Admiring Him - Devotional 18

As we discern the perfection of our Saviour's character we shall desire to become wholly transformed and renewed in the image of His purity. The more we know of God, the higher will be our ideal of character and the more earnest our longing to reflect His likeness. – Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pg. 19.

                Since I was little I’ve always looked up to someone: my teacher, my cousin, my Sabbath school teacher, my parents, or just someone really nice; but especially I looked up to anyone who played the piano very well. I have a second uncle that is an amazing pianist. When he was very young he would practice five hours a day, at least. Around the age of 14 he was giving concerts in Europe. Now he is a well-known pianist and still gives concerts once in a while.

Ever since I started to learn piano, I’ve longed to play like him. I would watch his old concerts on VHS or go to the internet and watch more recent ones; I would look at his hands and try to move my fingers and position my hands in the same way he did. One day, when I was 16 years old, he came back from Europe, and I had the opportunity to take some piano lessons with him. I was very ecstatic! I played some pieces for him, and he was really pleased with me. I paid attention to everything that he said and taught me, and I learned a lot. When I went home I tried to practice how he told me, and for many months I remembered all the tips he gave me. I wanted to play like my uncle so I did everything I could to achieve that.

More than playing the piano as well as my uncle, I desire to have the character of Jesus; but how can I? By having an earnest desire to be transformed and renewed in His image, by getting to know Him more through reading the story of His life on earth found in the Bible, and by asking Him to teach me day by day how to be more like Him, I know I will be changed.

~ Mildred Rhys

Yummy Carrots - Devotional 17

Character is the great harvest of life. – Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pg. 90.

                The carrot season is here. Everybody at Fountainview knows what it means: lots of work, and lots of fun! This year I happened to be a part of the entire process, and it was a great experience.

The process begins with the preparation of the soil: big tractors mix the soil and form the beds for the seeds. Then, the sowing starts, and once a field is planted, we turn on the irrigation. In the following summer months, as the tiny carrot tops appear on the surface, other leaves appear too, and the weeding process begins. This is hard and sometimes painful work as we lay face down on a cart that is pulled by a tractor and pull weeds. We work on the weeding cart eight hours a day, five days a week, for a few months. Some weeds are big and have grown around the little carrot plants, and these are difficult to pull out without damaging the baby carrots. But the carrots grow taller every week.

Finally the culmination: the harvest. The harvester digs the carrots and shoots them into big bins that we stack in huge coolers. Some day we will wash and bag the carrots for selling. We all enjoy seeing the hard work of a whole year turned into thousands and thousands of yummy carrots!

My character is something that is growing too, and like the carrots, it needs some care and hard work. The Holy Spirit is the one that prepares the soil –my heart, to receive the seed –the Word of God. Jesus is the only one that can pull out the weeds in my heart –bad habits, selfishness, pride, and all the others that would hurt my character plant. But in the end, the harvest will be abundant and my character will be ready for Heaven.

~ Mildred Rhys

Warm, Filling Love - Devotional 16

If the love of Christ dwells in us, we shall not only cherish no hatred toward our fellows, but we shall seek in every way to manifest love toward them. – Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pg. 58. 

                It had happened again. It seemed like every time I was around her she had something sarcastic and bitter to say about me. It could be about anything; the way I dressed, talked, worked, or the people I hung out with. She always got on my nerves! I tried many times to be nice to her and to be her friend, but it never seemed to work. If I wasn’t a Christian I would slap her on the face, I remember thinking one time.

                But one day it went too far. I wasn’t having a good day, and she made fun of the fact. That made me mad. I walked away, but as I did I started praying. I just can’t handle this anymore, Lord; I need you to put love in my heart towards her. I need that love right now. The idea came to my mind to go visit her and talk to her; not talk about what had happened, but chat about random things, just as friends! I made some cookies and marched to her room. She opened the door and greeted me with a warm smile; she was really surprised that I went to see her! We had a really nice conversation together for more than an hour and a half, and when I was just about to leave she said she was sorry for the way that she had treated me before. Wow! I couldn’t believe it; what a change!

Ever since then our friendship has been improving more and more, only because I decided to let Jesus work in me and put His love into my heart. If I ask Him, He can not only fill me with His love, but also teach me how to show it in a practical way that warms others’ hearts too.

~ Mildred Rhys

One Big Family - Devotional 15

The children of God are those who are partakers of His nature. It is not earthly rank, nor birth, nor nationality, nor religious privilege, which proves that we are members of the family of God; it is love, a love that embraces all humanity. - Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pg. 76

                Leaving your home country and moving to another country is always an adventure and a challenge; you experience different cultures and manners, different food, different people. Sometimes it is a little scary not knowing how to behave in a way that is normal for the people of the other country. This happened to me when I moved from Argentina to North America.

                Latino culture is very different from the American culture. The people in South America are very lively and warm, extremely happy and outgoing, and they like to express their feelings in pretty extreme ways. For example, when we greet someone, we do it with a kiss on the cheek. For me it is normal; I’m used to it because it’s how I was raised, but this is not normal for someone from North America. However, I wasn’t aware of the fact. I remember meeting a girl in my class, who was one of the first girls that I met. I went to her and I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. It seemed like she felt a little awkward, but I didn’t realize why. Afterwards, I was thinking about it and the thought came to my mind, “Of course, they don’t do it like that in North America!” I felt really embarrassed.

                I like to think that in heaven there’s no rank, nor birth, nor nationality, nor different cultures. I’m not going to have to worry about looking weird or different. We are all going to be a big family, and God’s love – the real love – is going to be in our hearts. I won’t feel embarrassed ever again!

~ Mildred Rhys