: Heavenly Happiness.

Kindness, Justice, and Goodness.
" 'Let the one who boasts boasts about this; that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the Lord."--Jeremiah 9:24, NIV

NO FINITE MIND can fully comprehend the character or the world of the Infinite One.  We cannot by searching find out God.  To minds the strongest and most highly cultured, as well as to the weakest and most ignorant, that holy Being must remain clothed in mystery.--Education, 169.

The apostle Paul exclaims, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His way past finding out!"  Romans 11:33.  But though "clouds and darkness are round about Him," "righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne."  Psalm 97:2, R.V.  We can so far comprehend His dealings with us, and the motives by which He is actuated, that we may discern boundless love and mercy united to infinite power.  We can understand as much of His purposes as it is for our good to know; and beyond this we must still trust the hand that is omnipotent, the heart that is full of love.--Steps to Christ, 106.

             "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might,
                    let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this,
                       that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices
                                  steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth."
                                                                                                     --Jeremiah 9:23, 24, ESV

February 11: Heavenly Happiness.

Unbending Integrity.
The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him.--Proverbs 11:1, NIV

THE ACCOUNTS OF EVERY BUSINESS, the details of every transaction, pass the scrutiny of unseen auditors, agents of Him who never compromises with injustice, never overlooks evil, never palliates wrong.--Education, 144.

An honest man, according to Christ's measurement, is one who will manifest unbending integrity.  Deceitful weights and false balances, with which many seek to advance their interests in the world, are abomination in the sight of God.  Yet many who profess to keep the commandments of God are dealing with false weights and false balances.  When a man is indeed connected with God, and is keeping His law in truth, his life will reveal the fact; for all his actions will be in harmony with the teachings of Christ.  He will not sell his honor for gain.  His principles are built upon the sure foundation, and his conduct in worldly matters is a transcript of his principles.  Firm integrity shines forth as gold amid the dross and rubbish of the world.--Testimonies for the Church., vol. 4, 310.

Those who choose honesty as their companion will embody it in all their acts.  To a large class, these men are not pleasing, but to God they are beautiful.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, 607.

                                                  "Use honest scales and honest weights,
                                                   an honest ephah and an honest hin.
                                          I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt."
                                                                                                       --Leviticus 19:36, NIV

February 10: Heavenly Happiness.

God Delights in Those Who Follow the Truth.
The Lord detest lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.--Proverbs 12:22, NIV

EVERYTHING THAT CHRISTIANS DO should be as transparent as the sunlight.  Truth is of God; deception, in every one of its myriad forms, is of Satan; and whoever in any way departs from the straight line of truth is betraying himself into the power of the wicked one.  Yet it is not a light or an easy thing to speak the exact truth.  We cannot speak the truth unless we know the truth; and how often preconceived opinions, mental bias, imperfect knowledge, errors of judgment, prevent a right understanding of matters with which we have to do!  We cannot speak the truth unless our minds are continually guided by Him who is truth....

Those who have learned of Christ will "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."  Ephesians 5:11.  In speech, as in life, they will be simple, straightforward, and true; for they are preparing for the fellowship of those holy ones in whose mouth "was found no guile."  Revelation 14:5.--Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, 68, 69.

                                    The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
                                           all the godlessness and wickedness of people,
                                           who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
                              
                                                       --Romans 1:18, NIV