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The Ministry of Healing
principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get
understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring
thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her.”
Proverbs 4:7, 8
.
Because they have not the determination to take themselves in
hand and to reform, many become stereotyped in a wrong course
of action. But this need not be. They may cultivate their powers
to do the very best kind of service, and then they will be always in
demand. They will be valued for all that they are worth.
If any are qualified for a higher position, the Lord will lay the
burden, not alone on them, but on those who have tested them, who
know their worth, and who can understandingly urge them forward.
It is those who perform faithfully their appointed work day by day,
who in God’s own time will hear His call, “Come up higher.”
While the shepherds were watching their flocks on the hills of
Bethlehem, angels from heaven visited them. So today while the
humble worker for God is following his employment, angels of God
stand by his side, listening to his words, noting the manner in which
his work is done, to see if larger responsibilities may be entrusted to
his hands.
Not by their wealth, their education, or their position does God
estimate men. He estimates them by their purity of motive and their
beauty of character. He looks to see how much of His Spirit they
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possess and how much of His likeness their life reveals. To be great
in God’s kingdom is to be as a little child in humility, in simplicity
of faith, and in purity of love.
“Ye know,” Christ said, “that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it
over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Not so
shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among
you shall be your minister.”
Matthew 20:25, 26
, A.R.V.
Of all the gifts that heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship
with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest
honor. Not Enoch, who was translated to heaven, not Elijah, who
ascended in a chariot of fire, was greater or more honored than John
the Baptist, who perished alone in the dungeon. “Unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to
suffer for His sake.”
Philippians 1:29
.