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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
them. It is through the name of Jesus that every favor is received. God
will honor that name, and will supply your necessities from the riches
of His liberality.
But do not forget that in coming to God as a father you acknowl-
edge your relation to Him as a child. You not only trust His goodness,
but in all things yield to His will, knowing that His love is changeless.
You give yourself to do His work. It was to those whom He had bidden
to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness that Jesus gave
the promise, “Ask, and ye shall receive.”
John 16:24
.
The gifts of Him who has all power in heaven and earth are in store
for the children of God. Gifts so precious that they come to us through
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the costly sacrifice of the Redeemer’s blood; gifts that will satisfy the
deepest craving of the heart, gifts lasting as eternity, will be received
and enjoyed by all who will come to God as little children. Take God’s
promises as your own, plead them before Him as His own words, and
you will receive fullness of joy.
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them.”—Matthew 7:12.
On the assurance of the love of God toward us, Jesus enjoins love to
one another, in one comprehensive principle covering all the relations
of human fellowship.
The Jews had been concerned about what they should receive; the
burden of their anxiety was to secure what they thought their due of
power and respect and service. But Christ teaches that our anxiety
should not be, How much are we to receive? but, How much can we
give? The standard of our obligation to others is found in what we
ourselves would regard as their obligation to us.
In your association with others, put yourself in their place. Enter
into their feelings, their difficulties, their disappointments, their joys,
and their sorrows. Identify yourself with them, and then do to them
as, were you to exchange places with them, you would wish them to
deal with you. This is the true rule of honesty. It is another expression
of the law. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Matthew 22:39
.
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And it is the substance of the teaching of the prophets. It is a principle
of heaven, and will be developed in all who are fitted for its holy
companionship.