N - Quotes

Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with outward show [margin]: neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom of God begins at the heart. Look not here or there for manifestations of earthly power to mark its coming. OFC 225

We are now to be constantly in readiness for the coming of Christ. We are to prepare our souls for the great day of the Lord. But there are few who realize the importance of this preparation—the preparation to which Christ referred in the words, “The kingdom of God is within you.” He of whom these words can be spoken is in harmony with all the principles & laws of the kingdom of God. 19LrMs Lt 293 1904

The works of Christ not only declared Him to be the Messiah, but showed in what manner His kingdom was to be established.... It comes through the gentleness of the inspiration of His word, through the inward working of His Spirit, the fellowship of the soul with Him who is its life. The greatest manifestation of its power is seen in human nature brought to the perfection of the character of Christ…. AG 16

Heaven begins in the soul, & as heavenly-mindedness increases, Christ is more & more appreciated, & finally becomes the Chiefest among ten thousand, the One altogether lovely.
If we would see heaven, we must have heaven below. We must have a heaven to go to heaven in. We must have heaven in our families, through Christ continually approaching unto God. Christ is the great center of attraction, & the child of God hid in Christ, meets with God, & is lost in the divine being. Prayer is the life of the soul; it is feeding on Christ; it is turning our faces fully toward the Sun of Righteousness. As we turn our faces toward Him, He turns His face toward us…
Prayer brings the soul into immediate contact with the wellspring of life, & strengthens the spiritual sinew & muscle of our religious experience; for we live by faith, seeing Him who is invisible. HB 395

“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” This power is not in the human agent. It is the power of God. When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ. COL 314

The cross of Calvary is to be lifted high above the people, absorbing their minds & concentrating their thoughts. Then all the spiritual faculties will be charged with divine power direct from God. MB 44

The question you need to put to yourselves is, “Am I a Christian?” To be a Christian is to be far more than many understand. It means more than simply having your name upon the church records. It means to be joined to Christ. It means to have simple faith, unwavering reliance upon God. It means to have childlike confidence in your heavenly Father through the name & merit of His dear Son. Do you love to keep the commandments of God, because the commandments of God are God’s precepts, the transcript of His character, & can no more be altered than can the character of God?
As sons & daughters of God, Christians should strive to reach the high ideal set before them in the gospel. They should be content with nothing less than perfection.
To those who receive Him He gives power to become the sons of God, that at last God may receive them as His, to dwell with Him throughout eternity. If during this life they are loyal to God, they will at last “see his face; & his name shall be in their foreheads.” And what is the happiness of heaven but to see God? What greater joy could come to the sinner saved by the grace of Christ than to look upon the face of God & know Him as Father? FLB 130

Let us realize the weakness of humanity, & see where man fails in his self-sufficiency. We shall then be filled with a desire to be just what God desires us to be, - pure, noble, sanctified. …To be like God will be the one desire of the soul. 1BC 1087

Jesus teaches the same thing when He says, “Abide in Me, & I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.... Without Me ye can do nothing.” 2You are just as dependent upon Christ, in order to live a holy life, as is the branch upon the parent stock for growth & fruitfulness. Apart from Him you have no life. You have no power to resist temptation or to grow in grace & holiness. Abiding in Him, you may flourish. Drawing your life from Him, you will not wither nor be fruitless. You will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. SC 68

To be living Christians, we must have a vital connection with Christ. …This intimate communion with our Saviour will take away the desire for earthly & sensual gratifications. All our powers of body, soul, & spirit should be devoted to God. When the affections are sanctified, our obligations to God are made primary, everything else secondary. To have a steady & ever-growing love for God, & a clear perception of his character & attributes, we must keep the eye of faith fixed constantly on him. Christ is the life of the soul. We must be in him & he in us, else we are sapless branches. RH May 30, 1882

Many have an idea that they must do some part of the work alone. They have trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, but now they seek by their own efforts to live aright. But every such effort must fail. Jesus says, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness,—all depend upon our union with Christ. It is by communion with Him, daily, hourly,—by abiding in Him,—that we are to grow in grace. …It is Christ first & last & always. He is to be with us, not only at the beginning & the end of our course, but at every step of the way. David says, “I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psalm 16:8.
Do you ask, “How am I to abide in Christ?” In the same way as you received Him at first. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” You gave yourself to God, to be His wholly, to serve & obey Him, & you took Christ as your Saviour. You could not yourself atone for your sins or change your heart; but having given yourself to God, you believe that He for Christ’s sake did all this for you. By faith you became Christ’s, & by faith you are to grow up in Him—by giving & taking. You are to give all,—your heart, your will, your service, —give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; & you must take all,—Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper,—to give you power to obey. SC 69

Peter needed a deeper, broader knowledge of Jesus Christ. He had listened to his words & enjoyed his lessons. He had acknowledged him to be the Son of God, & he believed him to be thus; but he had only touched the margin of faith in Christ. There were depths in the knowledge of his character which demanded his homage, his faith, his tribute of perfect trust & unshaken confidence. “Thou shalt see greater things than these,” is the promise that invites increased expectation.
Jesus stood ready to reveal himself to Peter. In his great love he told him of his denial. He sought to reveal the defects of his character, & his need of the help which Christ alone could give. He told Peter that he was mistaken in his ideas of himself, & that in not receiving & believing the words of Christ, he was doing the very evil of which Christ had declared he would be guilty. How earnest, then, should have been Peter’s prayers, that the Lord would teach him how to resist the wiles of the devil, how to be watchful against his temptations! But Peter’s boastful assertions, while refusing to see himself as Christ viewed him, were causing his light to grow dim.
Jesus did not try farther to make Peter believe that he knew the course he would pursue; but he knew that “the heart is deceitful above all things, & desperately wicked.” “Simon, Simon,” he said, “behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; & when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”
The object of conversion is twofold, personal & relative. It is to bless us, & to make us a blessing. This is an individual work; but those who profess to believe the Word of God have so long accustomed their minds to be content with little things that they have disqualified themselves to discern & appreciate the great things prepared for them. Individual conversion means a change of character.
…“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,” said Christ, “except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
Peter denied the Man of Sorrows..., in the hour of his humiliation; but he was filled with shame & sorrow for his act. With blinding tears he made his way to the solitudes of the Garden of Gethsemane, & there prostrated himself where he had seen his Saviour’s prostrate form. He remembered with remorse that he was asleep when Jesus prayed during those fearful hours. His proud heart broke, & penitential tears moistened the sod so recently stained with the bloody sweat-drops of God’s dear Son. He left the garden a converted man.
Then how tender & charitable, how meek & forgiving, Peter revealed himself to be! While under the test, he had been but a very dim reflector of the character of his Lord. How much of infirmity, of unmortified sin, of carelessness of spirit, of unsanctified temper, of heedlessness in entering into temptation, he revealed, rather than giving up his own way & will! But now he was ready to pity the tempted. He was humbled, & could sympathize with the weak & erring. He could caution & warn the presumptuous, & was fully fitted to strengthen his brethren.
Peter’s history has a lesson for us. We need an abiding Christ with us, as Enoch had when he walked with God three hundred years. ST November 11, 1897

The work must commence with the worker; he must be united to Christ as the branch is united to the vine. “I am the Vine,” said Christ; “ye are the branches.” John 15:5. The closest possible connection is here represented. Engraft the leafless twig upon the flourishing vine stock, & it becomes a living branch, drawing sap & nourishment from the vine. Fiber by fiber, vein by vein, the sapling clings, until it buds & blossoms & bears fruit. The sapless twig represents the sinner. When united to Christ, soul is joined to soul, the feeble & finite to the holy & infinite, & man becomes one with Christ…
“Without Me,” says Christ, “ye can do nothing.” 2TT 232

Christ, in teaching His disciples, said: “I am the True Vine, & My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: & every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it [pruneth it], that it may bring forth more fruit.” John 15:1, 2. He who is united to Christ, partaking of the sap & nourishment of the Vine, will work the works of Christ. The love of Christ must be in him or he cannot be in the Vine.
Christ inquires of everyone professing His name: “Lovest thou Me?” If you love Jesus you will love the souls for whom He died. Trustworthiness in your place & calling, a willingness to deny self for the purpose of benefiting others, will bring peace of mind & the favor of God. 4T 353

Every fruitful branch is pruned, that it may bring forth more fruit. Even fruitful branches may display too much foliage & appear what they really are not. The followers of Christ may be doing some work for the Master & yet not be doing half what they might do. He then prunes them, because worldliness, self-indulgence, & pride are cropping out in their lives. Husbandmen clip off the surplus tendrils of the vines that are grasping the rubbish of earth, thus making them more fruitful. These hindering causes must be removed & the defective overgrowth cut away, to give room for the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness.
God purposed through Christ that fallen man should have another trial. Many misunderstand the object for which they were created. It was to bless humanity & glorify God, rather than to enjoy & glorify self. God is constantly pruning His people, cutting off profuse, spreading branches, that they may bear fruit to His glory & not produce leaves only. God prunes us with sorrow, with disappointment & affliction, that the outgrowth of strong, perverse traits of character may be weakened & that the better traits may have a chance to develop. Idols must be given up, the conscience must become more tender, the meditations of the heart must be spiritual, & the entire character must become symmetrical. Those who really desire to glorify God will be thankful for the exposure of every idol & every sin, that they may see these evils & put them away; but the divided heart will plead for indulgence rather than denial.
The apparently dry branch, by being connected with the living vine, becomes a part of it. Fiber by fiber, & vein by vein, it adheres to the vine till it derives its life & nourishment from the parent stock. The graft buds, blossoms, & produces fruit. The soul, dead in trespasses & sins, must experience a similar process in order to be reconciled to God & to become a partaker of Christ’s life & joy. …Finite man is united with the infinite God. When thus united, the words of Christ abide in us, & we are not actuated by a spasmodic feeling, but by a living, abiding principle. The words of Christ must be meditated upon & cherished & enshrined in the heart...
As the branch must abide in the vine to obtain the vital sap which causes it to flourish, so those who love God & keep all His sayings must abide in His love. Without Christ we cannot subdue a single sin or overcome the smallest temptation. 1TT 512-514

“Abide in me” are words of great significance. Abiding in Christ means a living, earnest, refreshing faith that works by love & purifies the soul. It means a constant receiving of the spirit of Christ, a life of unreserved surrender to His service. …The life of the vine will manifest itself in fragrant fruit on the branches. The continual supply of the grace of Christ will bless you & make you a blessing…
The sacred union with Christ will unite the brethren in the most endearing bonds of Christian fellowship. Their hearts will be touched with divine compassion one for another...
They will not be careless in word or deportment. …Like a fresh & vivid transaction the scenes of Calvary will present themselves to their minds & their hearts will be subdued & made tender by this wonderful manifestation of the love of Christ to them. They will look upon others as the purchase of His precious blood, & those who are united with Him will seem noble & elevated & sacred because of this connection. TMK 132

Why are we so dull of comprehension? Why do we not cling to Jesus, & draw from him by faith the strength & perfection of his character, as the vine branch draws the sap from the living vine? We are to look to Jesus, & as temptations close us about, climb up step by step in the work of overcoming. Abiding in Christ, we become one with him. Then we are safe, entirely safe, against all the assaults of Satan. Christ living in the soul is revealed in the character. Man is nothing without Christ. We shall represent Christ in our life, we shall talk of Christ because we meditate upon him. ST October 10, 1892

By the parable of the true vine, Christ explained to his followers the relation that must exist between him & his people. “I am the true vine,” he said, “& my Father is the husbandman. …
Christ used the figure of the vine that, as we look upon it, we may call to remembrance his precious lessons. Rightly interpreted, nature is the mirror of divinity. Christ pointed to the vine & its branches, saying, I give you this lesson that you may understand my relationship to you, & your relationship to me. There was not the least excuse for his hearers to misunderstand his words. The figure he used was as a mirror held up before them.
His lesson will be repeated to the ends of the earth. All who receive Christ by faith become one with him. The branches are not tied to the vine; they are not joined to it by any mechanical process of artificial fastening. They are united to the vine, so as to become part of it. They are nourished by the roots of the vine…
Baptism may be repeated over & over again, but of itself it has no power to change the human heart. The heart must be united with Christ’s heart, the will must be submerged in his will, the mind must become one with his mind, the thoughts must be brought into captivity to him. A man may be baptized, & his name be placed on the church roll, & yet his heart be unchanged. Hereditary & cultivated tendencies may still work evil in his character.
There are many who get above the simplicity of Christ, supposing that they must do some great thing in order to work the works of God. Things of a temporal nature absorb their attention, & they have little time or thought for eternal realities. Wearied with cares that draw their minds from spiritual things, they constantly ask themselves the question, How can I find time to study & practice the word of God? Christ is acquainted with the difficulties that try every soul, & he says, “Abide in me, & I in you."
Our first & highest duty is to know that we are abiding in Christ. He must do the work; but we are to seek to know what saith the Lord, yielding our lives to his guidance. When we have the spirit of an abiding Christ, everything will take on a changed aspect. The Saviour alone can give us the rest & peace we need; & every invitation he gives us to seek the Lord, is a call to abide in him. It is an invitation not merely to come to him, but to remain in him.
Christ’s object in presenting before his disciples this parable was to show them how necessary it was for them to have the moral excellence revealed in his character. He longed to create in them a desire for the Holy Spirit. He reproached them for their dullness of comprehension; for many of the truths he sought to teach were lost to them because of their lack of spiritual intuition. After his resurrection he said to them, “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, & in the prophets, & in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, & said unto them, Thus it is written, & thus it behoved Christ to suffer, & to rise from the dead the third day: & that repentance & remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” The Bible now seemed a new book to the disciples, containing definite instruction. They saw that the events which had taken place in the suffering & death of their beloved Master were a fulfillment of prophecy.
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you,” Christ said. In receiving & obeying his word, the disciples were cleansed & purified.
The apostle Paul writes: “Christ also loved the church, & gave himself for it; that he might sanctify & cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy & without blemish.” And Peter writes: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently…
As the branch derives its nourishment from the vine, so all who are truly converted draw spiritual vitality from Christ. Christ’s connection with his believing people is illustrated by this parable as by no other. RH Sept. 18, 1900

To talk of religious things in a casual way, to pray for spiritual blessings without real soul hunger & living faith, avails little. The wondering crowd that pressed close about Jesus realized no accession of vital power from the contact. But when the poor, suffering woman, …touched the hem of His garment, she felt the healing virtue. Hers was the touch of faith, & Christ recognized that touch.... The faith which avails to bring us in vital contact with Christ expresses on our part supreme preference, perfect reliance, entire consecration. This faith works by love & purifies the soul.
…The communication of life, strength, & nourishment from the trunk to the branches is unobstructed & constant. SM 1 334

In the East the former rain falls at the sowing time. It is necessary in order that the seed may germinate. Under the influence of the fertilizing showers, the tender shoot springs up. The latter rain, falling near the close of the season, ripens the grain, & prepares it for the sickle. The Lord employs these operations of nature to represent the work of the Holy Spirit. As the dew & the rain are given first to cause the seed to germinate, & then to ripen the harvest, so the Holy Spirit is given to carry forward, from one stage to another, the process of spiritual growth. The ripening of the grain represents the completion of the work of God's grace in the soul. By the power of the Holy Spirit the moral image of God is to be perfected in the character. We are to be wholly transformed into the likeness of Christ. YRP 25

It is impossible to be a disciple of Christ & be a fruitless branch. But the good works are wrought by Christ Himself through the human agent. PrT Dec. 29, 1892

The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, & spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine & the branches… We are made one with God in Christ. RH Apr. 5, 1906

As one takes pleasure in the cultivation of a garden, so God takes pleasure in his believing sons & daughters. A garden demands constant labor. The weeds must be removed; new plants must be set out; branches that are making too rapid development must be pruned back. So the Lord works for his garden, so he tends his plants. He cannot take pleasure in any development that does not reveal the graces of the character of Christ. RH Aug. 24, 1897

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: & the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6:51

Bread cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. A knowledge of Christ will avail nothing unless we become like Him in character, bearing the same likeness, & representing His spirit to the world. Christ is of no value to us unless He is formed within, the hope of glory. If we do not know Him as our personal Saviour, a theoretical knowledge will do us no good. Water will not quench thirst unless we drink it. If we are feeding spiritually upon Christ we are partakers of His nature, we are eating of His flesh....
When Christ uttered these words many of His disciples were in doubt as to what He meant, & He explained His words, saying: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, & they are life” (John 6:63).
If Christ is to you as a valuable treasure, if you find in Him your greatest satisfaction, if He is prized & cherished above all others, if you regard everything else as loss that you may win Him, you are eating of His flesh & drinking of His blood & are becoming conformed to His image. Those who hunger & thirst after righteousness will be filled. TMK 107

There is altogether too little account made of the Holy Spirit’s power to work upon mind & character. Those who reject the Holy Spirit, thinking that the human being, single-handed, can struggle with principalities, & powers, & spiritual wickedness in high places, will find themselves overmatched.
Christ calls upon his church to come into harmony with his character. As in the case of Daniel, in exact proportion as the spiritual character is developed, the intellectual capabilities are increased. He who loves God with all his heart & his neighbor as himself, attains this position through the working of the Holy Spirit upon mind & heart.
But let the Holy Spirit take hold of heart & character, & all who will heed its voice will be lights in the world. RH Mar. 22, 1898

There are two errors against which the children of God - particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace - especially need to guard. The first, already dwelt upon, is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness & sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy. SC 59

So you are not to look to yourself, not to let the mind dwell upon self, but look to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the perfection, of His character. Christ in His self-denial, Christ in His humiliation, Christ in His purity & holiness, Christ in His matchless love - this is the subject for the soul’s contemplation. It is by loving Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him, that you are to be transformed into His likeness. SC 70

Sanctification of soul, body, & spirit will surround us with the atmosphere of heaven. If God has chosen us from eternity, it is that we might be holy, our conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God. We must not in any way make self our god. God has given Himself to die for us, that he might purify us from all iniquity.
It runs through all his designs & plans to carry on a daily sanctification in us. 3SM 200-201

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Roman 12:1

The obligation we owe to God in presenting to him clean, pure, healthy bodies is not comprehended.
Christ is to live in his human agents, & work through their faculties, & act through their capabilities.
When human agents choose the will of God, & are conformed to the character of Christ, Jesus acts through their organs & faculties.
The body will be regarded by them as a wonderful structure, formed by the Infinite Designer, & given into their charge to be kept in harmonious action. HL 11

We are God’s workmanship, & his word declares that we are “fearfully & wonderfully made.” He has prepared this living habitation for the mind; it is “curiously wrought,” a temple which the Lord himself has fitted up for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. HL 9

The Spirit of Christ is to take possession of the organs of speech, of the mental powers, of the physical & moral powers.
He is caring for us every moment; he keeps the living machinery in action; if we were left to run it for one moment, we should die. We are absolutely dependent upon God.
It was a wonderful thing for God to create man, to make mind. He created him that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind. The glory of God is to be revealed in the creating of man in God’s image, & in his redemption. One soul is of more value than a world. None can dwell with God in a holy heaven but those who bear his likeness. Those who are redeemed will be overcomers; they will be elevated, pure, one with Christ. HL 11-12

He has told us just what that life must be,—consistent, uniform, Christlike,—that at its close we may say with Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith.” It was by faith in Christ that the great apostle maintained the consistency & beauty of his course. He suffered opposition, insult, persecution, imprisonment, with a firmness & meekness which none but Christ could impart.
But wishing for holiness of heart & purity of life will not bring us into possession of these blessings. …There are thousands of sluggish hypocritical tears, of sighs & groans, that never bring to the soul one cheering beam of light, one manifestation of Christ’s approval.
It will cost us something to obtain a Christian experience, & to develop a true & noble character. It requires sacrifice & earnest effort, & this is why so little advancement is made by professing Christians. They do not go to the great source of wisdom, because they shrink from the toil, the cost, the inconvenience. They wish to have righteousness put upon them as a garment. But the white-robed throng of the redeemed ones, are those who have washed their robes, & made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Christ has presented the matter as it is: “Agonize to enter in at the strait gate; for many shall seek to enter in, & shall not be able.”
We have each a daily work to do, to correct our natural defects of character, & to cultivate the Christian graces. Only by the accomplishment of this work, can we hope to share in the reward of the righteous. Said Christ, “To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, & am set down with my Father in his throne.” RH May 30, 1882

As God is holy in His sphere, so fallen man, through faith in Christ, is to be holy in his sphere.
God can be honored by those who profess to believe in Him, only as they are conformed to His image & controlled by His Spirit. Then, as witnesses for the Saviour, they may make known what divine grace has done for them.
The life of him in whose heart Christ abides, will reveal practical godliness. The character will be purified, elevated, ennobled, & glorified. Pure doctrine will blend with works of righteousness; heavenly precepts will mingle with holy practices. AA 559-560

The living organism is God’s property. It belongs to him by creation & by redemption; & by a misuse of any of our powers we rob God of the honor due him.
From the first dawn of reason the human mind should become intelligent in regard to the physical structure of the body. Here Jehovah has given a specimen of himself; for man was made in the image of God.
Man is very dear to God, because he was formed in his own image.
The wonderful mechanism of the human body does not receive half the care that is often given to a mere lifeless machine. HL 9

“"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” …The religion of the Bible must be brought into the large & the little affairs of life. It must furnish the powerful motives & principles that will regulate the Christian’s character & course of action. RH Sept. 17, 1895

The health should be as sacredly guarded as the character. HL 10

The impressions left on minds have been that religion is injurious to health. This is erroneous & should not be entertained. Pure religion brings peace, happiness, contentment. 2MCP 782

Have I not the right to do as I please with my own body?—No, you have no moral right, because you are violating the laws of life & health which God has given you. HL 10

The knowledge that man is to be a temple for God, a habitation for the revealing of His glory, should be the highest incentive to the care & development of our physical powers. Fearfully & wonderfully has the Creator wrought in the human frame, & He bids us make it our study, understand its needs, & act our part in preserving it from harm & defilement. MH 271

Let no man stop short of entire, unreserved surrender to God. Begin the work in the heart. Look away from the course of action pursued by others to Christ. You have a soul to save or a soul to lose, & this is too important a question to be regarded indifferently. TMK 129

Try to exercise moderately at first. Have rules to govern you. …If you possibly can, walk! Try it a short distance at first, you who think walking is impossible. If you would only walk, & possess a perseverance in the matter, you could accomplish much in the direction of recovery. Your sleep would be sweeter. At every trial, go a little farther. Do not go dragging yourself along as though weights were attached to your limbs....
Let the motion of your arms assist you in walking. Walk with a cheerful mind. And as you walk, look at the beauties of nature, listen to the sweet songsters whose melody warbles forth in praises to their Creator. Be inspired by their happy gratitude. See all that you can that is beautiful, & good, & joyful, & let it enliven your steps, & live in your thoughts through the day.
Continue this exercise, & let no one dissuade you from it. Use the limbs God has given you, & look to Him for strength to use them. You may pray for strength day after day, & yet realize no change until you exercise the strength you already have. Give the Lord a chance to do something for you, by beginning the work for yourself.
Attention to health is one of our most important duties. We owe this to ourselves, to society, & to God.
When physical exercise is taken, the circulation is quickened. The heart receives blood faster & sends it to the lungs faster. The lungs work more vigorously, furnishing a greater amount of blood, which is sent with stronger power through the entire being. Exercise gives new life & strength to every part of the body. DG 171-173

Brethren, when you take time to cultivate your garden, thus gaining the exercise needed to keep the system in good working order, you are just as much doing the work of God as in holding meetings. GW 92

To live in the country would be very beneficial to them; an active, out-of-door life would develop health of both mind & body. They should have a garden to cultivate, where they might find both amusement & useful employment. The training of plants & flowers tends to the improvement of taste & judgment, while an acquaintance with God's useful & beautiful creations has a refining & ennobling influence upon the mind, referring it to the Maker & Master of all. 4T 136

The observance of temperance & regularity in all things has a wonderful power. It will do more than circumstances or natural endowments in promoting that sweetness & serenity of disposition which count so much in smoothing life’s pathway. At the same time the power of self-control thus acquired will be found one of the most valuable of equipments for grappling successfully with the stern duties & realities that await every human being. Ed 206

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