Pressing Toward the Mark
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Whatever may betide, lay hold upon Him with steady, persevering
confidence.
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In your business, in companionship for leisure hours, and in al-
liance for life, let all the associations you form be entered upon with
earnest, humble prayer. You will thus show that you honor God, and
God will honor you. Pray when you are fainthearted. When you are
desponding, close the lips firmly to men; do not shadow the path of
others; but tell everything to Jesus. Reach up your hands for help. In
your weakness lay hold of infinite strength. Ask for humility, wisdom,
courage, increase of faith, that you may see light in God’s light and
rejoice in His love.
Consecration; Trust
When we are humble and contrite we stand where God can and
will manifest Himself to us. He is well pleased when we urge past
mercies and blessings as a reason why He should bestow on us greater
blessings. He will more than fulfill the expectations of those who trust
fully in Him. The Lord Jesus knows just what His children need, how
much divine power we will appropriate for the blessing of humanity;
and He bestows upon us all that we will employ in blessing others and
ennobling our own souls.
We must have less trust in what we ourselves can do, and more
trust in what the Lord can do for and through us. You are not engaged
in your own work; you are doing the work of God. Surrender your will
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and way to Him. Make not a single reserve, not a single compromise
with self. Know what it is to be free in Christ.
The mere hearing of sermons Sabbath after Sabbath, the reading of
the Bible through and through, or the explanation of it verse by verse,
will not benefit us or those who hear us, unless we bring the truths
of the Bible into our individual experience. The understanding, the
will, the affections, must be yielded to the control of the word of God.
Then through the work of the Holy Spirit the precepts of the word will
become the principles of the life.
As you ask the Lord to help you, honor your Saviour by believing
that you do receive His blessing. All power, all wisdom, are at our
command. We have only to ask.