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Guess My Eye |
Can you
guess whose eye this is? |
 Did you guess African
Gray parrot? |
 Whose eye is this
one? |
 Did you guess right? |
Whose eye is this? |
Eyes of sharks have three eyelids. Most fish have none. The third eyelid covers the entire eye and protects it. Sharks can see as well as you and I. The cornea of a shark eye has been used as replacements for human corneas. Sharks can see in both dim and bright light. |
| Prophets in the Bible were referred to as seer's for they could see into the future. Our eyes cannot see into the future without special revelation from God. |
 He
gave some apostles and some prophets; and some evangelists, and some
teachers for the perfecting of the saints. Ephesians 4:11 & 12.
SONG: |
 In
the beginning when God made Adam and Eve, He spoke with them face to face.
They loved their visits with God. They looked forward to this time
together until one day. |
 After
they sinned, they ran to hide from God. They were so embarrassed. They
felt so ashamed. God wanted them to be happy during their visit but
instead they were hiding. |
| How could God talk to people who were hiding and afraid of Him? |
| God chose to talk to people who love Him so much, they would not be afraid to listen to His voice. Then those people could go and tell others what God needed to say. |
 Enoch
was a man who loved God so much, God was able to show him visions and he
would talk to others who would have been too afraid to listen to God
directly. Enoch was a mouth piece for God. He was a prophet. |
 Then
there was Noah. God told Noah there would be a flood that would cover the
whole earth and that he must build the ark. Noah preached for 120 years.
God wanted all to be safe from the flood if they wanted to obey. It is too
bad that only Noah's family believed the message from God. You can read
this sad story i Genesis chapters five, six and seven. Noah was a prophet
that God spoke through. |
 After
the flood God still had people who worked as prophets for Him. Moses led
the people of God to Canaan. God spoke directly with Moses. Then Moses
gave the messages to the people. One time God spoke directly to the people
and they were terrified and begged Moses to ask God to only speak to him
then he could tell them what God said. So as you see, they still had the
guilt disease that Adam and Eve had after they sinned.
Moses wrote many books for the Bible. He wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These tell about the things that God wanted them to learn. Moses wrote many books in the Bible. |
 Deborah
was a prophetess. She was the wife of Lapidoth. She helped people to
understand God better. She did her work under a palm tree. The tree was
called the palm tree of Deborah. People came from miles around to talk to
her. She even went to war with the soldiers against Sisera, captain
of king Jabin's army. She went because the soldiers were afraid to go by
themselves. They knew God was with Deborah and they felt safer with her
along. God kept them safe from Captain Sisera. God sent hail and heavy
rains to fill up the little stream as the horses and chariots were
crossing. The chariots were stuck in mud instantly and it became a real
mess. Chariot wheels spun with sharp knives protruding from each. These
cut up the horse and rider next to them. Only Sisera escaped running on
foot. He was killed by a tent peg while he was sleeping in the tent of
Jael. Jael was a brave lady. You can read this story in Judges chapter
four.
God had other lady prophets. Can you think of some? There was Miriam, Anna, Huldah, and others. |
 When
Jesus came to live on this earth, He was the best speaker for the heart of
God. All that He said was the best description of God and His character.
No one has ever explained God's love better than He did. When He was done
with His work, HE went back to heaven. When He left, He gave gifts. In the
Bible in Ephesians chapter four in verse eight, we can learn about these
presents. These gifts were not things but people who would help God talk
to us. There were apostles, prophets, evangelists, ministers, and
teachers. These people will keep helping until God's people are perfect.
Since none of us are perfect yet, there will still e teachers, ministers,
evangelists, and prophets to help. |
 In
1844 there were many people very interested in studying their Bibles. They
noticed that it was almost time for Jesus to come. They thought He was
going to come on October 22, 1844. God needed to talk to His people so He
looked for someone to work for Him as a prophet. First He chose a smart
young Baptist minister named William Foy. But he said "no" to
God. Can you believe it? He said "NO!" |
 God
asked another man called Hasen Foss and he said "NO".
He said "NO" to God. I remember a man called Jonah that had a horrible experience for saying "NO" to God. It is too bad when people turn God down. They miss out on the most fun experiences there are in life. |
 Then
God asked a seventeen year old girl called Ellen Harmen who was not very
strong. She was often sick. She weighed only about 80 pounds. She was very
frail. She did love Jesus with all her heart. Her Bible was very special
to her. She read it every day. Ellen said "yes" to God.
She had a twin sister. They had been born on November 26, 1827 in the state of Main, USA. She was the last of eight children. When she was only nine years old, she was hurt by a rock. The rock hit her in the nose so hard that she went unconscious. That means she stayed asleep and never woke up for many days. She slept for twenty one days. When she did wake up, she did not look very pretty. She could never finish school. It was so hard for her to do her school assignments. Ellen said "YES" to God. She wanted to do the work He asked her to do. God asked her to e a prophetess. God wanted to give her messages to give to His people. She did it too. She did it when she had little children, and she kept doing it until she died. She lived many years. What a wonderful job she did. She wrote many things which help us know what is going to happen. She wrote things which can help us keep well and be strong. Ellen passed all the tests of a true prophet. She never disagreed with the Bible. Her messages from God always came to pass. She always brought people to the Bible. One day she held up this big Bible that was very heavy. It weighed about 18 pounds. She held it up and turned to different texts and spoke what God showed her. Angels helped her be strong enough to do that. Even a big strong man would have trouble doing what she did with that Bible for so long. Would you like to help God? If He gives you a job to do, say "YES" to Him. Then pray every day for His help to do the job just the way He wants it done. |
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Gift of Prophecy Amos 3:7 God reveals Himself through prophets. Numbers 12:6 Visions and dreams are one way God communicates His will. Revelation 19:10 The testimony of Jesus is the gift of prophecy. Rev. 22:6,9 The angel appearing to John was the angel of prophecy. That same angel appears in the last days. Ephesians 4:8, 11-15 One of Jesus' gifts is the gift of prophecy. This gift remains in the church until the end. I Cor. 1:4-7 The church waiting for Jesus' coming will come behind in no gift. I John 4:1 The Bible invites us to "test the spirits". Each prophetic manifestation must meet the Bible tests of a true prophet. (Mathew 24:5, 11, 24) True Prophets Deut. 13L1-4 True prophets always lead to obedience to God's will. Jer. 28:8,9 The prophecies of true prophets always come to pass unless they are conditional and the conditions are altered. Isaiah 8:19,20 To the law and the testimony, if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them. Ezek 7:26 When they disobey the law, God removes the vision. I John 4:1-3 True prophets place emphasis on the centrality of Jesus Christ. Daniel 10:17 In vision, a true prophet does not breathe. Mathew 7:15-16 The fruits of prophet's lives reveal their divine credentials. 2 Chron. 20:20. Believe his prophets so shall ye prosper. 1 Cor. 12:27, 28 God places true prophets in His church keeping His commandments to guide it through crises. Just as He sent John the Baptist to His people to prepare them for the first coming of Jesus, He promises that His last-day commandment keeping church would be blessed by the Gift of Prophecy. The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the genuine gift of prophecy was manifest in the church through the writings of Ellen G. White. Her writings do not in any way take the place of the Bible. They do not take away from the Bible. They are one of the fulfillments of Revelation 12:17 which declares the gift of Prophecy will be manifest in God's last day church. Her writings pass the tests of a true prophet. |
 Here is a story
of something amazing that happened to Ellen. It has given me
courage and hope when God has sent me on mission trips. I do not always
have the money to do as He asks me to do. I love to go and share these
stories with children but it is all without pay. Those who invite me never
pay my way. They expect me to do it. I have gone on expensive trips eleven
times in just a 8 years. It has totally exhausted all my reserves. We have
nothing in savings and live very simply. So this story of Ellen who also
lived very simply, it a great inspiration to me.
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 "After returning home to Portland (Maine), I was shown that I must go to Portsmouth the next day and bear my testimony there. My sister Sarah traveled with me, and Elder White accompanied us. I had no means with which to pay my fare, but prepared to go, trusting in the Lord to open the way. The first car bell was ringing, as I put on my bonnet. I looked out of the window, and saw a good brother driving very fast up to the gate. His horse was reeking with sweat. He quickly entered the house, and asked, 'Is there any one here who needs means? I was impressed that some one
here needed money.' We hastily related that we were going to Portsmouth at the Lord's bidding, and had nothing to go with, but resolved to start, trusting in the providence of God to open the way.
The brother handed us money enough to carry us to Portsmouth and back.
Said he, 'Take a seat in my wagon, and I will carry you to the depot.' On
the way to the cars he told us that while on the road to my father's, his horse would come with great speed the whole distance of twelve miles. We had just taken our seats in the cars when the train started. Here the Lord tested and
proved us, and strengthened our faith as we were brought into a very straight place, and were carried through by the manifestation of his providence. I had freedom in bearing my testimony in Portsmouth. {LS80 226.3}
Life Sketches |
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There was one trip into Russia where I had the same experience. I
read and reread this story and decided I would take my children to the
sitter who would care for them for 1 month. She lived 3 hours away. It
stretched my faith to go. I did not have enough money for flying out the
next day. (7 thousand) I had reserved tickets but had no money to pay for
them. My husband told the sitter we would be back the next day to pick up
the children. He saw no way possible for funds for the trip. I had
evidence God wanted us to go so I was getting ready. Then the most amazing
thing happened. The phone rang while we were at our friends home dropping
off the children. In Portland, Oregon, there were people scurrying around
to gather the remaining thousands for our trip out to Russia the next
morning. The next morning with tickets paid finally and as they were
calling out our seats for boarding the jet, I was on the phone with a
brother who had another phone on his other ear, and was talking to someone
in Russia arranging for someone to pick us up when we arrived and help us
to a place to sleep. They would take us to the airport the next morning.
God tested and strengthened our faith as we were brought into a very
narrow place. We had not even a minute to spare. The phone call ended, we
rushed into the plane and settled for the long flight. We had a very
difficult struggle at the destination which God had prepared us for by
this by the events around departure.