Seite 88 - Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (1896)

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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
the bread of life, and it is by beholding His love, by receiving it into
the soul, that we feed upon the bread which came down from heaven.
We receive Christ through His word, and the Holy Spirit is given to
open the word of God to our understanding, and bring home its truths
to our hearts. We are to pray day by day that as we read His word,
God will send His Spirit to reveal to us the truth that will strengthen
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our souls for the day’s need.
In teaching us to ask every day for what we need—both temporal
and spiritual blessings—God has a purpose to accomplish for our
good. He would have us realize our dependence upon His constant
care, for He is seeking to draw us into communion with Himself. In
this communion with Christ, through prayer and the study of the great
and precious truths of His word, we shall as hungry souls be fed; as
those that thirst, we shall be refreshed at the fountain of life.
“Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is
indebted to us.”—Luke 11:4.
Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we
forgive others. It is the love of God that draws us unto Him, and that
love cannot touch our hearts without creating love for our brethren.
After completing the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus added: “If ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but
if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses.” He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel
through which alone he can receive mercy from God. We should not
think that unless those who have injured us confess the wrong we are
justified in withholding from them our forgiveness. It is their part, no
doubt, to humble their hearts by repentance and confession; but we
are to have a spirit of compassion toward those who have trespassed
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against us, whether or not they confess their faults. However sorely
they may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances and
sympathize with ourselves over our injuries; but as we hope to be
pardoned for our offenses against God we are to pardon all who have
done evil to us.
But forgiveness has a broader meaning than many suppose. When
God gives the promise that He “will abundantly pardon,” He adds, as
if the meaning of that promise exceeded all that we could comprehend: