The great principle illustrated by the vine is the secret of Christian character and growth. The soul that abides in Christ can never be barren nor unfruitful. You must draw your supplies from him who is the source of all strength and sufficiency. If you will abide in Christ, he will be with you, and will bestow upon you every gift necessary for your success in this work. In your lack of confidence in yourself, look unto Jesus. Look and live; for in him are life and light. Lean on God. He will supply all your needs; he will be made unto you wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. As the human agent contemplates the character of Christ, and abides in his love, the mind of Christ is transferred to him, and he bears the image of the divine. Thus it was with Moses and Stephen. Christ was in them, and was revealed in their daily life.YI June 24, 1897, par. 1

We are nearing the close of this earth's history; soon we shall stand before the great white throne. Your opportunities for work will soon be past. Therefore work while it is called today. With the help of God, every true believer can see where there is work to be done. When the human will co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent, and the worker can make opportunities. Watch for the souls with whom you come in contact. Watch for opportunities to speak a word in season to them. Do not wait for an introduction, or until you become acquainted with them, before you seek to save the perishing souls around you. If you will go to work in earnest, ways will open before you for the accomplishment of this work. Lean upon the divine arm for wisdom, strength, and skill for the work that God has given you to do. This wisdom you will surely receive; for God has promised, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” A thorough knowledge of your field of labor can be gained only by wise, earnest, faithful effort, as you seek help from Christ, the great source of all power and efficiency. No worker can be successful unless, like Daniel, he pleads with God for grace and wisdom.YI June 24, 1897, par. 2

God has chosen his children as the instruments by which his work shall be accomplished, and he is not pleased when he sees them disregarding the laws of health. It is the duty of all to place themselves in the very best relation to life and health. Care should be taken for the preservation of the physical, mental, and moral powers. The need to be carefully cherished for the Master's use. Medical missionaries may do a work for time and for eternity if they will engage in the work imbued with the Spirit of God.YI June 24, 1897, par. 3

The period of childhood and youth,—how much is bound up in these years of probation! God desires that you shall improve this time, dear youth, by obtaining a fitness for the work. If you need an education, set yourselves to work with a determination to get one. Do not wait for an opening; make one for yourselves. Take hold in any small way that opens before you. Be thorough and faithful in whatever you take in hand, however small it may be. Some of our youth are so vacillating that they accomplish nothing for themselves; their lifetime is often half spent before they decide what they shall do, and what they will be. They bury their talents beneath a mass of rubbish. To these I would say, Practise economy. Do not spend your means for the gratification of appetite or for pleasure seeking. Make your mark in the world. Have before you the object of becoming as useful and efficient as God calls you to be. As you improve the knowledge you gain, you will be able to gather increased knowledge. Application to your books and useful manual labor, combined with earnest Christian devotion and loyalty to God, will make you men and women in the highest sense. True devotion to God, combined with the study of the sciences, will give the youth an education that will make them gentle, humble lovers of God, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Such souls, fragrant with love for God and for their fellow men, God can use as vessels unto honor.YI June 24, 1897, par. 4

Mrs. E. G. White

June 17, 1897

July 1, 1897