Section 12—Problems in Adjustment
Chapter 62—Communication (Part 3)
Grumbling Stunts Growth—There are men who possess excellent faculties but who have come to a standstill. They do not go forward to victory. And the ability with which God has endowed them is of no value to His cause because it is unused. Many of these men are found among the grumblers. They grumble because, they say, they are not appreciated. But they do not appreciate themselves sufficiently to cooperate with the Greatest Teacher the world has ever known.—The Review and Herald, March 10, 1903.
No Critical, Blunt, or Severe Words (counsel to a minister and author)—The Lord will help every one of us where we need help the most in the grand work of overcoming and conquering self. Let the law of kindness be upon your lips and the oil of grace in your heart. This will produce wonderful results. You will be tender, sympathetic, courteous. You need all these graces. The Holy Spirit must be received and brought into your character; then it will be as holy fire, giving forth incense which will rise up to God, not from lips that condemn, but as a healer of the souls of men. Your countenance will express the image of the divine.
No sharp, critical, blunt, or severe words should be spoken. This is common fire and must be left out of all our councils and intercourse with our brethren. God requires every soul in His service to kindle their censers from the coals of sacred fire.
The common, severe, harsh words that come from your lips so readily must be withheld and the Spirit of God speak through the human agent. By beholding the character of Christ you will become changed into His likeness. The grace of Christ alone can change your heart, and then you will reflect the image of the Lord Jesus. God calls upon us to be like Him—pure, holy, and undefiled. We are to bear the divine image.—Letter 84, 1899. (The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 3:1164.)
Words That Destroy Life—Severe tests will come to you. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that by vehemence you will wound yourself. If under all circumstances you will sit in heavenly places in Christ, your words will not be charged with bullets that wound hearts and that may destroy life.—Letter 169, 1902.
Talking Doubts Increases Doubts—We are not to talk our doubts and trials, because they grow bigger every time we talk them. Every time we talk them, Satan has gained the victory; but when we say, “I will commit the keeping of my soul unto Him, as unto a faithful witness,” then we testify that we have given ourselves to Jesus Christ without any reservation, and then God gives us light and we rejoice in Him. We want to place ourselves under the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness, and then we shall be a light in the world. “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).—Manuscript 17, 1894.
Talking Faith Increases Faith—The more you talk faith, the more faith you will have. The more you dwell upon discouragement, talking to others about your trials, and enlarging upon them, to enlist the sympathy which you crave, the more discouragements and trials you will have. Why mourn over that which we cannot avoid? God is inviting us to close the windows of the soul earthward and open them heavenward that He may flood our hearts with the glory which is shining across the threshold of heaven.—Manuscript 102, 1901.
Reproof Sometimes Needed—While our words are ever to be kind and tender, no words should be spoken that will lead a wrongdoer to think that his way is not objectionable to God. This is a kind of sympathy that is earthly and deceiving. No license is given for undue manifestation of affection, for sentimental sympathy. Wrongdoers need counsel and reproof, and must sometimes be sharply rebuked.—Manuscript 17, 1899.
What the Words Reveal—You cannot be too careful of what you say, for the words you utter show what power is controlling your mind and heart. If Christ rules in your heart, your words will reveal the purity, beauty, and fragrance of a character molded and fashioned by His will. But since his fall, Satan has been an accuser of the brethren, and you must be on guard lest you reveal the same spirit.—Letter 69, 1896.
Repetition Necessary—Do not think, when you have gone over a subject once, that your hearers will retain in their minds all that you have presented. There is danger of passing too rapidly from point to point. Give short lessons, in plain, simple language, and let them be often repeated. Short sermons will be remembered far better than long ones. Our speakers should remember that the subjects they are presenting may be new to some of their hearers; therefore the principal points should be gone over again and again.—Gospel Workers, 168 (1915).
https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/78.1046#1078
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for the power of a graceful and honest tongue. With it, please bless us to bear the precious fruit of the gospel that inspires obedience anf encourages cheerfulness. Please grant to us that strength of abiding faith, which produces good works of service and continual contentment. Bless us with a submissive heart to Your Holy Spirit that we might love and be merciful and compassionate toward others, according to Your divine purpose. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, please bless us to lay hold on eternity and in this world be exactly all You would have us be. Please grant to us the mind and love and faith of Jesus that others might be drawn to You eternally through how we live and what we say, especially in the most trying of circumstances. Because we ask all these in the Awesome name of Your Son, Almighty Jesus the Christ, our Savior, we say Thank You and Amen.
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DID YOU KNOW THIS…?
What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Psalm 34:12,13 KJV —The WORD OF GOD— It’s the only flesh that is safe to eat (meditate on) to live forever!]
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Do you feel sorrowful, disconnected—without a place to feel at home or useful? I pray this might show you the way forward. Watch…
https://www.youtube.com/live/2QB6fcwVuws?si=fsEvZU-rkI-BngfD
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FREE HEALTH TALK* open to the public Thursdays at 5pm at Country Life Natural Foods Store and Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant, 1217 Eberhart Avenue, Columbus, GA.
Thursday, October 22: “Is Your Food Feeding Your Brain or Fighting It?”
*Exception: $10 for any cooking class
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WHGR 91.5 FM went LIVE noon on Thanksgiving Day 2025, for Hurtsboro (my childhood home town) and surrounding areas, including Tuskegee, Alabama.
If you want to support Christian radio programming for these final days, please visit
https://www.ucheepines.org/radio
Thank you!!!
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I coordinate wonderful health and worship events and conferences online and onsite as a gospel medical missionary at Uchee Pines, a total plant-based health retreat, where doctors and practitioners specialize in lifestyle medicine. For event details, visit https://www.ucheepines.org/events
Therefore, if at any time you fail to receive this post as a text, please visit
https://baiom.org/author/audreystovall/
where devotionals are first posted daily (almost without fail). From there devotionals are publicly shared to my page on FB, LinkedIn, and Signal (in My Story), and to a response-restricted group on WhatsApp (once again when I am able to find the time to successfully rebuild it).
NOTE: These began as daily texts to encourage my academy roommate and dear friend of nearly 50 years, until she suddenly passed March 2023. Now I continue to compile and send them to anyone who will receive them and to her family in honor of their mom. Lately, I have begun featuring consecutive chapter portions of a select Bible-based book.
If you agree to continue receiving them, then this is my personal gift to you; and in this way, I not only honor God but the memory of a very dear friend whom I desperately miss.
My personal prayer is that God will bless me to find ways to multiply this gift, so that we all may be encouraged to be found faithful in the sight of a Holy God, whenever Christ returns or our eyes are shut in the sleep of death.
It is a prayerful process that leads me to share from my personal study.
So please feel free to forward to your loved ones or to anyone, as God leads you.
I’m calling them Barb’s Devotionals.